[miss marmelstein]

Actually, Archie was very much real - he sounded exactly like my Irish American Catholic family who lived in Queens for two generations. That, plus Carroll O’Connors’ brilliant performance, is what made it so popular. Also, as I recall, the Meathead character was a monument to hypocrisy - a freeloading, fake lib who was disliked by all the black characters in the show.

[central_va]

I had the hots for Gloria. Then she turned into a dirigible.

[dfwgator]

True. Actually Lionel Jefferson was somewhat sympathetic to Archie, and would occasionally defend him against Meathead. Lionel thought that Meathead at times was too condescending and hypocritical.

Lear is a lefty to be sure, but one of the things I liked about “Good Times” was how he tried to show an actual black nuclear family staying together and showing good family values.

[SamAdams76]

I remember in the show, the script always seemed like it was trying to make Meathead out to be the "enlightened high-minded" counterpoint to Archie's "narrow-minded bigot" character. I guess Archie always calling him "Meathead" was supposed to show what a jerk Archie was and gain sympathy for Reiner's character.

Maybe it played that way with Lear and his elite circle of Hollywood friends. But in middle America and in the working class neighborhoods, we were all cheering Archie on while jeering at the Meathead. I don't think Lear anticipated that - but as another poster pointed out, he cashed his checks anyhow and became a very wealthy man.