My understanding is that the show was originally created to mock conservatism, but backfired. Everyone loved Archie and hated Meathead.
No, AIF did not back fire and accidently become a Norman Lear, Carroll O’Connor, Rob Reiner, Jean Stapleton, Sally Struthers show promoting conservatism and conservative defenses to the American public in our time of need.
The show was created to bring up “its depiction of issues previously considered unsuitable for U.S. network television comedy, such as racism, homosexuality, women’s liberation, rape, miscarriage, abortion, breast cancer, the Vietnam War, menopause, and impotence”, and conservatism was to never win the argument, Archie was to always survive and remain likable, but the audience was to have moved a little farther to the left each time.