I remember kids in my elementary school wearing this t-shirt, which was very popular at the time.
They played up Archie as the evil conservative bigot. Some how, a lot of his less inflammatory comments resonated with a lot of people. I bet the character’s popularity really pissed of the lefty writers.
He wasn’t played as evil at all. He was a hard working family man who the audience had to identify with at some level.
I remember kids in my elementary school wearing this t-shirt, which was very popular at the time.
Remember that he wasn't truly "evil", he always redeemed himself by slowly accepting each and every liberal view to some degree.
"""All in the Family" explored racism, homosexuality, women's liberation, menopause, impotence, the Vietnam War and the loss of faith.""
""Though he was a bigot, Lear said, Archie wasn't a bad man. Archie's opinions softened and audiences got to see the man behind the bluster as the series progressed. Archie, Lear said, "was just afraid." That fear was reflected in the title song, "Those Were the Days," sung by O'Connor and Stapleton, and written by Charles Strouse and Lee Adams of "Bye Bye Birdie" fame.
"Archie was afraid of tomorrow," Lear said. "That was his big problem.""