All In The Family Live: 5 Differences Between The Stage Show And The Original Series (& 5 Similarities)
All In The Family’s popularity has endured, prompting ABC to stage episodes in front of a live audience with some similarities and differences.
All In The Family has gone down in the cannon of classic television. Centering on the relationship between a Baby Boomer couple and their parents, the show broke new ground and redefined what a sitcom could be. The series gained immense popularity in the 1970s for its frank portrayal of the issues of the day, discussing still-relevant questions like racism and abortion.
All In The Family’s popularity has lingered to the present, prompting ABC to stage a couple of episodes in front of a live audience. While much of the show remained the same, there were also plenty of differences.
Difference: The Cast
Unfortunately, the original cast of All In The Family was not able to reunite for ABC’s live show; however, the new cast performed admirably well. Woody Harrelson nailed Archie Bunker’s cocky assurance, and Marisa Tomei captured Edith’s hysterical mannerisms, from her vocal inflection to her walk.
Similarity: The Spirit
Although All In The Family: Live In Front of A Studio Audience did not share the same cast as the original show, the spirit of the original was still alive and well. All In The Family always walks a tightrope, dealing with controversial and often heavy issues in a relatable and humorous way.
Difference: The Draft
For all of the All In The Family episodes that remain incredibly relevant, “The Draft Dodger,” an episode chosen for the live taping, is not one of the episodes with present-day relevancy. The Vietnam War and the draft were obviously incredibly timely issues when the episode aired in 1976, but the draft did not exist in the America of 2019.
Similarity: The Theme Song
One of the best-remembered elements of All In The Family is its iconic theme song, performed at the top of each episode by Carroll O’Connor and Jean Stapleton as Archie and Edith Bunker, respectively.
Difference: The Old LaSalle
There is one lyric in the All In The Family theme song that long confuses fans. The penultimate line in the theme song, “Gee, our old LaSalle ran great,” became a notoriously misunderstood lyric, partly because of O’Connor and Stapleton’s affected delivery.
Similarity: The Script
The script of “The Draft Dodger” remains identical to the original script that was filmed and aired in 1976. The episode centers on two guests joining the Bunker’s Christmas dinner: David Brewster (portrayed in 2019 by Jesse Eisenberg), a friend of Mike and Gloria’s who fled to Canada to avoid being drafted into Vietnam, and Pinky Peterson (Kevin Bacon), a friend of Archie who lost his son in the war.
Difference: Archie Bunker
Although Woody Harrelson would make Carroll O’Connor proud with his portrayal as Archie Bunker, there are some notable differences with the energy he brings to the role. While O’Connor’s Archie was prone to fits of explosive anger, Harrelson plays him with more quiet intensity.
Similarity: Edith Bunker
While Harrelson brings a new and slightly different energy to the role of Archie Bunker, Marisa Tomei is nearly a carbon copy of Jean Stapleton as Edith Bunker. Jean Stapleton had one of the most distinctive voices of all time, and Tomei clearly did her homework before taking the role.
Difference: The Filming
All In The Family made history in its original run as being the first major American sitcom to be filmed using videotape in front of a live audience. Other sitcoms of the day will often use a single camera instead of All In The Family’s multi-camera set up, or, in the case of shows like Mary Tyler Moore, use film.
Similarity: The Audience
History was made when All In The Family premiered in 1971 as the first major American sitcom to be filmed in front of a live studio audience. Because of the different standards in filming, sitcoms in the 1960s often used a laugh track.
All In The Family never used canned laughter; every laugh heard in those episodes are the genuine laughs from the studio audience. In 2019, the show was once again filmed in front of a live audience using organic laughs, bringing the show full circle back to where it began.
