All in the Family centers on a working-class White American family living in Queens, New York. Its patriarch, Archie Bunker (O’Connor), is an outspoken, narrow-minded man, seemingly prejudiced against everyone not like him or not holding his ideas of how people should be. Archie’s wife, Edith (Jean Stapleton), is sweet and understanding, which can make her appear naive and uneducated. Her husband often treats her dismissively and uses disparaging language, calling her “dingbat.”
Their one child, Gloria (Sally Struthers), is generally kind and good-natured like her mother but displays traces of her father’s stubbornness and temper. Unlike them, she is a feminist. Gloria is married to college student, later graduate student, later college instructor Michael Stivic (Reiner)—referred to as “Meathead” by Archie—whose values are likewise influenced and shaped by the counterculture of the 1960s. The two couples represent the real-life clash of values between the Greatest Generation and Baby Boomers. For much of the series, the Stivics live in the Bunkers’ home to save money, providing abundant opportunity for the family members to irritate one another.
The show is set in the Astoria section of Queens, with the vast majority of scenes taking place in the Bunkers’ home at 704 Hauser Street. Occasional scenes take place in other locations, especially during later seasons, such as Kelsey’s Bar, a neighborhood tavern that Archie spends a good deal of time at and eventually purchases, and the Stivics’ home after Mike and Gloria move out.
Supporting characters represent the changing demographics of the neighborhood, especially the Jeffersons, a Black family, who live in the house next door in the early seasons and then leave the area for the higher-end Upper East Side of Manhattan after George (the husband) makes a fortune through his dry cleaning business. The Jeffersons then rented their home to Gloria and Mike.
