document_title: All in the Family

question_text: who played teresa on all in the family

question_tokens: who played teresa on all in the family

text: All in the Family

text: Premise[edit]

text: All in the Family is about a typical white working-class family living in Queens, New York. Its patriarch is Archie Bunker (O'Connor), an outspoken, narrow-minded white man, seemingly prejudiced against everyone who is not like him or his idea of how people should be. Archie's wife Edith (Jean Stapleton) is sweet and understanding, though somewhat naïve and uneducated; her husband sometimes disparagingly calls 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; unlike them, however, she is a feminist. Gloria is married to college student 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 so-called Greatest Generation and Baby Boomers. For much of the series, the Stivics live in the Bunkers' home to save money, providing abundant opportunity for them to irritate each other.

text: 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 where Archie spends a good deal of time and which he eventually buys, and the Stivics' home after Mike and Gloria move to the house next door. The house seen in the opening is at 89-70 Cooper Avenue near the junction of the Glendale, Middle Village, and Rego Park sections of Queens.[9] Supporting characters represent the demographics of the neighborhood, especially the African American Jeffersons, who live in the house next door in the early seasons.

text: Cast[edit]

text: Main characters[edit]

text:
Carroll O'Connor as Archie Bunker: Frequently called a "lovable bigot", Archie was an assertively prejudiced blue-collar worker. A World War II veteran, Archie longs for better times when people sharing his viewpoint were in charge, as evidenced by the nostalgic theme song "Those Were the Days" (also the show's original title). Despite his bigotry, he is portrayed as loving and decent, as well as a man who is simply struggling to adapt to the changes in the world, rather than someone motivated by hateful racism or prejudice. His ignorance and stubbornness seem to cause his malapropism-filled arguments to self-destruct. He often rejects uncomfortable truths by blowing a raspberry. Former child actor Mickey Rooney was Lear's first choice to play Archie, but Rooney declined the offer because of the strong potential for controversy, and in Rooney's opinion, a poor chance for success. Scott Brady, formerly of the Western series Shotgun Slade, also declined the role of Archie Bunker, but appeared four times on the series in 1976 in the role of Joe Foley. O'Connor appears in all but seven episodes of the series' run.
Jean Stapleton as Edith Bunker, née Baines: Edith is Archie's ditzy but kind-hearted wife. Archie often tells her to "stifle" herself and calls her a "dingbat", and although Edith generally defers to her husband's authority and endures his insults, on the rare occasions when Edith takes a stand, she proves to have a simple but profound wisdom.[10] Despite their different personalities, they love each other deeply. Stapleton developed Edith's distinctive voice.[11] Stapleton remained with the show through the original series run, but decided to leave at that time. During the first season of Archie Bunker's Place, Edith was seen in four episodes in guest appearances. After that point, Edith was written out as having suffered a stroke and died off-camera, leaving Archie to deal with the death of his beloved "dingbat". Stapleton appeared in all but four episodes of All in the Family. In the series' first episode, Edith is portrayed as being less of a dingbat and even sarcastically refers to her husband as "Mr. Religion, here..." after they come home from church, something her character would not be expected to say later.
Sally Struthers as Gloria Stivic, née Bunker: The Bunkers' college-aged daughter who is married to Michael Stivic. She has the generally kind nature of her mother, but the stubbornness of her father, which early in the series manifests as childishness, later as a more mature feminism. Gloria frequently attempts to mediate between her father and husband, generally siding with the latter. The roles of the Bunkers' daughter and son-in-law (then named "Dickie") initially went to Candice Azzara and Chip Oliver. However, after seeing the show's pilot, ABC requested a second pilot expressing dissatisfaction with both actors. Lear later recast the roles of Gloria and Dickie with Struthers and Reiner. Penny Marshall (Reiner's wife, whom he married in April 1971, shortly after the program began) was also considered for the role of Gloria. During the earlier seasons of the show, Struthers was known to be discontented with how static her part was and, in 1974, sued to get out of her contract. But the character became more developed, satisfying her.[12] Struthers appeared in 157 of the 202 episodes during the first eight seasons—from January 12, 1971 to March 19, 1978. She later reprised the role in the spin-off series Gloria, which lasted for a single season in 1982–1983.
Rob Reiner as Michael Stivic: Gloria's Polish-American hippie husband is part of the counterculture of the 1960s. While good-hearted and well-meaning, he constantly spars with Archie, and is equally stubborn, although his moral views are generally presented as being more ethical and his logic somewhat sounder. He is the most-educated person in the household, a fact which gives him a self-assured arrogance, and despite his intellectual belief in progressive social values, he tends to expect Gloria to defer to him as her husband. As discussed in All in the Family retrospectives, Richard Dreyfuss sought the part, but Norman Lear was convinced to cast Reiner. Harrison Ford turned down the role, citing Archie Bunker's bigotry. Reiner appeared in 174 of the 202 episodes of the series during the first eight seasons—from January 12, 1971 to March 19, 1978. Reiner is also credited with writing three of the series' episodes.[13]
Danielle Brisebois as the cute nine-year-old daughter of one of Edith's cousins, Stephanie Mills, who is a regular throughout the ninth season. Despite being cute and having a sweet side, she is smart, clever, and does give her own few remarks at Archie from time to time. The Bunkers take her in after the child's father, Floyd Mills, abandons her on their doorstep in 1978 (he later extorts money from them to let them keep her). She remained with the show through its transition to Archie Bunker's Place, and appeared in all four seasons of the latter show.

text: Supporting characters[edit]

text:
Sherman Hemsley as George Jefferson, Isabel Sanford as his wife Louise, and Mike Evans as their son Lionel, Archie's black neighbors: George is Archie's combative black counterpart, while Louise is a smarter, more assertive version of Edith. Lionel first appeared in the series' premiere episode "Meet the Bunkers", with Louise appearing later in the first season. Although George had been mentioned many times, he was not seen until 1973. Hemsley, who was Norman Lear's first choice to play George, was performing in the Broadway musical Purlie and did not want to break his commitment to that show. However, Lear kept the role waiting for him until he had finished with the musical. Plots frequently find Archie and George at odds with one another, while Edith and Louise attempt to join forces to bring about a resolution. They later moved to an apartment in Manhattan which resulted in their own show, The Jeffersons.
Mel Stewart, as George's brother Henry Jefferson: The two appeared together only once, in the 1973 episode in which the Bunkers host Henry's going-away party, marking Stewart's final episode and Hemsley's first. After the Jeffersons were spun off into their own show in 1975, Stewart's character was rarely referred to again and was never seen. In the closing credits of "The First and Last Supper" episode, Mel Stewart is incorrectly credited as playing George Jefferson. Stewart was actually playing George's brother, Henry Jefferson, who was pretending to be George for most of the episode.
Bea Arthur as Edith's cousin Maude: Maude was white-collared and ultra-liberal, the perfect foil to Archie, and one of his main antagonists. She appeared in only two episodes, "Cousin Maude's Visit", where she took care of the Bunker household when all four were sick, and "Maude" from the show's second season. Her spin-off series, Maude, began in fall 1972.
Betty Garrett and Vincent Gardenia as the liberal and Roman Catholic next-door neighbors Irene and Frank Lorenzo: Both first appeared as a married couple as Irene was trying to use the Bunker's phone. During an argument earlier in the episode, Archie and Mike had broken the phone wire. Irene being a 'handyman' of sorts with her own tools, which she carried in her purse, fixed it. Irene fixed many things at the Bunker house during her time on the show. She also had a sister who was a nun and appeared in one episode. "Edith's Christmas Story" reveals that Irene has had a mastectomy. Archie got her a job as a forklift operator at the plant where he worked. Irene was a strong-willed woman of Irish heritage, and Frank was a jovial Italian househusband who loved cooking and singing. He also was a salesman, but what he sold was never said. Gardenia, who also appeared as Jim Bowman in episode eight of season one (as the man who sold his house to the Jeffersons) and as Curtis Rempley in episode seven of season three (as a swinger opposite Rue McClanahan), became a semiregular along with Garrett in 1973. Gardenia only stayed for one season as Frank Lorenzo, but Garrett remained until her character was phased out in late 1975.
Allan Melvin as Archie's neighbor and good friend Barney Hefner: Barney started appearing in 1972 as a recurring character. Over time, he appeared progressively more often until he became a regular. He appeared as a regular in all four seasons of Archie Bunker's Place.

text: Recurring characters[edit]

text:
James Cromwell as Jerome,[14] "Stretch" Cunningham (1973–1976) "The Funniest Man in The World", Archie's friend and co-worker from the loading dock (Archie claims that he is known as the "Bob Hope" of the loading platform): What Archie did not know was that Stretch was Jewish, evident only after Stretch died and Archie went to the funeral. Archie's eulogy for his friend is often referred to as a rare occasion when he was capable of showing the humanity he tried so earnestly to hide. In the episode titled "Archie in the Cellar", Billy Sands is referred to as Stretch Cunningham, the voice on the tape recorder telling jokes. Sands also appeared as other characters on the show during its run, usually in Kelsey's Bar as a patron.
Liz Torres as Theresa Betancourt (1976–1977): A Puerto Rican nursing student who meets Archie when he is admitted to the hospital for surgery. She later rents Mike and Gloria's former room at the Bunker house. She called Archie "Papi". Torres had just completed the first season of the CBS sitcom Phyllis in the spring of 1976 before being dropped from the cast. (She had replaced the late actress Barbara Colby in the role of Julie Erskine.) Torres joined All in the Family in the fall of 1976, but her character was not popular with viewers, and the role was phased out before the end of the season.
Billy Halop as Mr. Munson (1971–74), the cab driver who lets Archie use his cab to make extra money
Bob Hastings as Kelcy or Tommy Kelsey, who owns the bar Archie frequents and later buys: Kelcy was also played by Frank Maxwell in the episode "Archie Gets The Business". The name of the establishment is Kelcy's Bar (as seen in the bar window in various episodes). However, due to a continuity error, the end credits[15] of episodes involving the bar owner spell the name "Kelcy" for the first two seasons and "Kelsey" thereafter, although the end credits show "Kelcy" in the "Archie Gets the Business" episode.
Jason Wingreen as Harry Snowden, a bartender at Kelcy's Bar who continues to work there after Archie purchases it as his business partner: Harry had tried to buy the bar from Kelcy, but Archie was able to come up with the money first, by taking a mortgage out on his house, which the Bunkers owned outright.
Gloria LeRoy as Mildred "Boom-Boom" Turner, a buxom, middle-aged secretary at the plant where Archie works: Her first appearance was when Archie is lost on his way to a convention and Mike and Gloria suspect he and she could be having an affair. Archie gave her that moniker as she was walking by the loading dock. He said when she walked, "Boom-Boom". She is not fond of Archie because he and Stretch leer at her and because of their sexist behavior, but later becomes friendly with him, occasionally working as a barmaid at Archie's Place. Gloria LeRoy also appeared in a third-season episode as "Bobbi Jo" Loomis, the wife of Archie's old war buddy "Duke".
Barnard Hughes as Father Majeskie, a local Catholic priest who was suspected by Archie one time of trying to convert Edith: He appeared in multiple episodes. The first time was when Edith accidentally hit Majeskie's car near the local supermarket with a can of cling peaches in heavy syrup.
Eugene Roche appeared as practical jokester friend and fellow lodge member "Pinky Peterson", one of Archie Bunker's buddies, in three episodes, first in the episode "Beverly Rides Again", then the memorable Christmas Day episode called "The Draft Dodger" (episode 146, 1976), and finally the episode "Archie's Other Wife".
Sorrell Booke as Lyle Sanders, personnel manager at Archie Bunker's workplace, Prendergast Tool and Die Company: He had appeared on the series as Lyle Bennett, the manager of a local television station, in the episode "Archie and the Editorial" in season three.
Lori Shannon played Beverly La Salle, a transvestite entertainer, who appeared in three episodes: "Archie the Hero", "Beverly Rides Again", and "Edith's Crisis of Faith". In that third episode, Mike and Beverly are attacked, and he dies in a hospital from injuries suffered during the fight.[16]
Estelle Parsons as Blanche Hefner (1977–1979), Barney's second wife: Blanche and Archie are not fond of one another, though Edith likes her very much. The character is mentioned throughout much of the series after Barney's first wife, Mabel, had died, though she only appeared in a handful of episodes during the last few seasons. Estelle Parsons also appeared in the season-seven episode "Archie's Secret Passion" as Dolores Fencel.
Bill Quinn as Mr. Edgar van Ranseleer (Mr. van R), a blind patron and regular at the bar: He was almost never referred to by his first name. In a running joke, Archie usually waves his hand in front of Mr. van R's face when he speaks to him. His role was later expanded on Archie Bunker's Place, where he appeared in all four seasons.
Burt Mustin as Justin Quigley, a feisty octogenarian/nonagenarian: Mr. Quigley first appeared in the episode: "Edith Finds an Old Man" (season four, episode three, Sept 23, 1973) where he runs away from an old age home. He temporarily moves in with the Bunkers but quickly leaves to share an apartment with his friend Josephine "Jo" Nelson, played by Ruth McDevitt. He appeared in several other episodes, including "Archie's Weighty Problem".
Nedra Volz as Aunt Iola: Edith's aunt, she was mentioned several times in the eighth season and stayed with the Bunkers for two weeks. Edith wanted her to move in, but Archie would not allow it, though when he thought Iola did not have any place to go, he told her privately that she could always stay with them.
Francine Beers and Jane Connell as Sybil Gooley, who worked at Ferguson's Market: Frequently mentioned, usually by Edith, Sybil predicted that Gloria and Mike were having a baby boy by performing a ring on a string "swing test" over Gloria's abdomen. Sybil also appeared in the episode "Edith's 50th Birthday" and spilled the beans on her surprise party because she had not been invited. Archie and she did not get along, and he referred to her as a "Big Mouth".
Rae Allen and Elizabeth Wilson as Cousin Amelia: Archie detested Amelia and her husband, Russ, who were both wealthy. Once, she sent Edith a mink and Archie wanted to send it back, until he found out how much it was worth. In another episode, Amelia and her husband visit the Bunkers to bring them gifts from a recent trip to Hawaii, but in a private moment, Amelia shares with Edith that, despite appearances, she and Russ are considering a divorce. The character was played by two different actresses in three epsiodes of the show.
Richard Dysart and George S. Irving as Russ DeKuyper, Amelia's husband. He is a plumbing contractor who continued the business started by Amelia's father and uncles. He constantly flaunts his monetary wealth in front of Archie and looks askance at the way Archie lives, forgetting that he walked into a profitable plumbing business. He appeared in two of the episodes that featured Amelia
Clyde Kusatsu as Reverend Chong appeared in several episodes. He refused to baptize little Joey in season six, and then remarried Archie and Edith, and Mike and Gloria in season eight, and gave counsel to Stephanie in season nine as it was learned that she was Jewish.
Ruth McDevitt as Josephine "Jo" Nelson: She played Justin Quigley's girlfriend, the older man Edith found walking around the supermarket. She appeared in three episodes from seasons four through six. Gloria and Mike adopted them as their godgrandparents. Of most of the characters, Archie took a liking to Justin and Jo. She died following the end of the sixth season.
William Benedict as Jimmy McNabb: The Bunkers' neighbor, he was starting a petition to keep minorities out of their neighborhood. He appeared in two episodes during the first and second seasons, and was referred to many times during the first few seasons.
Jack Grimes as Mr. Whitehead: A member of Archie's lodge, he was the local funeral director. The death of Archie's cousin Oscar in a season-two episode of All in the Family brings the very short, white-haired, and silver-tongued Whitehead with his catalog of caskets.

text: History and production[edit]

text: This section needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (January 2015) (Learn how and when to remove this template message)

text: The show came about when Norman Lear read an article in Variety magazine on Till Death Us Do Part and its success in the United Kingdom.[17] He immediately knew it portrayed a relationship just like the one between his father and him.[18]

text: Lear bought the rights to the show and incorporated his own family experiences with his father into the show. Lear's father would tell Lear's mother to "stifle herself" and she would tell Lear's father "you are the laziest white man I ever saw" (two "Archieisms" that found their way onto the show).

text: The original pilot was titled Justice for All and was developed for ABC. Tom Bosley, Jack Warden, and Jackie Gleason were all considered for the role of Archie Bunker. In fact, CBS wanted to buy the rights to the original show and retool it specifically for Gleason, who was under contract to them, but producer Lear beat out CBS for the rights and offered the show to ABC.

text: In the pilot, Carroll O'Connor and Jean Stapleton played Archie and Edith Justice. Kelly Jean Peters played Gloria and Tim McIntire played her husband, Richard. It was taped in October 1968 in New York City. After screening the first pilot, ABC gave the producers more money to shoot a second pilot, titled Those Were the Days, which was taped in February 1969 in Hollywood. Candice Azzara played Gloria and Chip Oliver played Richard. D'Urville Martin played Lionel Jefferson in both pilots.

text: After stations' and viewers' complaints caused ABC to cancel Turn-On after only one episode in February 1969, the network became uneasy about airing a show with a "foul-mouthed, bigoted lead" character, and rejected the series[19][20] at about the time Richard Dreyfuss sought the role of Michael. Rival network CBS was eager to update its image and was looking to replace much of its then popular "rural" programming (Mayberry R.F.D., The Beverly Hillbillies, Petticoat Junction, and Green Acres) with more "urban", contemporary series and was interested in Lear's project. CBS bought the rights from ABC and retitled the show All in the Family. The pilot episode CBS developed had the final cast and was the series' first episode.

text: Lear wanted to shoot in black and white as Till Death Us Do Part had been. While CBS insisted on color, Lear had the set furnished in neutral tones, keeping everything relatively devoid of color. As costume designer Rita Riggs described in her 2001 Archive of American Television interview, Lear's idea was to create the feeling of sepia tones, in an attempt to make viewers feel as if they were looking at an old family album.

text: All in the Family was the first major American series to be videotaped in front of a live studio audience. In the 1960s, most sitcoms had been filmed in the single-camera format without audiences, with a laugh track simulating an audience response. Lear employed the multiple-camera format of shooting in front of an audience, but used tape, whereas previous multiple-camera shows like Mary Tyler Moore had used film. Due to the success of All in the Family, videotaping sitcoms in front of an audience became a common format for the genre during the 1970s, '80s, and '90s. The use of videotape also gave All in the Family the look and feel of early live television, including the original live broadcasts of The Honeymooners, to which All in the Family is sometimes compared.

text: For the show's final season, the practice of being taped before a live audience changed to playing the already taped and edited show to an audience and recording their laughter to add to the original sound track. Thus, the voice-over during the end credits was changed from Rob Stone's "All in the Family was recorded on tape before a live audience" to Carroll O'Connor's "All in the Family was played to a studio audience for live responses". (Typically, the audience was gathered for a taping of One Day at a Time, and got to see All In the Family as a bonus.) Throughout its run, Norman Lear took pride in the fact that canned laughter was never used (mentioning this on many occasions); the laughter heard in the episodes was genuine.

text: Theme song[edit]

text: The series' opening theme song "Those Were The Days",[21] written by Lee Adams (lyrics) and Charles Strouse (music), was presented in a unique way for a 1970s series: Carroll O'Connor and Jean Stapleton seated at a console or spinet piano (played by Stapleton) and singing the tune together on-camera at the start of every episode, concluding with live-audience applause. (The song dates back to the first Justice For All pilot, although on that occasion O'Connor and Stapleton performed the song off-camera and at a faster tempo than the series version.) Six different performances were recorded over the run of the series, including one version that includes additional lyrics. The song is a simple, pentatonic melody (that can be played exclusively with black keys on a piano) in which Archie and Edith wax nostalgic for the simpler days of yesteryear. A longer version of the song was released as a single on Atlantic Records, reaching number 30 on the Billboard Adult Contemporary chart early in 1972; the additional lyrics in this longer version lend the song a greater sense of sadness, and make poignant reference to social changes taking place in the 1960s and early 1970s.

text:
Those Were The Days
Boy, the way Glenn Miller played
Songs that made the hit parade
Guys like us, we had it made
Those were the days!

text:
And you knew who you were then
Girls were girls, and men were men
Mister, we could use a man like Herbert Hoover again

text:
Didn't need no welfare state
Everybody pulled his weight
Gee, our old LaSalle ran great
Those were the days!

text: In the original 1968 pilot episode an additional verse was sung:

text:
Had my twelve tube radio
Loved the Eddie Cantor Show
Oh where did all that beauty go?
Those were the days!

text: A few perceptible drifts can be observed when listening to each version chronologically: In the original version, the lyric "Those Were The Days" was sung over the tonic (root chord of the song's key) the piano strikes a dominant 7th passing chord in transition to the next part which is absent from subsequent versions. Jean Stapleton's screeching high note on the line "And you knew who you WEEERRE then" became louder, longer, and more comical, although only in the original version did the line draw a laugh from the audience; Carroll O'Connor's pronunciation of "welfare state" gained more of Archie's trademark whining enunciation, and the closing lyrics (especially "Gee, our old LaSalle ran great.") were sung with increasingly deliberate articulation, as viewers had complained that they could not understand the words. Also in the original version, the camera angle was shot slightly from the right side of the talent as opposed to the straight on angle of the next version. Jean Stapleton performed the theme song without glasses beginning in season 6.

text: In addition to O'Connor and Stapleton singing, footage is also shown beginning with aerial shots of Manhattan, and continuing to Queens, progressively zooming in, culminating with a still shot of a lower middle-class semidetached home, presumably representing the Bunkers' house in Astoria. The house shown in the opening credits, however, is actually located at 89–70 Cooper Avenue in the Glendale section of Queens,[22][23] New York. A notable difference exists, however, between the Cooper Avenue house and the All in the Family set: the Cooper Avenue house has no porch, while the Bunkers' home featured a front porch. The footage for the opening had been shot back in 1968 for the series' first pilot, thus the establishing shot of the Manhattan skyline was completely devoid of the World Trade Center towers, which had not yet been built. When the series aired two years later, the Trade Center towers, although under construction, had still not yet risen high enough to become a prominent feature on the Manhattan skyline (this did not happen until the end of 1971). Despite this change in the Manhattan skyline, the original 1968 footage continued to be used for the series opening until the series transitioned into Archie Bunker's Place in 1979. At that time, a new opening with current shots of the Manhattan skyline was used with the Trade Center towers being seen in the closing credits. This opening format – showing actual footage of the cities and neighborhoods in which the show was set – became the standard for most of Norman Lear's sitcoms, including Maude, Good Times, and The Jeffersons.

text: At the end of the opening, the camera then returns to a few final seconds of O'Connor and Stapleton, as they finish the song. At the end of the original version, Edith smiles at Archie and Archie smiles off at a slight distance. In the longest running version (from season 2 to season 5), Edith smiles blissfully at Archie, and Archie puts a cigar in his mouth and returns a rather cynical, sheepish look to Edith. From season 6 through the season 8, Edith smiles and rests her chin on Archie's shoulder. In the final season, Edith hugs Archie at the conclusion. Additionally, in the first three versions of the opening, Archie is seen wearing his classic trademark white shirt. In the last version of the opening for the series' ninth season, Archie is seen wearing a grey sweater-jacket over his white shirt. In all versions of the opening, the song's conclusion is accompanied by applause from the studio audience.

text: The opening for the animated series Family Guy begins with Peter and Lois Griffin singing at the piano, a tribute to the All in the Family opening. As with "Those Were the Days", the lyrics to the Family Guy theme song also seem to imply that things have changed for the worse since the old days ("But where are those good old fashioned values/On which we used to rely?"). The All in the Family opening is also parodied in The Simpsons ninth-season episode "Lisa's Sax", as Homer and Marge Simpson sit at a piano and perform "Those Were the Days" with altered lyrics pertaining to the episode's plot.

text: In interviews, Norman Lear stated that the idea for the piano song introduction was a cost-cutting measure. After completion of the pilot episode, the budget would not allow an elaborate scene to serve as the sequence played during the show's opening credits. Lear decided to have a simple scene of Archie and Edith singing at the piano.

text: The closing theme (an instrumental) was "Remembering You" played by Roger Kellaway with lyrics co-written by Carroll O'Connor. It was played over footage of the same row of houses in Queens as in the opening (but moving in the opposite direction down the street), and eventually moving back to aerial shots of Manhattan, suggesting the visit to the Bunkers' home has concluded. O'Connor recorded a vocal version of "Remembering You" for a record album, but though he performed it several times on TV appearances, the lyrics (about the end of a romance) were never heard in the actual series.

text: Except for some brief instances in the first season, no background or transitional music was used.

text: Setting and location[edit]

text: Lear and his writers set the series in the Queens neighborhood of Astoria. The location of the Bunkers' house at 704 Hauser Street is fictitious (no Hauser Street exists in Queens). The address is not presented the way addresses are given in Queens: all address numbers are hyphenated, containing the location of the nearest numbered street. Nevertheless, many episodes reveal that the Bunkers live near the major thoroughfare Northern Boulevard, which was the location of Kelsey's Bar and later Archie Bunker's Place.

text: The façade of the house shown at the show opening is a home located at 89-70 Cooper Avenue, Glendale, Queens, New York, across from St. John Cemetery (40°42′45″N 73°51′39″W / 40.712492°N 73.860784°W / 40.712492; -73.860784).[22]

text: Many real Queens institutions are mentioned throughout the series. Carroll O’Connor, a Queens native from Forest Hills, said in an interview with the Archive of American Television that he suggested to the writers many of the locations to give the series authenticity. For example, Archie is revealed to have attended Flushing High School, a real high school located in Flushing, Queens (although in the "Man Of The Year" episode of Archie Bunker's Place, Archie attended Bryant High School in Long Island City, graduating in 1940). As another example, the 1976 episode "The Baby Contest" deals with Archie entering baby Joey in a cutest baby contest sponsored by the Long Island Daily Press, a then-operating local newspaper in Queens and Long Island.

text: The writers of All in the Family continued throughout the series to have the Bunkers and other characters use telephone exchange names when giving a telephone number (most other series at the time, such as The Mary Tyler Moore Show, were using the standard fake 555 telephone number) at a time when AT&T was trying to discontinue them. At different times throughout the series, the telephone exchanges Ravenswood and Bayside were used for the Bunkers' telephone number. Both exchanges were and still are applicable names for phone numbers in the neighborhoods of Astoria and Bayside. This may have had to do with the fact that at the time many major cities in the United States, such as New York, were resisting the dropping of telephone exchange names in favor of all-number calling, and were still printing their telephone books with exchange names. Actual residents of the Bunkers' age continued using exchange names into the early 1980s. This fact is referred to in the 1979 episode "The Appendectomy", when Edith, while dialing a telephone number, uses the Parkview exchange name only to correct herself by saying that she keeps forgetting that it is all-number dialing now. However, she comes to the conclusion that the number is exactly the same either way.

text: Episodes[edit]

text:
Season
Episodes
Originally aired
Nielsen ratings[24]

First aired
Last aired
Rank
Rating

Pilots
2
1968
1969
N/A
N/A

1
13
January 12, 1971 (1971-01-12)
April 6, 1971 (1971-04-06)
34
18.9[25]

2
24
September 18, 1971 (1971-09-18)
March 11, 1972 (1972-03-11)
1
34.0

3
24
September 16, 1972 (1972-09-16)
March 24, 1973 (1973-03-24)
1
33.3

4
24
September 15, 1973 (1973-09-15)
March 16, 1974 (1974-03-16)
1
31.2

5
23
September 14, 1974 (1974-09-14)
March 8, 1975 (1975-03-08)
1
30.2

6
24
September 8, 1975 (1975-09-08)
March 8, 1976 (1976-03-08)
1
30.1

7
25
September 22, 1976 (1976-09-22)
March 12, 1977 (1977-03-12)
12
22.9

8
24
October 2, 1977 (1977-10-02)
March 19, 1978 (1978-03-19)
4
24.4
(Tied with 60 Minutes and Charlie's Angels)

9
24
September 24, 1978 (1978-09-24)
April 8, 1979 (1979-04-08)
9
24.9
(Tied with Taxi)

text: "Sammy's Visit," first broadcast in February 1972, is a particularly notable episode, whose famous episode-ending scene produced the longest sustained audience laughter in the history of the show. Guest star Sammy Davis, Jr. plays himself in the episode. Davis leaves a briefcase behind in Archie's taxi (Archie is moonlighting as a cab driver) and goes to the Bunker home to pick it up. After hearing Archie's racist remarks, Davis asks for a photograph with him. At the moment the picture is taken, Davis suddenly kisses a stunned Archie on the cheek. The ensuing laughter went on for so long that it had to be severely edited[26] for network broadcast, as Carroll O'Connor still had one line ("Well, what the hell — he said it was in his contract!") to deliver after the kiss. (The line is usually cut in syndication.)

text: Syndication[edit]

text: During the show's sixth season, starting on December 1, 1975, CBS began showing reruns on weekdays at 3PM (EST), replacing long-running soap opera The Edge of Night, which had been purchased by ABC. It would later move to 3:30pm and in September 1978, 10am. This lasted until September 1979, when the reruns entered off-network syndication by Viacom. The show was picked up in most television markets as such. In 1991, the show began to be syndicated by Columbia Pictures Television and has been by their heirs since then.

text: Since the late 1980s, All in the Family has been rerun on various cable and satellite networks including TBS (although they had the rights locally in Atlanta, as well), TV Land, and Nick at Nite. Since January 3, 2011, the show has been airing on Antenna TV.

text: The cast settled their residual rights for a cash payout early in the production run.[27]

text: Ratings[edit]

text: All in the Family is one of three television shows (The Cosby Show and American Idol being the others) that have been number one in the Nielsen ratings for five consecutive TV seasons. The show remained in the top 10 for seven of its nine seasons.

text:
Season
Time
Nielsen Ratings

Rank
Rating

1 (1970–71)
Tuesday at 9:30-10:00 pm on CBS
#34
18.9[28]

2 (1971–72)
Saturday at 8:00-8:30 pm on CBS
#1
34.0[29]

3 (1972–73)
33.3[30]

4 (1973–74)
31.2[31]

5 (1974–75)
30.2[32]

6 (1975–76)
Monday at 9:00-9:30 pm on CBS
30.1[33]

7 (1976–77)
Wednesday at 9:00-9:30 pm on CBS (September 22—October 27, 1976)
Saturday at 9:00-9:30 pm on CBS (November 6, 1976—March 12, 1977)
#12
22.9[34]

8 (1977–78)
Sunday at 9:00-9:30 pm on CBS
#4
24.4 (Tied with 60 Minutes and Charlie's Angels)[35]

9 (1978–79)
Sunday at 9:00-9:30 pm on CBS (September 24—October 1, 1978)
Sunday at 8:00-8:30 pm on CBS (October 8, 1978—April 8, 1979)
#9
24.9 (Tied with Taxi)[36]

text: The series finale was seen by 40.2 million viewers.[37]

text: Spin-offs[edit]

text: According to The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows 1946–Present, All in the Family has the most spin-offs for a prime-time television series, spawning five other shows, three of which were very successful and two of which are spin-offs from spin-offs.[38]

text:
The first spin-off was Maude, which debuted in September 1972. It features Edith's acerbic cousin Maude Findlay (Bea Arthur), who first appeared on All in the Family in the December 1971 episode "Cousin Maude's Visit", visiting to take care of the influenza-suffering Bunkers. In March 1972, at the end of the series' second season, the character was again featured in the episode "Maude". In this episode, a "back door pilot" for a new series, Archie and Edith visit her home in Westchester County to attend the wedding of her daughter Carol. Bill Macy played Maude's husband Walter and Marcia Rodd played Carol; Rodd was replaced by Adrienne Barbeau for the series. The show lasted for six seasons and 141 episodes, airing its final episode in April 1978.

Good Times is considered by some to be a spin off of Maude, as the show's focus was Florida Evans, a character first appearing on Maude during its initial seasons as the Findlays maid. But the character's history and situation were changed for the new show. According to producer Allan Manings, "It wasn't really a spin-off."[39] The show features no reference to Maude, changes the name of Florida's husband from Henry to James, and sets the show in a Chicago housing project. It ran for six seasons from February 1974 to August 1979.

The second and longest-lasting spin-off of All in the Family was The Jeffersons. Debuting on CBS in January 1975, The Jeffersons lasted 11 seasons and 253 episodes (more than All in the Family's nine seasons and 208 episodes). The main characters were the Bunkers' former next-door neighbors George and Louise Jefferson (Sherman Hemsley and Isabel Sanford). George was the owner of seven successful dry-cleaning stores, and the series featured their life after moving from the Bunkers' working-class neighborhood to a luxury high-rise apartment building in Manhattan's Upper East Side.

Checking In was spun off from The Jeffersons, focusing on the Jeffersons' maid Florence Johnston, working as an executive housekeeper at the St. Frederick Hotel in Manhattan. It only lasted four weeks in April 1981, and the character returned to her old job as the Jeffersons' maid.

Gloria was the third spin-off of All in the Family, focusing on now-divorced Gloria, starting a new life as an assistant trainee to a couple of veterinarians in Foxridge, New York. It premiered in September 1982, and ran for one season.
Archie Bunker's Place was technically a spin-off, but was essentially a renamed continuation of the series, beginning in September 1979 following the final season of the original. It was primarily set in the titular neighborhood tavern which Archie Bunker purchased in the eighth-season of All in the Family. It aired for four seasons, until April 1983.
704 Hauser features the Bunkers' house with a new family. It was an inversion of the formula of the original, featuring a liberal African-American couple with a conservative son, who is dating a white Jewish woman. Gloria and Mike's son Joey Stivic, now in his twenties, makes a brief appearance in the first episode. Five episodes aired in April and May 1994.

text: Specials[edit]

text: At the height of the show's popularity, Henry Fonda hosted a special one-hour retrospective of All in the Family and its impact on American television. Included were clips from the show's most memorable episodes up to that time. It was titled The Best of "All in the Family", and aired on December 21, 1974.

text: A 90-minute retrospective, All in the Family 20th Anniversary Special, was produced to commemorate the show's 20th anniversary and aired on CBS on February 16, 1991. It was hosted by Norman Lear, and featured a compilation of clips from the show's best moments, and interviews with the four main cast members. The special was so well received by the viewing audience CBS aired reruns of All in the Family during their summer schedule in 1991,[40] garnering higher ratings than the new series scheduled next to it, Norman Lear's sitcom Sunday Dinner. The latter was Lear's return to TV series producing after a seven-year absence, and was cancelled after the six-week tryout run.[citation needed]

text: DVD releases[edit]

text: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment (formerly Columbia TriStar Home Entertainment) released the first six seasons of All in the Family on DVD in Region 1 between 2002 and 2007. No further seasons were released, because the sales figures did not match Sony's expectations.

text: On June 23, 2010, Shout! Factory announced that it had acquired the rights to the series, and has since released the remaining three seasons.[41][42][43][44]

text: On October 30, 2012, Shout! Factory released All in the Family - The Complete Series on DVD in Region 1. The 28-disc boxed set features all 208 episodes of the series, as well as bonus features.[45]

text:
DVD Name
Ep #
Release Date

The Complete First Season
13
March 26, 2002

The Complete Second Season
24
February 4, 2003

The Complete Third Season
24
July 20, 2004

The Complete Fourth Season
24
April 12, 2005

The Complete Fifth Season
25
January 3, 2006

The Complete Sixth Season
24
February 13, 2007

The Complete Seventh Season
25
October 5, 2010

The Complete Eighth Season
24
January 11, 2011

The Complete Ninth Season
24
May 17, 2011

The Complete Series
208
October 30, 2012

text: Cultural impact[edit]

text: As one of US television's most acclaimed and groundbreaking programs, All in the Family has been referenced or parodied in countless other forms of media. References on other sitcoms include That '70s Show and The Simpsons. The animated series Family Guy pays homage to All in the Family in the opening sequence which features Peter and Lois Griffin playing the piano and singing a lament on the loss of traditional values and also paid tribute to the ending credits of the show at the end of the episode "Stewie Loves Lois".

text: Popular T-shirts, buttons, and bumper stickers showing O'Connor's image and farcically promoting "Archie Bunker for President" appeared around the time of the 1972 presidential election. In 1998, All in the Family was honored on a 33-cent stamp by the USPS.[46]

text: Archie and Edith Bunker's chairs are on display in the Smithsonian National Museum of American History.[47] The originals had been purchased by the show's set designer for a few dollars at a local Goodwill thrift store, and were given to the Smithsonian (for an exhibit on American television history) in 1978. It cost producers thousands of dollars to create replicas to replace the originals.

text: Then-US President Richard Nixon can be heard[48] discussing the show (specifically the 1971 episodes "Writing the President" and "Judging Books by Covers") on one of the infamous Watergate tapes.[49]

text: Rapper Redman has made references to Archie Bunker in a few of his songs, specifically his smoking of large cigars.[50]

text: Awards and nominations[edit]

text: All in the Family is the first of four sitcoms in which all the lead actors (O'Connor, Stapleton, Struthers, and Reiner) won Primetime Emmy Awards. The other three are The Golden Girls, The Simpsons, and Will and Grace.

text: Primetime Emmy awards and nominations[edit]

text:
Outstanding New Series (Won)
Outstanding Series - Comedy (Won)
Outstanding Continued Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Comedy Series: Carroll O'Connor (Nominated)
Outstanding Continued Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Comedy Series: Jean Stapleton (Won)
Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Comedy: John Rich for "Gloria's Pregnant" (Nominated)
Outstanding Writing Achievement in Comedy:

Norman Lear for "Meet the Bunkers" (Nominated)
Stanley Ralph Ross for "Oh, My Aching Back" (Nominated)

text:
Outstanding Series - Comedy (Won)
Outstanding Single Program - Drama or Comedy for "Sammy's Visit" (Nominated)
Outstanding Achievement in Live or Tape Sound Mixing: Norman Dewes for "The Elevator Story" (Won)
Outstanding Continued Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Comedy Series: Carroll O'Connor (Won)
Outstanding Continued Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Comedy Series: Jean Stapleton (Won)
Outstanding Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Comedy Series: Rob Reiner (Nominated)
Outstanding Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Comedy Series: Sally Struthers (Won)
Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Comedy: John Rich for "Sammy's Visit" (Won)
Outstanding Writing Achievement in Comedy:

Burt Styler for "Edith's Problem" (Won)
Alan J. Levitt and Philip Mishkin for "Mike's Problem" (Nominated)
Norman Lear and Burt Styler for "The Saga of Cousin Oscar" (Nominated)

text:
Outstanding Comedy Series (Won)
Outstanding Continued Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Comedy Series: Carroll O'Connor (Nominated)
Outstanding Continued Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Comedy Series: Jean Stapleton (Nominated)
Outstanding Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Comedy Series: Rob Reiner (Nominated)
Outstanding Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Comedy Series: Sally Struthers (Nominated)
Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Comedy: Bob LaHendro and John Rich for "The Bunkers and the Swingers" (Nominated)
Outstanding Writing Achievement in Comedy: Lee Kalcheim & Michael Ross & Bernie West for "The Bunkers and the Swingers" (Won)

text:
Outstanding Comedy Series (Nominated)
Best Lead Actor in a Comedy Series: Carroll O'Connor (Nominated)
Best Lead Actress in a Comedy Series: Jean Stapleton (Nominated)
Best Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series: Rob Reiner (Won)
Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series: Sally Struthers (Nominated)

text:
Outstanding Comedy Series (Nominated)
Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series: Carroll O'Connor (Nominated)
Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series: Jean Stapleton (Nominated)
Outstanding Continuing Performance by a Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series: Rob Reiner (Nominated)

text: Outstanding Comedy Series (Nominated)

text:
Outstanding Comedy Series (Nominated)
Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series: Carroll O'Connor (Won)
Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series: Jean Stapleton (Nominated)
Outstanding Directing for a Comedy Series: Paul Bogart for "The Draft Dodger" (Nominated)
Outstanding Art Direction or Scenic Design for a Comedy Series: Don Roberts for "The Unemployment Story" (Nominated)

text:
Outstanding Comedy Series (Won)
Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series: Carroll O'Connor (Won)
Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series: Jean Stapleton (Won)
Outstanding Continuing Performance by a Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series: Rob Reiner (Won)
Outstanding Continuing Performance by a Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series: Sally Struthers (Nominated)
Outstanding Directing for a Comedy Series: Paul Bogart for "Edith's 50th Birthday" (Won)
Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series:

Bob Schiller and Bob Weiskopf for "Edith's 50th Birthday" (Nominated)
Larry Rhine & Erik Tarloff & Mel Tolkin for "Edith's Crisis of Faith" (Nominated)
Harve Brosten & Barry Harman & Bob Schiller & Bob Weiskopf for "Cousin Liz" (Won)

text:
Outstanding Comedy Series (Nominated)
Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series: Carroll O'Connor (Won)
Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series: Jean Stapleton (Nominated)
Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy, Comedy-Variety, or Music Series: Sally Struthers (Won)
Outstanding Directing for a Comedy, Comedy-Variety, or Music Series: Paul Bogart for "California, Here We Are" (Nominated)
Outstanding Writing for a Comedy, Comedy-Variety, or Music Series: Milt Josefsberg & Bob Schiller & Phil Sharp & Bob Weiskopf for "California, Here We Are" (Nominated)
Outstanding Video Tape Editing for a Series: Harvey W. Berger and Hal Collins for "The 200th Episode Celebration of 'All in the Family'" (Nominated)

text: Golden Globe Awards and Nominations[edit]

text:
Best TV Show - Musical/Comedy (Won)
Best TV Actor - Musical/Comedy: Carroll O'Connor (Won)
Best TV Actress - Musical/Comedy: Jean Stapleton (Nominated)
Best Supporting Actor - Television: Rob Reiner (Nominated)
Best Supporting Actress - Television: Sally Struthers (Nominated)

text:
Best TV Show - Musical/Comedy (Won)
Best TV Actor - Musical/Comedy: Carroll O'Connor (Nominated)
Best TV Actress - Musical/Comedy: Jean Stapleton (Won)
Best Supporting Actor - Television: Rob Reiner (Nominated)
Best Supporting Actress - Television: Sally Struthers (Nominated)

text:
Best TV Show - Musical/Comedy (Nominated)
Best TV Actor - Musical/Comedy: Carroll O'Connor (Nominated)
Best TV Actress - Musical/Comedy: Jean Stapleton (Nominated)
Best Supporting Actress - Television: Betty Garrett (Won)

text:
Best TV Actor - Musical/Comedy: Carroll O'Connor (Nominated)
Best Supporting Actor - Television: Rob Reiner (Nominated)

text:
Best TV Series - Musical/Comedy (Won)
Best TV Actor - Musical/Comedy: Carroll O'Connor (Nominated)
Best TV Actress - Musical/Comedy: Jean Stapleton (Nominated)

text:
Best TV Series - Musical/Comedy (Nominated)
Best TV Actress - Musical/Comedy: Jean Stapleton (Nominated)

text: Best TV Actress - Musical/Comedy: Jean Stapleton (Nominated)

text: TCA Heritage Award[edit]

text: In 2013, the Television Critics Association honored All in the Family with its Heritage Award for its cultural and social impact on society.[51]


document_title: Bozo the Clown

question_text: who played bozo the clown in the 90s

question_tokens: who played bozo the clown in the 90s

root

text: Bozo the Clown

text: Creation and History[edit]

text: The character was created by Alan W. Livingston and portrayed by Pinto Colvig for a children's storytelling record album and illustrative read-along book set in 1946, the character became popular during the 1940s and served as the mascot for the record company Capitol Records.

tag: p

text: The character first appeared on US television in 1949 portrayed by Colvig. After the creative rights to Bozo were purchased by Larry Harmon in 1956, the character became a common franchise across the United States, with local television stations producing their own Bozo shows featuring the character. Harmon bought out his business partners in 1965 and produced Bozo's Big Top for syndication to local television markets not producing their own Bozo shows in 1966, while Chicago's Bozo's Circus, which premiered in 1960, went national via cable and satellite in 1978.

text: Performers to have played Bozo, aside from Colvig and Harmon, include Willard Scott (1959–1962), Frank Avruch (1928-2018) (portrayed between 1959–1970),[1] Bob Bell (1960–1984), and Joey D'Auria (1984–2001). Bozo TV shows were also produced in other countries including Mexico, Brazil, Greece, Australia and Thailand.

text: Animation feature[edit]

text: Bozo appeared in the animated series Bozo: The World's Most Famous Clown.

text: Franchises and Licensing[edit]

text: Bozo was created as a character by Livingston, who produced a children's storytelling record-album and illustrative read-along book set, the first of its kind, titled Bozo at the Circus for Capitol Records and released in October 1946.[2] Colvig portrayed the character on this and subsequent Bozo read-along records. The albums were very popular and the character became a mascot for the record company and was later nicknamed "Bozo the Capitol Clown." Many non-Bozo Capitol children's records had a "Bozo Approved" label on the jacket. In 1948, Capitol and Livingston began setting up royalty arrangements with manufacturers and television stations for use of the Bozo character. KTTV in Los Angeles began broadcasting the first show, Bozo's Circus, in 1949 featuring Colvig as Bozo with his blue-and-red costume, oversized red hair and whiteface clown makeup on Fridays at 7:30 p.m.

text: In 1956, Larry Harmon, one of several actors hired by Livingston and Capitol Records to portray Bozo at promotional appearances, formed a business partnership and bought the licensing rights (excluding the record-readers) to the character when Livingston briefly left Capitol in 1956. Harmon renamed the character "Bozo, The World's Most Famous Clown" and modified the voice, laugh and costume. He then worked with a wig stylist to get the wing-tipped bright orange style and look of the hair that had previously appeared in Capitol's Bozo comic books. He started his own animation studio and distributed (through Jayark Films Corporation) a series of cartoons (with Harmon as the voice of Bozo) to television stations, along with the rights for each to hire its own live Bozo host,[2] beginning with KTLA-TV in Los Angeles on January 5, 1959 and starring Vance Colvig, Jr., son of the original "Bozo the Clown," Pinto Colvig.

text: Unlike many other shows on television, "Bozo the Clown" was mostly a franchise as opposed to being syndicated, meaning that local TV stations could put on their own local productions of the show complete with their own Bozo. Another show that had previously used this model successfully was fellow children's program Romper Room. Because each market used a different portrayer for the character, the voice and look of each market's Bozo also differed slightly. One example is the voice and laugh of Chicago's WGN-TV Bob Bell, who also wore a red costume throughout the first decade of his portrayal.

text: The wigs for Bozo were originally manufactured through the Hollywood firm Emil Corsillo Inc. The company designed and manufactured toupees and wigs for the entertainment industry. Bozo's headpiece was made from yak hair, which was adhered to a canvas base with a starched burlap interior foundation. The hair was styled and formed, then sprayed with a heavy coat of lacquer to keep its form. From time to time, the headpiece needed freshening and was sent to the Hollywood factory for a quick refurbishing. The canvas top would slide over the actor's forehead. With the exception of the Bozo wigs for WGN-TV Chicago, the eyebrows were permanently painted on the headpiece.

text: In 1965, Harmon bought out his business partners and became the sole owner of the licensing rights. Thinking that one national show that he fully owned would be more profitable for his company, Harmon produced 130 of his own half-hour shows from 1965 to 1967 titled Bozo's Big Top which aired on Boston's WHDH-TV (now WCVB-TV) with Boston's Bozo, Frank Avruch, for syndication in 1966. Avruch's portrayal and look of Bozo resembled Harmon's more so than most of the other portrayer's at the time. Avruch was enlisted by UNICEF as an international ambassador and was featured in a documentary, Bozo's Adventures in Asia.[3]

text: The show's distribution network included New York City, Los Angeles, Washington, D.C. and Boston at one point, though most television stations still preferred to continue producing their own versions. The most popular local version was Bob Bell and WGN-TV Chicago's Bozo's Circus, which went national via cable and satellite in 1978 and had a waiting list for studio audience reservations that eventually reached ten years.[2]

text: Bell retired in 1984 and was replaced by Joey D'Auria. The WGN version successfully survived competition from syndicated and network children's programs until 1994, when WGN management decided to get out of the weekday children's television business and buried The Bozo Show in an early Sunday timeslot as The Bozo Super Sunday Show. It suffered another blow in 1997, when its format became educational following a Federal Communications Commission mandate requiring broadcast television stations to air a minimum three hours of educational children's programs per week.

text: In 2001, station management controversially ended production, citing increased competition from newer children's cable channels. In 2005, WGN's Bozo returned to television in a two-hour retrospective titled Bozo, Gar and Ray: WGN TV Classics. The primetime premiere was #1 in the Chicago market and continues to be rebroadcast and streamed live worldwide during the holiday season each year. In 2003, Harmon released six of his Bozo's Big Top programs with Avruch on DVD and 2 box sets of 30 episodes each in 2007 retitled "Larry Harmon's Bozo, The World's Most Famous Clown Vols.1 & 2." The WGN Bozo shows have not been released commercially in any video format.

text: On July 3, 2008, Larry Harmon died of congestive heart failure at the age of 83. On March 13, 2009, Alan W. Livingston died of age-related causes at the age of 91. On October 2, 2010, The New York Times reported that the father of U.S. Senate candidate Christine O'Donnell "worked a series of small television roles before scoring his signature gig, playing Bozo the Clown."[4] But upon further investigation, a New York Times follow-up two days later reported that the father, Daniel O'Donnell, was an assistant and understudy for the full-time local television Bozo in Philadelphia and would fill in for the full-time Bozo when the latter was unavailable.[5]

text: Bozo the Clown series by locality[edit]

text: Boston TV[edit]

text: The Bozo franchise appeared on two separate Boston-area stations from 1959 to 1974.

text: WHDH-TV Boston[edit]

text: The local WHDH-TV Boston production of Bozo's Circus, with Frank Avruch playing Bozo, aired daily from 1959 until 1970.[6] In 1965, Larry Harmon became the sole owner of the Bozo licensing rights after buying out his business partners and produced 130 episodes of the Boston-based Bozo show between 1965 and 1967 and syndicated them to local U.S. television markets that did not produce their own Bozo shows. The half-hour syndicated shows were retitled Bozo The Clown (on episodes with a 1965 date) and Bozo's Big Top (on episodes with a 1966 date). Caroll Spinney (billed in the credits as Ed Spinney) appeared as various characters which included "Mr. Lion" and "Kookie the Boxing Kangaroo". He later went on to portray "Big Bird" and "Oscar the Grouch" on the PBS series Sesame Street. Carl Carlsson also appeared as Bozo's sidekick Professor Tweedy Foofer. Ruth Carlsson also appeared in several 1966 episodes. Harmon supervised the taping of these episodes, with Harmon-approved characters added, some based on characters in Harmon's classic 1958-1962 animated Bozo cartoon shorts which also aired in each episode. These were the only Bozo shows Harmon fully owned. Bozo's frequent exclamations on the show included, "Whoa, Nellie!", "Wowie Kazowie!" and always ended the show with, "Always keep laughing!"

text: The Boston show also occasionally featured Nozo the Clown, the brother of Bozo, played by Bill Harrington. Nozo was used to fill in for Bozo on occasion when Frank Avruch was unable to appear on the show.[7]

text: In 2003, Harmon released six of these shows on DVD and, in 2007, 30 of them in a DVD box set titled Larry Harmon's Bozo, The World's Most Famous Clown, Collection 1. A second box set was released later that year, also containing 30 of the half-hours; the second box set (Collection 2) includes the six episodes previously released on the two earlier single DVD releases, and also repeats one show from Collection 1, for a grand total of 59 episodes released on DVD altogether. Although the shows included on the two single-disc DVDs had contemporary computer-animated characters superimposed over some scenes, the 59 episodes included in Collections 1 & 2 are presented in their original form.

text: On March 20, 2018 Frank Avruch died of heart failure in Boston at the age of 89.[6]

text: WSMW-TV Worcester[edit]

text: From 1970 to 1974, WSMW-TV, an independent station in Worcester, Massachusetts, west of Boston, produced Bozo's Big Top, their local version of the Bozo the Clown franchise. Tom Matzell played Bozo, alongside Gene Sanocki as Bozo's sidekick Professor Tweetyfoofer. Local children were featured on the program daily, with many waiting up to one year or more for their chance to be on the show.

text: Washington, D.C.[edit]

text: Willard Scott played Bozo on WRC-TV from 1959-1962. Dick Dyszel played the character on Washington, D.C. broadcast TV, WDCA channel 20, in the 1970s to millions of viewers. Dyszel also played TV horror host "Count Gore De vol" and hosted "Captain 20" afternoon kids TV shows in D.C.

text: Chicago TV[edit]

text: The Chicago Bozo franchise was the most popular and successful locally produced children's program in the history of television. It also became the most widely known Bozo show as WGN-TV became a national cable television Superstation. WGN-TV Chicago's "Bozo" show debuted on June 20, 1960 starring Bob Bell on a live half-hour program weekdays at noon, performing comedy sketches and introducing cartoons. The series was placed on hiatus in January 1961 to facilitate WGN's move from Tribune Tower in downtown Chicago to 2501 West Bradley Place on the city's northwest side. WGN-TV's "Bozo's Circus" debuted on September 11, 1961.[8]

text: The live hour-long show aired weekdays at noon and featured comedy sketches, circus acts, cartoons, games and prizes before a 200+ member studio audience. The program began airing nationally via cable and satellite in 1978, and studio audience reservations surpassed a 10-year wait. In 1980, the series moved to weekday mornings as "The Bozo Show" and aired on tape delay. In 1994, it moved to Sunday mornings as "The Bozo Super Sunday Show" and became "education and information" in 1997 following a Federal Communications Commission mandate requiring broadcast television stations to air a minimum three hours per week of "educational and informational" children's programs. The final Bozo show, a primetime special titled "Bozo: 40 Years of Fun!" was taped on June 12, 2001 and aired on July 14, 2001. Reruns of "The Bozo Super Sunday Show" aired until August 26, 2001.

text: Cast members throughout the program's 40-year run included Bob Bell as Bozo (1960–1984) (Bell's voice was later the pattern for that of Krusty the Clown on The Simpsons), Ned Locke as Ringmaster Ned (1961–1976), Don Sandburg as Sandy the Tramp (1961–1969), Ray Rayner as Oliver O. Oliver (1961–1971), Roy Brown as Cooky the Cook (1968–1994), Marshall Brodien as Wizzo the Wizard (1968–1994), Frazier Thomas as the circus manager (1976–1985), Joey D'Auria as Bozo (1984–2001), Andy Mitran as Professor Andy (1987–2001) and Robin Eurich as Rusty the Handyman (1994–2001). Bozo returned to television on December 24, 2005 in a two-hour retrospective titled "Bozo, Gar & Ray: WGN TV Classics." The primetime premiere was #1 in the Chicago market and continues to be nationally rebroadcast annually during the holiday season. Bozo also continues to appear on the WGN-TV float in Chicago's biggest parades.

text: Allen Hall, the long-time producer of "Bozo's Circus" and "The Bozo Show" on WGN-TV, died September 6, 2011 after an 18-month battle with lung cancer at the age of 82. Hall worked at WGN for 40 years. He joined the station in 1961, a year after "Bozo" debuted on WGN, as the show's director until 1966 and returned to the program as producer in 1973 until 2001.

text: Few episodes from the shows' first two decades survive; although videotapes were made of the live shows to air as reruns, they were reused and eventually discarded. In 2012, a vintage tape was located on the Walter J. Brown Media Archives & Peabody Awards Collection Web site archive list by Rick Klein of The Museum of Classic Chicago Television, containing material from two 1971 episodes. WGN re-acquired the tape and put together a new special entitled "Bozo's Circus: The Lost Tape" which aired in December 2012.[9]

text: Brazilian TV[edit]

text: In 1979, Brazil's most famous TV show host Silvio Santos (founder and owner of the SBT television network) decided to produce a national version of Bozo show for the former TVS-Record TV alliance station. Comedian Wandeko Pipoca was chosen by Larry Harmon to be the first Brazilian Bozo. Brazilian characters were created for the Brazilian Bozo show, like Salci Fufu — played by famous comedian Pedro de Lara — and Vovó Mafalda, played by Valentino Guzzo. With the clown's large success in Brazil, two more actors, Luís Ricardo and Arlindo Barreto, were hired to play Bozo for additional shows which ran from mornings to afternoons and more comedians were chosen to play Bozo in other parts of the country. Brazil's Bozo shows ended in 1991, following the death of Décio Roberto, the last actor to portray the clown in that country. Brazil's Bozo won five Troféu Imprensa, a Brazilian award given to personalities and productions in the media (in 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987 and 1989), as well as three Gold Albums. In the last years of the program, UNESCO bestowed the Brazilian Bozo with its Ambassador of Goodwill recognition, for its outstanding success among children and the youth.

text: In 2012, when the audience of children´s shows started to fall, SBT decided to rehire the clown to a new building on the success of the program clowns Patati Patatá who also had a program on the same channel. But, unlike the 1980s versions, the character ended up being very poorly received by the public. A criticism was having its premiere in early children's program Bom Dia e Companhia, for having almost any program designed just for your cartoon. Bozo continued to show up to receive their own program in 2013 on Saturday mornings, but the program ended up being a failure and canceled after a month. After that the channel decided to return it to Bom Dia e Companhia, but did not please the public again making it out of the air.

text: The contract with Larry Harmon Productions continues until 2015.

text: Mexican TV[edit]

text: In 1961, Mario Quintanilla, chairman of XEFB-TV Channel 3 obtained the local rights of the Bozo Cartoons, including the authorization of the Bozo characterization. José Marroquín (who later became famous with his Pipo character) was chosen as the first Mexican Bozo. He portrayed the character on local XHX-TV Channel 10 Monterrey television shows until 1963, when the licensing rights ended. After that, Jose Manuel Vargas Martinez, under sponsorship by Antonio Espino (famous comedy actor of the late 1940s and 1950s, known by his nickname, Clavillazo), portrayed the character. He was the most famous Bozo in Latin America and created his own version of Bozo's Circus, which traveled all along Latin America for decades. He started as a television artist participating in a dance marathon he won dressed as Bozo. After his success as Bozo, he traveled to several countries representing the Bozo character. He made special presentations in Italy, Greece, Spain, Hawaii and Canada with his circus. In 2000, he received the ANDA's Arozamena Award for 50 years of uninterrupted career. He died one year later, October 19, 2001 due to a lung disease.

text: In Mexico, television star, comedian and political commentator Víctor Trujillo created the character "Brozo, El Payaso Tenebroso" (Brozo, the Creepy Clown) in 1988 as a parody of Bozo for a TV Azteca program with Ausencio Cruz called La Caravana (The Caravan). He pleased the audience with double-entendres and adult humor, telling sarcastic and sometimes obscene versions of classic children's tales. He became so popular that TV Azteca asked him to join the reporters and anchors during coverage of the FIFA World Cup in 1990, 1994 and 1998, also doing the same with Televisa for the 2002 World Cup. He also gave his commentary on the Olympics, starting with the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona, Spain until the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece. From 2000 to 2004, Trujillo as Brozo was the anchor of a popular and successful television news show, El Mañanero. It was first broadcast on Canal 40 XHTVM-TV and later Televisa's 4TV from 2001 onwards. Trujillo discontinued the Brozo character following the death of his wife, producer Carolina Padilla, but brought back Brozo in a new television program that began in early 2006 on Televisa's Canal de las Estrellas, "El Notifiero." He is considered an influential political commentator in Mexico.

text: Ronald McDonald[edit]

text: Immediately following Willard Scott's three-year-run as WRC-TV Washington, D.C.'s Bozo, the show's sponsors, McDonald's drive-in restaurant franchisees John Gibson and Oscar Goldstein (Gee Gee Distributing Corporation), hired Scott to portray "Ronald McDonald, the Hamburger-Happy Clown" for their local commercials on the character's first three television 'spots.' McDonald's replaced Scott with other actors for their national commercials and the character's costume was changed. One of them was Ray Rayner (Oliver O. Oliver on WGN-TV's Bozo's Circus), who appeared in McDonald's national ads in 1968. In the mid 1960s, Andy Amyx, performing as Bozo on Jacksonville, Florida, television station WFGA, was hired to do local appearances of Ronald McDonald periodically. Andy recalls having to return the wardrobe to the agency after each performance.

text: Actors[edit]

text: The following is a partial list of Bozo television portrayers since the original (Pinto Colvig):

text: Frank Avruch (1959–1970)

tag: ul

text: (Produced at WHDH-TV Boston 1965–1967 and syndicated to U.S. TV markets that were not producing their own local versions at the time, including New York City, Los Angeles & Washington, D.C. These were the only Bozo shows that were wholly owned and syndicated by Larry Harmon Pictures Corporation, 60 of which are currently available on worldwide DVD distribution entitled "Bozo The World's Most Famous Clown" Volumes 1 & 2.) On March 20, 2018 Avruch died at age 89 after a long fight against heart disease.[10]

text:
Bob Bell (1960–1984) at Superstation WGN Chicago
Joey D'Auria (1984–2001) at Superstation WGN Chicago

text: (WGN's signal-reach throughout North America included the U.S., Canada, Mexico, and the Caribbean among others. 2005 retrospective titled Bozo, Gar & Ray: WGN TV Classics continues to air annually. WGN's Bozo show is recognized as the most popular and successful locally produced children's program in the history of television, boasting a 10-year-wait for studio audience reservations and over 40 years in production.)

text: Local TV Bozos[edit]

text:
Austin, Texas

James Franklin Davis III at KHFI TV 42[11]

Baltimore, Maryland

Stu Kerr (1960s) at WMAR-TV

Bangor, Maine

Mike Dolley (1962–1967) at WABI-TV

Birmingham, Alabama

Bart Darby (1961–1962) at WBRC-TV
Ward McIntyre (1962–1968) at WBRC-TV

Boston, Massachusetts

Frank Avruch (1959–1970) at WHDH-TV (now WCVB-TV)

Buffalo, New York

Francis X Stack at WUTV-TV

Belo Horizonte, Brazil[12]

Jonas Santos (1980's) at TV Alterosa
Evandro Antunes (1980's) at TV Alterosa

Brazil (national broadcasting based in São Paulo)[13]

Wandeko Pipoca (1980-1981) at TV Record São Paulo and TVS Rio de Janeiro; at SBT (1981-1982)
Luis Ricardo (1982-1990) at SBT
Arlindo Barreto (1983-1986) at SBT
Marcos Pajé (now Marcos Fiel) (1983-1986) at SBT
Luiz Leandro (1985-1986) at SBT
Edilson Oliveira (1986-1987) at SBT
Décio Roberto (1986-1991) at SBT
Paulo Seyssel (1980's) at SBT
André Luiz Sucesso (2007-2011, guest appearances) at SBT
Jean Santos (2012-2014) at SBT

Charlotte, North Carolina

Jim Patterson (1962–1966) at WBTV-TV

Chicago, Illinois

Bob Bell (1960–1984) at WGN-TV
Joey D'Auria (1984–2001) at WGN-TV

Dayton/Springfield, Ohio

David Eaton (early 1970s) at WSWO-TV

Denver, Colorado

Ned Austin (1956-1961) at KUSA (KBTV Channel 9)

Detroit, Michigan (see also Windsor, Ontario)

Bob McNea (1959–1967) at WWJ-TV
Jerry Booth (1967) at CKLW-TV
Art Cervi (1967–1979) at CKLW-TV (1967–1975) and WJBK-TV (1975–1979)
Andrew F. Smith (1991–1997) at WADL (TV)[citation needed]

El Paso, Texas

Howell Eurich (1968–1972) at KROD-TV

Flint, Michigan

Frank Cady (1967–1979)[14] at WJRT-TV

Fort Wayne, Indiana

Dan Berry (1987-1989)

Grand Rapids, Michigan

Bill Merchant (August 1966 – 1968) at WZZM-TV
Dick Richards (1968–1999) at WZZM-TV

Green Bay, Wisconsin

Jerry Drake(1960's) at WLUK-TV

Jacksonville, Florida

Andrew H. Amyx (1961–1966) at WFGA-TV (now WTLV-TV)
Bill Boydston (1967-1975) at WFGA-TV (now WTLV-TV)

Roger Bowers as WJHL-TV Johnson City, Tennessee's Bozo.

Roger Bowers (1960-1961) at WJHL-TV (Bowers used a ventriloquist dummy that looked like Bozo's "little pal Butchie" in the cartoons.)

Little Rock, Arkansas

Gary Weir (1966–early 1970s) at KATV-TV; also (late 1980s) at KARK-TV; also at KAIT-TV in Jonesboro, Arkansas (1970s–1980s); also at KLRT-TV in Little Rock in the late 1980s.

Los Angeles, California

Vance Colvig, Jr. (1959–1964) at KTLA-TV (son of the original Bozo the Clown)

Memphis, Tennessee

Jim Chapin (1955) at WHBQ-TV

Mexico City

Jose Manuel Vargas (1960s–1990s) at Canal de las Estrellas

Miami, Florida

Alan Rock (1968–1970) at WAJA-TV

Moline, Illinois

Keith Andrews (1967) at WQAD-TV

Monterrey

Jose Marroquin (1961–1963) at XHX-TV

Nashville, Tennessee

Tom Tichenor (1959) at WSM-TV (now WSM-TV) (WSM-TV later became WSMV-TV)
Dick Brackett (late 1959–1966) at WSM-TV (now WSM-TV) (Tom Tichenor accepted a Broadway show opportunity and Dick Brackett took his place.)
Joe Holcombe (mid 1960s - late 1970's) at WSIX-TV (now WKRN-TV). His wife played Cousin Littlefoot, an Indian Maid Clown.
Jim Kent (late 1960 to early 1970s) at WSIX-TV (now WKRN-TV)

New Bedford, Massachusetts

Bennett B. Schneider IV (1970–1972) at WTEV-TV (now WLNE-TV)

New Orleans, Louisiana

Samuel "Sonny" Tustin Adams, Jr. (1957-?) at WWL-TV[15]
Rob Labby 1970's

New York City, New York

Bill Britten (1959–1964) at WPIX-TV
Gordon Ramsey (1969–1970) at WOR-TV

Orlando, Florida

Alan Rock (1971–1974) at WFTV-TV

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Doug Wing (1969) (WTAF-TV)
Craig Michael Mann (1970) (WTAF-TV)
Deon Aumier (1989–1990) at WGBS-TV
Bob McCone (1990–1994) (WGBS-TV)

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Deeny Kaplan at WPGH-TV

Providence, Rhode Island

Jeremy Baker at WNAC-TV

Raleigh, North Carolina

Paul Montgomery (1960–1961) at WRAL-TV

Rio de Janeiro, Brasil

Charles Myara (1980's) at TVS Rio de Janeiro
Nani Souza (1980's) at TVS Rio de Janeiro

Richmond, Virginia

Jerry Harrell (until 1974) at WTVR-TV

Salvador, Bahia, Brazil

Cau Alves (1980's) at TV Itapoan

Shreveport, Louisiana at KTBS-TV

Joe Miot (1967–1968)
Terry MacDonald (now Mac McDonald) (1968)
Drew Hunter (1969–1970)

Sioux Falls, South Dakota

Pat Tobin (1960–1962) at KSOO-TV

Syracuse, New York

Mike Lattif (1971-1972) at WNYS-TV (now WSYR-TV)

Toledo, Ohio

Jim Chaplin (1960's) at WSPD-TV

Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, Minnesota

Roger Erickson (c. 1959–63) at WCCO-TV

Utica, New York

Ed Whittaker (early to late 1960s) at WKTV-TV

Washington, D.C.

Willard Scott (1959–1962) at WRC-TV
Tony Alexi (1971-1972) at WDCA-TV
Dick Dyszel (1972–1977) at WDCA-TV

Windsor, Ontario (see also Detroit, Michigan)

Jerry Booth (1967) CKLW-TV
Art Cervi (1967–1975) at CKLW-TV

Worcester, Massachusetts

Tom Matzell (1970–1974) at WSMW-TV


document_title: This Is Us (TV series)

question_text: what is the triplets birthday in this is us

text: This Is Us (TV series)

text: Premise[edit]

text: The series follows the lives of siblings Kevin, Kate, and Randall (known as the "Big Three"), and their parents Jack and Rebecca Pearson. It takes place in the present and using flashbacks, at various times in the past. Kevin and Kate are the two surviving members of a triplet pregnancy, born six weeks premature on Jack's 36th birthday in 1980; their brother is stillborn. Believing they were meant to have three children, Jack and Rebecca, who are white, decide to adopt Randall, a black child born the same day and brought to the same hospital after his biological father abandoned him at a fire station. Jack dies when his children are 17.

text: Most episodes feature a storyline taking place in the present (2016–2018, contemporaneous with airing) and a storyline taking place at a set time in the past; but some episodes are set in one time period or use multiple flashback time periods. Flashbacks often focus on Jack and Rebecca c.1980 both before and after their babies' birth, or on the family when the Big Three are children (at least ages 8–10) or adolescents; these scenes usually take place in Pittsburgh, where the Big Three are born and raised. Various other time periods and locations have also served a settings. As adults, Kate lives in Los Angeles, Randall and his family are in New Jersey, and Kevin relocates from Los Angeles to New York City.

text: Cast and characters[edit]

text: Main[edit]

text:
Milo Ventimiglia as Jack Pearson: Rebecca's husband, and Kate, Kevin, and Randall's father.
Mandy Moore as Rebecca Pearson (née Malone): Jack's wife, and Kate, Kevin, and Randall's mother.
Sterling K. Brown as Randall Pearson: Jack and Rebecca's adopted son, and Kate and Kevin's brother. Also played by Niles Fitch (ages 15–17) and Lonnie Chavis (ages 8–10).
Chrissy Metz as Kate Pearson: Jack and Rebecca's daughter, and Kevin and Randall's sister. Also played by Hannah Zeile (ages 15–17) and Mackenzie Hancsicsak (ages 8–10).
Justin Hartley as Kevin Pearson: Jack and Rebecca's son, and Kate and Randall's brother. Also played by Logan Shroyer (ages 15–17) and Parker Bates (ages 8–10).
Susan Kelechi Watson as Beth Pearson: Randall's wife, and mother of Tess and Annie.
Chris Sullivan as Toby Damon: Kate's husband.
Ron Cephas Jones as William H. "Shakespeare" Hill: Randall's biological father. Also played by Jermel Nakia as a young adult.
Jon Huertas as Miguel Rivas: Jack's best friend and Rebecca's second husband. (recurring season 1; main season 2–present)[5]
Alexandra Breckenridge as Sophie: Kate's childhood best friend as well as Kevin's childhood love and ex-wife. Also played by Amanda Leighton (ages 15–17) and Sophia Coto (age 10). (recurring season 1; main season 2–present)[5]
Eris Baker as Tess Pearson: Randall and Beth's older daughter. (recurring season 1; main season 2–present)
Faithe Herman as Annie Pearson: Randall and Beth's younger daughter. (recurring season 1; main season 2–present)

text: Recurring[edit]

text:
Gerald McRaney as Dr. Nathan Katowski (aka Dr. K): An elderly widower, who delivers Kate and Kevin.
Janet Montgomery as Olivia Maine: Kevin's former stage partner and ex-girlfriend.
Milana Vayntrub as Sloane Sandburg: Kevin's stage partner and ex-girlfriend.
Ryan Michelle Bathe as Yvette: A family friend of the Pearsons.
Denis O'Hare as Jesse: William's friend and former romantic partner.
Adam Bartley as Duke: The stable worker at the weight-loss camp Kate attends.
Jill Johnson as Laurie: A member of Toby and Kate's weight-loss support group.
Jermel Nakia as young adult William H. "Shakespeare" Hill
Lyric Ross as Deja: Randall and Beth's foster child.
Debra Jo Rupp as Linda: A social worker who works with Randall and Beth when they foster Deja.
Caitlin Thompson as Madison: Kate's group's resident thin member.
Joy Brunson as Shauna: Deja's mother, who first works against Beth and Randall having Deja, then abruptly leaves her with them.

text: Episodes[edit]

text: Series overview[edit]

text:
Season
Episodes
Originally aired
Nielsen ratings

First aired
Last aired
Rank
Avg. viewership (inc. DVR)
(in millions)

1
18
September 20, 2016 (2016-09-20)
March 14, 2017 (2017-03-14)
6
14.70[6]

2
18
September 26, 2017 (2017-09-26)
March 13, 2018 (2018-03-13)
TBA
TBA

tag: table

text: Season 1 (2016–17)[edit]

text:
No.
overall
No. in
season
Title
Directed by
Written by
Original air date
Prod.
code
U.S. viewers
(millions)

1
1
"Pilot"
John Requa & Glenn Ficarra
Dan Fogelman
September 20, 2016 (2016-09-20)
1AZC01
10.07[7]

2
2
"The Big Three"
Ken Olin
Dan Fogelman
September 27, 2016 (2016-09-27)
1AZC02
8.75[8]

3
3
"Kyle"
John Requa & Glenn Ficarra
Dan Fogelman
October 11, 2016 (2016-10-11)
1AZC03
9.87[9]

4
4
"The Pool"
John Requa & Glenn Ficarra
Dan Fogelman & Donald Todd
October 18, 2016 (2016-10-18)
1AZC04
9.71[10]

5
5
"The Game Plan"
George Tillman
Joe Lawson
October 25, 2016 (2016-10-25)
1AZC05
8.68[11]

6
6
"Career Days"
Craig Zisk
Bekah Brunstetter
November 1, 2016 (2016-11-01)
1AZC06
8.48[12]

7
7
"The Best Washing Machine in the World"
Silas Howard
K.J. Steinberg
November 15, 2016 (2016-11-15)
1AZC07
9.50[13]

8
8
"Pilgrim Rick"
Sarah Pia Anderson
Isaac Aptaker & Elizabeth Berger
November 22, 2016 (2016-11-22)
1AZC08
9.00[14]

9
9
"The Trip"
Uta Briesewitz
Vera Herbert
November 29, 2016 (2016-11-29)
1AZC09
10.53[15]

10
10
"Last Christmas"
Helen Hunt
Donald Todd
December 6, 2016 (2016-12-06)
1AZC10
10.95[16]

11
11
"The Right Thing to Do"
Timothy Busfield
Aurin Squire
January 10, 2017 (2017-01-10)
1AZC11
10.48[17]

12
12
"The Big Day"
Ken Olin
Dan Fogelman & Laura Kenar
January 17, 2017 (2017-01-17)
1AZC12
9.59[18]

13
13
"Three Sentences"
Chris Koch
Joe Lawson & Bekah Brunstetter
January 24, 2017 (2017-01-24)
1AZC13
9.63[19]

14
14
"I Call Marriage"
George Tillman Jr.
Kay Oyegun
February 7, 2017 (2017-02-07)
1AZC14
9.57[20]

15
15
"Jack Pearson's Son"
Ken Olin
Isaac Aptaker & Elizabeth Berger
February 14, 2017 (2017-02-14)
1AZC15
9.03[21]

16
16
"Memphis"
John Requa & Glenn Ficarra
Dan Fogelman
February 21, 2017 (2017-02-21)
1AZC16
9.35[22]

17
17
"What Now?"
Wendey Stanzler
K.J. Steinberg & Vera Herbert
March 7, 2017 (2017-03-07)
1AZC17
11.15[23]

18
18
"Moonshadow"
Ken Olin
Dan Fogelman & Isaac Aptaker & Elizabeth Berger
March 14, 2017 (2017-03-14)
1AZC18
12.84[24]

text: Season 2 (2017–18)[edit]

text:
No.
overall
No. in
season
Title
Directed by
Written by
Original air date
Prod.
code
U.S. viewers
(millions)

19
1
"A Father's Advice"
Ken Olin
Dan Fogelman
September 26, 2017 (2017-09-26)
2AZC01
12.94[25]

20
2
"A Manny-Splendored Thing"
John Fortenberry
Dan Fogelman & Bekah Brunstetter
October 3, 2017 (2017-10-03)
2AZC02
11.06[26]

21
3
"Déjà Vu"
John Requa & Glenn Ficarra
Isaac Aptaker & Elizabeth Berger
October 10, 2017 (2017-10-10)
2AZC03
11.02[27]

22
4
"Still There"
Ken Olin
Vera Herbert
October 17, 2017 (2017-10-17)
2AZC04
10.65[28]

23
5
"Brothers"
John Requa & Glenn Ficarra
Tyler Bensinger
October 24, 2017 (2017-10-24)
2AZC05
10.60[29]

24
6
"The 20's"
Regina King
Don Roos
October 31, 2017 (2017-10-31)
2AZC06
8.43[30]

25
7
"The Most Disappointed Man"
Chris Koch
Kay Oyegun
November 7, 2017 (2017-11-07)
2AZC07
9.89[31]

26
8
"Number One"
Ken Olin
K.J. Steinberg
November 14, 2017 (2017-11-14)
2AZC08
10.05[32]

27
9
"Number Two"
Ken Olin
K.J. Steinberg & Shukree Hassan Tilghman
November 21, 2017 (2017-11-21)
2AZC09
9.34[33]

28
10
"Number Three"
Ken Olin
Shukree Hassan Tilghman
November 28, 2017 (2017-11-28)
2AZC10
10.94[34]

29
11
"The Fifth Wheel"
Chris Koch
Vera Herbert
January 9, 2018 (2018-01-09)
2AZC11
9.65[35]

30
12
"Clooney"
Zetna Fuentes
Bekah Brunstetter
January 16, 2018 (2018-01-16)
2AZC12
9.82[36]

31
13
"That'll Be the Day"
Uta Briesewitz
Kay Oyegun & Don Roos
January 23, 2018 (2018-01-23)
2AZC13
9.37[37]

32
14
"Super Bowl Sunday"
John Requa & Glenn Ficarra
Dan Fogelman
February 4, 2018 (2018-02-04)
2AZC14
26.97[38]

33
15
"The Car"
Ken Olin
Isaac Aptaker & Elizabeth Berger
February 6, 2018 (2018-02-06)
2AZC15
10.13[39]

34
16
"Vegas, Baby"
Joanna Kerns
Laura Kenar
February 27, 2018 (2018-02-27)
2AZC16
9.74[40]

35
17
"This Big, Amazing, Beautiful Life"
Rebecca Asher
Kay Oyegun
March 6, 2018 (2018-03-06)
2AZC17
8.90[41]

36
18
"The Wedding"
Ken Olin
Isaac Aptaker & Elizabeth Berger
March 13, 2018 (2018-03-13)
2AZC18
10.94[42]

text: Release[edit]

text: Home media[edit]

text: In May 2017, Hulu acquired the SVOD rights to new and past episodes of the series to air exclusively on Hulu, in addition to NBC.com and the NBC app.[43]

text: Reception[edit]

text: Critical response[edit]

text: The review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes reported an 89% approval rating for the first season with an average rating of 7.72/10 based on 63 reviews. The website's critical consensus reads, "Featuring full-tilt heartstring-tugging family drama, This Is Us will provide a suitable surrogate for those who have felt a void in their lives since Parenthood went off the air."[44] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the season a score of 76 out of 100 based on 34 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[45] Season 2 received a 94% approval rating from Rotten Tomatoes based on 17 reviews.[46]

text: Entertainment Weekly gave the first few episodes of This Is Us a rating of B, calling it "a refreshing respite from the relational violence and pessimism that marks the other buzz soaps that have bubbled forth from a culture of divisiveness". Moreover, they praised all the actors, specifically Sterling K. Brown, for being able to navigate "his scenes with such intelligence, authenticity, and charisma".[47]

text: Ratings[edit]

text:
Season
Timeslot (ET)
Episodes
First aired
Last aired
TV season
Rank
Avg. viewers
(millions)
18–49 rating
(average)

Date
Viewers
(millions)
Date
Viewers
(millions)

1
Tuesday 10:00 pm (1–2, 11)
Tuesday 9:00 pm (3–10, 12–18)
18
September 20, 2016 (2016-09-20)
10.07[7]
March 14, 2017 (2017-03-14)
12.84[48]
2016–17
6
14.70
4.6/16[6]

2
Tuesday 9:00 pm (1–13, 15–18)
Sunday 10:30 pm (14)
18[4]
September 26, 2017 (2017-09-26)
12.94[25]
March 13, 2018
10.94[49]
2017–18
TBD
TBD
TBD

text: Accolades[edit]

text:
Year
Award
Category
Nominee(s)
Result
Ref.

2016
African-American Critics Association Awards
Top Ten TV Show
This Is Us
Won

American Film Institute Awards
TV Program of the Year
This Is Us
Won
[50]

Critics' Choice Television Awards
Best Drama Series
This Is Us
Nominated
[51]

Most Exciting New Series
This Is Us
Won
[51]

2017
ACE Eddie Awards
Best Edited One Hour Series for Commercial Television
David L. Bertman (for "Pilot")
Won
[52]

Creative Arts Emmy Awards[a]
Outstanding Casting for a Drama Series
Bernard Telsey, Tiffany Little Canfield
Nominated
[54]

Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series
Brian Tyree Henry
Nominated

Gerald McRaney
Won

Denis O'Hare
Nominated

Outstanding Makeup for a Single-Camera Series (Non-Prosthetic)
Zoe Hay, Heather Plott, Elizabeth Hoel-Chang, Judith Lynn Staats, John Damiani
Nominated

Emmy Awards
Outstanding Drama Series
This Is Us
Nominated

Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series
Sterling K. Brown
Won

Milo Ventimiglia
Nominated

Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series
Ron Cephas Jones
Nominated

Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series
Chrissy Metz
Nominated

Golden Globe Awards
Best Supporting Actress – Series, Miniseries or Television Film
Chrissy Metz
Nominated
[55]

Mandy Moore
Nominated

Best Television Series – Drama
This Is Us
Nominated

Hollywood Music in Media Awards
Outstanding Music Supervision – Television
Jennifer Pyken
Nominated
[56]

MTV Movie & TV Awards
Best Actor in a Show
Mandy Moore
Nominated
[57]

Show of the Year
This Is Us
Nominated

Tearjerker
Milo Ventimiglia and Lonnie Chavis (Jack and Randall at Karate)
Won

NAACP Image Awards
Outstanding Actor in a Drama Series
Sterling K. Brown
Won
[58]

Outstanding Drama Series
This Is Us
Nominated

Outstanding Performance by a Youth
Lonnie Chavis
Nominated

Peabody Awards
Entertainment and Children's programs
This Is Us
Nominated
[59]

People's Choice Awards
Favorite Actor in a New TV Series
Milo Ventimiglia
Nominated
[60]

Favorite Actress in a New TV Series
Mandy Moore
Nominated

Favorite New TV Drama
This Is Us
Won

Screen Actors Guild Awards
Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series
Sterling K. Brown
Nominated
[61]

Seoul International Drama Awards
Best Director
Dan Fogelman
Nominated
[62]

Grand Prize
This Is Us
Won

Teen Choice Awards
Choice TV: Breakout Star
Chrissy Metz
Nominated

Choice TV Actor: Drama
Sterling K. Brown
Nominated

Milo Ventimiglia
Nominated

Choice TV Show: Drama
This Is Us
Nominated

Television Critics Association Awards
Individual Achievement in Drama
Sterling K. Brown
Nominated
[63]

Outstanding Achievement in Drama
This Is Us
Nominated

Outstanding New Program
This Is Us
Won

Program of the Year
This Is Us
Nominated

Writers Guild of America Awards
Episodic Drama
Vera Herbert (for "The Trip")
Won
[64]
[65]

New Series
This Is Us
Nominated

2018
Critics' Choice Television Awards
Best Actor in a Drama Series
Sterling K. Brown
Won
[66]

Best Drama Series
This Is Us
Nominated

Best Supporting Actress in a Drama Series
Chrissy Metz
Nominated

Golden Globe Awards
Best Actor – Television Series Drama
Sterling K. Brown
Won
[67]

Best Supporting Actress – Series, Miniseries or Television Film
Chrissy Metz
Nominated

Best Television Series – Drama
This Is Us
Nominated

Guild of Music Supervisors Awards
Best Music Supervision in a Television Drama
Jennifer Pyken
Nominated
[68]

Best Song/Recording Created for Television
"We Can Always Come Back To This"
Nominated

NAACP Image Awards
Outstanding Actor in a Drama Series
Sterling K. Brown
Nominated
[69]

Outstanding Drama Series
This Is Us
Nominated

Outstanding Performance by a Youth
Lonnie Chavis
Nominated

Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series
Susan Kelechi Watson
Nominated

Outstanding Writing in a Drama Series
Vera Herbert (for "Still Here")
Nominated

Satellite Awards
Best Musical Or Comedy Series
This Is Us
Nominated

Screen Actors Guild Awards
Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series
Sterling K. Brown
Won
[70]

Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series
This Is Us
Won

text: Notes[edit]

text: Jump up ^ In 2017, Hala Bahmet, Marina Ray and Elinor Bardach were nominated for Outstanding Costumes for a Contemporary Series, Limited Series, or Movie. The nomination was rescinded after it was determined that the submitted episode "Moonshadow" was primarily set in the 1970s, violating the TV Academy's rule that "more than 50 percent" of the episode must be contemporary (within 25 years of the air date).[53]

tag: ol