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Season 2, episode # 6 | ||||
Mike and Archie argue over who's the best candidate in a local election in "The Election Story" in Season 2 (ep.#6). | ||||
"All in the Family" episode | ||||
Series: | All in the Family | |||
Network/Country: | CBS-TV | |||
Air date | October 30, 1971 | |||
Production code | 206 (2x6) | |||
Written by: | Michael Ross & Bernie West | |||
Directed by: | John Rich | |||
Guest starring: | Mike Evans Isabel Sanford Barbara Cason Robert R. Barry Ida Mae McKenzie Frank Whiteman | |||
IMDb: | The Election Story | |||
Episode guide | ||||
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List of All in the Family episodes |
The Election Story is the sixth episode aired during the second season and the 19th overall episode of All in the Family. The episode first aired on CBS-TV on October 30, 1971. The script was co-written by the team of Michael Ross and Bernie West, who would later, along with fellow producer and creative partner Don Nicholl, co-write/produce for its spinoff The Jeffersons, as well as the ABC-TV sitcom Three's Company. "The Election Story" episode was directed by John Rich.
"The Election Story" | ||
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Full Credits | Transcripts | More Images |
Synopsis[]
Archie and Mike argue over who's the best candidate in a local election.
Plot Summary[]
Though "The Election Story" originally aired in October 1971, for plot purposes the action takes place during an election year.
Gloria and Mike are canvassing the neighborhood for political votes. Gloria is particularly excited because it's her first time voting. Their involvement in the upcoming election triggers an argument with Archie. Also among the canvassers, a gay and lesbian duo stop by, and Archie makes short work of "Tutti and Fruiti.", as he warns Edith, who greeted the canvassers at the door, after taking her aside, that "He ain't a he and she ain't a she!" Lionel is the next one to stop by, and endorses a guy named DeAngelo. Edith comes home from grocery shopping, excited because Ferguson's Market "broke the code." Archie has a challenging time deciphering what exactly this means.
Predictably, Mike and Gloria throw their support behind the liberal Democratic U.S. Congress candidate, a woman named Claire Packer (Barbara Cason), while Archie, who, ironically, doesn't plan to cast a vote in the upcoming election, takes the side of the conservative opponent. When the Stivics invite Claire to the Bunker house to meet and debate with Archie, they immediately clash over all of the issues. Their argument escalates when Gloria tells Mike that Archie isn't even voting. Claire comes by and she and Archie engage in a political heat, in which Archie prophesies that "if you liberals get your way, there'll be the sound of a giant flush - America going down the toilet!" Archie gets so incensed that he decides to vote after all.
Eventually, Archie began insulting her, saying, instead of running for public office, she should "start running for a husband, 'cause from where I'm looking, you've got a lot of running to do!" which ends with Archie telling Claire to "scram", and then Claire calling Archie what she said her father called people who had views like his, which is also what he loves to call Mike -- A "meathead"!
When they go to vote on election day, it is revealed by Louise Jefferson (Isabel Sanford), who happened to be working the polls at the nearby Catholic parish, that the staunchly ultra conservative Archie, with all of his bashing of Packer, and his bantering of praises for the GOP agenda, President Nixon, as well as the Republican candidate running against Packer, has not voted since 1960 during the Kennedy-Nixon election; when he tries to get Edith to vote his way, he holds up the voting line, which causes an overzealous cop (Frank Whiteman) to make him back away from the polling line and sit down.
Later at home, Archie is disinterested in learning the election results. Edith accidentally slips to Mike and Gloria that Archie didn't vote.
Cast (in credits order)[]
Main cast[]
- Carroll O'Connor as Archie Bunker
- Jean Stapleton as Edith Bunker
- Rob Reiner as Michael Stivic
- Sally Struthers as Gloria Bunker Stivic
Recurring characters/cast[]
Guest stars[]
- Barbara Cason as Claire Packer
- Robert R. Barry as George Robinson, LGBT Leaflet Man at the door (as Robert Gibbons)
- Ida Mae McKenzie as Mrs. Edwards
- Frank Whiteman as Policeman