Archie
Bunker Is Gone, But Life Is Amazingly Similar At "704 Hauser"
( New York Voice Inc./Harlem USA ) III Williams, Joe; 04-27-1994
Archie Bunker Is Gone, But Life Is Amazingly Similar At "704 Hauser" .
Norman Lear brought the situation comedy "All In The Family" to network
television in the 1970's amid a national culture clash that pitted the younger,
liberal generation against the conservative and sometimes bigoted older
generation.
Eyebrows shot up when Archie Bunker, the old man, used all the unacceptable
words and phrases to vent his spleen about racial issues. Some, at first,
thought Lear had gone beyond the pale with the sitcom, but old Archie was a
genial bigot and his fractured sterotypes were forgiven. The Bunker family
became an ongoing encounter group that helped America deal with the Nixon
administration and many hot social issues of the time.
Now it's the 1990's, and Lear revisits 704 Hauser Street, the old Bunker
address. The neighborhood has changed, and the house is now occupied by Ernest
Cumberbatch, an African American blue-collar worker, and his family.
Ernie is liberal with orthodox, liberal African American attitudes on race. He's
bitter at "whitey" and in solidarity with the majority of his race in
emphasizing victimization. However, Ernie has a son, Thurgood "Goodie" Marshall
Cumberbatch, who's conservative and sees orthodox, liberal, African American
attitudes as the problem, not the solution. Goodie argues that his people must
accept responsibility for their own fate and quit dealing with every problem by
blaming it on the White majority. Seemingly, the acorn has fallen far from the
tree, so it's "Archie" and "Meathead" all over again.
The cast is complemented by Rose, Ernie's wife and Goodie's mother, who's
religious and of more or less the same political opinions as Ernie, but who
would like a moment's peace between the men in her life.
To further complicate matters, Goodie has a Jewish financee, Cherlyn. It's
another clash of views when it comes to Cherlyn, who's also liberal and
patronizingly solicitous of the "blackness" of her lover's family.
Like "All In The Family," "704 Hauser" is on the cutting edge with frankness,
but it's also very funny. For that reason, it packs an impact as well as
provokes laughter.
Superb casting has created an ensemble cast that promises to ensure that
lightning will strike a second time at "704 Hauser" and ignite a hit on the
order of "All In The Family."
With the sitcom, Lear is proving again that he is a television genius. Creating
the situation and the characters is one thing, fulfilling the initial promise
with quality writing and direction is another. Lear is always firmly in control
of what it takes to produce winning television entertainment.
It must be said, finally, that Lear takes care to develop themes that reflect,
when all is said and done, the positive side of human nature. He makes his
points with humor, the effective way of serving the cause of understanding and
community in the nation and the world. |
