All in the Family - The Complete Fifth Season
by Michael Kidd, Bud Yorkin, Norman Campbell, Walter C. Miller, Hal Cooper
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Actor: Bill Quinn, Brendon T. Dillon, Carroll O'Connor, Jean Stapleton, Vincent GardeniaDirector: Bud Yorkin, Hal Cooper, Michael Kidd, Norman Campbell, Walter C. Miller
Brand: SONY PICTURES HOME ENT
DVD: Region Code 99
Audio: English (Original Language), PCM Mono
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, Full Screen, NTSC
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 621 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2006-01-03
Audience Rating: Unrated
Studio: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
DVD Reviews of All in the Family - The Complete Fifth Season
DVD Review: I'm sorry, but since when is taste-testing soda pop controversial?!
Summary: 3 Stars
Or the age-old argument of "keeping the toilet seat up", for that matter? But who'd expect Mike to drink caramelized fizzy sugar water that rots tooth enamel anyway?!
Season 4 saw some degredation of Mike, though given all the episodes where his point of view was glorified, it's only fair to have him cut down a little. But Season 5 has less of Mike in general, more Archie (when he's not vanished to someplace else), more in-program product advertising (Tupperware, Coke, Pepsi, Royal Crown?!, and a couple others), a drop from hefty controversial issues into a more schticky sitcom antics... and some rehashing of some old ideas, which is the most telltale sign of "creative rot". The show has just about jumped the shark by now, yet is still teetering on its edge. Indeed, Carroll O'Connor walked out from three episodes in a creative control dispute against Norman Lear; which also proved his character was necessary for the show to even work. (though later seasons prove that without the politics and ensemble piece, the character of Archie is just as lifeless. The show always had and always needed a motley collection of 'extreme' characters to BE funny. And the dynamic has already been whittled down...)
Let's go over the better/best episodes first, in chronological order:
1. Archie's Helping Hand: Archie gets Irene Lorenzo a job at his plant, but then finds out she'd to work with him. He then schemes to get her fired via a petition... An otherwise typical episode, elevated by some anti-sexism philosophy.
2. Gloria's ShocK: Easily the BEST EPISODE in season 5 and better than almost everything season 4 came up with. This one is in my Top 10 episodes also; something no season 4 story could accomplish. Mike is adamant he does not want children, citing numerous ecological and population problems. Gloria is just as adamant for wanting one, until she talks with Edith, whose charming viewpoint makes Gloria remember some more important things about herself... This one is mostly accurate on population statistics and utterly correct on the ecological and population concerns. (pity Mike changes (or loses) his mind in season 6, but that's another story for another day...)
3. The Jeffersons Move Up. More of a pilot for "The Jeffersons", it is reasonably entertaining and there's a lot of one-liners that never fail to induce a great laugh. As for the Jeffersons, George, Louise, and Lionel are well cast - as are the goofy assortment of neighbors they have to deal with; you know right there and then it's going to be a winner of a series. I'm looking forward to purchasing "The Jeffersons" in the near future. (but I wouldn't mind seeing "Maude" come out someday too... :) But I digress.)
4. Archie and the Miracle. An accident on the loading dock nearly kills Archie, who in turn becomes a devout Christian. Another solid episode involving a juicy topic. Mike also chokes at the most opportune time too. :)
5. The Best of 'All in the Family'. Given how this one is a clip show, a type of show I usually and utterly dislike, it gave me far more laughs in its hour than half of season 5's remaining episodes combined (the ones not in my "best" list here, that is!) Indeed, this one being hosted by a cue-card reading Henry Fonda with piped-in applause soundtrack almost dampens the celebratory nature of the piece. (Henry himself is cool; but the obvious use of applause and laugh tracks for his comments is not. And his gaze unfortunately looks as if he's reading something just to the left of the camera lens... :( Too stagey.)
6. All's Fair. Mike and Gloria teach Edith how to demand respect from Archie. (we've seen Edith demand respect before, but sometimes a rehash is a good thing.)
7. Everybody Does It. Rationalizing over nicking a pencil from work was never funnier. Still, Mike made the argument in a season 2 (or 3) story regarding taking change left in a phone booth. Still, everybody's in character and it covers an interesting topic.
8. No Smoking. Can Archie give up his ciggies longer than Mike can for food? (I'm a sucker for this sort of plot.)
9. Lionel the Live-in. While this one seems a tad far-fetched, Archie and George make some outrageous comments (some of which are the typically funny ones), and Louise gets the best come-back zinger to George after he makes a multi-ethnic slur. Awesome!!! Definitely a top-10 moment!
10. Prisoner in the House. A surprisingly mature storyline that also deals with the real-life ramifications of having an inmate furlough work program. Archie was totally out of line and shows how quickly stories become embellished. Not the best story, but very good indeed and even-handed in its approach.
These episodes ensure this season gets anything more than 1 star, and "Gloria's Shock" and that lovely scene in "Lionel the Live-In" is how it gets up to 3 stars.
"The Bunkers and Inflation" must be an in-joke, because it took FOUR parts to tell us that it's harder to live with inflation?? It's a nice idea and has some good set pieces, but by the next story it's as if inflation never existed!
"Where's Archie?" is a three-part story consisting of nothing but empty pablum, I may as well watch (any given 1970s sitcom) instead. "Where's Archie?" (pt 1) has the big Tupperware bash, complete with lengthy dialogue on how to properly use the containers. Like Archie would say, 'Oh jeez!!' Worse is in "The Longest Kiss" (pt 3) where it features another rehash; not for blatent product advertising, but re-using an older story's plot piece! But this time it's not Archie determining if the spoon he's eating his Cocoa Puffs with is his World's Fair spoon or not. It's if Mike can determine which brand of cola is which. If product placement comes across naturally, I'm fine. But this seems so badly shoehorned in... ugh. Later seasons are more overt, however...
"George and Archie Make a Deal" just doesn't ring true.
"Archie's Contract" seems to have a theme regarding "beware of door-to-door salesmen", but the plot itself is too narrow and having too much fun insulting Archie (though there's nothing wrong with that, LOL!)
"Mike's Friend" is another boring escapade; this time Mike is being overbearing and leaving Gloria out of activities he and his friend have. This seems atypical for Mike; who has often treated Gloria like an intellectual equal in ther past...
"Amelia's Divorce" is another sitcom episode and as the guy who played Frank left after season 4, they couldn't keep finding excuses for him to be gone. So they got rid of him. (Amelia ditches shortly after too...)
"Archie and the Quiz" is another plot to be found in any sitcom; it may have been more "controversial" when it first aired, but it's dated badly.
"Edith's Friend" vaguely reminds me of "The Threat" where Archie's old friend's new fling stops by and Archie ends up getting more on his mind than he should... But it's not a bad episode.
"Mike Makes His Move" has Mike and Gloria renting the Jeffersons' old house. Which is next door, just to ensure we get more arguments and verbal tussles in later seasons.
Season 5, on the whole, isn't anywhere near as poweful as its first three. There are some clunkers, "average" story quality is definitely toned down and more akin to a "typical sitcom" but with controvercial bits added. The few stories that are "old school" in their overt nature (especially "Gloria's Shock") are easily the high point standouts, but it's clear the show has been - and will be heading - in a direction far different than how it originated, and not in a good way. The political backbone being replaced with lovey-dovey sitcom pablum, with little bits of political moments thrown in.
Video and compression quality is typical to the other releases.
Sound seems to have more hiss than previous versions had. Was the audio cleaned up at all?
Not a bad season on the whole, and in ways is preferable to season 4... and the worst seasons (which oddly contain some of the BEST episodes) are to follow. Worth the $20 price amazon.com wants. But not more.
Description of All in the Family - The Complete Fifth Season
Studio: Sony Pictures Home Ent Release Date: 01/03/2006 Run time: 620 minutesBestsellers in DVD
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