All in the Family

All in the Family
Originally uploaded by duckydale.

Did you know there was an episode of All in the Family where Edith was almost raped? It was horrible. It was on her birthday as well, how horrible is that? Poor Edith. Archie was next door at Meathead and Gloria�s place getting ready for the �Surprise� party (which of course our Edith already knew about) so she was home alone. Someone came to the door, she opened it and a handsome man was there. He said he was with the Police Dept. and wanted to warn her that a man was wandering the neighborhood attacking women. She let him in to tell her more and the second he got in, gullible Edith asked what the attacker looked like and he described himself. He turned and locked the door. It wasn�t until he locked the door and took out a gun that Edith (comically) went �Oohhhh.�
The writers did an incredible job with this episode as it was shocking and horrifying to think of Edith in this situation, especially with her whole family just next door, but Jean Stapelton played it for laughs and tears. She wouldn�t stop talking so the rapist kept getting distracted. It was nervous laughter coming out of my mouth though because you don�t like to think of women Edith�s age going through something like that. Anyway, long story short� She knocks the shit out of him in the kitchen and locks him on the back porch. She escapes out the front, runs next door and they all scream �Surprise!� It takes Archie and Gloria a second to realize her blouse is torn and she is crying hysterically. It must have been HUGE for a show like �All in the Family� to do a show like this and in that decade. I thought it was incredibly progressive.
I wonder if I just never saw this episode as a kid or if my parent�s didn�t let me watch this episode. I would have been pretty young, but I don�t know that they would have sheltered any of us kids from that topic. It was after all �All in the Family.� Check it out on TVLand if you get the chance, its well worth it.