“All in the Family: The Complete Series”
DVD ($199.99)
The groundbreaking 1970s sitcom that enshrined gruff, bigoted, blue-collar Archie Bunker as an all-time TV icon gets a sweeping salute in this first-ever box-set collection of all 213 episodes on 28 discs. During its nine-season run, producer Norman Lear’s first success of what would be several (“Sanford and Son,” “Maude,” “The Jeffersons,” “One Day at a Time”) was usually the top-rated series on the air, and it made weekly household guests of its cast of Carroll O’Connor (Archie), Jean Stapleton (wife Edith), Rob Reiner (son-in-law Mike) and Sally Struthers (daughter Gloria). Extras in the numerous bonus features include a 40-page scrapbook with essays by TV critic Tom Shales (who heralds the show as “the best situation comedy ever”), several documentaries, two “All in the Family” pilots episodes, and pilots for three shows that the series spun off, “Gloria,” “Archie Bunker’s Place” and “704 Hauser,” a short-lived 1994 series about a politically correct, multi-racial family that moved into Archie Bunker’s old house.
