All in the Family is an extremely popular television series originally broadcast on the CBS Television Network in the years 1971 to 1979. It ran for a total of 9 seasons and 208 episodes, and you are now able to obtain all of the seasons and episodes of this television series, in our All in the Family complete dvd set boxed.

All in the Family revolved around a family based in the borough of New York called Queens. The main members of this family were Archie Bunker (played by Carroll O'Connor), Edith Bunker (played by Jean Stapleton), Gloria Stivic (played by Sally Struthers) and Michael Stivic (played by Rob Reiner).

All in the Family's lead character Archie Bunker is a bigoted, borderline racist American and veteran of the Second World War. He has many comments to make about anyone who is either not American, or white, or does not agree entirely with everything he says. In sharp contrast, his wife (Edith Bunker) is kind and agreeable, and borderline naive. Such differences in character between the lead characters make for many dramatic and funny moments in the episodes of All in the Family.

Most of the episodes of All in the Family are set in the aforementioned neighborhood of New York, and the laughs from this lovable sitcom are mostly generated by Archie Bunker's voracious attitude and the contrast with his wife Edith. In fact, there were initially concerns from the broadcast networks about showing a situational comedy with a loud, foul-mouth lead character (Archie) for fear of offending viewers. ABC Television Networks' loss was to turn out to be CBS's gain, however, as the rival network picked up the series and saw its popularity soar.

One of the most unique aspects of All in the Family was its status as the very first American sitcom to be filmed in front of a live audience. Previous sitcoms had used taped audience laughter synchronized with the footage to simulate a live audience, but All in the Family was the first to employ multiple cameras which allowed the producers to have a live audience. As such, the laughter in the episodes of All in the Family were genuine and not simulated; this success of the new format spawned an entire series of copycat sitcoms that also used this live audience format. In fact, it became the new standard for filming of situational comedies in the USA. It was a major point of pride for the producers, that canned laughter was never used at any point in the filming of All in the Family.

From its 2nd to 5th seasons, All in the Family was Number 1 in television ratings, as compiled by the Nielsen ratings agency. At the beginning of the 6th season, All in the Family was moved to another timeslot, causing it to suffer slightly in popularity, falling to Number 12 in the ratings. In the last season of its run, All in the Family was ranked Number 9 among all television shows in the USA.

The success of All in the Family extended beyond television ratings, to the awards desk as well. All 3 of the lead actors/actresses won Emmy Awards for their roles in the series, which was another first. It garnered a total of 9 Emmy Awards, and was also nominated an additional 34 times for various awards during its run on television. It also garnered 4 Golden Globe awards, and a further 21 Golden Globe nominations, making it one of the most-decorated television series during its 9-season run.

Today, All in the Family can be found on various syndicated networks. However, you can get all the episodes of this beloved television series, in one, All in the Family complete boxed dvd set. It is no doubt one of the best ways to spend an evening with your loved ones, and comes highly recommended as a gift choice as well.