"Archie Alone"

[ThomasE]

Did anyone see the episode when Archie and Stephanie were mourning Edith's Death? It seemed so depressing that she was gone. You could feel that sad mood. Although the show went on for another 3 years it just seemed like things were never the same. It just seemed so gloomy around the Bunker's house for the next years to come.

[cp]

yes. I have it.
It was sort of odd seeing Archie going out with diffrent women after her death. Especially when he had a puerto rican girlfriend for about 3 or 4 episodes. Its just that its such a contrast from the Archie we knew on AITF. The episodes are ok but i agree it wasent the same.

[TV Guy]

I think "gloomy" is a great word to describe how ABP feels after Edith's death. It doesn't seem like there's much joy in the Bunker house after she's gone.

[corwayn2]

I heard an opinion from a source way back right after ARCHIE BUNKER'S PLACE ended in 1983, that, if it had continued into 1983-84, Archie might've remarried

[coily2]

Well, thank god for small miracles. That whole continuation was a mistake. I just wish that the show had been allowed to say goodbye with dignity without the embarassing run of Archie Bunker's Place.

[TV Guy]

I think "Moving West," where Mike and Gloria move away, would have been a fitting finale, and Norman Lear planned it to be. But CBS exercised an option to continue, even though Lear no longer had day-to-day involvement.

The last AITF episode was "Too Good Edith", where Edith prepares a St. Patrick's Day meal for "Archie's Place" even though she's feeling poorly. Even though this is not as monumental as the previous year's "Moving West", it's a nice ending, because it shows how much Archie and Edith's relationship has grown.

In the final scene, Archie and Edith are lying in bed, after Archie had lectured Edith on the importance of telling him when she didn't feel well, so he could take care of her. Their final exchange goes something like:

ARCHIE: All these years I've spent blowin' my own horn, maybe it's time I realized what's really important. Because without you, Edith, I'm nothin'.

EDITH (tearfully and affectionately): You know Archie, you're a pip, a real pip.

The camera then pulls away through the keyhole and behind the closed door. (This effect is cut out of some prints).

Unfortunately, the show morphed into "Archie Bunker's Place" the following year (Carroll O'Connor wanted to continue), and died a slow, painful death. After Edith's death, the show becomes a mere shadow of what it used to be. I think this is why we don't see ABP in syndication that often. Why rerun that when you can show the clearly superior original?