It was obvious that audiences hadn't had enough of that iconic character, "Archie Bunker," so fans were happy to see his return in "Archie Bunkers Place." The show is regrettably, not as good as the classic, iconic "All In the Family." As expected this show has it's shining moments, and those moments are the ones that most resemble the "All In the Family" years. The first season still features Jean Stapleton as Edith, but she soon leaves, and the show does suffer from her absence. New characters like the cute "Billie," and the likable Danielle Brisebois inject the show with youthful life, and the character of Ellen Canby, the maid is funny, and a decent replacement for Edith. Unfortunately the show is sunk by it's unwise emphasis on the character Barney Heffner, one of the most unlikable and annoying characters ever created for television. Strangely, about 75 percent of this show focuses on this drunken barfly, and those episodes are flops because of it. Another thing to dislike about the show, is it's racism against Latinos. While "All In the Family" was wall to wall racism, the jokes were always made to show Archie Bunker as patently wrong in his stereotypes, with minorities constantly outsmarting him and proving him wrong in his beliefs. That requires intelligent writing, which ABP lacks. Puerto Ricans here are portrayed as the stupid, bumbling clowns that Archie always said they were. The way his illegal kitchen help is portrayed is both stupid and offensive, in the way "Amos & Andy" was offensive to blacks, forcing them to become the most extreme examples of the typical stereotype. I'm sure this alienated a large part of it's audience. This, combined with the fake canned laughter, helps to do this show in.
Review of Archie Bunker's Place
