"I'm doing a lot of stuff you used to do." -Carroll O' Connor's letter to Jackie Gleason "You're doing a lot of stuff I wish I did!" -Gleason's response !
@xtrememarioplush793 Rob Reiner is clearly struggling to hold back his laughter, which is why he briefly turns away from the camera. And if you look closely at Carroll O'Connor, he's looking at Rob, knowing that he threw him a curve ball.
@@exclamationpointman3852yea can't stand that he stands for peace and acceptance and love instead of bullshit lies and propaganda and right wing shit? Gotcha bud.
Carrol O'Connor showed what a genius he was by ad-libbing that line, and it's very fortunate that the production staff agreed to leave it in for the broadcast.
Improvising acting, live? They were all great at it. But Carroll O'Connor was especially good at it. To throw that line out there like that. Props to both Carroll & Rob with this scene. Rob did have to take a step back for a sec because that line did challenge him ( He clearly had to hold back a grin but did it well) . Always fun to watch. Never gets old.
Carrol was good at improv. His improv here was the funniest line. Rob OTOH is not capable of improv. Rob is an insipidly boring obnoxious leftist in real life!
You can tell when the original writers left the show, as that's when it started becoming mediocre. Those first writers besides being great, also were able to write to the actor's portrayal. The cast said the whole thing was a collaboration between all concerned, with different people's input being used in script revisions. The best shows are ones with ensemble casts. I never much liked those ones which were merely vehicles, for one 'star.'
Carol O'Connor was so brilliant in this role, he has you believing that this is not an act but that Archie Bunker is an actual person. When you talk about blurring the lines between actor and character, this is as close as it gets!
“I never did mind the identification with Archie Bunker,” said O’Connor. “The press thought that I was trying to get away from that image and nothing could be further from the truth. It’s an image that I treasure. People say, ‘Hello, Archie’ to me on the street. That’s wonderful. That never bothered me.”
If Carroll O'Connor indeed improvised that question of his fly being open, it's ironic that he did so. Around that time period in an interview with Dick Clark on American Bandstand, O'Connor was asked by someone in the audience if they improvise while they're taping or if they follow the script. O'Connor said that they improvise while rehearsing (with some rewriting done as a result), but not while they're taping. He went on and said, "Once we get on camera, we can't improvise because if the camera is on Dick, and he says his line, then the other camera comes to me. Well if it comes to me and he's still talking because he feels like improvising, then his line is off-camera. It's probably out of mic too (O'Connor pointing up at the overhead boom mic) because the mic comes over to me." Although in this scene, O'Connor could pull off the improvised line because of the overhead boom mic being where it was.
I still believe this one was 100% ad-libbed, probably done by Carroll when he could see the boom mic and camera positioning was just perfect to seize the opportunity. It was probably the only real chance that he had throughout the entire amazing series.
It must have been really horrible working around these two on set.. I would have been either laughing or peeing, or peeing or laughing! This particular scene is great!
@@hutch1197 I can name one for sure. The one where they had the guy who had dodged the draft over for dinner. Carroll O'Connor himself had served in the Merchant Marine (rejected by the navy for fitness standards) during WWII, and there's one key part of the episode where Archie explodes when he finally learns about that their guest is a draft dodger. Carroll pulls right up to the edge of breaking character during that part, quite possibly because of his own real life experiences from his time during the war.
I would come home from school and at the dinner table I would say “those girls are making fun and calling me a pig shanty Irish and my clothes must be from the donation bin at church “ and my dad would say “ give it up to penance “ . When I came home with my first boyfriend and he was Italian my mom said “you can’t sneeze with out hitting another mick and u came home with Italian!? His mother is going to hate you “ and she did, lol. There was a lot bigotry between the Irish and the Italians growing up . They thought we were dirty we thought they were vulgar . Strange, we having so much in common we chose to fight insteaad stand together.
Loved this show, so innovative and real! I so wish they had out-takes or bloopers that we could watch though, I'm sure they made some fun mistakes through the years :P
My father's nickname in the family was Archie Bunker! He had a military buzz cut, wore a hard hat and hated all liberals! I was hippie, it was an interesting household too!
Rob Reiner recently mentioned that they would let them improvise more in the later seasons. Sometimes, they'd film a scene, and the audience wouldn't laugh so they would then tell the four actors to just "go with it" and see if they can ad lib something funnier. The famous "sock and a shoe" scene with Rob and Carroll was fully improvised.
Carroll O'Connor did break character during the Beverly LaSalle episode. At the end during the bar scene Carroll accidentally touched Beverly's "boobs". Carroll adlibbed "sorry fella" and laughed.
I think in the later Seasons after Gloria and Mike leave the Show and when it transforms to Archie Bunker's Place- he becomes less of a Racist Stereotype and more a real character-- really a Working Class Hero.
One of Archie Bunker's heroes was a Mc or a half Mc by the name of Ronald Reagan who he wrote in for president in the 1976 election and voted for POTUS in 1980.
It is so obvious that Jean Stapleton was trying to act just like the wife on the UK version. At first. Then she found her footing and made the character her own.
@@wernerhuehn674 The first few episodes are quite striking that way --- Edith is much more snarky in how she deals with Archie. She keeps getting in these little passive-aggressive digs at him. But even just later in the very same season, she would never have said things like that. The character changed that fast.
From what I've seen of 'Til Death, that seems pretty true. Alf was abrasive without the underlying heart that Archie had. Too bad it was logistically ---and I guess culturally --- impossible at that time for the two characters to somehow meet, in-universe. That would have been interesting.
he fought it. But you can see he was trying not to laugh. It looked like it though that the longer Mike waited to start the dialogue and he probably would've laughed
"I'm doing a lot of stuff you used to do." -Carroll O' Connor's letter to Jackie Gleason
"You're doing a lot of stuff I wish I did!" -Gleason's response !
How awesome that Jackie offered such praise to Carroll, who undoubtedly really looked up to him.
WOW SUPER COOL! Kim & Larry
Greatest Sitcom in TV history. Period.
That Carroll O'Connor Smirk... he knew he threw a Zinger...
Oh yeah. He knew that he just struck comedy gold.
I think that silent stare they held after the fly line is what almost did him in. Lol
God, I WISH that was an adlib by O'Connor, because the laughter in that blooper would've been pure platinum.
I don't think that was in the script. @@Redshirt434
I don't think I've ever seen a moment on this show where they looked like they were going to break character. This was so hilarious!
I didnt see it here either , there was no laugh
@xtrememarioplush793 Rob Reiner is clearly struggling to hold back his laughter, which is why he briefly turns away from the camera. And if you look closely at Carroll O'Connor, he's looking at Rob, knowing that he threw him a curve ball.
It's what was so great about the Carol Burnette Show.
There is one more. When Edith calls VE Day VD Day you can see Reiner smirking.
I didn't see anything of the sort!
Kudos to Rob for staying in character, even though you could tell he wanted so bad to lose it.
I could see in Caroll O'Connor's eyes he wanted to break character. He is just too good to do so.
You do realize they do multiple takes on these scenes?
@@misplacednewyawker - With multiple bloopers, yes. That is the one that worked.
He looked like he was gonna crack with the fly line but he held it back
Rob did a great job of not breaking character. A pro.
Definitely a pro. Can't stand his politics but he is great at his job.
@@exclamationpointman3852 Caroll O' Conner had the same political views. He was very very Liberal. The total opposite of Archie.
he is a meathead with his politics @@exclamationpointman3852
@@exclamationpointman3852yea can't stand that he stands for peace and acceptance and love instead of bullshit lies and propaganda and right wing shit? Gotcha bud.
@@exclamationpointman3852I can’t stand him. He’s a nasty bastard.
Imagine this show on in prime time today! We lost our sense of humor. Funniest show ever.
Fun police woukd get it cancelled.
That is simply not true. Have you watched "Curb your Enthusiasm" ? Larry has even used the N-Word.
Carrol O'Connor showed what a genius he was by ad-libbing that line, and it's very fortunate that the production staff agreed to leave it in for the broadcast.
Mike turns away from the camera as not to laugh at the fly joke !
I often wonder how the actors keep their character when something funny is being said.
@@Tazzman225it’s called take two, three, 27 come on guys. Film is money
@@BodaciousWench --- It is but I think they used 3/4" U-Matic video tape back then and they can record over it.
Improvising acting, live? They were all great at it. But Carroll O'Connor was especially good at it. To throw that line out there like that. Props to both Carroll & Rob with this scene. Rob did have to take a step back for a sec because that line did challenge him ( He clearly had to hold back a grin but did it well) . Always fun to watch. Never gets old.
Plus, O'Connor had that impish look on his face, waiting to see if Reiner would break.
Carrol was good at improv. His improv here was the funniest line. Rob OTOH is not capable of improv.
Rob is an insipidly boring obnoxious leftist in real life!
You can tell when the original writers left the show, as that's when it started becoming mediocre. Those first writers besides being great, also were able to write to the actor's portrayal. The cast said the whole thing was a collaboration between all concerned, with different people's input being used in script revisions. The best shows are ones with ensemble casts. I never much liked those ones which were merely vehicles, for one 'star.'
Better Call Raul -
As opposed to the blithering morons that comprise the TrumpChump fascist fright wing?
@@Better_Call_Raul Carrol O'Connor was extremely liberal in real life, too, so your blinkered prejudice is showing.
Mike almost broke character 🤣🤣🤣
Rob.
@@Accam570 well are you the comment police too MYOB.. its comment section.
Still, a classic moment from a series loaded with them.
O'Conner caught Reiner off guard,......Riener got destroyed in this clip.
Carroll O'Connor......he was just so damn good....there aren't enough words to describe just how talented this man was!
Carol O'Connor was so brilliant in this role, he has you believing that this is not an act but that Archie Bunker is an actual person. When you talk about blurring the lines between actor and character, this is as close as it gets!
and Art Carney as Ed Norton! LOL! and JACKIE as Ralph!!!
And the IRONY of the whole matter was that O'Connor was NOTHING like the 'Archie Bunker' character he played!-
Lol he came so close to losing it.
He was def hiding it.....the actors here were always top notch
My grandma love these sitcoms classics’ always remember OG Archie Super aggressive/Grumpy but Funny at same time thought he was a comic
Such a great show...and cast.
“I never did mind the identification with Archie Bunker,” said O’Connor. “The press thought that I was trying to get away from that image and nothing could be further from the truth. It’s an image that I treasure. People say, ‘Hello, Archie’ to me on the street. That’s wonderful. That never bothered me.”
Minoroarities...true Archie Bunker, lol.
If you weren't alive during this time you'll never vet it!!!🤣🤣🤣❤
I was a Baby 😀
That was real laughter, not canned in case you have never heard it before.
You could tell Mike was trying to not laugh.
Um....Rob. I understand the confusion though.
It was more like, "Burned!"
If Carroll O'Connor indeed improvised that question of his fly being open, it's ironic that he did so. Around that time period in an interview with Dick Clark on American Bandstand, O'Connor was asked by someone in the audience if they improvise while they're taping or if they follow the script. O'Connor said that they improvise while rehearsing (with some rewriting done as a result), but not while they're taping. He went on and said, "Once we get on camera, we can't improvise because if the camera is on Dick, and he says his line, then the other camera comes to me. Well if it comes to me and he's still talking because he feels like improvising, then his line is off-camera. It's probably out of mic too (O'Connor pointing up at the overhead boom mic) because the mic comes over to me." Although in this scene, O'Connor could pull off the improvised line because of the overhead boom mic being where it was.
Right, even without your explanation just watching it I didnt think it was improvised
I still believe this one was 100% ad-libbed, probably done by Carroll when he could see the boom mic and camera positioning was just perfect to seize the opportunity.
It was probably the only real chance that he had throughout the entire amazing series.
You can see a brief second after the fly joke, their eyes change and you are looking at Carroll and Rob.
I love this show I remember watching way back then. In fact I still have a pin that says Archie Bunker for President
It must have been really horrible working around these two on set.. I would have been either laughing or peeing, or peeing or laughing! This particular scene is great!
Theres a few episodes when Archie almost lost character😅 the best show 👍🏻
Which ones? I love seeing moments like that.
@@hutch1197 I can name one for sure.
The one where they had the guy who had dodged the draft over for dinner.
Carroll O'Connor himself had served in the Merchant Marine (rejected by the navy for fitness standards) during WWII, and there's one key part of the episode where Archie explodes when he finally learns about that their guest is a draft dodger.
Carroll pulls right up to the edge of breaking character during that part, quite possibly because of his own real life experiences from his time during the war.
@@Gunners_Mate_GunsI know that part.
A time when we had only 3 prime times channels and such GOOD entertainment. Today, we have in excess of 200 channels and it sucks!
Oh ,yeah. You can see Mike look briefly off camera after the fly joke
These actors have some serious discipline 😂
So, as a Polock, I can blame my Italian wife for all the names 😂
Only if she's in the Cosa Nostra.
If Jimmy Fallon was on the show, he would have been in tears at Archie. 😂
archie of all people
Legends, pure and simple.
“What are you doing up there?!”
Was waiting for the toilet flush.
The terlet
@@thomasborger6548 To me, that was stupid, but was to be funny.
@@dave929 I used to laugh so hard when we'd hear the terlet flushing and Archie come down the stairs🤣
I would come home from school and at the dinner table I would say “those girls are making fun and calling me a pig shanty Irish and my clothes must be from the donation bin at church “ and my dad would say “ give it up to penance “ . When I came home with my first boyfriend and he was Italian my mom said “you can’t sneeze with out hitting another mick and u came home with Italian!? His mother is going to hate you “ and she did, lol. There was a lot bigotry between the Irish and the Italians growing up . They thought we were dirty we thought they were vulgar . Strange, we having so much in common we chose to fight insteaad stand together.
Loved this show, so innovative and real! I so wish they had out-takes or bloopers that we could watch though, I'm sure they made some fun mistakes through the years :P
This was when comedy was worth watching.
RIP Mr. Lear.
My father's nickname in the family was Archie Bunker! He had a military buzz cut, wore a hard hat and hated all liberals! I was hippie, it was an interesting household too!
Rob Reiner recently mentioned that they would let them improvise more in the later seasons. Sometimes, they'd film a scene, and the audience wouldn't laugh so they would then tell the four actors to just "go with it" and see if they can ad lib something funnier. The famous "sock and a shoe" scene with Rob and Carroll was fully improvised.
It took every ounce of Rob Reiner's will power to not fall over laughing.
I didn't see meathead laugh but I sure did hahaha
I did too! 😂
Agree!
Carroll O'Connor did break character during the Beverly LaSalle episode. At the end during the bar scene Carroll accidentally touched Beverly's "boobs". Carroll adlibbed "sorry fella" and laughed.
I'm half Irish and half Italian. I love it!
I’m watching this sitting up in bed and I laughed so hard at that line it literally rattled the headboard 😅😆🤪😂
O'Conner tried to break Rob Reiner.
I think this moment was unscripted and Carroll O'Connor's character said that to get a rise (no pun intended) out of Mike and the audience.
He did play off of it very well.
😂 great stuff.
I notice it all the time on this show that Rob Reiner is holding in a huge laugh.
Almost became the Carol Burnett Show.
Once a meathead always a meathead
Almost got him.
God bless Carol O'Conner; Patron saint of "Keeping things real."
Those were the days !
As a proud polish American I approve this clip back when people could laugh at themselves and others.not this woke antifa BLM bullshit today.
Anyone blathering about "woke antifa BLM bullshit" has no understanding of what this show was about, and completely misses its entire point.
Yes he was
This could a been on the blooper reel, real fast, lol
It’s a wonder they could do all this with straight faces….truly amazing
Archie statement will get me this response talk about the pot calling the kettle black
I think in the later Seasons after Gloria and Mike leave the Show and when it transforms to Archie Bunker's Place- he becomes less of a Racist Stereotype and more a real character-- really a Working Class Hero.
Even today Meathead still thinks he smarter than everybody.
Carroll O'Connor: "Gotcha!"
I thought it was a blooper or something
Love Carroll O'Connor!!
I hated meathead I real life and on screen. O’Connor and Reiner had great chemistry.
All in the family ❤
Kudos to Rob Reiner for not breaking up
Best show of all time.
One of Archie Bunker's heroes was a Mc or a half Mc by the name of Ronald Reagan who he wrote in for president in the 1976 election and voted for POTUS in 1980.
did he write him in in '76?
I just said that in my last post.@@tbewin1z143
Archie was a lot more likeable than our British version Alf garnett
It is so obvious that Jean Stapleton was trying to act just like the wife on the UK version. At first. Then she found her footing and made the character her own.
@@wernerhuehn674 The first few episodes are quite striking that way --- Edith is much more snarky in how she deals with Archie. She keeps getting in these little passive-aggressive digs at him. But even just later in the very same season, she would never have said things like that. The character changed that fast.
From what I've seen of 'Til Death, that seems pretty true. Alf was abrasive without the underlying heart that Archie had.
Too bad it was logistically ---and I guess culturally --- impossible at that time for the two characters to somehow meet, in-universe. That would have been interesting.
Minor-oritees!! 😂
TBH, it someone pulled that joke on me in real life, I definitely would have broken up.
Luckily (or not), Mike had one more line to say to Gloria.
I would have lost it.
Epic
Minor-or-ites 😂
If Rob Reiner was "laughing" I missed it. Actually it's Archie who breaks character speaking out against racism.
Wonder why the Pollock jokes went the way of the dodo?
Surprised Archie never took a poke at Meathaed.
I didn't see Mike laugh !?
he fought it. But you can see he was trying not to laugh. It looked like it though that the longer Mike waited to start the dialogue and he probably would've laughed
Bring this show back please we need this show back to fix all the snowflakes
They recorded each episode twice. I guess they used this one to air!
Imagine Archie Bunker as president.
Oh............wait................
Minor- Orrities!
Truth be told Carol O'Connor made meatturd laugh.
If this were SNL, they would have broke a long time ago.
Back before being a "victim" was lucrative.
So here’s my question. Did we ever find out what nationality Archie is? He makes fun of everyone so I’m still trying to figure that out
😂
I'm Irish
Nonsense. They would’ve re-shot the scene if something was off.
Amazing control. I would have been on the floor after that line!
0:46 I guess that line was the unscripted part.
No
It was the fly joke
@@Migz2682 Yep, that was an ad-lib at 00:42.