'%20x='0'%20y='0'%20height='100%25'%20width='100%25'%20%0A%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20xlink%3Ahref='data:image/jpg;base64,/9j/2wBDAAYEBQYFBAYGBQYHBwYIChAKCgkJChQODwwQFxQYGBcUFhYaHSUfGhsjHBYWICwgIyYnKSopGR8tMC0oMCUoKSj/2wBDAQcHBwoIChMKChMoGhYaKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCj/wAARCAAGAAoDASIAAhEBAxEB/8QAFQABAQAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAb/xAAhEAACAQMDBQAAAAAAAAAAAAACAwEABAUREiEHQWFxof/EABUBAQEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAME/8QAGhEAAgIDAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAQIAERNBwf/aAAwDAQACEQMRAD8Ao8LgL20zqblF8KxaELWkBmAGd23nWZmffzvVezp3kXsJpJwBkyZOSNbNxTPOs+aUosSLVDQ7KiSy0Z//2Q=='%3E%3C/image%3E%3C/svg%3E)
All in the Family! The history of television has been influenced by a number of instances that have been carefully choreographed or rehearsed. But one of the greatest scenes of All in the Family came from a scenario that happened in a manner utterly different.
The famous "sock and shoe" argument featuring Rob Reiner's Mike Stivic is famous not simply because of its impact within the storyline but because of how much it reflected reality.
The importance of the sequence is its simplicity. There is no plot development, no message, no comedy setup meant to elicit a laugh. But in the case of All in the Family, the series captured a fleeting moment of a household disagreement that rang immediately true to the audience, and that is what made it memorable.
What actually happened in this particular scene of All in the Family
The action is being set in the Bunkers’ living room, where Archie and Edith are about to leave the house. Archie takes a seat and starts with his socks, then his shoes. Mike (Meathead) comes in and begins putting on his shoes before his socks. Archie sees this instantly and asks Mike why he would use an illogical way of doing so.
Mike gives the reason that by first putting the shoes on, he can do the walking without his socks getting dirty. Archie claims this is nonsense because you are not able to put socks on properly over the shoes. The exchange becomes a very quick back-and-forth argument with both men maintaining that their way is the only right one. Nobody wants to give up, and the dispute grows more and more ridiculous all the time, being modest about the very routine.
Edith looks at the argument from her position and is moving the situation along, trying to understand why such a little thing has turned into a heated argument. The laughter comes from the fact that Archie and Mike are very serious about the topic and are using it as yet another occasion to demonstrate who is the better one.
The scene concludes without a solution, which further emphasizes the idea that the argument itself, not the topic, is the point.
The television landscape that made the moment possible
When the TV show All in the Family was first aired on January 12, 1971, it was already so much different from the typical sitcoms. The other sitcoms were in the habit of snappy and witty conversations and running jokes bringing characters together, but All in the Family was engaged in a lot of interruptions in the dialogue, with the conversations of characters often overlapping.
This indeed was a big advantage of All in the Family as it was now more likable and suitable for showing the characters in supposedly spontaneous moments. The series avoided, both through overblown storylines and a contrived, slow-paced time, that everyone's situation had to be elevated and heightened in the same manner.
Rob Reiner, Sally Struthers, and character chemistry
Rob Reiner played the role of Mike Stivic, who was the politically radical and stubborn husband of Gloria Bunker, played by Sally Struthers. Even though the ideological clashes of Mike and Archie Bunker formed the backbone of the sitcom, the storylines of Mike involving Gloria would mostly revolve around common matters in a husband-wife relationship.
Reiner and Struthers made up a couple that was able to express their differences without making it a big deal. Their subtlety went World War I style over their quarrels, and the follow-up prepared improvisation that took place grew out of that.
How the sock and shoe debate occurred
The sock-and-shoe routine was not in the script. As per Rob Reiner, who was the director and actor, the conversation was improvised during rehearsal when he and Sally Struthers took on one topic, which led to another, arguing which order was better, socks before the shoes or vice versa.
This debate is portrayed in Season 4, Episode 11 titled "Gloria Sings the Blues," which was aired in 1974. The debate is in no way linked to the storyline of this episode. It is not made as a comic relief.
Why was the scene cut from the episode
As an opportunity instead of an editing line, Norman Lear and the production crew decided to retain this exchange. It was not put into perspective in terms of an experiment or statement. It just felt right. It sounded believable, and it conveyed a typical household interaction that often occurred throughout this series.
All in the Family had already set the tone to be receptive to realistic dialogue. Keeping the spontaneous dialogue was more in line with this tone than an aberration from it.
Why the scene resonated with the audience
The sock and shoe argument was special in that there was no need to explain what was going on. The kind of argument that was being presented was obvious to all, regardless of whether or not they ever argued with each other about the same thing. It was a pointless, unresolved, and inexplicably ongoing argument, all of which are signs that the argument was a real one that took place in a
In contrast to most comedic situations in sitcoms, this event does not lead or build towards a punchline or a solution. Its meaning lies in recognition.
Rob Reiner's reflection on the moment
In a series of interviews, Rob Reiner has called “socks and shoes” one of his personal favorites in All in the Family. As per Parade, Rob once said,
“Most people come up to me after over 200 shows, they’ll say the scene I remember most is when you and Archie discussed how you put socks and shoes on. And we had this scene that just happened in improv, it was improvised. I was putting my socks and shoes on, he walked in and he goes, ‘What are you doing?’ And this was all improvised."
It’s indicative of the power of the scene’s effectiveness that this reaction is remembered to this day. The power of this scene is not limited to cultural specifics in the same way that other popular content is.
What this scene represents in the series
Despite being a topic brought up today, this moment did not go down in history as extraordinary at the point of creation. This marks the typical disposition of All in the Family towards featuring real-world activity on the show unaltered.
The scene neither redefined the series nor demonstrated the existing series’ way. Shows like All in the Family always depicted the disputes that never seemed to end and appeared just like the ones that happen in real life.
Why the moment still matters
In 1889, the reference to the scene decades later has substance in that it records a universally valid truth. The controversy is insignificant, redundant, and unresolved, a quality that reflects reality in terms of domestic disputes rather than dramatic ones.
Trending
As for how an unaired Rob Reiner sequence from All in the Family became a classic, this has a very simple answer: it was an improvisational act that remained as it was and is remembered as it reflected reality as it truly is.
Also read: Mr. Mercedes cast and characters: Here’s who brought the Stephen King adaptation to life
Reply
