Monday, October 26, 2009

TV Trivia

Mickey Rooney turned down the role of Archie Bunker in the 1970s sitsom "All in the Family." The former child star was convinced that the show would bomb, and he wasn’t willing to jeopardize his professional reputation, although his film career had been on the skids for years. Little-known character actor Carroll O’Connor won the role as a result.

Confession: I'm glad. I don't like Mickey Rooney. Besides, who could have been better in that part than Carroll O'Connor?

4 comments:

Bob said...

Rooney is right....with him in the lead the show would have bombed!

Joy said...

Thank you.

Kyle Leach said...

Joy I wish I could have liked this show, especially because of the social importance it had when I was a child. I love Carroll O'Connor and Jean Stapleton, but every time I hear Archie open his mouth or hear Edith be submissive to him, I just want to vomit. Even to this day I can't watch more than a few minutes before I have to turn it off.

Joy said...

It was refreshing at the time to have that behavior out there where we could laugh at it and then change it. I was around the age of "Michael and Gloria" and echoed what they said during a time of change, and we were ready for it. They got by with so much more than TV shows do now in terms of political incorrectness. I thought it was hilarious.

I can see how watching it now would be different from the way it was then.