All in the Family: Season 03  (1972)

Theatrical Release Information:
All in the Family: Season 03

Securely imbedded as America's top-rated series, All in the Family enters its third season with the greatest of ease. This season's episode manifest yields quite a few interesting guest appearances: Vincent Gardenia, later cast in the recurring role of Archie's neighbor Frank Lorenzo, is seen as a wife-swapping hedonist in "The Bunkers and the Swingers"; Michael Conrad, who went on to play the fatherly Sgt. Phil Esterhaus on Hill Street Blues, portrays the boisterous uncle of Mike Stivic (Rob Reiner) in the two-part flashback episode "Flashback: Mike and Gloria's Wedding"; and Gregory Sierra, later cast as Detective Amenguale on Barney Miller, shows up as a Jewish activist in "Archie Is Branded," the ending of which is one of the most chilling in the series' history; and another future Barney Miller regular, Ron Glass (aka "Detective Ron Harris"), is seen as a plumber in the Rashomon-inspired entry "Everybody Tells the Truth." In other noteworthy episodes, Gloria (Sally Struthers) is forced to endure the twin torments of attempted rape and police interrogation in "Gloria the Victim"; the usually pliable Edith (Jean Stapleton) joins Gloria in a walkout on their husbands in "Archie Goes Too Far"; and in "Lionel Steps Out," the Bunker's black neighbor Lionel Jefferson (Mike Jefferson) finally informs Archie (Carroll O'Connor) that there is a limit to the amount of jokes about his race that he will tolerate. ~ All Movie Guide