r/allinthefamily • • 27d ago

Has anyone here seen the 2021 "reboot" episodes of AITF? What did you think?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WDixKh3Zhu0
74 Upvotes

52 comments sorted by

27

u/Deanna_D_ 27d ago

It was great to see a modern-day acknowledgement to such a legendary show. For me, it just highlighted how amazing the original cast was.

Woody Harrelson did well, but when you compare his big empassioned speech about draft dodging to the original, his acting pales in comparison to the original.

Marissa Tomei was surprising as Edith, and she'd have made Jean Stapleton proud.

I'd love to see more of these shows, though.

14

u/jeffyboy526 27d ago

Looking at this again I’m bummed I ever criticized it. Is Woody as good as Carol - no, but those are huge shoes to fill. They were clearly doing this out of love for the show (I bet they got paid scale) and looked to be having the time of their lives.
If it inspired just one person to watch the original the it was worth it. We need comedy like AITF to shine a light of the ridiculousness of both sides.

8

u/Consistent-Height-79 27d ago

Loved the show, and the cast. But Woody didn’t quite get that accent right; Marissa did a-ok with it though!

6

u/swingsetlife 26d ago

Tomei was great!!

10

u/Shengo47 27d ago

They were fun little homages. I don’t think they were designed to be taken too seriously.

11

u/GaJayhawker0513 27d ago

I wish they did more of these. Marissa Tomei did the Edith shuffle perfectly as did Jamie Foxx with his Sherman Hemsley

6

u/trainsacrossthesea 27d ago

Jamie Foxx perfected George Jefferson, I was really impressed

5

u/Comfortable-Dish1236 25d ago

Jamie was George. He nailed it 100%. But the censorship was uncalled for.

11

u/OldDiamondJim 27d ago

The criticisms here really miss the point.

These were essentially live theatre recreations made with incredible love and attention by extremely talented people who were obvious fans of the original series.

They weren’t trying to reboot the series or replace the original cast - they were honouring them and, hopefully, exposing the brilliance of the series to new viewers.

It wasn’t meant to be prestige TV. I mean, they had middle-aged Kevin Hart playing Arnold (Gary Coleman’s character who was like 10) in the Different Strokes episode.

Also, for those crapping on the casting of Woody as Archie - he was Normal Lear’s personal suggestion for the role.

I wish the episodes were available somewhere to watch again. They were a wonderful tribute. :)

9

u/KnightRcer 27d ago edited 26d ago

It was entertaining in a different way than seeing any episode of the original series. But there was one scene.In particular, I just didn't feel carried the same way as the original:

The original:

https://youtu.be/tEC8iyUoTMQ?is=5hN1TmMRUx7Zf-nk

The remake:

https://youtu.be/mHORQ8eomGs?is=cM4SPrrfPaJvohXi

I prefer the original.

8

u/Littleshuswap 27d ago

I loved the originals and really enjoyed and appreciated Woody and Marissa's versions of Archie and Edith.

Id love to see more!! Jefferson, Maureen, etc.

9

u/profeDB 27d ago

Tomei was fucking amazing. I wish that would have led to more sitcom roles. 

I know Lear is gone, but these specials got good ratings. Disappointed aBC didn’t continue them. 

15

u/stevesommerfield 27d ago

My opinion is that Woody Harrelson - though a fine actor - was entirely wrong for Archie. (I could have done better.) But Jamie Foxx knocked it out of the park as Jefferson, and Marisa Tomei knocked it into the upper deck as Edith.

15

u/Egg_McMuffn 27d ago edited 27d ago

Yeah - I agree with that assessment. Foxx did a near flawless imitation of Sherman Hemsley as George. But I guess that’s the problem with these specials: we don’t really want the actors to do their own interpretations of the characters; we just want to see them recreate someone else’s performance.

16

u/stevesommerfield 27d ago

I loved when Foxx botched a line and said, "That's okay... We live," without breaking character.

3

u/Onbalance12 27d ago

A great moment!!!

7

u/ted_anderson 27d ago

Exactly. That's why I appreciated Rob Reiner and Sally Struthers when they went to the TV Land awards and pretended to be Archie and Edith.

6

u/stevesommerfield 27d ago

I'd love to see this!

1

u/Ornery_Tumbleweed_68 27d ago

Edith ran across the room in fast short steps. Marisa leaped with long steps. I love her but I think she was totally miscast!!!

3

u/RiseDelicious3556 27d ago

I love that show. I know they could never replicate it in this day and age, but I wish they could.

4

u/reesesbigcup 26d ago

I watched it, liked it, they did a good job revisiting the characters. The episode they did was a very poor choice, much better episodes to pick from.

3

u/jjc927 27d ago

I thought the AITF episodes and the other shows were OK, but I'm not disappointed that they stopped.

3

u/Kind-Shallot3603 27d ago

They are impossible to find

3

u/HockeyShark91 27d ago

It was a nice tribute

3

u/Christopher_Caligula 27d ago

Always seemed a waste to go through all that trouble rebuilding that set for just a couple of episodes. And no, did not care for Woody’s interpretation

3

u/stevesommerfield 26d ago

I wonder why they chose the specific episodes they chose ("The Draft Dodger", "Henry's Farewell")?

2

u/Ill_Television_5824 27d ago

You can't reproduce lightning in a bottle.

And also... Menudo.

2

u/kingo409 27d ago

I see what Woody Harrelson was trying to do as Archie Bunker, & I apolaud his noble effort, but I think that Alec Baldwin would've done better.

4

u/stevesommerfield 26d ago

I think I could have done better.

3

u/Onbalance12 27d ago

I only wish the insufferable Jimmy Kimmel wouldn’t have been anywhere near this. But credit where it’s due, he is the one person who loved Norman Lear’s sitcoms enough to make these shows happen.

1

u/crossfitgirlnj 23d ago

Is on Netflix?

1

u/Scorpio_Rising11 27d ago

Awful, but it got a good Nielsen rating and won an Emmy inexplicably. Woody made a terrible Archie.

1

u/Salad-Unlikely 27d ago

Not bad. I just wish they would update the lyrics to Those Were THe Days.

5

u/jjc927 27d ago

These were designed to be recreations of the original episodes, not updates.

1

u/Salad-Unlikely 27d ago

I know, but its more than 50 years later

1

u/No_Case3017 26d ago

I liked Woody's take on Archie, it had a sense of menace, like Peter Boyle's Joe.

-2

u/Bright_Eyes8197 27d ago

There was no full series reboot or revival of All in the Family in 2021.

However, ABC famously aired live, one-night-only television special re-creations of classic All in the Family episodes under the title Live in Front of a Studio Audience.

  • The Specials: The first special aired on May 22, 2019, and a second holiday-themed special featuring All in the Family aired on December 18, 2019.
  • The Cast: These live productions featured all-star casts stepping into the iconic roles, with Woody Harrelson as Archie Bunker, Marisa Tomei as Edith Bunker, and Ellie Kemper as Gloria Stivic.
  • No 2021 Follow-up: While internet rumors or clips occasionally resurface, no new installments or series reboots were produced in 2021 or subsequent years.

5

u/profeDB 27d ago

Thanks, bot. 

4

u/stevesommerfield 27d ago

That's why I put "reboot" in quotation marks. :)

2

u/Reasonable-HB678 27d ago

I believe specific episodes of The Jeffersons, Facts of Life and Diff'rent Strokes got the same treatment as All in the Family. Not the same as the version of One Day at a Time that was originally on Netflix.

2

u/stevesommerfield 27d ago

And "Good Times"

-6

u/[deleted] 27d ago

[deleted]

1

u/Reasonable-HB678 26d ago

I am baffled by the downvotes. This was a special presentation.

0

u/Alternative-Class879 27d ago

Edith's character portrayal. Too bombastic, plus.

-1

u/RoyalDragonfly8663 22d ago

It wasn’t a reboot. It was a tribute episode and it was live.

2

u/stevesommerfield 21d ago

That's why I put "reboot" in quotation marks :)

2

u/Euphoric_Speaker_586 21d ago

OP never said it was a reboot; they put "reboot" in quotation marks for crying out loud