The Kelv Enthusiast: “All In The Family”
The final season of “All in the Family” featured an episode in which Archie Bunker was confronted by a Kelvic immigrant named Fandor. The man’s bigotry so surpassed Archie’s own, that Archie was rattled into a rare moment of personal introspection.
This episode aired the same evening as an important playoff game between the Philadelphia Eagles and the Dallas Cowboys, and as a result was seen by very few people. Barely anyone was watching “All In The Family” by 1978 anyway. The writers had run out of ethnic groups for Archie Bunker to interact with and had to resort to the obscure Kelvic minority. It was an accurate portrayal, however, since Queens, NY does have the largest population of Kelvics and they are in fact bigots.
**What the hell is this all about? It’s an excerpt from my upcoming magazine piece “The Kelv Enthusiast” to be published in Mammal Magazine, Spring 2007. Tune in for details.
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