17 Things Producers Never Wanted Fans to Know About ‘All in the Family’

7. Archie was absent for a while over a wage dispute

There were four different episodes in season five that were shot without Archie, due to Carroll O’Connor’s protest over wages. He claimed he was back-owed money and he wanted more vacation time. They wrote him out to prove that they would kill off his character if he wouldn’t cooperate. They even plotted out a scenario where Archie’s best friend Stretch Cunningham (played by James Cromwell) would move in to the Bunker’s household. Ultimately, however, they gave him a raise and he continued on to the end of the series – and four more years with Archie Bunker’s Place. Once the contract issue was resolved, the character of Stretch died in a hilarious episode where Archie must give a eulogy while just finding out that his friend was actually (gasp!) Jewish.