The Late Paul Lynde As "Archie Bunker???" Say It Ain't So!...

[Brian Damage]

Was it true the ever flamboyant late Paul Lynde starred in an 'All in the Family' ripoff show as the Archie character????

[tv star collector]

Kind of, sort of. The Paul Lynde Show (ABC; 1972-'73) was a sitcom
starring Lynde as Paul Simms, a harried lawyer with a wife, two daughters and an unemployed genius son-in-law, Howie Dickerson (John Calvin), who was the bane of his existence. The latter was a blond, shaggy-haired, blue-jeaned, eccentric university student with an IQ of 185. Howie and his bride (Paul's daughter Barbara, played by Jane Actman) took up residence in the Simms home, for while he was a whiz at just about anything he tried--and he
tried to offer advice on everything--he couldn't seem to hold a job. All of this
drove Paul to distraction, and gave Lynde plenty of opportunities to do that
slow burn for which he was so famous. Jerry Stiller and Anne Meara were
seen occasionally as Howie's parents. So, yes, the similarities to the Bunkers
were none too subtle. (BTW, research for this post was culled from two
reference books: TV Guide Guide to TV and The Complete Directory
to Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows.)

[Brian Damage]

Kind of, sort of. The Paul Lynde Show (ABC; 1972-'73) was a sitcom
starring Lynde as Paul Simms, a harried lawyer with a wife, two daughters and an unemployed genius son-in-law, Howie Dickerson (John Calvin), who was the bane of his existence. The latter was a blond, shaggy-haired, blue-jeaned, eccentric university student with an IQ of 185. Howie and his bride (Paul's daughter Barbara, played by Jane Actman) took up residence in the Simms home, for while he was a whiz at just about anything he tried--and he
tried to offer advice on everything--he couldn't seem to hold a job. All of this
drove Paul to distraction, and gave Lynde plenty of opportunities to do that
slow burn for which he was so famous. Jerry Stiller and Anne Meara were
seen occasionally as Howie's parents. So, yes, the similarities to the Bunkers
were none too subtle. (BTW, research for this post was culled from two
reference books: TV Guide Guide to TV and The Complete Directory
to Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows.)


Thanks intersting stuff indeed. Were there any other rip off shows like that?

[rcbrad]

Thanks intersting stuff indeed. Were there any other rip off shows like that?

I would not consider this show a rip off of All in the Family. The Paul Lynde show was a retool of a 1962 sitcom pilot that did not sell at the time, called "Howie" that Paul Lynde starred in.

The script was dusted off and it became the Paul Lynde show 10 years later. There were some similarities between the two shows and perhaps ABC was trying to have their version of a "me too" sitcom since CBS was having tremendous success with All in the Family.

[tv star collector]

Thanks intersting stuff indeed. Were there any other rip off shows like that?

The Barkleys, a Saturday morning cartoon series on NBC (1972-'73)
was a takeoff on All in the Family. It was produced by DePatie-Freleng. The canine cast included Arnie Barkley (voiced by Henry Corden), who howled opinions on everything from women's lib to the generation gap. The syndicated series Wait Till Your Father Gets Home (a Hanna-Barbera Production) was also influenced by the Bunkers, to a lesser extent.