Personally, I think the character of Gloria didn't evolve. Archie, Edith & Mike all evolved to some degree, going through changes as the show went along.

But I think Gloria pretty much stayed the same. She just seemed to complain a lot and had an inferiority complex. She also seemed to be in the shadow of all the other characters.

There was talk that she would go back to school, but that didn't happen.

And when Gloria and Mike moved to California and she felt isolated from Mike and his new world as a university big-wig, she was the one who engaged in an extramarital affair.

What do you guys think?

I think there's evidence she grew in the original series, i.e. standing up to Mike more than she did in the early episodes, and not just parroting his vieiws.

But, like so many other things, the episodes after they left for California did see her revert to the old Gloria who was dependent on Mike and even when she was unhappy with the marriage, didn't really make a new life for herself, just took up with another man (while still married).

I think there was a lot of potential for growth in Gloria and they wasted or ignored it. I never really watched the short-lived spinoff, but then again I was so ticked at them for breaking up this long standing beloved couple just so they could trot out a dull, doomed sitcom that I really didn't care anymore.

And yes, I do agree that of the four, Gloria grew the least.

Good points. Maybe I'll amend my opinion to say that Gloria grew the least.

Well, she became whinier and more annoying but that's not really evolving.

I was kicked out of a classic tv group for saying she was one of the worst Tv characters of the 1970s :lol:

I was kicked out of a classic tv group for saying she was one of the worst Tv characters of the 1970s :lol:


Interesting.
That would make a good thread of its own, the worst characters ever invented.

I do think that Gloria was the antithesis of a "liberated woman" even though she often preached in some way or other to her mother about becoming more liberated.
Gloria cried and whined like a little girl when she was frustrated. And, unlike her parents, she did not, think that the times of Glenn Miller were so wonderful and she had more modern tastes such as in music, but she was still so stereotypical. She felt that she needed to have a baby to make her feel like a woman. She never expressed interest in science or math or going for a non-traditional career so she could prove that women can also work as engineers and architects. Her world revolved around her romantic and sexual relationship with Mike who sometimes treated her as if she is supposed to be obedient to him. Gloria was not a role-model type of female character.

After saying this, it does remind me of a different thread in which someone says that Lucille Ball probably has the most iconic character in the history of sitcoms but her character is annoying and selfish, and she is burdensome to her husband and gets her best friend Ethel in trouble and is overall dislike-able so why is the character so "loved."
But some replies said that the qualities in the character are not to be taken so seriously so as to think that if you had a friend like this, you would move several states away or commit suicide. The stereotypical or annoying or dislike-able things in the character is meant to be laughed at and taken within a certain context for the sake of the very element to all sitcoms, irony; dumb people; unknowingly-hypocritical people; etc.

The Gloria character may, in a certain way, be one of the worst characters ever thought up, but it is hard to know now after the character has been established, whether All In The Family would have been as successful even for ironic reasons without the Gloria character along with the other mixed-up, self-defeating, zany dysfunctional characters

I don't know if it was the way Gloria was written or the way the actress came across playing her. She yelled, whined, and acted like a spoiled brat with Mike especially after she got pregnant. Watching the animosity between Mike and Archie was great, they played off each other well. Watching Gloria basically have tantrums and yell at Mike just made her character more unlikable (IMO). At times they tried to make Gloria evolve into a mature character but then she would revert right back into her teenage angst tantrums and yelling.
Her traits may not be meant to be taken serious. She is not able to be taken serious when her character takes the whining of her childhood into motherhood. I will give her the credit that she does create tender moments between herself and Archie but it is not enough to make her character endearing (IMO).
She was needed, she was the link between Archie and Mike. Sure anyone could become that link but having her married to Archie's nemesis justifies her existence. Without Mike she is not needed with Mike she is required.

Gloria was rarely given the opportunity to become self confident or find her own identity as that seemed to get over shadowed by the other characters. She worked outside the home at the department store to help Mike out, looked into going back to school though became pregnant which sidelined that until Joey started kindergarten or first grade. Also Gloria had an emotional affair due to Mike's arrogance over his world of academia and inflated ego. Eventually Gloria showed up on Archie Bunker's Place and had a short lived sitcom where she went to work at a veterinary office eventually deciding on a career in that field if i recall correctly. I know she complained at times but being a female myself i understand where her frustrations came from in life.