I read in a 1975 issue of TV guide that Sally Struthers was holding out and was written out of 4 episodes. Why would she feel the need to ask for more money? Did she really think she was important to the show? Did she really think the show wouldn't go on without HER? Sally asking for more money was the stupidest thing I ever heard. Anyone know why she thought she was important to the show.

In my mind, All in the Family was an ensemble show, and each of the four players were integral to the show in his or her own way. Granted Sally's character was not, especially in the early years, as rounded and dimensional as Archie and Edith; however, as time went on, she became more and more developed. To me, what made the show so great the first 7 years was the chemistry and the dynamics generated among these four people. This is why when you would take one or two out of the mix, the episode in question would tend to be not as memorable nor funny as previous ones featuring all four cast members. This was also the reason the show suffered following the departure of Sally and Rob in 1978; in my opinion, they should have ended the series as originally planned. Having said all this, I feel that Sally was an important and necessary part of the series, but not to the extent that she made herself out to be. This is tantamount to Farrah Fawcett and Suzanne Sommer's battles with ABC. Yes, the former and the latter were both important to their respective series, but not so much that either show could not continue without them for several years after their departures.

I can understand how Sally might have been misled into believing that she was in a position to hold out for more money. Here she was starrring in a series that was going into its fourth year as one of the most popular and highly rated shows on television. She no doubt saw that Carroll O Connor and Redd Foxx had been successful in their wars with their networks and probably truly believed that if they could get more money and prestige, she could as well. Also, I believe Sally had been bitten by the bug that inevitably takes hold of many television stars, the desire to appear in bigger and better things. In Sally's case, she had a desire to pursue a film career and used this contract dispute as a means to achieve her goal. Thankfully, Sally worked things out and remained with the show for another three years and maybe in the process learned where she fit on the All in the Family totem pole.

Well put, Flash.

Yeah, I pretty much agree with Shawn. Let's say they pulled a Suzanne Somers and booted Sally from the show. How would that work out? Would they kill off Gloria? Would they seperate Mike and Gloria then and there? Would they pull a Darrin Stevens and get another actress to play Gloria? If you look at it this way, the show was kind of based on all of the family, but the main part was the relationship between Archie and Mike. If they killed off Gloria, Archie could boot Mike out of the house. Mike would leave if they seperated Mike and Gloria. The writers prob. knew that getting another actress this late in the game would immediately make the show go sour. jmo

I prob. didn't sum it up right, but I do agree with Shawn's answer.