"Gloria" spinoff of All in the family

[peewee]

Hey,

Does anybody have any episodes of this series?
Intrested in finding,all of the episodes 21 in all.....

thanks,

[TVFactFan]

Originally Posted by peewee

Hey,

Does anybody have any episodes of this series?
Intrested in finding,all of the episodes 21 in all.....

thanks,

Hi, I have 3 eps of Gloria. Email me at solomond@webtv.net for more details

[sm95fan]

The complete series is now on Crackle.

[TMC]

Short-Lived Sitcom Potpourri (IX)

GLORIA (September 1982 – April 1983, CBS)

Premise: Gloria Bunker Stivic, now a separated single mother, moves to a new city and embarks on a new career as a veterinary assistant.

Cast: Sally Struthers, Burgess Meredith, Jo de Winter, Christian Jacobs, Lou Richards

Creator/Writers: Patt Shea & Harriett Weiss, Joe Gannon, Dan Guntzelman & Steve Marshall, Rich Reinhart, Lissa Levin, Tim O’Donnell

Thoughts: This spin-off of Archie Bunker’s Place, itself a spin-off/continuation of All In The Family, is not as bad as I thought it would be. I mean, okay, it naturally suffers from a lot of the anticipated concerns. For one, it’s forever in the shadow of the famous Norman Lear classic, whose descendants all pale in comparison, and from the fact that this association comes with specific baggage: (a) a leading lady who was so defined in relation to everyone else in All In The Family’s tight ensemble, especially Archie Bunker, that she doesn’t really have much comic color without them or the heavily sociopolitical clashes they were each positioned to channel, and (b) the dramatic splitting up of said character and her long-time premised husband — a move necessary to jumpstart the series’ new concept, but something that hangs over the star and the series like a dark cloud. Indeed, Gloria is a gloomy affair – palpably quiet and sad, in accordance with the history of its lead, a history that does the heavy-lifting for her actual characterization, as the premise’s need to have her starting over, or rather, doing things for the first time, supplants a true personality in episodic plot. And while this maybe enables stories that suggest some sociopolitical connective tissue, the subject is no longer novel and is generally the opposite of funny — it’s timid and sulky. What’s more, the choice (of the Archie Bunker’s Place scribes, replaced after the backdoor pilot, which was slightly retooled) to set the show in a veterinary clinic is a bad one, as animals on the sitcom are a fundamental gimmick — creatures who cannot convey a decision-making process are not characters and therefore can’t propel plot. Like kids — and, yes, there’s one of those here, too — stories about animals are contrived distractions, regardless of whether they’re jokey or serious. They’re tacky.

And yet, if those are all the expected criticisms, I must say that Gloria is blessed with a strong ensemble – outside the leading lady, all three of the other adults are well-defined, and played exceptionally well. In fact, Sally Struthers, along with Burgess Meredith and Jo de Winter, are especially great performers — adept not only at fleshing out moments with comedy, but also believable heart. Additionally, if the structure portends trouble, the writing itself is terrific, courtesy of several scribes who came over from WKRP In Cincinnati. They, along with a few others, are skilled at offering jokes that maintain the text’s desired humanity. So, although they’re not able to circumvent the debris cluttering the series, or the fundamental problem with the Gloria character – both issues that stem from All In The Family and this show’s connection to it (not to mention the veterinary setup from Archie Bunker’s Place) – there are moments within this otherwise forgettable, too cautious series that work incredibly well, much better than most of the generally inferior sitcoms we highlight in these potpourri posts. In this regard, Gloria, though chronically flawed, is much better than I expected. Faint praise? Maybe. But praise nonetheless!

Episode Count: 21 + a backdoor pilot on Archie Bunker’s Place

Episodes Seen: All 21 episodes + the backdoor pilot

Key Episodes (of Seen):

• Episode #2: “First Date” (10/03/82)
  
• Episode #13: “Gloria On The Couch” (01/09/83)
  
• Episode #21: “An Uncredited Woman” (04/10/83)

Why: “First Date” and “An Uncredited Woman” both take advantage of the leading lady’s premised situation of being single and having to figure things out for herself, with both dramatic sincerity and a strong sense of humor imparted by the teleplay, while “Gloria On The Couch” is saddled with a terrible story but is a great showcase for Sally Struthers, who does believable impressions of Gloria’s parents — the iconic Archie and Edith Bunker – and that’s enough to make a memorable segment of a mostly unmemorable series.