Episode on TV Land Today

[magellan333]

Hello,
This is my first post at the AITF board. Today I saw the closing moments of an episode I have never before seen. It is the one where Edith is almost raped. How did the man get in? Was there any resolution (was he arrested, never seen again)?

[ikhuri]

Originally Posted by magellan333

Hello,
This is my first post at the AITF board. Today I saw the closing moments of an episode I have never before seen. It is the one where Edith is almost raped. How did the man get in? Was there any resolution (was he arrested, never seen again)?

In the first part, just as Edith's friend, Sybill Gooley (sp?) was leaving, the man approached the door and pretended to be a detective who's looking for a rapist, and an unsuspecting Edith lets him in the house. As he begins to describe the rapist wearing the same clothes the "detective" is wearing, Edith then realizes that the "detective" and the rapist are the same guy.

As for the resolution, in the second part, a cop walks in to the Bunker house, and says he caught a guy in the neighborhood, and finds his clothes, and when he asks Edith to confirm that those are the rapists clothes, Edith gets frightened and runs upstairs. In the end, Edith finally agrees to go to the police station and identify the rapist.

I hope those answer your questions.

Imad

[comedyfreak]

This is one of my all time favorite episodes, it made me laugh, get mad, choked up, and cheering by the end.

You forgot to add:

Just before the man was going to rape Edith, Edith smelled something burning in the kitchen. It was the cake she was baking, Edith convinces the rapist to let her go see what was burning. Edith says her birthday cake is burning, she opens the oven takes the cake out and hits the guy in the face with the hot pan and runs out of the house.

This was great because you had drama with alot of comedy. When Archie cleans the fish bowl and hands it to Mike, it falls crashing to the floor they both shout at each other at the same time "You did it"! I was rolling on the floor.

[TVFactFan]

I still think Gloria would have better suited for the rape storyline than Edith. I just couldn't watch Edith with her brawl showing and well you the rest. I know people of all ages get attacked but just don;t want to see it on TV. Even my mom said-"why was edith chosen for this storyline instead of Gloria"?-lol

[magellan333]

Thank you for the information. I saw from the point where Archie came in and got the punch bowl. What I saw wasn't easy to watch, but it seemed to be a very powerful episode.

[TV Guy]

This story was originally conceived for Ann Romano on Norman Lear's "One Day at a Time". Lear decided to shift the story to Edith on "All in the Family" in part to demonstrate that rape is indeed an act of violence rather than an act of sex.

[tdr]

Gloria had already been in a similar episode, as she mentions in this ep, but the attempt took place off-camera. To have her in another rape situation may have been thought of as conniving the idea that it happens to young, attractive women, when it can happen to any woman. And in Gloria's attempted rape episode we are led to deplore what happens to the victim; she would have to testify just what happened with the defense lawyer's implications that she was 'inviting' to it, and the defendant would have not have to take the stand (as in any crime; but here Mike's liberalism goes out the window and he deplores that circumstance). So in the end she does not go forward in trying to prosecute. But in today's ep we see that Gloria has changed in that way, and this is another way in which our sympathies are touched by Edith. That had already happened with part I; because most of us have a grandmother, an aunt, a friendly neighbor, or someone who is like Edith-- kindhearted perhaps to a fault, and to think that this could happen to her...

I have read that unfortunately the man who played the rapist never got past persecution for this role. Even during the taping people in the audience jumped out of their seats intending to help "Edith." And the actor was often confronted on the streets and never stopped getting death threats. He died a couple of years ago and that is what most of the press reports alluded to.

[comedyfreak]

Originally Posted by magellan333

Thank you for the information. I saw from the point where Archie came in and got the punch bowl. What I saw wasn't easy to watch, but it seemed to be a very powerful episode.

You're welcome.

Originally Posted by tdr

But in today's ep we see that Gloria has changed in that way, and this is another way in which our sympathies are touched by Edith. That had already happened with part I; because most of us have a grandmother, an aunt, a friendly neighbor, or someone who is like Edith-- kindhearted perhaps to a fault, and to think that this could happen to her...

I have read that unfortunately the man who played the rapist never got past persecution for this role. Even during the taping people in the audience jumped out of their seats intending to help "Edith." And the actor was often confronted on the streets and never stopped getting death threats. He died a couple of years ago and that is what most of the press reports alluded to.

The thing about part 2 that was powerful for me was after Gloria pleads with Edith to go identify the man and she says "You're not my Mother" and Edith hauls off and slaps Gloria. Lear mixed this tragic event perfectly with comedy to lighten up the drama. I liked that after everything was over, Gloria realizes that the slap hurt and then starts to cry. You can't get better quality of T.V. than All In The Family.

[TVFactFan]

Originally Posted by tdr

Gloria had already been in a similar episode, as she mentions in this ep, but the attempt took place off-camera. To have her in another rape situation may have been thought of as conniving the idea that it happens to young, attractive women, when it can happen to any woman. And in Gloria's attempted rape episode we are led to deplore what happens to the victim; she would have to testify just what happened with the defense lawyer's implications that she was 'inviting' to it, and the defendant would have not have to take the stand (as in any crime; but here Mike's liberalism goes out the window and he deplores that circumstance). So in the end she does not go forward in trying to prosecute. But in today's ep we see that Gloria has changed in that way, and this is another way in which our sympathies are touched by Edith. That had already happened with part I; because most of us have a grandmother, an aunt, a friendly neighbor, or someone who is like Edith-- kindhearted perhaps to a fault, and to think that this could happen to her...

I have read that unfortunately the man who played the rapist never got past persecution for this role. Even during the taping people in the audience jumped out of their seats intending to help "Edith." And the actor was often confronted on the streets and never stopped getting death threats. He died a couple of years ago and that is what most of the press reports alluded to.

So he was confronted on the streets because of something his character did? Those people who confronted him was defintely mentally disturbed

[comedyfreak]

Originally Posted by RetroTVCollector

So he was confronted on the streets because of something his character did? Those people who confronted him was defintely mentally disturbed

Shows you what a great job he did, too bad he couldn't get a break after doing the show. I hate how producers or directors typecast a person, it's not fair.

[Justwondering]

The actor's name, who played the rapist, was David Dukes. He was 54 when he died of a heart attack in 2000.

(Rob Reiner originally cast Dukes as the adult narrator in his film "Stand By Me," but Dukes was eventually replaced by Richard Dreyfuss.)