Page "All in the Family" Paragraph 11

* Rob Reiner as Michael Stivic.

Gloria's Polish-American hippie husband was part of the counterculture of the 1960s.

He constantly sparred with Archie ( in the original pilot, the character " Michael " was Irish-American ).

Michael's character was, in many ways, as stubborn as Archie, even though his moral views were generally presented as being more ethical and his logic somewhat sounder.

Though this was true, he was generally portrayed in a more negative light than Archie ; Archie was portrayed in a more sympathetic sense, while Michael was portrayed as loudmouthed and at times, demanding.

He consistently tried to prove himself correct ( as evidenced in the episode " The Games Bunkers Play ") and seemed desperate to convince people that his way was the right way to go all the time, even more than Archie, who gave up giving advice about his way when there was no point.

This would occasionally, if not often, end him up in conflict with his friends and wife.

For his bullheadedness, Stivic was sometimes criticized for being an elitist.

He also struggled with assumptions of male superiority.

He spoke of believing in female equality, but often tried to control Gloria's decisions and desires in terms of traditional gender roles.

While Archie was a representation of right-wing bigotry and demonstrated the lion's share of the hypocrisy, Michael, on many occasions, showed his own.

As discussed in All in the Family retrospectives, Richard Dreyfuss sought the part but Norman Lear was convinced to cast Reiner.

Reiner appeared in 174 of the 202 episodes of the series during the first eight seasons — from January 12, 1971 to March 19, 1978.

Reiner is also credited with writing three of the series ' episodes.