''704 Hauser'' is an American

sitcom A sitcom (short for situation comedy or situational comedy) is a genre of comedy produced for radio and television, that centers on a recurring cast of character (arts), characters as they navigate humorous situations within a consistent settin ...

television series and a

spin-off Spin-off, Spin Off, Spin-Off, or Spinoff may refer to: Entertainment and media *Spinoff (media), a media work derived from an existing work *''The Spinoff'', a New Zealand current affairs magazine * ''Spin Off'' (Canadian game show), a 2013 Canad ...

of ''

All in the Family ''All in the Family'' is an American sitcoms in the United States, sitcom television series that aired on CBS for nine seasons from January 12, 1971, to April 8, 1979, with a total of 205 episodes. It was later produced as ''Archie Bunker's Pla ...

'' (the final of several) that aired on

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS (an abbreviation of its original name, Columbia Broadcasting System), is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainme ...

from April 11 to May 9, 1994. The series is built around the concept of a black family, the Cumberbatch Family, moving into the former

Queens Queens is the largest by area of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. Located near the western end of Long Island, it is bordered by the ...

home of

Archie Bunker Archibald "Archie" Bunker is a fictional character from the 1970s American television sitcom ''All in the Family'' and its spin-off '' Archie Bunker's Place'', played by Carroll O'Connor. Bunker, a main character of the series, is a World War II ...

after Bunker had sold the house located at 704 Hauser Street.

Overview

Norman Lear Norman Milton Lear (July 27, 1922December 5, 2023) was an American screenwriter and producer who produced, wrote, created, or developed over 100 shows. Lear created and produced numerous popular 1970s sitcoms, including ''All in the Family'' (1 ...

created the series during the time when

conservative talk radio Conservative talk radio is a talk radio format in the United States and other countries devoted to expressing conservative viewpoints of issues, as opposed to progressive talk radio. The definition of conservative talk is generally broad enough ...

was experiencing its initial upswing in popularity in the United States, particularly in the form of

Rush Limbaugh Rush Hudson Limbaugh III ( ; January 12, 1951 – February 17, 2021) was an American Conservatism in the United States, conservative political commentator who was the host of ''The Rush Limbaugh Show'', which first aired in 1984 and was nati ...

. Lear felt that the time was right for a new show to explore new issues, making ''704 Hauser'' even more explicitly political than ''All in the Family''. John Amos, a veteran of the earlier Lear sitcom ''

Good Times ''Good Times'' is an American television sitcom that aired for six seasons on CBS, from February 8, 1974, to August 1, 1979. Created by Eric Monte and Mike Evans (actor), Mike Evans and developed by executive producer Norman Lear, it was televis ...

'' (itself a spin-off of the ''All in the Family'' spin-off '' Maude''), starred as Ernie Cumberbatch, while Lynnie Godfrey played his wife, Rose. The show features a reversal of the original ''All in the Family'' formula. Ernie and Rose Cumberbatch are

working class The working class is a subset of employees who are compensated with wage or salary-based contracts, whose exact membership varies from definition to definition. Members of the working class rely primarily upon earnings from wage labour. Most c ...

Democrats, while their son Goodie is a

conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...

activist and his girlfriend, Cherlyn Markowitz ( Maura Tierney), is white and

Jew Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, religion, and community are highly inte ...

ish. The show attracted middling ratings, and was cancelled after five episodes (with one episode remaining unaired).

Cast

* John Amos as Ernie Cumberbatch * Lynnie Godfrey as Rose Cumberbatch * T.E. Russell as Thurgood Marshall 'Goodie' Cumberbatch * Maura Tierney as Cherlyn Markowitz

Casey Siemaszko Kazimierz Andrew "Casey" Siemaszko (; born March 17, 1961) is an American actor. He had supporting roles in ''Back to the Future'' and '' Stand By Me'' before having starring roles in '' Three O'Clock High'' and '' Young Guns''. Personal life Sie ...

plays

Joey Stivic Joseph Michael "Joey" Stivic is a fictional character who first appeared on the 1970s American sitcom ''All in the Family''. Joey Stivic was the son and only child of Mike Stivic (played by Rob Reiner) and Gloria Stivic (played by Sally Struther ...

, Archie's grandson, in the first episode. CBS anchor

Bob Schieffer Bob Lloyd Schieffer (born February 25, 1937) is an American television journalist. He is known for his moderation of presidential debates, where he has been praised for his capability. Schieffer is one of the few journalists to have covered all f ...

appears in the first episode as himself.

List of episodes

Home media

The pilot episode, "Meet the Cumberbatchs", was included as a bonus feature on the ''All in the Family: The Complete Series''

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for digital video disc or digital versatile disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any ki ...

box set released by

Shout! Factory Shout! Factory, LLC, doing business as Shout! Studios (formerly doing business as Shout! Factory, its current legal name), is an American home video and music distributor founded in 2002 as Retropolis Entertainment. Its video releases, issued i ...

on October 30, 2012.

References

External links

* {{Norman Lear All in the Family 1994 American television series debuts 1994 American television series endings 1990s American black sitcoms American television spinoffs Television series by Sony Pictures Television Television series by Castle Rock Entertainment American English-language television shows Television shows set in Queens Television series created by Norman Lear CBS sitcoms 1990s American multi-camera sitcoms