5 /10 1 Votes5
4.8/10 TV Directed by Norman LearJack Shea Original language(s) English First episode date 11 April 1994 | 5/10 IMDb Country of origin United States No. of seasons 1 Final episode date 9 May 1994 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Starring John AmosLynnie GodfreyT.E. RussellMaura Tierney Similar | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
704 Hauser is an American sitcom and a spin-off of All in the Family (the final of several) that aired on CBS 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 home of Archie Bunker years after Bunker had sold the house located at 704 Hauser Street. The All in the Family character Joey Stivic, Archie's grandson (played by Casey Siemaszko), makes a cameo in the first episode.
Contents
Overview
Norman Lear created the series during the time when conservative talk radio was experiencing its initial upswing in popularity in the United States, particularly in the form of Rush Limbaugh. Lear felt that the time was right for a new show to explore some of the issues being discussed, and 704 Hauser was even more explicitly political than All in the Family.
John Amos, a veteran of the earlier Lear sitcom Good Times (itself a spin-off of the All in the Family spin-off Maude), starred as Ernie Cumberbatch, while Lynnie Godfrey played his wife, Rose. T.E. Russell played their live-at-home son, Thurgood Marshall "Goodie" Cumberbatch.
The show featured a reversal of the original All in the Family formula. Ernie and Rose Cumberbatch were working class Democrats, while their son Goodie was a conservative activist and his girlfriend, Cherlyn Markowitz (Maura Tierney), was white and Jewish.
Audiences did not respond favorably to the show, which was cancelled after five episodes (with one episode remaining unaired).
In the second episode of the first season of All in the Family ("Writing the President"), Archie mentions a black friend of his from "the old neighborhood" named Roundtree Cumberbatch; Mike replies that he thinks the name is made up.
DVD release
The pilot episode, "Meet the Cumberbatchs", was included as a bonus feature on All in the Family - The Complete Series DVD box-set released by Shout! Factory on October 30, 2012.