Maybe the DUers are seeing what they want to see? I just don’t recall thinking Archie was stupid, but it’s been a while. I may have missed it.
I vividly recall thinking Meathead was a wimpy parasite, & I never cd stand Gloria. They seemed like an obnoxious pair from the inside out.
While it was made by leftists with a definite left-wing agenda, Meathead didn’t exactly come off in a flattering light either. I remember some episodes where they allowed Archie to win against him.
IMHO, the best of the family of sitcoms from commie Norman Lear were “The Jeffersons” and “Sanford and Son”. They tended to be funnier and less preachy(at least less preachy than “All In The Family”). The worst was “Maude” with the “courageous, very special” episode where she has an abortion.
I think they’re seeing it exactly how it was intended to be seen.
In those days it was just the subliminal beginning of the liberal media manipulation which today is blatant.
Norman Lear is a left wing loon, he knew what he was doing with this show.
The article describes it.
“”the Bunker family, led by an irascible loading-dock worker named Archie whose attitudes toward anyone not exactly like him – that is, white, male, conservative and rabidly patriotic – were condescending, smug and demonstrably foolish.””