One of her most memorable episodes was in the show's final (real) season, "Edith's 50th Birthday" (October 16, 1977). I say "real" because it was intended to be the final year of "All In the Family," and they pulled out all the stops with a number of memorable episodes (such as the 50th birthday, as well as "Cousin Liz," when Edith finds out a family secret). At the end of that season (1977-78), Mike & Gloria left, as did creator Norman Lear. Stapleton, Rob Reiner and Carroll O'Connor all won Emmys for that season, as did the series, and director Paul Bogart (for "Edith's 50th Birthday"). Writers Bob Schiller, Bob Weiskopf, Harve Brosten and Barry Harman also won for "Cousin Liz."
It was only a near-sweep, though: Sally Struthers lost that year Julie Kavner, the voice-of-Marge-Simpson. Kavner was then playing Brenda Morgenstern, Rhoda's sister on "Rhoda." And Struthers' only other win to that point has been in 1972, when she tied with Valerie Harper... for playing Rhoda!
But back to "Edith's 50th Birthday," the first half of the one-hour episode was amazing and tension-filled. It was apparently originally written for another Norman Lear show, "One Day at a Time," but Edith Bunker is so much more a part of our culture than Ann Romano (sorry!). Here's the whole episode:
And here's Paul Bogart talking about directing that episode:
For even more serendipity: episodes from the 1978-79 season (the first one after all the changes listed above) through the end of the series (1982-83, when it was known as "Archie Bunker's Place") were taped on a closed set. Later, they were edited together and then played for audiences attending tapings of "One Day at a Time" to record live laughter and give the appearance of a live taping.
Oh, and Sally Struthers would finally win a second Emmy for the 1978-79 season, as would O'Connor.
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