''704 Hauser'' is an American

sitcom A sitcom, a portmanteau of situation comedy, or situational comedy, is a genre of comedy centered on a fixed set of characters who mostly carry over from episode to episode. Sitcoms can be contrasted with sketch comedy, where a troupe may use ...

television series and a spin-off of ''

All in the Family ''All in the Family'' is an American television sitcom that aired on CBS for nine seasons, from January 12, 1971, to April 8, 1979. Afterwards, it was continued with the spin-off series ''Archie Bunker's Place'', which picked up where ''All in ...

'' (the final of several) that aired on

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

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 a borough of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located on Long Island, it is the largest New York City borough by area. It is bordered by the borough of Brooklyn at the western tip of Long ...

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

Overview

Norman Lear 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 The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

, particularly in the form of

Rush Limbaugh Rush Hudson Limbaugh III ( ; January 12, 1951 – February 17, 2021) was an American conservative political commentator who was the host of '' The Rush Limbaugh Show'', which first aired in 1984 and was nationally syndicated on AM and FM r ...

. 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'' (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 (or labouring class) comprises those engaged in manual-labour occupations or industrial work, who are remunerated via waged or salaried contracts. Working-class occupations (see also " Designation of workers by collar colo ...

Democrats, while their son Goodie is a

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

activist and his girlfriend, Cherlyn Markowitz (

Maura Tierney Maura Therese Tierney (born February 3, 1965) is an American film, stage, and television actress. She is best known for her roles as Lisa Miller on the sitcom '' NewsRadio'' (1995–1999), Abby Lockhart on the medical drama '' ER'' (1999–2009 ...

), is white and

Jew Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""T ...

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 *

as Cherlyn Markowitz Casey Siemaszko 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 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 kind ...

box set released by Shout! Factory 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 spin-offs CBS original programming Television series by Sony Pictures Television Television series by Castle Rock Entertainment English-language television shows Television shows set in New York City Television series created by Norman Lear Queens, New York, in fiction