Edith's 50th Birthday (All in the Family)
Encyclopedia
"Edith's 50th Birthday" is the third episode of the eighth season of the American situation comedy All in the Family
. The episode, which originally aired October 16, 1977, was written by Bob Schiller and Bob Weiskopf, and directed by Paul Bogart.
The episode depicts a man who, while posing as a police detective, attempts to sexually assault the Bunker family matriarch, Edith
, on her 50th birthday. This all happens while her family, unaware of what is happening in the Bunkers' living room, prepares for a surprise party to honor Edith. The scenes following the rape depict Edith struggling to deal with the aftermath, and her family's attempts to both comfort her and help bring her assailant to justice.
The episode, the 159th of the series, was one of the first on television that portrayed an attempted rape.
Originally aired as a one-hour special, "Edith's 50th Birthday" is shown in two parts in syndication.
As Sybil leaves, a handsome man in his early 30s and dressed in a suit arrives. The man identifies himself as a police detective named Lambert, claiming to be searching the neighborhood for a rapist. During his explanation, the man describes the clothes he's wearing himself and locks the door; Edith quickly realizes that Lambert is himself the rapist.
Lambert tries repeatedly to assault Edith, and despite her attempts to get away from her attacker, he is too strong and too smart for her. Edith offers the man coffee (he declines), explains that she has a party to go to and rambles on about her plans (he keeps her restrained), tries to go to the bathroom (he offers to escort her), and has a panicked telephone conversation with one of her friends (Lambert waves a gun at her, warning her that letting slip about her predicament will mean death). Later, when her husband Archie
appears to retrieve a punch bowl, the man hides in the closet and threatens to kill them both if Edith says anything.
Once they are alone for the final time, and it appears Edith has exhausted all of her getaway attempts, the two smell something burning from the kitchen. It is the cake Edith was baking, and Lambert escorts her to the kitchen to pull it out. However, Edith uses this final opportunity as her chance to escape her ordeal, striking him in the face with the burned cake. The man is stunned, and before he can regain his senses, Edith pushes him out of the kitchen and onto the porch. Edith then flees the house and runs to Mike and Gloria's, where—just as the party is about to get underway—she breaks down in Archie's arms.
As the second half-hour opens, Edith confides to her family what has happened. Archie, who is furious, wants to press charges, but a confused and shaken Edith wants to just forget the ordeal. Later, two police investigators arrive at the Bunker house, announcing they had picked up an apparently injured man wandering around in a back alley who fit the description of a subject wanted in a series of sexual assaults. When the investigators attempt to get a statement from Edith, she immediately flees the room when she is shown a tie and fake police badge, Lambert's items that had been discarded at the scene of one of his previous crimes.
Two weeks then pass since the attempted rape, and Edith has entered into a state of constant fear and depression. She is always ironing her bedsheets and pillowcases, and refuses to talk about what had happened to her. Even Archie's unusually sensitive attempts to bolster her self-esteem (he kisses her) do no good. Gloria urges Edith to identify Lambert in a police lineup, or else the police will have to drop the pending charges against him; Edith continually changes the subject and refuses to listen. Eventually, an exasperated Gloria declares her mother "selfish" and no longer considers Edith her mother. Edith slaps her, and her shock at having done so snaps her out of her depression; after expressing remorse for her action, Edith realizes she must identify her attacker. She leaves for the police station with Archie, hoping that her actions may keep the rapist away for good. The episode closes on a comedic moment, where Gloria loudly whines from the pain of her slap.
Norman Lear
consulted with the director of the rape treatment center at Santa Barbara hospital, among other experts, and showed the episode at various cities in private screenings for legal authorities and social workers.
All in the Family
All in the Family is an American sitcom that was originally broadcast on the CBS television network from January 12, 1971, to April 8, 1979. In September 1979, a new show, Archie Bunker's Place, picked up where All in the Family had ended...
. The episode, which originally aired October 16, 1977, was written by Bob Schiller and Bob Weiskopf, and directed by Paul Bogart.
The episode depicts a man who, while posing as a police detective, attempts to sexually assault the Bunker family matriarch, Edith
Edith Bunker
Edith Bunker is a fictional 1970s sitcom character on All in the Family , played by Jean Stapleton. She was the wife of Archie Bunker , mother of Gloria Stivic, mother-in-law of Michael "Meathead" Stivic, and, after 1975, grandmother of Joey Stivic...
, on her 50th birthday. This all happens while her family, unaware of what is happening in the Bunkers' living room, prepares for a surprise party to honor Edith. The scenes following the rape depict Edith struggling to deal with the aftermath, and her family's attempts to both comfort her and help bring her assailant to justice.
The episode, the 159th of the series, was one of the first on television that portrayed an attempted rape.
Originally aired as a one-hour special, "Edith's 50th Birthday" is shown in two parts in syndication.
Plot
On Edith Bunker's 50th birthday, her family plans a surprise party for her at her daughter and son-in-law's house next door; however, Edith knows about the party and is in the process of baking her own birthday cake. As she waits for her cue to go to their house, two visitors come over. The first one is her friend, Sybil, with whom Edith chats for a while.As Sybil leaves, a handsome man in his early 30s and dressed in a suit arrives. The man identifies himself as a police detective named Lambert, claiming to be searching the neighborhood for a rapist. During his explanation, the man describes the clothes he's wearing himself and locks the door; Edith quickly realizes that Lambert is himself the rapist.
Lambert tries repeatedly to assault Edith, and despite her attempts to get away from her attacker, he is too strong and too smart for her. Edith offers the man coffee (he declines), explains that she has a party to go to and rambles on about her plans (he keeps her restrained), tries to go to the bathroom (he offers to escort her), and has a panicked telephone conversation with one of her friends (Lambert waves a gun at her, warning her that letting slip about her predicament will mean death). Later, when her husband Archie
Archie Bunker
Archibald "Archie" Bunker is a fictional New Yorker in the 1970s top-rated American television sitcom All in the Family and its spin-off Archie Bunker's Place, played to acclaim by Carroll O'Connor. Bunker is a veteran of World War II, reactionary, bigoted, conservative, blue-collar worker, and...
appears to retrieve a punch bowl, the man hides in the closet and threatens to kill them both if Edith says anything.
Once they are alone for the final time, and it appears Edith has exhausted all of her getaway attempts, the two smell something burning from the kitchen. It is the cake Edith was baking, and Lambert escorts her to the kitchen to pull it out. However, Edith uses this final opportunity as her chance to escape her ordeal, striking him in the face with the burned cake. The man is stunned, and before he can regain his senses, Edith pushes him out of the kitchen and onto the porch. Edith then flees the house and runs to Mike and Gloria's, where—just as the party is about to get underway—she breaks down in Archie's arms.
As the second half-hour opens, Edith confides to her family what has happened. Archie, who is furious, wants to press charges, but a confused and shaken Edith wants to just forget the ordeal. Later, two police investigators arrive at the Bunker house, announcing they had picked up an apparently injured man wandering around in a back alley who fit the description of a subject wanted in a series of sexual assaults. When the investigators attempt to get a statement from Edith, she immediately flees the room when she is shown a tie and fake police badge, Lambert's items that had been discarded at the scene of one of his previous crimes.
Two weeks then pass since the attempted rape, and Edith has entered into a state of constant fear and depression. She is always ironing her bedsheets and pillowcases, and refuses to talk about what had happened to her. Even Archie's unusually sensitive attempts to bolster her self-esteem (he kisses her) do no good. Gloria urges Edith to identify Lambert in a police lineup, or else the police will have to drop the pending charges against him; Edith continually changes the subject and refuses to listen. Eventually, an exasperated Gloria declares her mother "selfish" and no longer considers Edith her mother. Edith slaps her, and her shock at having done so snaps her out of her depression; after expressing remorse for her action, Edith realizes she must identify her attacker. She leaves for the police station with Archie, hoping that her actions may keep the rapist away for good. The episode closes on a comedic moment, where Gloria loudly whines from the pain of her slap.
Production
"Edith's 50th Birthday" originally aired as a one-hour episode. In syndication, it is aired as a two-part episode.Norman Lear
Norman Lear
Norman Milton Lear is an American television writer and producer who produced such 1970s sitcoms as All in the Family, Sanford and Son, One Day at a Time, The Jeffersons, Good Times and Maude...
consulted with the director of the rape treatment center at Santa Barbara hospital, among other experts, and showed the episode at various cities in private screenings for legal authorities and social workers.