704 Hauser is an American sitcom that aired on CBS

CBS

CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...

 from April to May 1994

1994 in television

The year 1994 in television involved some significant events.Below is a list of television-related events in 1994.For the American TV schedule, see: 1994-95 United States network television schedule.-Events:-Debuts:-Miniseries:...

. A spin-off

Spin-off (media)

In media, a spin-off is a radio program, television program, video game, or any narrative work, derived from one or more already existing works, that focuses, in particular, in more detail on one aspect of that original work...

 of All in the Family

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 final of several), the series is built around the concept of an African American

African American

African Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...

 family, the Cumberbatches, moving into the former Queens

Queens

Queens is the easternmost of the five boroughs of New York City. The largest borough in area and the second-largest in population, it is coextensive with Queens County, an administrative division of New York state, in the United States....

 home of Archie Bunker

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...

 years after Bunker had sold the house. The All in the Family character Joey Stivic

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 and Gloria Stivic , and the grandson of Archie Bunker and Edith Bunker...

, Archie's grandson, makes a cameo in the first episode.

Overview

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...

 created the series during the time when conservative talk radio was experiencing its initial upswing in popularity in the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

, particularly in the form of Rush Limbaugh

Rush Limbaugh

Rush Hudson Limbaugh III is an American radio talk show host, conservative political commentator, and an opinion leader in American conservatism. He hosts The Rush Limbaugh Show which is aired throughout the U.S. on Premiere Radio Networks and is the highest-rated talk-radio program in the United...

. 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

John Amos

John Amos is an American actor and former football player. His television work includes roles in The Mary Tyler Moore Show, Good Times, the miniseries Roots, and a recurring role in The West Wing. He has also appeared on Broadway and in numerous motion pictures in a career that spans four decades...

, a veteran of the earlier Lear sitcom Good Times

Good Times

Good Times is an American sitcom that originally aired from February 8, 1974, until August 1, 1979, on the CBS television network. It was created by Eric Monte and Michael Evans, and developed by Norman Lear, the series' primary executive producer...

(itself a spinoff of the All in the Family spinoff Maude

Maude (TV series)

Maude was an American television sitcom that was originally broadcast on the CBS network from September 12, 1972 until April 22, 1978.Maude starred Beatrice Arthur as Maude Findlay, an outspoken, middle-aged, politically liberal woman living in suburban Tuckahoe, Westchester County, New York with...

), 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 blue collar

Blue collar

Blue collar can refer to:*Blue-collar worker, a traditional designation of the working class*Blue-collar crime, the types of crimes typically associated with the working class*A census designation...

, working class

Working class

Working class is a term used in the social sciences and in ordinary conversation to describe those employed in lower tier jobs , often extending to those in unemployment or otherwise possessing below-average incomes...

 Democrats

Democratic Party (United States)

The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...

, while their son Goodie was an assertive conservative

Conservatism

Conservatism is a political and social philosophy that promotes the maintenance of traditional institutions and supports, at the most, minimal and gradual change in society. Some conservatives seek to preserve things as they are, emphasizing stability and continuity, while others oppose modernism...

 activist

Activism

Activism consists of intentional efforts to bring about social, political, economic, or environmental change. Activism can take a wide range of forms from writing letters to newspapers or politicians, political campaigning, economic activism such as boycotts or preferentially patronizing...

 in the vein of Armstrong Williams

Armstrong Williams

Armstrong Williams is an African American political commentator, author of a conservative newspaper column, and host of a daily radio show and a nationally syndicated TV program, called The Right Side with Armstrong Williams. From 2004 to 2007, he co-hosted a daily radio program with Sam...

, Walter Williams

Walter E. Williams

Walter E. Williams, is an American economist, commentator, and academic. He is the John M. Olin Distinguished Professor of Economics at George Mason University, as well as a syndicated columnist and author known for his libertarian views.- Early life and education :Williams family during childhood...

, or Thomas Sowell

Thomas Sowell

Thomas Sowell is an American economist, social theorist, political philosopher, and author. A National Humanities Medal winner, he advocates laissez-faire economics and writes from a libertarian perspective...

. To add further conflict, Goodie's girlfriend, played by Maura Tierney

Maura Tierney

Maura Therese Tierney is an American film and television actress, who is best known for her roles as Lisa Miller on NewsRadio and Abby Lockhart on the television medical drama ER.-Early life:...

, was Jewish.

Only six episodes of the series were filmed, and only five were aired, making this the shortest run of any Norman Lear sitcom.

Episodes

Series #	Season #	Title	Notes	Original air date
1	1	"Meet the Cumberbatches"	A pair of liberal black parents struggles with their conservative son and his white girlfriend.	April 11, 1994
2	2	"Here's Why Ernie Should Never Be Left Home Alone"	Ernie conspires to find Goodie a new girlfriend.	April 18, 1994
3	3	"Ernie Live on Tape"	Ernie and Goodie disagree over an incident of alleged racial harassment.	April 25, 1994
4	4	"Triskaidekaphobia"	Friday the thirteenth brings bad luck to the Cumberbatches.	May 2, 1994
5	5	"All That Jasmine"	Rose's sister interferes with Ernie's birthday surprise.	May 9, 1994
6	6	"Revelations"	Ernie discovers a master plan to reduce his taxes by becoming a minister.	May 16, 1994 (Unaired)