Tough spot without the star. But, very witty writing, and good acting prevail. Jean Stapleton had some funny scenes with her Tupperware speech. A rather clever script to base Archie's absence on Carroll O'Connor's absence. Sally Struthers really looked great with her hair pulled up.
3 Reviews
The first episode without Archie
Jimmy_the_Gent417 December 2017
Edith is having a tupperware party and Archie left for a lodge convention in Buffalo. Gloria has found out Archie never got there and is keeping that from Edith.
Even without Archie this still manages to be a good episode. Mike and Gloria are going to a Marx Brothers film festival and are dressed as Groucho and Harpo, which makes for some good laughs. Edith's tupperware party turns disastrous when she knocks over the bowls in front of a haughty tupperware rep (amusingly played by Charlotte Rae). There is a cliff hanger ending when Edith finds out Archie is missing.
Even without Archie this still manages to be a good episode. Mike and Gloria are going to a Marx Brothers film festival and are dressed as Groucho and Harpo, which makes for some good laughs. Edith's tupperware party turns disastrous when she knocks over the bowls in front of a haughty tupperware rep (amusingly played by Charlotte Rae). There is a cliff hanger ending when Edith finds out Archie is missing.
Insensitive Mike
Christopher37027 July 2023
Warning: Spoilers
For such a bleeding heart liberal that he is, Mike shockingly displays such an insensitive and callous attitude towards Archie's disappearance that curiously progresses even more as evidence mounts that something terrible may have happened to him. It's really surprising seeing Mike act this way, especially towards an increasingly worried Gloria, played wonderfully by Sally Struthers.
From the opening scene when a nervous Gloria first alerts Mike that her father never got on the bus that he was supposed to take to Buffalo, Mike is completely unconcerned and tells Gloria to get ready for a Marx Brothers movie festival they had planned to see.
When Gloria explains how she's waiting for a call from one of his friends up in Buffalo who is also worried, Mike tells her to forget about it and hurry up for the movie. She hesitates and tells him what if something terrible happened and he got mugged?
Mikes reply is so condescending and arrogant, I wanted Gloria to slap him when he said it. He actually chalks up her worry to her being an emotional woman. At this moment, he's sounding a lot more like Archie does than the liberal Meathead that he is.
It was the 1970's NYC and the possibility that Archie got mugged was a very real and very valid possibility for it's time. For Mike to wave that worry away as Gloria being an emotional woman is extremely callous and insulting.
Gloria thankfully holds her own throughout the episode and stands up to Mike's careless disregard for Archie's whereabouts and his insulting condensation at every turn.
At one point she accuses him of hating her father by how little he was showing any concern. All he seemed to want to do was drag his worried wife to a stupid movie festival---and he succeeded too by convincing her that her worry was all in her head!
She skips out of the festival to return home and be near the phone for any news and an angry Mike follows her home and admonishes her for skipping out before the film "Duck Soup" played. Wow. He shows absolutely no sensitivity to her worry. None.
If he cared more for the film, then he could have stayed there by himself instead of following Gloria home to make her feel even worse than she already did with her worry.
It's at this point that you really begin to wonder if Gloria is right and Mike really didn't care if Archie was lying in a gutter somewhere.
It's only when Edith takes the phone call----not 2 minutes after berating Gloria in the kitchen for walking out of the movie---that Mike finally stops his callousness and acts like something may actually be wrong here. Why? Because Edith is now worried? Does her worry make Archie's disappearance more valid to him than when Gloria was worrying? It was literally only a couple of minutes prior that he was still admonishing Gloria for her worrying. Why is it any different if it's Edith doing the worry?!
I've noticed this throughout the series....whenever Archie mentions things like religion and God, Mike will jump up to make fun of him and question his belief in God.
Yet whenever Edith would talk about her views on God/religion, Mike just sat there and allowed her to express her beliefs without any contradiction or argument from him. He only did it with Archie. Why? Did he feel that Edith's religious views are more important or valid than Archie's?!
In any case, as soon as Edith literally repeats exactly what Gloria said to Mike at the start of the episode about Archie's routine. "Six o clock dinner, 7 o clock Walter Cronkite, 10:30 bed"---Mike doesn't call her an emotional woman rife with worry. How come? It's the exact same thing Gloria said just a few hours ago when she was rightfully worried.
Why is it apparently believable to him when Edith says it and begins worrying? It's as if he wouldn't dare pull the same crap that he does with Archie and Gloria with Edith. Does he respect her more than the other two? I can understand it with Archie....but with his own wife?!
He's such a first class donkey's behind throughout this episode and it's shocking to see because the character prides himself as being this caring, bleeding heart liberal...yet his actions and words in this episode show him as being anything but. His condescending attitude towards Gloria and insensitivity to her feelings is shocking.
It's still a very good and entertaining episode mainly for Sally Struther's strong performance. I think she's so good in this episode that you don't even miss that Archie isn't there.
From the opening scene when a nervous Gloria first alerts Mike that her father never got on the bus that he was supposed to take to Buffalo, Mike is completely unconcerned and tells Gloria to get ready for a Marx Brothers movie festival they had planned to see.
When Gloria explains how she's waiting for a call from one of his friends up in Buffalo who is also worried, Mike tells her to forget about it and hurry up for the movie. She hesitates and tells him what if something terrible happened and he got mugged?
Mikes reply is so condescending and arrogant, I wanted Gloria to slap him when he said it. He actually chalks up her worry to her being an emotional woman. At this moment, he's sounding a lot more like Archie does than the liberal Meathead that he is.
It was the 1970's NYC and the possibility that Archie got mugged was a very real and very valid possibility for it's time. For Mike to wave that worry away as Gloria being an emotional woman is extremely callous and insulting.
Gloria thankfully holds her own throughout the episode and stands up to Mike's careless disregard for Archie's whereabouts and his insulting condensation at every turn.
At one point she accuses him of hating her father by how little he was showing any concern. All he seemed to want to do was drag his worried wife to a stupid movie festival---and he succeeded too by convincing her that her worry was all in her head!
She skips out of the festival to return home and be near the phone for any news and an angry Mike follows her home and admonishes her for skipping out before the film "Duck Soup" played. Wow. He shows absolutely no sensitivity to her worry. None.
If he cared more for the film, then he could have stayed there by himself instead of following Gloria home to make her feel even worse than she already did with her worry.
It's at this point that you really begin to wonder if Gloria is right and Mike really didn't care if Archie was lying in a gutter somewhere.
It's only when Edith takes the phone call----not 2 minutes after berating Gloria in the kitchen for walking out of the movie---that Mike finally stops his callousness and acts like something may actually be wrong here. Why? Because Edith is now worried? Does her worry make Archie's disappearance more valid to him than when Gloria was worrying? It was literally only a couple of minutes prior that he was still admonishing Gloria for her worrying. Why is it any different if it's Edith doing the worry?!
I've noticed this throughout the series....whenever Archie mentions things like religion and God, Mike will jump up to make fun of him and question his belief in God.
Yet whenever Edith would talk about her views on God/religion, Mike just sat there and allowed her to express her beliefs without any contradiction or argument from him. He only did it with Archie. Why? Did he feel that Edith's religious views are more important or valid than Archie's?!
In any case, as soon as Edith literally repeats exactly what Gloria said to Mike at the start of the episode about Archie's routine. "Six o clock dinner, 7 o clock Walter Cronkite, 10:30 bed"---Mike doesn't call her an emotional woman rife with worry. How come? It's the exact same thing Gloria said just a few hours ago when she was rightfully worried.
Why is it apparently believable to him when Edith says it and begins worrying? It's as if he wouldn't dare pull the same crap that he does with Archie and Gloria with Edith. Does he respect her more than the other two? I can understand it with Archie....but with his own wife?!
He's such a first class donkey's behind throughout this episode and it's shocking to see because the character prides himself as being this caring, bleeding heart liberal...yet his actions and words in this episode show him as being anything but. His condescending attitude towards Gloria and insensitivity to her feelings is shocking.
It's still a very good and entertaining episode mainly for Sally Struther's strong performance. I think she's so good in this episode that you don't even miss that Archie isn't there.
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