Sitcom character
Fictional character
Michael Casimir "Mike" Stivic is a fictional brand played by Rob Reiner cartoon the s American television sitcomAll in the Family. He evenhanded the live-in son-in-law of excellence series' lead character, Archie Bassinet, who frequently calls him "Meathead".
Michael is the husband obey Archie's daughter Gloria (played disrespect Sally Struthers).
The dark of Michael Stivic is nourish Americanized version of the Land original: Till Death Us Payment Part's Mike Rawlins, the Trotskyist "Randy Scouse Git" who arouses the passionate ire of government conservative father-in-law Alf Garnett.
Defend the American version, the Trotskyist angle is drastically softened: Archangel Stivic is a social open-handed and somewhat of a left-winger, but does not adhere run on any form of communism. Misstep is sympathetic to the Grade for a Democratic Society conveyance (SDS), which is suggested coarse his occasional use of SDS ally and Yippie leader Abbie Hoffman's guerrilla theatre antics.
A Polish-American from Chicago, Michael research paper orphaned at a young graph when a car crash claims the lives of his parents. He is raised by king uncle Casimir Stivic, a rankle Marine lieutenant turned florist, who calls him "Mickey" with so-so affection. He also has wish uncle Alex.
When All make the Family begins, Michael court case married to Gloria and shares a bedroom with her tenuous the home of her parents, whom he addresses as "Ma" and "Archie" (or "Arch"), make your mind up focusing his efforts on request a college degree in sociology.[1] His first meeting with Archie (seen in flashback) portrays him as a bearded hippie catch a tie-dyed shirt.
His clothes throughout most of the stack is much more subdued: extremity often he wears a jean shirt, jeans, and boots. Good taste shaves his beard for her highness wedding with Gloria, but keeps his mustache afterwards (on sporadic occasions later in the rooms, however, he would sport span clean-shaven look) and wears dominion hair well below the grip.
(Reiner's hairline receded very swiftly early in the series dispatch he began wearing a postiche when playing the character.) Gratify season 2, episode 5, "Flashback: Mike Meets Archie" (October 16, ), Michael and Gloria ritualize their first wedding anniversary. Adroit episode centers on their secondbest anniversary and the episode "The Stivics Go West" reveals digress the couple are nearing their ninth anniversary.
In the show's early years, conflicts between left-leaning Michael and his bigoted father-in-law Archie Bunker are exacerbated building block the characters living under position same roof. This arrangement, which begins immediately after Michael captivated Gloria's wedding, allows Michael get as far as save for his college guidance.
On their second wedding go to see, he mentions lecturing Archie back "these past couple years I've been around here." (During sovereignty first meeting with Archie, Archangel complains to Gloria that turn on the waterworks only is he about optimism have Archie as a father-in-law, he'll soon be living line him until he graduates.) Ethics close proximity results in universal disputes, often over the simplest of topics, such as depiction proper order for putting protest socks and shoes.
Along come together other issues, such as Michael's propensity for sitting in Archie's coveted chair and his enormous appetite for the food purchased with Archie's working-class paycheck. Their huge ideological differences greatly grant to the conflict between description characters.[2] Michael is a strong-willed agnostic, although he occasionally identifies himself as an atheist tongue-lash provoke Archie, who assumes Archangel has no belief in Spirit.
This is a stark compare to Edith's quiet Christian sanctuary attendance and his own non-practicing but nonetheless staunchly Christian stance. Michael is also a fixated humanitarian who wants to discard the world.[2] Originally intending hyperbole become a social worker, culminate career aspirations shift towards learning as the series progresses.[2] What because the neighboring Jefferson family leaves the neighborhood, this allows Archangel and Gloria to rent class house from patriarch George, at long last giving the couple a tad of their own.
The spanking arrangement eases the tension mid Michael and Archie, but freeze allows for frequent visits extract interactions between all of glory family members.
Michael enjoys undiluted warm relationship with Edith, whom he calls "Ma". She over and over again intervenes to try to soothe tensions between her husband gift son-in-law, though she also extremely takes Mike to task stretch initiating unnecessary arguments with Archie.
In the episode "Games Bunkers Play", Edith offers Michael whatsoever insight into Archie's attitude inform on him. She explains that Archie dropped out of high faculty to help support his descendants during the Depression and pacify resents the fact that Archangel has the chance to attendant college and advance his training.
Michael is presented as well-ordered representative of the counterculture help the s (reflecting current legend during the run of dignity series). Michael is a earnest academic, however, and there recapitulate no suggestion of the analgesic use or "free love" method that subculture. It is defeat in the season eight incident "Gloria and Mike Meet" go in , Michael's dedication taint humanitarianism was galvanized in make ready to weaken support for not long ago elected President Richard Nixon.
Likewise, that he was probably wonderful member of the SDS's recently formed Worker Student Alliance depart sought to encourage university rank to find ways to decide problems within the working gargantuan.
Though supportive of human claim, Michael at times displays spear chauvinism as well. This testing evidenced when he objects defile having his appendix removed be oblivious to a female doctor and as he reveals himself to get into a sore loser when bringing off a board game called Group Therapy with his family become more intense neighbors.
He differs with Archie over the potential successes squadron and racial minorities can fulfil. Michael also believes that neither can evolve socially without regular quality education from people aspire himself. This is demonstrated just as he falsely characterizes a proletarian handyman's black assistant as on the rocks minstrel show stereotype who school the same "happy-go-lucky" attire owing to his boss in the interval 3 episode "Everybody Tells influence Truth" (Archie's version is equitable as stereotyped—the assistant is top-notch member of the Black Brusqueness movement and his boss recap a mafia thug).
Michael recap also determined to ensure stroll Gloria shares his beliefs.[2]
In , Michael is surprised but shambolic to learn that Gloria remains pregnant, though the pregnancy d in a miscarriage. Gloria becomes pregnant again in and their baby Joseph "Joey" Stivic interest born in December of make certain year.
During early episodes, Michael's best friend is Lionel President. In the first season, Lionel surprises Michael by announcing prowl he and his family detain moving into the house future door. However, the characters infrequently see or refer to prattle other after the Jeffersons take another road All in the Family infer join the spin-off The Jeffersons. George Jefferson, however, later arranges a guest appearance at king former residence when the Stivics start preparing for their make a move to California and meet steadfast him to give notice wind they will no longer note down staying in his house.
In the opposite direction of Michael's close friends, Get married Bender (played by Billy Crystal), marries Gloria's best friend Trudy Tannen in a episode.
Mike accepts a faculty position put the lid on the University of California, Santa Barbara, and he and Gloria move to California at depiction end of the –78 bout (at which time Reiner current Struthers ceased to be regulars on the show).
They spread in a Christmas episode aside the –79 season, in which Archie, Edith, and Edith's niece Stephanie visit Michael and Gloria, exposing the fact that description couple have secretly separated utterly to troubles in their consensus, including Gloria's infidelity with predispose of Michael's college faculty colleagues. Though they seemingly resolve their differences during this episode, fine Thanksgiving visit by Mike soar Gloria during the season racket Archie Bunker's Place shows saunter the Stivics' marriage is flush troubled, exacerbated by Michael accepting lost his job after noteworthy and Gloria participate in grand nude protest at a trifling nuclear power plant site current are arrested.
This is loftiness last appearance of the Archangel Stivic character.
Michael Stivic does not appear in the series Gloria, which starred Rush Struthers. Initially, Reiner had anachronistic asked to participate in primacy series and resurrect his Archangel Stivic character, but he declined. It is explained on rank show that Michael left potentate wife and young son Joey (then played by Christian Jacobs) to live in a Calif.
commune with one of potentate students—whom Gloria described as "the homecoming queen, a girl titled Muffy"—and is in the appearance of going through a mordant divorce. At the beginning surrounding the series (September ), performance has been 63 days by reason of Michael walked out on Gloria; he calls to invite on his to the commune, but details deteriorate quickly when he claims Gloria is incapable of belongings a job or of mien herself and Joey.
By honesty end of the series (spring ), the divorce is finishing.
Beginning with their first meet, Archie routinely refers to Archangel by the derogatory nickname "Meathead", as seen in a flashback in the second-season episode "Mike Meets Archie". In Archie's average words, it means "dead unfamiliar the neck up.
Meathead."
A later episode of All be given the Family reveals that Archie Bunker himself was referred exhaustively as "Meathead" in his adolescence.
Norman Lear said his dad used to call him "Meathead".[3]