Yeah. Me. I mentioned this in the Death Pool thread:
I don’t understand why so many people refer to Reiner’s All in the Family character as “Meathead”. His name was Mike Stivic. “Meathead” was an epithet used by Archie Bunker. It’s no more appropriate than saying that Jean Stapleton played a character named “Dingbat” or that Sally Struthers played “Little Girl”. I feel like calling his character “Meathead” is kind of giving legitimacy to Archie’s world view.
Sorry for the off-topic rant but this has bothered me for years.
Which name is more memorable?
Reiner’s character, while correct on most things, also had an insufferable side. And Carroll O’Connor was a brilliant actor and made the name memorable. Rob Reiner even joked that “Meathead” was how he’d always be most remembered.
Meathead is unique and memorable, while also being really funny.
Thank you. I feel the exact same way for the same reasons. I wouldn’t want to adopt a nickname merely because a bigoted character used it a lot.
Rob Reiner played Michael Stivik, whom Archie referred to as “Meathead.”
Yes, “Meathead” is a memorable and funny epithet. But it’s not the character’s name.
“Meathead” is a term of disdain but it has no bigoted connotations and is one of the most memorable terms from the show because it reflects the ongoing conflict between Archie’s bigoted conservatism and Stivik’s liberalism. One person who seemed to enjoy referring to Rob Reiner as “meathead” even in recent years was … Rob Reiner. And if Rob didn’t have a problem with it I don’t think we should be too fussed about it.
I didn’t mean too impy that “Meathead” was bigoted, merely that the Archie Bunker character was not someone I’d care to adopt nicknames from. I know Rob Reiner found it funny. I just think it’d be better to at least refer to the character as “Mike ‘Meathead’ Stivik.” But I see my views aren’t shared, so I’ll drop it.
I kinda winced alittle when I saw Meathead crawl across my news.
Just seemed too silly. But I do understand why. He was very famous for All in the Family.
The thing is, Archie Bunker didn’t come up with, “Meathead,” Norman Lear did. It’s just a fictional character. You refer to Lumpy Rutherford as “Clarence,” would you?
And, Lear was a father figure and role model to Rob since he (Rob) was a child, but that relationship grew dramatically when they worked together on All in the Family. The following article was written by Rob, two years ago, after Lear’s death.
Carroll O’Connor was in fact very liberal. His character Archie Bunker had all sorts of prejudices. He didn’t like Blacks, Jews, Poles, Catholics, hippies, and pretty much anyone from a racial/ethnic/religious/political group other than his own. Lear created the character and O’Connor played it to show that a person could have many prejudices but could eventually become better. After spending years having to constantly confront those people, he could learn that those people were actually decent and honest.
I’ve been revisiting All in the Family just because of the “meathead” references, and that series, especially for its time, was genius.
I love the way Archie’s bigotry was subtly worked into the dialog. I just watched an episode where Archie calls a real estate agent because he thinks he might get big bucks for the house. When the agent arrives, Archie is in the kitchen preparing drinks. He asks him, yelling through the kitchen door, if he’d like a soft drink or something hard. He replies that just a soft drink is fine. Unknown to Archie, the agent is a Black man – very black. “Meathead” yells through the door, “better make yourself a hard one, Arch!” 
What I loved about “All in the Family” was the layering of the characters. Mike was a liberal, yes, but he was also a sexist, much to Gloria’s frustration.
Horrible, what happened to Rob and Michele.
On a weird coincidental tangent, Anthony Geary of Luke and Laura fame died on the same day as Rob and was the same age of 78. It’s relevant because Anthony played Roger ‘Belle’, Mike’s flamboyant friend in a famous “All in the Family” episode where Archie discovers one of his macho bar buddies is gay. Groundbreaking show.
Yes, I was also reminded of Phil Hartman’s death (killed in his sleep by his wife).
According to the American Film Institute’s list, the 33rd best movie line was by Estelle Reiner, his mother. It was “I’ll have what she’s having” from When Harry Met Sally.
While he was reading Men are from Mars, Women from Venus. I actually thought he was actively reading it when she shot him, but he was asleep?
This is quite similar. Such a painful thing to know has happened to someone.
I didn’t know (or may have forgotten), that it was his mom that delivered that line. Great scene!
I’m a regular listener to Conan O’Brien’s podcast. I’m sure he’ll have an emotional tribute to Reiner in the next podcast. I wonder if he’ll address the events of the party any further, from his perspective.
I don’t think that’d be very wise, given that he’s a potential witness in the investigations and a probable trial.