The sitcom cast included Jean Stapleton as Archie's meek and somewhat dimwitted wife, their daughter, played by Sally Struthers, and their long-haired, super liberal son-in-law, “Michael Stivic,” portrayed by Rob Reiner.
The relationship between Archie's bigoted views and Stivic's liberal outlook was one of the key perspectives of the show that often made it hilarious. Their constant bickering was entertaining, especially when early on Archie nicknamed Reiner’s character “Meathead” and referred to him by that moniker at all times. In fact, when asked, most people cannot remember Reiner's character by any other name besides “Meathead.”
Ironically, 46 years later, we can look back now and clearly see that Carroll O’Connor was the only one acting. O’Connor was portraying a character; in real life, he was not a bigot. While O'Connor's personal politics leaned left of center, he had a deep understanding of the character Archie Bunker. He portrayed Bunker with a mix of bombast and humor, along with moments of vulnerability. The show's writing also tended to be left of center, but O'Connor managed to skillfully criticize the liberal norms of the time, at times by harshly over portraying his character's right-wing views. Bunker was well-known for his malapropisms, but in reality, O'Connor was a highly educated and cultured individual who even taught English before pursuing a career in acting.
It is often said that hindsight is 20/20, and in this case, that idiom is 100 percent accurate in the case of Reiner. As it turns out, Archie was correct in labeling him as a “Meathead” all the way back in the ‘70s.