Edith's 50th Birthday
| "Edith's 50th Birthday" | |
|---|---|
| All in the Family episode | |
| Episode no. | Season 8 Episode 3 |
| Directed by | Paul Bogart |
| Written by |
Bob Schiller Bob Weiskopf |
| Production code | 803 |
| Original air date | October 16, 1977 |
| Guest appearance(s) | |
|
David Dukes as Lambert |
|
David Dukes as Lambert
Jane Connell as Sybil Gooley
John Brandon and Ray Colella as police detectives
"Edith's 50th Birthday" is the third episode of the eighth season of the American television sitcom All in the Family. The episode, which originally aired October 16, 1977, was written by Bob Schiller and Bob Weiskopf, and directed by Paul Bogart.
The episode depicts a man who, while posing as a police detective, attempts to rape the Bunker family matriarch, Edith, on her 50th birthday. This all happens while her family, unaware of what is happening in the Bunkers' living room, prepares for a surprise party next door (at Gloria, Edith's daughter's, house) to honor Edith. The scenes following the assault depict Edith struggling to deal with the aftermath, and her family's attempts to both comfort her and help bring her assailant to justice.
The episode, the 159th of the series, was one of the first on television that portrayed an attempted rape.
On Edith Bunker's 50th birthday, her family plans a surprise party for her at her daughter Gloria's and son-in-law Mike Stivic's house next door. As Edith is in the process of baking her own birthday cake and waits for her cue to go to the Stivic's house, two visitors come over. The first one is her friend, Sybil, who complains to Edith for not inviting her to her party, thus spoiling the surprise. Sybil soon realizes that Archie (who hates her) was the one who invited all of the guests and not Edith. Edith invites her and the both of them chat for a while.
As Sybil leaves, a handsome man in his early 30s and dressed in a suit arrives. The man identifies himself as a police detective named Lambert, claiming to be searching the neighborhood for a rapist. During his explanation, the man describes the clothes he's wearing himself and locks the door; Edith quickly realizes that Lambert is himself the rapist.
Lambert tries repeatedly to assault Edith, and despite all her attempts to get away from her attacker, he is too strong and too smart for her. Edith offers the man coffee (he declines), explains that she has a party to go to and rambles on about her plans (he keeps her restrained, but with a stunned look on his face), tries to go to the bathroom (he offers to escort her), and has a panicked telephone conversation with one of her friends (Lambert waves a gun at her, warning her that letting slip about her predicament will mean death). Later, when her husband Archie appears to retrieve a punch bowl, the man hides in the closet and threatens to kill them both if Edith says anything.
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