Tributes to Rob Reiner have focused on his amazing career as a film director and the tragic circumstances surrounding his death, and that of his wife, Michele. However, his first major brush with fame should not be overshadowed. Reiner deservedly won two Emmys for his role as Mike Stivic on All in the Family.

Before Reiner was cast, two unsold pilots were taped with other actors playing Archie Bunker’s son-in-law. Viewing those pilots, it’s clear that Mike Stivic was not an easy role to play. When Reiner took over the role in the third pilot, he played Stivic with the right amount of intensity, making Mike a worthy adversary for Archie, while also making Bunker seem less harsh.  

These ten episodes, listed in chronological order, best exemplify Reiner’s talents on the series.

“Mike’s Appendix”

This underrated third-season episode is hilarious from beginning to end. Reiner’s main comedy contribution is his reaction to an ice bag slipping down his pants. Much of the rest of the comedy comes from Archie’s over-the-top sexism. However, Norman Lear stated that Archie and Mike were both foolish people, which kept their arguments from being too one-sided. Reiner does an excellent job of portraying Mike’s flaws, in this case, his sexism in being reluctant to have a female surgeon take out his appendix.

“Everybody Tells the Truth ”  

Also from the third season, this Rashomon-style segment allows the cast to play their characters in different ways and lets viewers see how the family perceives each other.

Mike sees Archie as furiously grouchy and himself as docile and non-antagonizing. Archie sees himself as mellow, with Mike and Gloria constantly attacking him. Most telling, he sees Gloria as always taking Mike’s side and insisting he is always right. Reiner plays both versions of Mike humorously. The extreme close-ups of Archie, Mike, and Gloria’s mouths as they argue add a nice touch.  

“The Battle of the Month”

Another great third-season episode is full of raucous, funny fights. While Sally Struthers excels, Reiner gets perhaps the biggest laugh with his priceless reaction when Gloria slaps him.

The arguments grow fierce, with multiple layers of tension and resentment. The episode ends with Edith wisely advising Mike and Gloria to stop fighting before they say or do something they’ll really regret.

“The Games Bunkers Play”

Mike is at his worst, and Rob Reiner is at his best in this memorable fourth-season segment. He’s unafraid to make Mike look bad with an intense performance. While playing a board game that turns against him and learning that others resent his behavior, Mike acts stubborn and childish. When the other characters compare his behavior to Archie’s, he slowly falls apart, eventually going ballistic and upsetting the game board.

Edith helps Mike regain his composure with an insightful speech about how Mike resents Archie because he owes him so much money, and Archie is jealous of Mike because he’ll get opportunities Archie never got. The hilarious ending with Mike hugging Archie, much to Archie’s confusion, brings another layer to Reiner’s impressive performance of his complicated character.

“Gloria Sings the Blues”

Gloria goes through a period where she is sick of her life and her husband. However, this fourth-season episode is more memorable for a terrific scene between Carroll O’Connor and Rob Reiner.

Proving Archie and Mike can argue about anything, Archie tells Mike he is putting his socks and shoes on the wrong way—a sock and a shoe and a sock and a shoe, rather than a sock and a sock and a shoe and a shoe. The scene is a riot, especially given the backstory of Archie thinking Mike is weird about everything. Archie’s final command to do it his way for the rest of his life is a great piece of character humor for Archie, who can’t stand for anything to be out of the ordinary. O’Connor’s delivery is priceless, with Reiner’s deadpan providing a winning assist.

“Alone at Last”

In the series’ sixth season, Mike and Gloria moved out of the Bunkers’ house to the former Jefferson residence next door. While Archie and Mike continued to argue, their discussions weren’t as frequent or as intense for the rest of the series. But before the Stivics move out, Mike and Archie have one last blowout in the Bunkers’ house. And it’s a doozy.

When Mike forgets to have the utilities turned on in the Stivics’ new home, Archie won’t let up in his criticism, culminating in Archie calling Mike a Polack. No longer having to watch what he says to Archie, Mike explodes. Calling Archie a string of epithets, he unleashes everything he has held back over the years. Reiner plays the scene with such ferocity that it is as startling as it is funny. Watch for Mike’s “flag” of independence.

“Mike the Pacifist”

One of the freshest plots of the show’s latter days, this seventh-season segment has Mike questioning some of his beliefs. When a fight between a couple on the subway upsets Gloria, Reiner gets laughs with the comical way he keeps telling her to ignore them. Finally, Mike punches the man. Afterwards, Mike feels tremendous guilt about breaking with his pacifist beliefs.

Mike’s confession that it felt good to punch the man brings a surprising ambiguity to his feelings, deepening his guilt.

“Mike and Gloria Split”

Another classic scene between O’Connor and Reiner is the highlight of this seventh- season episode. The episode begins with a fight between Mike and Gloria, due to her inferiority complex and his condescending attitude.

When Mike seeks shelter at the Bunkers, he and Archie must share a room. The duo once again proves to be a classic comedy team, nailing great lines, physical bits, and expressions. In a running bit about Archie never approving of the way Mike does anything, this time he tells him how to get into bed properly.  

“Two’s a Crowd”

A stunning episode from the eighth season sees Mike and Archie locked in the storage room of Archie’s bar. While that sounds like a pedestrian plot, the episode is remarkable. Realizing they are trapped for the time being, the two blame each other, and Reiner does a very funny job of acting panicked.

With little to do but drink and talk, the duo rehashes arguments about prejudice, name- calling, and Archie’s jealousy about Mike marrying Gloria. As Archie gets increasingly intoxicated, he reveals how difficult his poverty-stricken childhood was and why he is a guarded, suspicious, prejudiced man. It becomes apparent that Archie’s father was abusive, which Archie justifies by considering it a form of love. Rob Reiner does a wonderful job of conveying Mike’s shock and recognition that much of Archie’s prejudice came from his inability to admit that his father was wrong, in part due to ignorance, in part because of his twisted admiration for the man, but also so he doesn’t have to confront the fact that his father was wrong to abuse him. As Mike touchingly covers Archie as he goes to sleep, it’s clear that he has a new understanding of and more empathy toward Archie.     

“The Stivics Go West”

The eighth season finale marks the last episode with Rob Reiner and Sally Struthers as regulars. Mike and Archie are still at odds from an argument in the previous episode. After tempers cool, Mike and Gloria prepare to go to California. Mike thanks Archie for letting him live in his home and for the good times they had in between all the arguments.

In a touching moment, Mike tells Archie he loves him. Reiner plays the scene with great believability.