Lear addresses a theater filled with 100 couples who have traveled from 48 states for the celebration and explains that the evening will feature "choice moments" from the long-running series.
Between screenings, Lear discusses the program's groundbreaking role in bringing real-life subject matters to television – material that had been censored in the past.
Lear quotes Time magazine, in which a writer said of the content of network entertainment shows, "By and large any subjects were fair game, except those that bore on the reality of viewer's lives."
Finally, Lear introduces the cast members who walk onstage to join him: Sally Struthers, Rob Reiner, Jean Stapleton and Carroll O'Connor.
The All in the Family celebration, which included numerous other fans and supporters of the show, concluded on Monday, February 19 with a gathering at the Mark Taper Forum for a taping of the special followed by an after-show party at the Los Angeles Music Center attended by the cast members.