Looking back, All in the Family could easily be considered an edgy show that wouldn't air in this day and age on a network like NBC or ABC. But what made it like that and why aren't there any shows like it on network TV now? It was brutally honest, but still managed to be funny.
Al in the Family had the situational comedy we love. The same plots and the rough, but not broken home. (Husband and wife fight, but love each other, like The Simpsons, Family Guy, and Married with Children.)
All in the Family is different because the producers didn't mind offending groups like homosexuals if they got laughs from all their target demographics. Today's sitcoms adhere to a strict policy of not offending any groups. Seinfeld coined a useful term, for use when talking about homosexuals. When accused of being gay, Jerry states, "we're not gay, not that there's anything wrong with that." This is an example of network television not wanting to offend anyone.
It's not network TV that wanted this change, it was the viewers. It was the protests and the boycotts from the offended groups that forced the change. Offensive shows were pulled from network stations like Fox and moved to stations like Comedy Central.
All in the Family was an honest show. It didn't avoid controversial subjects like sexual orientation or race, instead it faced them head-on. They didn't care if they offended people, it was still funny.
The Seinfeld way to not offend homosexuals
source: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ild8w0rHQU
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