| "Edith's 50th Birthday" | |
|---|---|
| All in the Family episodes | |
| Episode nos. | Season 8 Episodes 4/5 |
| Directed by | Paul Bogart |
| Written by | Bob Schiller Bob Weiskopf |
| Production code | 805, 807 |
| Original air date | October 16, 1977 |
| Guest appearances | |
| David Dukes as Lambert Jane Connell as Sybil Gooley John Brandon and Ray Colella as police detectives | |
"Edith's 50th Birthday" (Parts 1 & 2) are the fourth and fifth episodes of the eighth season of the American television sitcom All in the Family. The episodes, which originally aired as a two-part one hour story on CBS on October 16, 1977, were written by Bob Schiller and Bob Weiskopf, and directed by Paul Bogart.
The episodes depict a man (David Dukes) who, while posing as a police detective, attempts to rape the Bunker family matriarch, Edith (Jean Stapleton), 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 the home of Gloria, Edith's daughter) 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 episodes, the 161st and 162nd of the series, were the first on an American sitcom that portrayed an attempted rape.