Without it, we wouldn’t have had The Jeffersons, Maude or Good Times, which is reason enough to celebrate the January 12, 1971 debut of the Emmy-winning sitcom All in the Family.

From bigoted Queens working man Archie Bunker’s (Carroll O’Connor) many wacky opinions  and his arguments with son-in-law “Meathead” (Rob Reiner) to lovable dingbat wife Edith (Jean Stapleton) and that famous “terlet” flush, the show was frequently controversial, though episodes almost always ended with Archie making an ass of himself via his politically incorrect, just plain dumb, philosophies.

It was just as often hilarious (again, almost always because of Archie’s foot-in-mouth disease), as in this famous episode, in which Archie takes a temp gig as a cab driver. Sammy Davis Jr. is one of his passengers, and has to visit the Bunker household when he leaves a briefcase in Archie’s taxi. In the last scene, Sammy has a big surprise for Archie, which shocked Mr. Bunker and, as the laughter shows, delighted the audience.

Here’s the whole episode, Sammy’s Visit, which originally aired on Feb. 19, 1972, during the show’s second season:

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