TV legend Norman Lear dies at 101

December 6, 2023 8:34 PM

Writer-producer-developer Norman Lear, who revolutionized American comedy with such daring, immensely popular early-‘70s sitcoms as “All in the Family” and “Sanford and Son,” died on Tuesday. He was 101.
posted by kitten kaboodle (49 comments total)

He had new shows in production right up until the past year or two.

He not only changed television, he changed US culture, and probably many more cultures by spillover effect.

There are very very few people who have had as singular an effect as he has had.

I'm not even going to try to wax eloquent. I'm just going to say we won't have another like him again, ever. Thanks, Norman. We needed you.

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posted by hippybear at 8:43 PM on December 6, 2023 [27 favorites]

Hope he's now settling into a deluxe apartment in the sky.

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posted by May Kasahara at 8:49 PM on December 6, 2023 [24 favorites]

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posted by theora55 at 8:57 PM on December 6, 2023

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Around the time of 9/11, I worked in Hollywood at a small company renting out office space at Sunset Gower Studios. Norman Lear had his own parking spot. I knew who he was from TV credits. Never saw the spot occupied, though.

I watched this 60 Minutes clip today (SLYT), and it's a great glimpse into this talented man back in 1976, when he was all over American TV and speaking out against the annoyance that was Family Viewing Time.

Can't help but wonder if he waited around to outlive Kissinger. :)
posted by luckynerd at 9:22 PM on December 6, 2023 [11 favorites]

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posted by dougfelt at 10:12 PM on December 6, 2023

Quite a huge part of my viewing habits growing up in the '70s. So, thank you, Mr Lear, for that.

And, an odd, random thought. A close friend and I were discussing The Sopranos years ago when I had the odd idea that Archie Bunker was one of many sources for the character of Tony Soprano. I still think that's true and imagine how much of Lear's character's DNA is in so much of the ensuing TV that has been made.

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posted by Phlegmco(tm) at 10:31 PM on December 6, 2023 [3 favorites]

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posted by The Card Cheat at 11:06 PM on December 6, 2023

""I wake up on a Saturday morning, I’m all alone. There's no note, no nothing. There's nobody here."

-Archie Bunker.
posted by clavdivs at 11:06 PM on December 6, 2023 [1 favorite]

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posted by Barbara Spitzer at 11:24 PM on December 6, 2023

This is the same guy who did Fernwood 2 Night?

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posted by not_on_display at 11:58 PM on December 6, 2023 [1 favorite]

I had the odd idea that Archie Bunker was one of many sources for the character of Tony Soprano.

I think the formula "King Lear + Norman Lear" underpins a large swath of successful TV drama
posted by chavenet at 12:46 AM on December 7, 2023 [19 favorites]

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posted by trip and a half at 1:51 AM on December 7, 2023 [1 favorite]

Matt Baume's long form YouTube on the life of Norman Lear went a long way to explaining to this Scotsman his impact. Worth watching again today.
posted by ewan at 1:57 AM on December 7, 2023 [4 favorites]

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posted by Gelatin at 4:13 AM on December 7, 2023

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One of my guilty pleasures on Saturday mornings these days is watching several hours of Sanford and Son on TV One. It still hits a lot of the buttons it did back in the day, in some ways when it's trying to be offensive it hits harder now, but it's still funny as heck too.
posted by AzraelBrown at 4:23 AM on December 7, 2023 [4 favorites]

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posted by filtergik at 4:35 AM on December 7, 2023

This is the same guy who did Fernwood 2 Night?

Yep.
He was also developer on Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman, which presaged Fernwood.


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posted by Thorzdad at 4:40 AM on December 7, 2023 [1 favorite]

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posted by oozy rat in a sanitary zoo at 5:07 AM on December 7, 2023

Another thing: He founded a progressive organization called The People For The American Way in 1981 as a counter-attack against the growing Moral Majority. The PFAW's sub-committee Right Wing Watch was behind the initial efforts to get Alex Jones taken off the Internet.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 5:13 AM on December 7, 2023 [22 favorites]

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posted by humbug at 5:18 AM on December 7, 2023

Those were the days.
posted by briank at 5:32 AM on December 7, 2023 [9 favorites]

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posted by dannyboybell at 5:47 AM on December 7, 2023

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posted by JoeXIII007 at 5:49 AM on December 7, 2023

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posted by AlonzoMosleyFBI at 5:55 AM on December 7, 2023

All in the Family went off the air 44 years ago, so most of us didn't see it on the original run. I finally got around to watching some of it a few years ago and was flabbergasted at how well at a 40-year old sitcom held up. If you haven't, watch it.
posted by Mr.Know-it-some at 6:21 AM on December 7, 2023 [11 favorites]

📺

What a force for good through entertainment. His body of work is impressive just for how successful it was -- but the values those shows promoted, and his work outside of television & movies, really lift him up. I mean, Princess Bride *and* Sanford and Son?!

AND he was a radioman/gunner on B-17s, surviving 52 missions over Ggermany. Jesus, what a life.

(Did that emoji come through properly?)
posted by wenestvedt at 6:28 AM on December 7, 2023 [9 favorites]

Interestingly, both shows mentioned in the post originated in the UK.

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posted by idb at 6:30 AM on December 7, 2023 [2 favorites]

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posted by condour75 at 6:47 AM on December 7, 2023

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posted by gentlyepigrams at 6:51 AM on December 7, 2023

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posted by hydra77 at 7:23 AM on December 7, 2023

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posted by jim in austin at 7:49 AM on December 7, 2023

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posted by jabo at 8:10 AM on December 7, 2023

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posted by terrapin at 8:27 AM on December 7, 2023

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posted by HiddenInput at 8:34 AM on December 7, 2023

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posted by Sphinx at 9:09 AM on December 7, 2023

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posted by snsranch at 9:21 AM on December 7, 2023

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posted by Chocomog at 12:08 PM on December 7, 2023

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posted by mcbeth at 12:15 PM on December 7, 2023

The Hollywood Reporter tells of Lear's passing, which was at home, comfortable, surrounded by family singing songs and sharing love. The actual heading of the article sucks, but the article itself is really sweet.
posted by hippybear at 12:25 PM on December 7, 2023 [2 favorites]

Eric Monte was paid out usd 1mm quite probably because Normal Lear took credit for his work.
posted by kokaku at 12:25 PM on December 7, 2023

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posted by Splunge at 1:14 PM on December 7, 2023

Oh, and by the way, for those of you who think you can't have late-in-life careers? Lear was over 50 when he created All In The Family.
posted by hippybear at 1:16 PM on December 7, 2023 [5 favorites]

"created"
posted by JoeZydeco at 3:01 PM on December 7, 2023 [1 favorite]

how well a 40-year-old sitcom held up

For sure. What jumped instantly to mind -- sadly -- was a clip I heard yesterday, as part of a public radio obituary of Lear:

Archie Bunker's son-in-law, Michael Stivic: Now I suppose you're going to tell us that the Black man has had the same opportunity in this country as you.

Archie: More. He's had more. I didn't have no million people out there marching and protesting to get me my job.

Archie's wife, Edith: No. His uncle got it for him.
posted by virago at 3:03 PM on December 7, 2023 [5 favorites]

Norman Lear’s Family Sang His Sitcom Theme Songs as He Passed

“You never know when these moments are going to sneak up on you,” LaPook continued,” [but when] we started singing ‘movin’ on up to the East Side …‘ [from The Jeffersons] and I heard myself saying ‘to a deluxe apartment in the sky …’ I just lost it, because he’s going to some deluxe apartment in the sky.”

posted by Rhaomi at 3:04 PM on December 7, 2023 [1 favorite]

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posted by detachd at 8:18 PM on December 7, 2023

All in the Family went off the air 44 years ago, so most of us didn't see it on the original run.

Hi! Old here. I can’t begin to describe the seismic shift AitF caused. There was a lot of buzz about the show when it premiered. My family gathered together to watch the first show, and it was a huge game-changer for them. TV itself changed. It seemed so raw and “real” compared to what tv fare had been before, yet it was also funny as hell.

How Lear got CBS to green-light such a show is beyond me.
posted by Thorzdad at 4:36 AM on December 8, 2023 [4 favorites]

My father, who generally eschewed sitcoms, would not miss an episode of either All In the Family or Sanford and Son. He had picked up a few racist and sexist ideas from his family, and I believe that seeing himself onscreen in Archie and Fred made Dad a better person. He laughed at his own follies, softened some crusty attitudes and even picked up a few liberal ideas. For that alone I cannot thank Norman Lear enough.

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posted by kinnakeet at 4:57 AM on December 8, 2023 [7 favorites]

There was a lot of buzz about the show when it premiered.

The New York papers were savage in the reviews the day after it premiered.
posted by BWA at 8:27 AM on December 9, 2023