Writer Producer Norman Lear 'the No. 1 enemy of the American family' (per Jerry Falwell) dies at 101

[essentialsaltes]

Norman Lear, who revolutionized prime-time TV with ‘All in the Family,’ dies​

Norman Lear, the multiple Emmy-Award-winning writer-producer and liberal political activist who revolutionized prime-time television in the 1970s with groundbreaking, socially relevant situation comedies such as “All in the Family,” “Maude” and “The Jeffersons,” has died. He was 101.

In the mid-1970s, it was estimated that some 120 million Americans — more than half the nation’s population at the time— watched the various sitcoms produced by Lear and Bud Yorkin, his longtime partner in Tandem Productions. Indeed, Lear and Yorkin had five of the top 10 programs in the Nielsen ratings for the 1974-75 TV season.

The taping of the 1968 pilot [of All in the Family] generated big laughs from the live studio audience, but ABC passed on it ... deciding that the show’s potentially offensive language and content would be inappropriate in a country already in turmoil over the increasingly unpopular Vietnam War, racism, Watergate and the emerging feminist movement.

CBS seized the moment.

The debut episode featured Archie in all his glory as he used racial epithets never before heard on network TV. The loud and malapropism-prone Archie also touched on subjects such as atheism, the virtues of premarital celibacy, the breakdown of law and order, long hair on boys and short skirts on girls.

At one point, Archie launched into a heated argument with his son-in-law Mike over whether Black people had been denied their share of the American dream.

Mike: Now I suppose you’re going to tell me 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.

Edith: No, his uncle got it for him.

For five consecutive seasons — from October 1971 to April 1976 — “All in the Family” was the No. 1-rated program. In all, the show would earn four Emmys for outstanding comedy series, and Lear would win a 1977 Peabody Award “for giving us comedy with a social conscience.”

Along with his reputation as a prolific television producer, Lear earned praise and condemnation as a TV trailblazer whose sitcoms toppled taboos in their treatment of then-controversial topics such as LGBTQ+ rights, abortion and infidelity.

The energetic producer was profiled on “60 Minutes” and invited to host “Saturday Night Live.” He also was named on President Nixon’s infamous “Enemies List.”

Lear [had also] incurred the wrath of the religious right, which characterized him as a corrupter of American decency for injecting LGBTQ+ rights, abortion and other controversial topics into his comedy shows. The Rev. Jerry Falwell, the late leader of the Moral Majority, called Lear “the No. 1 enemy of the American family.”

In 1981, Lear and others founded People for the American Way, a nonprofit organization formed, according to Lear’s website, “to speak out for Bill of Rights guarantees and to monitor violations of constitutional freedoms.”

After Lear and his wife paid $8.1 million for a rare original copy of the Declaration of Independence in 2000, Lear launched what he called the “biggest production of my life”: a nationwide tour of the historical document, from 2001 until the presidential election of 2004.

 

[Belk]

May he be in heaven a half hour before the Devil knows he is dead.

 

[Tuur]

Not knowing how he stood with God, will not comment on that. At times his sitcoms could be heavy handed in the messaging department. Was surprised to find he was an Army Air Corp pilot in WWII and flew missions over the Mediterranean and Germany.

 

[PloverWing]

I watched All in the Family when I was a kid/teen. It would be interesting to go back and watch some of the episodes again, now that I can bring an adult's understanding to the dialogue.

May Norman Lear and all the departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace.

 

[RDKirk]

Mixed.

I'm reminded of how hard John Amos and Esther Rolle had to fight Lear to portray a black family with a father in the house in "Good Times " (and eventually both actors lost that fight). Lear could be stuck in his own stereotypes.

 

[Say it aint so]

Jerry Falwell....ugh.

 

[Akita Suggagaki]

Mike: Now I suppose you’re going to tell me 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.

Edith: No, his uncle got it for him.

And

Archie Bunker : Now, no prejudice intended, but, you know, I always check with the Bible on these here things. I think that, I mean if God had meant for us to be together, he'da put us together. But look what he done. He put you over in Africa, and put the rest of us in all the white countries.
Sammy Davis Jr. : Well, he must've told 'em where we were because somebody came and got us.


Humorous yet making points that needed to be made.

 

[Mike from NJ]

It wasn't one of the many message episodes he had, but the one of Lear's shows that gets me every time is one of the later ones when Archie finds Edith's slipper and talks to her about her death. It's simply amazing work from Carroll O'Connor.

The impact Noman Lear had on the television landscape can't be overstated, though honestly if given the choice to watch any of the CBS shows from that time I'm usually going to opt for The Bob Newhart Show, Mary Tyler Moore, or MASH.

Rest in peace. To quote his One Day at a Time: "D--- it, Julie! And d--- it, Schneider!"

 

[durangodawood]

Mixed.

I'm reminded of how hard John Amos and Esther Rolle had to fight Lear to portray a black family with a father in the house in "Good Times " (and eventually both actors lost that fight). Lear could be stuck in his own stereotypes.

How do we know the decision was stereotype-motivated?

 

[ThatRobGuy]

Jerry Falwell....ugh.

To me, the bits about "liberal activist.... who Jerry Falwell disliked" diminishes what was, an otherwise, great write-up about Norman. Like the author is making a thinly veiled attempt to shape my opinions using a tribute as cover. (when my opinions about Norman would've been positive anyway regardless of what Jerry Falwell thought of him)

Any time authors have to hedge their write up by mentioning "this person was on my side politically... and this terrible person disliked him", gives off the vibe that the author may be injecting some self-serving tidbits into the mix in a context where most people will avoid criticizing it because it's considered to be in poor taste to delve into the politics due to the nature of the article being about a person who died.

Jerry Falwell also disliked these guys

...because "Pantera plays heavy metal, and heavy metal is satanic", so Jerry Falwell disliking someone one doesn't automatically give them "good guy" status.

Obviously that doesn't apply to Normal Lear, I'm not aware of him being in a band that was popular with neo nazis, but the fact that the author had to inject the "Jerry Falwell disliked him" feels like they're trying to artificially shape opinions.

 

[Brihaha]

Mixed.

I'm reminded of how hard John Amos and Esther Rolle had to fight Lear to portray a black family with a father in the house in "Good Times " (and eventually both actors lost that fight). Lear could be stuck in his own stereotypes.

I watched a special the other nite about Norman Lear. You could be right but to me it seems like Lear wanted to portray the reality of the times. He even said as much when talking about Archie on All in the Family. He said they were only allowed to illustrate Archie Bunker acting so bigoted and imbecilic because they were making fun of him. Maybe Lear merely wanted to bring awareness to the reality of so many children growing up in single parent homes. I have the first season of Good Times on DVD. I always enjoyed watching the show. Good actors too.

Norman Lear was a talented go getter. I admire his energy even in his last years. RIP.

 

[RDKirk]

How do we know the decision was stereotype-motivated?

John Amos and Esther Rolle have both spoken at length about their battle with Lear over the issue of having a father in a black home. Lear was fixed on a black fatherless home as being "more real" than one with a father. At the time, it wasn't yet a statistical reality, although it was promoted as such in media. How is that not the promotion of a stereotype?

 

[RDKirk]

I watched a special the other nite about Norman Lear. You could be right but to me it seems like Lear wanted to portray the reality of the times. He even said as much when talking about Archie on All in the Family. He said they were only allowed to illustrate Archie Bunker acting so bigoted and imbecilic because they were making fun of him. Maybe Lear merely wanted to bring awareness to the reality of so many children growing up in single parent homes. I have the first season of Good Times on DVD. I always enjoyed watching the show. Good actors too.

Norman Lear was a talented go getter. I admire his energy even in his last years. RIP.

The fatherless home was not yet a statistical reality in black families at that time. That's the way it was trending by then, but it wasn't yet the truth. That was just the media spin. However, "Where I am does not define who I am." Amos and Rolle were trying to slow down that media spin before it defined a "reality" that had not yet occurred. Life often imitates art in that way.

Another example occurred in "The Orville," which the liberal producers portray a black female doctor who is a deliberately unwed mother. Generally, the "honorable" stereotype of an unwed mother is a widow...but not in this case. She's a "baby mama." She has two unruly boys. She's hypersexualized. She's also violent. She's a stereotype we as black people don't need, but the producers consider themselves "being inclusive."

Something similar is happening today, with the media spinning a "reality" in which racism is still as bad as it ever was...which is completely untrue.

 

[RileyG]

May he Rest In Peace