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| Norman Lear |
Comedy legend Norman Lear died this week at the age of 101—his amazing longevity just one of the many remarkable things about him.
Growing up in the 1970s, I was a regular viewer of Lear's honest, innovative sitcoms (and there were many): All in the Family, Maude, Good Times, The Jeffersons, Sanford and Son, One Day at a Time.
Lear's sitcoms deftly delivered examinations of hot topics in addition to belly laughs. I wonder how many Americans had their consciousness raised while chuckling at Archie Bunker, George Jefferson, or Maude Findlay.
As a kid in 1970s Fort Wayne—a city that sometimes seems frozen in Eisenhower's 1950s—I know my first exposure to many of those issues was often through Lear's ground-breaking sitcoms.
I also have an early movie-going memory of my entire family laughing together at Lear's hilarious 1971 anti-smoking film Cold Turkey, which we saw at the Jefferson Theater in downtown Fort Wayne. In addition to its all-star comedy cast, the film also featured a terrific Randy Newman score.
It's often said you can tell a lot about someone from their enemies, so Lear's vilification by Richard Nixon, Pat Robertson, and Jerry Falwell speaks volumes about his (and their) character.
Since his death earlier this week, there have been plenty of tributes and overviews of Lear's amazing career and impact, but I like this one by James Poniewozik of the New York Times.
Poniewozik, a fellow Midwesterner, is also fairly close to my age, so his reminiscence of watching All in the Family with his Archie Bunker-like father rang especially true.
American TV—and America itself—wouldn't be the same without the talent, heart, and humanity of Norman Milton Lear.
Norman Lear (1922-2023) R.I.P.
There's more to come in the next dispatch.
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