Remembering Norman Lear

Fresh Air

NPR

Tv & Film, Arts, Society & Culture, Books

4.4 • 34.4K Ratings

🗓️ 15 December 2023

⏱️ 51 minutes

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Summary

The towering TV writer/producer died last week at 101. He created All in the Family, Sanford and Son, The Jeffersons, Good Times, Maude, and a lot more. His TV shows used humor to address subjects not typical for television: racism, homophobia, politics, and generational conflicts. His most enduring character, Archie Bunker, the bigoted father of a working class family in Queens – was partly based on Lear's own father. We'll listen back to our interview with Lear, as well as with Esther Rolle. Initially, she was reluctant to play the role of the maid, Florida, on Maude, but that led to her own spinoff series, Good Times. And we also hear from TV director John Rich, who directed All in the Family.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Support for this podcast comes from the New Bauer Family Foundation, supporting W. HYY's Fresh Air
0:06.7	and its commitment to sharing ideas and encouraging meaningful conversation.
0:11.2	This is Fresh Air. I'm David Bien Cooley. Today's show is devoted to
0:15.8	Norman Lear, the sitcom producer who helped transform television of the 1970s by
0:21.5	stressing topicality, divisive issues, and likeable but volatile comedy
0:26.7	characters. He died last week at age 101.
0:30.9	Lear's most famous achievement, All in the Family, was the most popular series on TV for five consecutive years.
0:40.0	That show spawned several hit spin-offs, including Good Times and The Jefferson's, and Lear created many other comedies as well.
0:48.0	Most of them were instant successes.
0:51.0	But even the lesser-seen cult shows were fascinating.
0:55.0	On today's show, we'll listen back to our interview with Norman Lear.
0:59.0	We'll also revisit interviews with Esther Roll, the star of Good Times, and John Rich, who
1:05.0	directed one episode of Good Times and 81 episodes of All in the Family.
1:11.1	But first, let's put Norman Lear's legacy in its proper perspective.
1:15.0	Like M.T.M. Enterprises with the Mary Tyler Moore show, and Larry Gellbart with Mash,
1:21.0	Lear was a TV pioneer of sorts.
1:24.1	Part of a new tolerance and appetite for comedies that actually said something,
1:28.5	rather than just offered total escapism.
1:31.8	Lear adapted his first sitcom hit, All in the Family, from a long-running British
1:36.2	sitcom called, Till Death Us Do Part. But Lear made his version utterly American from the
1:42.4	start. The first episode of All in the Family was so controversial, it was preceded by an on-air disclaimer.
1:49.0	But the clash of ideas and ideals between bigoted Archie Bunker and his son-in-law, whom Archie called
	...

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