Norman Lear, the writer, director, and producer who revolutionized prime time television with such topical hits as All in the Family, Maude, and The Jeffersons and propelled political and social turmoil into the once-insulated world of sitcoms, has died. He was 101. Lear died Tuesday night in his sleep, surrounded by family at his home in Los Angeles, says a rep for his family. A liberal activist with an eye for mainstream entertainment, Lear fashioned bold and controversial comedies that were embraced by TV sitcom viewers who long had to watch the evening news to find out what was going on in the world, reports the AP.
At the start of the 1970s, top-rated shows still included such old-fashioned programs as Here's Lucy, Ironside, and Gunsmoke, although the industry was beginning to change. CBS, Lear's primary network, would soon enact its "rural purge" and cancel such standbys as The Beverly Hillbillies and Green Acres. The groundbreaking sitcom The Mary Tyler Moore Show, about a single career woman in Minneapolis, debuted on CBS in September 1970, just months before All in the Family started. But ABC passed on All in the Family twice and CBS was initially reluctant to take on the daring series, Lear would say.
When the network finally aired it, the show began with a disclaimer: "The program you are about to see is All in the Family. It seeks to throw a humorous spotlight on our frailties, prejudices, and concerns. By making them a source of laughter we hope to show, in a mature fashion, just how absurd they are." By the end of 1971, All In the Family was No. 1 in the ratings and Archie Bunker was a pop culture fixture. It was the No. 1-rated series for an unprecedented five years in a row. People reports the show—which waded into subjects ranging from menopause to racism to religion—received 57 Emmy nods, winning 22 of them.
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The late TV writer Paddy Chayefsky once said that Lear "took television away from dopey wives and dumb fathers, from the pimps, hookers, hustlers, private eyes, junkies, cowboys and rustlers that constituted television chaos, and in their place he put the American people." Lear's series reflected his ardent political beliefs, which his business success allowed him to express in grand fashion. In 2000, he and a partner bought a copy of the Declaration of Independence for $8.14 million and sent it on a cross-country tour. He founded the nonprofit liberal advocacy group People for the American Way in 1980 in response to the growing strength of conservative religious groups. He also was an active donor to Democratic candidates. (Read much more on Lear here.)
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