RIP Norman Lear, 101

[Obliviax]

dropped out of school to join the armed forces and flew 52 combat missions in a B-17 as a radio operator from 1942 to 1945 in the Mediterranean. To me, that means Italy but don't know for sure. My mentor operated out of the UK.

He moved to LA and started a PR firm but made his bones writing sketches for Rowan and Martin, Martin and Lewis. He tried several pilots before finally getting green lit for a show named "All in the Family". That led to a dozen spin offs (sanford and son, Good times, maude, the jeffersons, etc.).

For those who never watched "All in the Family", it is about a family who has their son in law move in while he finishes college. He is a far left wing advocate while Archie is far right. They got into some great philosophical arguments but, at times, hilarious. I never saw my father laugh harder then when Sammy Davis, Jr. kissed Archie on the cheek. The saddest TV episode I ever saw was when his daughter and son-in-law moved to CA after he graduated and get a job there (they lived in NY). After big fight, his daughter and husband storm out of the house; leaving on a bad note. As they pull away, the curtain is pulled back and Archie watches them drive away as a tear runs down his cheek.

Yorkin, in England directing Inspector Clouseau (1968), watched an episode of the BBC’s Till Death Us Do Part, a sitcom that centered on a bigoted father and his liberal son who bickered all the time, and brought it to Lear’s attention.​

​

“Oh my God, my dad and me,” Lear wrote in his book.​

​

“As a kid, when I wasn’t moving as fast as he thought I should, [Lear’s father] H.K. would call me ‘the laziest white kid he ever met.’ When I’d accuse him of putting down a whole race of people just to call his son lazy, he’d yell back at me, ‘That’s not what I’m doing, and you’re the dumbest white kid I ever met!’ ”​

Well done, Norman, and a life well lived.

 

[87 Penn St8]

A few years ago my son had an internship with Epic Records. My wife and I visited and were part of a small tour of the Sony Lot. It was being run by an employee who took us into the Jeopardy stage, and by The Goldbergs who were actively filming.

At one point he got real excited and said - "Hey - everybody- that old gentleman who just drove by in the Golf Cart is Norman Lear!"

Very cool moment. RIP

 

[The Spin Meister]

dropped out of school to join the armed forces and flew 52 combat missions in a B-17 as a radio operator from 1942 to 1945 in the Mediterranean. To me, that means Italy but don't know for sure. My mentor operated out of the UK.

He moved to LA and started a PR firm but made his bones writing sketches for Rowan and Martin, Martin and Lewis. He tried several pilots before finally getting green lit for a show named "All in the Family". That led to a dozen spin offs (sanford and son, Good times, maude, the jeffersons, etc.).

For those who never watched "All in the Family", it is about a family who has their son in law move in while he finishes college. He is a far left wing advocate while Archie is far right. They got into some great philosophical arguments but, at times, hilarious. I never saw my father laugh harder then when Sammy Davis, Jr. kissed Archie on the cheek. The saddest TV episode I ever saw was when his daughter and son-in-law moved to CA after he graduated and get a job there (they lived in NY). After big fight, his daughter and husband storm out of the house; leaving on a bad note. As they pull away, the curtain is pulled back and Archie watches them drive away as a tear runs down his cheek.

Yorkin, in England directing Inspector Clouseau (1968), watched an episode of the BBC’s Till Death Us Do Part, a sitcom that centered on a bigoted father and his liberal son who bickered all the time, and brought it to Lear’s attention.​

​

“Oh my God, my dad and me,” Lear wrote in his book.​

​

“As a kid, when I wasn’t moving as fast as he thought I should, [Lear’s father] H.K. would call me ‘the laziest white kid he ever met.’ When I’d accuse him of putting down a whole race of people just to call his son lazy, he’d yell back at me, ‘That’s not what I’m doing, and you’re the dumbest white kid I ever met!’ ”​

Well done, Norman, and a life well lived.

That show and it’s spin-offs may have been the most impactful steps taken in the fight against racism. Jefferson’s, Good Times, and more were huge. TV prior rarely had any blacks, certainly not as stars or leading rules. And it was amazing that Archie was able to to walk the line as a lovable but ignorant bigot locked in the past instead of an angry hateful racist. Shame it isn’t still rerun daily other than obscure cable channels.


As for flying in the Mediterranean he might have flown out N Africa until Italy was liberated from the Nazis.

An incredible life. RIP

 

[MacNit2.0]

dropped out of school to join the armed forces and flew 52 combat missions in a B-17 as a radio operator from 1942 to 1945 in the Mediterranean. To me, that means Italy but don't know for sure. My mentor operated out of the UK.

He moved to LA and started a PR firm but made his bones writing sketches for Rowan and Martin, Martin and Lewis. He tried several pilots before finally getting green lit for a show named "All in the Family". That led to a dozen spin offs (sanford and son, Good times, maude, the jeffersons, etc.).

For those who never watched "All in the Family", it is about a family who has their son in law move in while he finishes college. He is a far left wing advocate while Archie is far right. They got into some great philosophical arguments but, at times, hilarious. I never saw my father laugh harder then when Sammy Davis, Jr. kissed Archie on the cheek. The saddest TV episode I ever saw was when his daughter and son-in-law moved to CA after he graduated and get a job there (they lived in NY). After big fight, his daughter and husband storm out of the house; leaving on a bad note. As they pull away, the curtain is pulled back and Archie watches them drive away as a tear runs down his cheek.

Yorkin, in England directing Inspector Clouseau (1968), watched an episode of the BBC’s Till Death Us Do Part, a sitcom that centered on a bigoted father and his liberal son who bickered all the time, and brought it to Lear’s attention.​

​

“Oh my God, my dad and me,” Lear wrote in his book.​

​

“As a kid, when I wasn’t moving as fast as he thought I should, [Lear’s father] H.K. would call me ‘the laziest white kid he ever met.’ When I’d accuse him of putting down a whole race of people just to call his son lazy, he’d yell back at me, ‘That’s not what I’m doing, and you’re the dumbest white kid I ever met!’ ”​

Well done, Norman, and a life well lived.

Greatest and most impactful TV show ever…by a very wide margin.