Photograph by Annie Leibovitz
How Norman Lear Pushed the Boundaries of Scripted Televisionby SETH MACFARLANE
NOVEMBER 2014
With All in the Family, a sharply satirical 70s hit that still delivers pure entertainment, Norman Lear, now 92, pushed the boundaries of scripted television. As he publishes a memoir of his 60-plus years in show business—during which he also created The Jeffersons, Maude, One Day at a Time, and more—Seth MacFarlane identifies the special sauce in Lear’s comic recipes.
Me being asked to write about Norman Lear is analogous to Bill O’Reilly being asked to write about Walter Cronkite. Yes, I made it political right away. Go ahead and scream at me on Twitter. But comedy and politics are precisely the elements that Norman Lear brought together when he set about the task of redefining the boundaries of television. Lear’s sitcom All in the Family—which ran from 1971 to 1979—is arguably the greatest scripted program in the history of TV. It deftly combined pie-in-the-face comedy with hard-core political themes, and, in my view, it remains to this day the finest educational resource for a sitcom writer, aspiring or established. When I watch a rerun of All in the Family (which is quite often), I am blown away by its comic wizardry, by how far superior it is to any current network offerings. It endures because its creator was angry about injustice in the world: racism, sexism, homophobia, abuse of political power, economic disparity—the list goes on. In other words, angry about the right things.
One wonders whether that would fly today in critical circles. Archie Bunker would likely be condemned for his bigotry and his chauvinistic treatment of his wife, Edith, who would in turn be shunned for her acceptance of it. Deft satire of racial bigotry would be mistaken for racist comedy. But regardless of faux-P.C. reactions, I believe that if All in the Family aired today audiences would still show up by the millions. Because Norman Lear is a fucking brilliant joke writer. Even after so many years, the lines that echo out of the Bunker household are sharper and more unexpectedly hilarious than anything on television today. Norman—who has published a brand-new memoir, Even This I Get to Experience (Penguin Press)—has an unmatched personal radar when it comes to knowing where to take a social stand, and where to just let the pie in the face be its own reward. His writing yields an almost musical tension and release that continues on through all of his creations: The Jeffersons, Maude, One Day at a Time, Sanford and Son, Good Times, and everything else his magic pen has touched. He holds the distinction of being the best on the planet at what he does, and somehow still manages to remain a kind, thoughtful, conscientious guy with an infectiously positive personality whom everyone in Hollywood wants to have a drink with. I want to be him when I grow up.
https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2014/10/norman-lear-all-in-the-family-memoir-portrait
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