TV Giant Norman Lear's Legacy

 

It is never a tragedy when someone dies at the age of 101, but when it was announced that Norman Lear died today, I swelled up with emotion, tears cascading uncontrollably down my cheeks. His passing marks the end of an era, flooding people in their 50’s and older with amazing memories of great television moments. And there were plenty for a man whose shows deservingly won dozens of awards.  

Lear, himself, won six Primetime Emmys, two Peabody Awards, was awarded the National Medal of Arts in 1999, received the Kennedy Center Honors in 2017, and took the Golden Globe Carol Burnett Award in 2021. He was a member of the Television Academy Hall of Fame.

He was a true trendsetter, an entertainment record-breaker, a humanitarian, and a hugely talented writer and creative genius. Far from a one-hit wonder, almost anything he touched turned to gold. He had so many ratings hits and award-winning shows that have stood the test of time that naming his filmography is like naming a directory of Who’s Who on Hollywood’s Walk of Fame.   

His television shows were scripted like plays, each with a measured dose of weighty dialogue and sustained laughter. They were shows of substance, acted out by well-developed characters, helping us to not only look at society’s challenges but also to force us to measure our own contributions to the ills of our world. 

Some of his biggest accomplishments were comedies that centered around discussions of controversial societal issues and political topics, from abortion and racism to women’s rights, war, and poverty. His biggest breakout show was All in the Family. Its spin-offs, Maude
and The Jeffersons were also huge.  One Day at a Time, Sanford and Son, and Good Times were critically acclaimed and got solid ratings.

All of these programs had episodes that finished at some point as the top-rated show in a given week. Many of them were perennially in the top 10. In fact, he is the only person to simultaneously have five different shows finish in the Top 10 for an entire season (‘74-‘75).  

It was a different era. Commercials everywhere. Only three network channels to choose from, so tens of millions watched the same show at the same time. No VCR/DVR. No pause buttons. No binge-watching a season or downloading a series. No cable-TV. No 10-episode seasons. These shows had a hundred or more episodes each.  

I grew up watching all of his shows, every single episode, many times, mostly in primetime and others in re-runs. I often quote lines and sayings from these shows. They are a part of my childhood and family. I miss Archie Bunker, J.J. “Dynomite” Walker, and Fred G. Sanford (the G is for garbageman). They raised me and inculcated certain values. They also just made me laugh.   

The way Mark Burnett owned reality TV hits this century, and the way Steven Bochco owns criminal dramas from the 80s and 90s, Lear dominated sitcoms and single-handedly owned television in the 1970s and early 1980s. A tremendous, creative force and an unrivaled talent of iconic shows, Lear was a star behind the camera and a mensch off of it.  

RIP, Norman Lear.

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About Brian Feinblum

Brian Feinblum should be followed on LinkedIn. This is copyrighted by BookMarketingBuzzBlog ©2023. Born and raised in Brooklyn, he now resides in Westchester with his wife, two kids, and Ferris, a black lab rescue dog, and El Chapo, a pug rescue dog. His writings are often featured in The Writer and IBPA’s The Independent.  This award-winning blog has generated over 3.4 million pageviews. With 4,600+ posts over the past dozen years, it was named one of the best book marketing blogs by BookBaby  http://blog.bookbaby.com/2013/09/the-best-book-marketing-blogs  and recognized by Feedspot in 2021 and 2018 as one of the top book marketing blogs. It was also named by www.WinningWriters.com as a "best resource.” For the past three decades, including 21 years as the head of marketing for the nation’s largest book publicity firm, and two jobs at two independent presses, Brian has worked with many first-time, self-published, authors of all genres, right along with best-selling authors and celebrities such as: Dr. Ruth, Mark Victor Hansen, Joseph Finder, Katherine Spurway, Neil Rackham, Harvey Mackay, Ken Blanchard, Stephen Covey, Warren Adler, Cindy Adams, Todd Duncan, Susan RoAne, John C. Maxwell, Jeff Foxworthy, Seth Godin, and Henry Winkler. He recently hosted a panel on book publicity for Book Expo America, and has spoken at ASJA, Independent Book Publishers Association Sarah Lawrence College, Nonfiction Writers Association, Cape Cod Writers Association, Willamette (Portland) Writers Association, APEX, and Connecticut Authors and Publishers Association. His letters-to-the-editor have been published in The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, New York Post, NY Daily News, Newsday, The Journal News (Westchester) and The Washington Post. He has been featured in The Sun Sentinel and Miami Herald. For more information, please consult: www.linkedin.com/in/brianfeinblum.