Norman Lear on Failed "All in the Family" Spin-off "704 Hauser"

[EccentricGenius]

I guess John Amos had finally made peace with Lear after feuding with him years earlier on the set of "Good Times."

[ThomasE]

I thought it was a good show. I don't see what was so bad about it.

[king of comedy]

He got a Kennedy Center Honor last year.

[70s show watcher]

the show was not norman lears bbest work by any but it was far more watchable than sunday dinner was

[TV Guy]

None of the sitcoms Lear created in the 80s and 90s were any good.

I’d forgotten that he was behind Palmerstown USA, which is going to start running on GetTV later this month. I’ll have to check it out. It was Michael J. Fox’s first series, BTW.

[Babalu]

Originally Posted by king of comedy

He got a Kennedy Center Honor last year.

Of course he did. He's a liberal icon.

[loaferman]

Originally Posted by Babalu

Notice he didn't say, "We could have done a lot of funny things on that show". He wanted to use it for his left wing propaganda machine. Even after all his successful shows he forgets that he needs a good entertaining show as a base, not just a forum for his propaganda compulsion.

I agree that for all his success and shows like AITF that were funny, Lear was never able to avoid agenda pushing in his shows. Unlike more recent times the politicizing was usually more subtle with maybe a couple of more overt episodes per season. After his successful shows I think Lear wanted to make his later shows more and more preachy and less about entertainment. For better or worse though Lear was a major change element for television.

[Mr. Television]

Originally Posted by TV Guy

None of the sitcoms Lear created in the 80s and 90s were any good.

I’d forgotten that he was behind Palmerstown USA, which is going to start running on GetTV later this month. I’ll have to check it out. It was Michael J. Fox’s first series, BTW.

I used to love that show.

[KentB3]

Originally Posted by Retro4Life

Ridiculous. If AITF had been nothing more than propaganda, it would have failed quickly; the same with Lear's other successes. Sure, he was liberal. But the shows succeeded because he was able to bring out the humanity in all sides. You really think only left wing radicals were watching that show?

EXACTLY! Despite Norman Lear's social and political views, there was in fact occasional scorn directed towards Michael "Meathead" Stivic, over the limits of liberalism. For instance, Gloria was afraid to announce her pregnancy due to Mike's stubborn attitude about overpopulation. In another episode, he went through several couples to serve as Joey's guardians in case anything happened to him and Gloria; the first couple he named Gloria rejected, since they were drug users; eventually they settled on Al and Trudy, Gloria's best friend and Trudy's husband (Al was played by Billy Crystal, BTW). Mike wanted to leave Joey to anybody BUT Archie and Edith, fearing Joey would turn out like Archie! This greatly upsets not just Archie, but Edith as well. Most blatant of all, Mike later divorces Gloria and runs off to a commune with his new girlfriend (one of his students, who is 22 years old), due to his disgust that Ronald Reagan was elected president! He divorces Gloria since shes refused to go, because she didn't want Joey raised in that environment.

[Mr. Television]

Originally Posted by Retro4Life

Ridiculous. If AITF had been nothing more than propaganda, it would have failed quickly; the same with Lear's other successes. Sure, he was liberal. But the shows succeeded because he was able to bring out the humanity in all sides. You really think only left wing radicals were watching that show?

Totally agree. My family was never liberal and we loved AITF. We watched all the Norman Lear shows. They were just funny and everyone didn't come out looking very well. There was a lot of humanity in his shows something that current shows for the most part just don't have.

[Mr. Television]

Originally Posted by KentB3

EXACTLY! Despite Norman Lear's social and political views, there was in fact occasional scorn directed towards Michael "Meathead" Stivic, over the limits of liberalism. For instance, Gloria was afraid to announce her pregnancy due to Mike's stubborn attitude about overpopulation. In another episode, he went through several couples to serve as Joey's guardians in case anything happened to him and Gloria; the first couple he named Gloria rejected, since they were drug users; eventually they settled on Al and Trudy, Gloria's best friend and Trudy's husband (Al was played by Billy Crystal, BTW). Mike wanted to leave Joey to anybody BUT Archie and Edith, fearing Joey would turn out like Archie! This greatly upsets not just Archie, but Edith as well. Most blatant of all, Mike later divorces Gloria and runs off to a commune with his new girlfriend (one of his students, who is 22 years old), due to his disgust that Ronald Reagan was elected president! He divorces Gloria since shes refused to go, because she didn't want Joey raised in that environment.

Very well said.