Norman Lear's thoughts on Editing (1975)

[Flash72]

With the topic of the overediting of "All in the Family" mentioned on the board alot (from myself included), I thought I would post Norman Lear's thoughts on the subject. This information is taken from the book "Archie & Edith, Mike & Gloria: The Tumultuous History of All in the Family." Lear spoke on this subject when CBS began airing edited daily reruns of the series in 1975.


Before 1975 rolled to a close, All in the Family reruns had entered the daytime lineup, pitted against NBC's Another World (in the process, bouncing CBS's Edge of Night all the way over to ABC). Norman Lear, despite the additional revenue thereby engendered, had reservations. As a prime-time show, All in the Family allowed three minutes for commercials [* Boy, those WERE the Days*]; as a daytime half-hour, it would have to be cut to make room for six. A CBS spokesman said Lear could do the cutting, but Lear responded that "It is enormously destructive to the intent of the original show, and I think it is terrible crime against all the people who worked so hard to make the original show...It isn't the same show we made when you take three minutes out of it." He suggested that whatever money CBS might lose by omitting the extra commercials, CBS could simply pay that much less for the reruns. CBS didn't go for it. Ultimately, when Lear felt his insistence would deprive others of income from their work, he let the show air with cuts.


I wonder what Lear thinks of Nick of Nite's inexcusable over butchering of each show?