Television producer Norman Lear.
Credit: Reuters File Photo
Norman Lear, the television writer and producer who introduced political and social commentary into situation comedy with "All in the Family" and other shows, proving that it was possible to be topical as well as funny while attracting millions of viewers, died on Tuesday at his home in Los Angeles. He was 101.
His death was confirmed by Lara Bergthold, a spokesperson for the family.
Lear reigned at the top of the television world through the 1970s and into the early '80s, leaving a lasting mark with shows that brought the sitcom into the real world.
"The Jeffersons" looked at the struggles faced by an upwardly mobile Black family; the very different Black family on "Good Times" dealt with poverty and discrimination. The protagonist of "Maude" was an outspoken feminist; the heroine of "Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman" was plagued by all manner of modern-day problems, not least her own neurosis.
"You looked around television in those years," Lear said in a 2012 New York Times interview, referring to the middle and late 1960s, "and the biggest problem any family faced was 'Mother dented the car, and how do you keep Dad from finding out'; 'the boss is coming to dinner, and the roast's ruined.' The message that was sending out was that we didn't have any problems."