History Creator / NormanLear

Lear's series are fondly remembered as amongst the best of their era and as revolutionary [[TropeCodifier trope codifiers]] for the socially-conscious sitcom, as his shows often dealt frankly (even by present-day standards) with social and political issues of the day, and broke all sorts of taboos of the day (everything from ''Series/AllInTheFamily'' having the first audible toilet to ''Series/{{Maude}}'' featuring the first sitcom character to get an abortion) without being overly preachy. Lear's various production companies continued pumping out sitcoms through TheEighties and into TheNineties (''Series/DiffrentStrokes'', ''Series/WhosTheBoss'' and ''Series/TheFactsOfLife'' among them); he also briefly entered the movie business with his acquisition of Embassy Pictures, before hitting a bit of a lull, between having sold his assets to what eventually became Creator/SonyPicturesTelevision, and creating a string of shows that got ScrewedByTheNetwork after only a few episodes and generally aren't as highly regarded (or well remembered) as his early work. He found a surprise new success with the highly popular 2017 Netflix remake of ''Series/{{One Day at a Time|2017}}'', at age 93. In May 2018, Nickelodeon announced the greenlit of an animated project by Norman Lear currently entitled ''Man of the House''. The new series will center around a 11 year old boy Jose as he helps his mother, Maria, raise his younger siblings while also trying to start a hip hop group with his eccentric "neighbor" from downstairs, Wilbur.

Lear's sitcoms are fondly remembered as amongst the best of their era and as revolutionary [[TropeCodifier trope codifiers]] of the socially-conscious SitCom, as his shows often dealt frankly (even by present-day standards) with social and political issues of the day, and broke all sorts of taboos of the day (everything from ''Series/AllInTheFamily'' having the first audible toilet to ''Series/{{Maude}}'' featuring the first sitcom character to get an abortion) without being overly preachy. Lear's various production companies continued pumping out sitcoms through TheEighties and into TheNineties (''Series/DiffrentStrokes'', ''Series/WhosTheBoss'' and ''Series/TheFactsOfLife'' among them); he also briefly entered the movie business with his acquisition of Embassy Pictures, before hitting a bit of a lull, between having sold his assets to what eventually became Creator/SonyPicturesTelevision, and creating a string of shows that got ScrewedByTheNetwork after only a few episodes and generally aren't as highly regarded (or well remembered) as his early work. He found a surprise new success with the highly popular 2017 Netflix remake of ''Series/{{One Day at a Time|2017}}'', at age 93. In May 2018, Nickelodeon announced the greenlit of an animated project by Norman Lear currently entitled ''Man of the House''. The new series will center around a 11 year old boy Jose as he helps his mother, Maria, raise his younger siblings while also trying to start a hip hop group with his eccentric "neighbor" from downstairs, Wilbur.

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Norman Milton Lear (born July 27, 1922 in New Haven, Connecticut) is an American television writer, producer, screenwriter and occasional voice actor best known for creating, developing, and/or producing a number of [[SitCom sitcom]] megahits in TheSeventies, including ''Series/AllInTheFamily'', ''Series/SanfordAndSon'', ''Series/{{Maude}}'', ''Series/TheJeffersons'', ''Series/GoodTimes'', and ''Series/{{One Day at a Time|1975}}'', among others. During his career he has been nominated for 13 UsefulNotes/{{Emmy Award}}s (winning five) and an UsefulNotes/AcademyAward, and received two Peabody Awards.

Lear's sitcoms are fondly remembered as amongst the best of their era and as revolutionary [[TropeCodifier trope codifiers]] of the socially-conscious SitCom, as his shows often dealt frankly (even by today's standards) with social and political issues of the day, and broke all sorts of taboos of the day (everything from ''Series/AllInTheFamily'' having the first audible toilet to ''Series/{{Maude}}'' featuring the first sitcom character to get an abortion) without being overly preachy. Lear's various production companies continued pumping out sitcoms through TheEighties and into TheNineties (''Series/DiffrentStrokes'', ''Series/WhosTheBoss'' and ''Series/TheFactsOfLife'' among them); he also briefly entered the movie business with his acquisition of Embassy Pictures, before hitting a bit of a lull, between having sold his assets to what eventually became Creator/SonyPicturesTelevision, and creating a string of shows that got ScrewedByTheNetwork after only a few episodes and generally aren't as highly regarded (or well remembered) as his early work. He found a surprise new success with the highly popular 2017 Netflix remake of ''Series/{{One Day at a Time|2017}}'', at age 93. In May 2018, Nickelodeon announced the greenlit of an animated project by Norman Lear currently entitled ''Man of the House''. The new series will center around a 11 year old boy Jose as he helps his mother, Maria, raise his younger siblings while also trying to start a hip hop group with his eccentric "neighbor" from downstairs, Wilbur.

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Norman Milton Lear (born July 27, 1922 in New Haven, Connecticut) is an American television writer, producer, screenwriter and occasional voice actor best known for creating, developing, and/or producing a number of [[SitCom sitcom]] megahits in TheSeventies, including ''Series/AllInTheFamily'', ''Series/TheJeffersons'', ''Series/{{Maude}}'', ''Series/GoodTimes'', ''Series/{{One Day at a Time|1975}}'', and (with Bud Yorkin) ''Series/SanfordAndSon'' among others. During his career he has been nominated for 13 UsefulNotes/{{Emmy Award}}s (winning five) and an UsefulNotes/AcademyAward, and received two Peabody Awards.

Norman Milton Lear (born July 27, 1922) is an American television writer, producer, screenwriter and occasional voice actor best known for creating, developing, and/or producing a number of [[SitCom sitcom]] megahits in TheSeventies, including ''Series/AllInTheFamily'', ''Series/TheJeffersons'', ''Series/{{Maude}}'', ''Series/GoodTimes'', ''Series/{{One Day at a Time|1975}}'', and (with Bud Yorkin) ''Series/SanfordAndSon'' among others. During his career he has been nominated for 13 UsefulNotes/{{Emmy Award}}s (winning five) and an UsefulNotes/AcademyAward, and received two Peabody Awards.

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Norman Milton Lear (born July 27, 1922) is an Emmy and Peabody Award-winning and UsefulNotes/AcademyAward-nominated television writer, producer, screenwriter and occasional voice actor best known for creating, developing, and/or producing a number of [[SitCom sitcom]] megahits in TheSeventies, including ''Series/AllInTheFamily'', ''Series/TheJeffersons'', ''Series/{{Maude}}'', ''Series/GoodTimes'', ''Series/{{One Day at a Time|1975}}'', and (with Bud Yorkin) ''Series/SanfordAndSon'' among others.

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** Series/AllInTheFamily, Series/GoodTimes, Series/OneDayAtATime (both original and reboot), and Series/TheJeffersons were all more idealistic.

** ''Series/Maude'' on the other hand is clearly on the cynical end, despite the show still having some feel-good moments and heart.

* SignatureStyle: Sitcoms that often touched on issues of the time with little sugarcoating, featuring [[UnsympatheticComedyProtagonist unsympathetic male protagonists]] with sympathetic long suffering wives (or a long suffering son in the case of ''Series/SanfordAndSon''), sets that more resembled those stage plays than sitcoms, the occasional VerySpecialEpisode and usually opening credits that featured an EarWorm ThematicThemeTune and cameras panning over whatever city or town the series took place in.

* ''All That Glitters'' (1977)

Lear's sitcoms are fondly remembered as amongst the best of their era and as revolutionary [[TropeCodifier trope codifiers]] of the socially-conscious SitCom, as his shows often dealt frankly (even by today's standards) with social and political issues of the day, and broke all sorts of taboos of the day (everything from ''Series/AllInTheFamily'' having the first audible toilet to ''Series/{{Maude}}'' featuring the first sitcom character to get an abortion) without being overly preachy. Lear's various production companies continued pumping out sitcoms through TheEighties and into TheNineties (''Series/DiffrentStrokes'', ''Series/WhosTheBoss'' and ''Series/TheFactsOfLife'' among them) before hitting a bit of a lull, between having sold his assets to what eventually became Creator/SonyPicturesTelevision, and creating a string of shows that got ScrewedByTheNetwork after only a few episodes and generally aren't as highly regarded (or well remembered) as his early work. He found a surprise new success with the highly popular 2017 Netflix remake of ''Series/{{One Day at a Time|2017}}'', at age 93. In May 2018, Nickelodeon announced the greenlit of an animated project by Norman Lear currently entitled ''Man of the House''. The new series will center around a 11 year old boy Jose as he helps his mother, Maria, raise his younger siblings while also trying to start a hip hop group with his eccentric "neighbor" from downstairs, Wilbur.

Lear's sitcoms are fondly remembered as amongst the best of their era and as revolutionary [[TropeCodifier trope codifiers]] of the socially-conscious SitCom, as his shows often dealt frankly (even by today's standards) with social and political issues of the day, and broke all sorts of taboos of the day (everything from ''Series/AllInTheFamily'' having the first audible toilet to ''Series/{{Maude}}'' featuring the first sitcom character to get an abortion) without being overly preachy. Lear's various production companies continued pumping out sitcoms through TheEighties and into TheNineties (''Series/DiffrentStrokes'', ''Series/WhosTheBoss'' and ''Series/TheFactsOfLife'' among them) before hitting a bit of a lull, between having sold his assets to what eventually became Creator/SonyPicturesTelevision, and creating a string of shows that got ScrewedByTheNetwork after only a few episodes and generally aren't as highly regarded (or well remembered) as his early work. He found a surprise new success with the highly popular 2017 Netflix remake of ''Series/{{One Day at a Time|2017}}'', at age 93. In May 2018, Nickelodeon announced the greenlit of an animated project by Norman Lear currently entitled "Man of the House". The new series will center around a 11 year old boy Jose as he helps his mother, Maria, raise his younger siblings while also trying to start a hip hop group with his eccentric "neighbor" from downstairs, Wilbur.

Lear's sitcoms are fondly remembered as amongst the best of their era and as revolutionary [[TropeCodifier trope codifiers]] of the socially-conscious SitCom, as his shows often dealt frankly (even by today's standards) with social and political issues of the day, and broke all sorts of taboos of the day (everything from ''Series/AllInTheFamily'' having the first audible toilet to ''Series/{{Maude}}'' featuring the first sitcom character to get an abortion) without being overly preachy. Lear's various production companies continued pumping out sitcoms through TheEighties and into TheNineties (''Series/DiffrentStrokes'', ''Series/WhosTheBoss'' and ''Series/TheFactsOfLife'' among them) before hitting a bit of a lull, between having sold his assets to what eventually became Creator/SonyPicturesTelevision, and creating a string of shows that got ScrewedByTheNetwork after only a few episodes and generally aren't as highly regarded (or well remembered) as his early work. He found a surprise new success with the highly popular 2017 Netflix remake of ''Series/{{One Day at a Time|2017}}'', at age 93.

** Series/AllInTheFamily, Series/GoodTimes, and Series/TheJeffersons were all more idealistic.

* SlidingScaleOfIdealismVsCynicism: While arguably could be more on the cynical end, the heartfelt moments and decency and HiddenDepths of even the most UnsympatheticComedyProtagonist 's make the scale much more balanced.

Norman Milton Lear (born July 27, 1922) is an Emmy and Peabody Award-winning and UsefulNotes/AcademyAward-nominated television writer, producer, screenwriter and occasional voice actor best known for creating, developing, and/or producing a number of [[SitCom sitcom]] megahits in TheSeventies, including ''Series/AllInTheFamily'', ''Series/TheJeffersons'', ''Series/{{Maude}}'', ''Series/GoodTimes'', ''Series/{{One Day at a Time|1975}}'', and ''Series/SanfordAndSon'' (with Bud Yorkin) among others.

Lear is also known for being a social and political activist for liberal causes (often of the 1st Amendment variety) having founded the progressive advocacy group People For the American Way and often contributing to Democrat campaigns. He's also credited by Rob Reiner (who had acted on Lear's ''All in the Family'') as having helped jump start his directing career by fronting the money for ''Film/ThisIsSpinalTap'' (having owned Embassy Pictures at the time). As of late he's become close friends with Creator/TreyParkerAndMattStone of ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'' fame having voice acted in a couple episodes, being credited as a consultant on a few others and even officiating Trey Parker's wedding.

Lear's sitcoms are fondly remembered as amongst the best of their era and as revolutionary [[TropeCodifier trope codifiers]] of the socially-conscious SitCom as his shows often dealt frankly (even by today's standards) with social issues of the day and breaking taboos of the day (everything from ''Series/AllInTheFamily'' having the first audible toilet to ''Series/{{Maude}}'' featuring the first sitcom character to get an abortion) without being overly preachy. Lear's various production companies continued pumping out sitcoms through TheEighties and into TheNineties (''Series/DiffrentStrokes'', ''Series/WhosTheBoss'' and ''Series/TheFactsOfLife'' among them) before hitting a bit of a lull, between having sold his assets to what eventually became Creator/SonyPicturesTelevision, and creating a string of shows that got ScrewedByTheNetwork after only a few episodes and generally aren't as highly regarded (or well remembered) as his early work. He found a surprise new success with the highly popular 2017 Netflix remake of ''Series/{{One Day at a Time|2017}}'', at age 93.

Lear's sitcoms are fondly remembered amongst the best of era and as revolutionary [[TropeCodifier trope codifiers]] of the socially conscious SitCom as his shows often dealt frankly (even by today's standards) with social issues of the day and breaking taboos of the day (everything from ''Series/AllInTheFamily'' having the first audible toilet to ''Series/{{Maude}}'' featuring the first sitcom character to get an abortion) without being overly preachy. Lear's various production companies continued pumping out sitcoms through TheEighties and into TheNineties (''Series/DiffrentStrokes'', ''Series/WhosTheBoss'' and ''Series/TheFactsOfLife'' among them) before hitting a bit of a lull, between having sold his assets to what eventually became Creator/SonyPicturesTelevision, and creating a string of shows that got ScrewedByTheNetwork after only a few episodes and generally aren't as highly regarded (or well remembered) as his early work. He found a surprise new success with the highly popular 2017 Netflix remake of ''Series/{{One Day at a Time|2017}}'', at age 93.

Norman Milton Lear (born July 27, 1922) is an Emmy and Peabody Award winning and UsefulNotes/AcademyAward nominated television writer, producer, screenwriter and occasional voice actor best known for creating, developing, and/or producing a number of [[SitCom sitcom]] megahits in TheSeventies, including ''Series/AllInTheFamily'', ''Series/TheJeffersons'', ''Series/{{Maude}}'', ''Series/GoodTimes'', ''Series/{{One Day at a Time|1975}}'', and ''Series/SanfordAndSon'' (with Bud Yorkin) among others.

Norman Milton Lear (born July 27, 1922) is an Emmy and Peabody Award winning and UsefulNotes/AcademyAward nominated television writer, producer, screenwriter and occasional voice actor best known for being the creator, producer or developer of a number of [[SitCom sitcom]] megahits in TheSeventies, including ''Series/AllInTheFamily'', ''Series/TheJeffersons'', ''Series/{{Maude}}'', ''Series/GoodTimes'', ''Series/{{One Day at a Time|1975}}'', and ''Series/SanfordAndSon'' (with Bud Yorkin) among others.

Norman Milton Lear (born July 27, 1922) is an Emmy and Peabody Award winning and UsefulNotes/AcademyAward nominated television writer, producer, screenwriter and occasional voice actor best known for being the creator, producer or developer of a number of [[SitCom sitcom]] megahits in [[TheSeventies 1970s]] including ''Series/AllInTheFamily'', ''Series/TheJeffersons'', ''Series/{{Maude}}'', ''Series/GoodTimes'', ''Series/{{One Day at a Time|1975}}'', and ''Series/SanfordAndSon'' (with Bud Yorkin) among others.

Norman Milton Lear (born July 27, 1922) is an Emmy and Peabody Award winning and UsefulNotes/AcademyAward nominated television writer, producer, screenwriter and occasional voice actor best known for being the creator, producer or developer of a number of [[SitCom sitcom]] megahits in [[TheSeventies 1970s]] including ''Series/AllInTheFamily'', ''Series/TheJeffersons'', ''Series/{{Maude}}'', ''Series/GoodTimes'' and ''Series/SanfordAndSon'' (with Bud Yorkin) among others. Lear's sitcoms are fondly remembered amongst the best of era and as revolutionary [[TropeCodifier trope codifiers]] of the socially conscious SitCom as his shows often dealt frankly (even by today's standards) with social issues of the day and breaking taboos of the day (everything from ''Series/AllInTheFamily'' having the first audible toilet to ''Series/{{Maude}}'' featuring the first sitcom character to get an abortion) without being overly preachy. Lear's various production companies continued pumping out sitcoms through TheEighties and into TheNineties (''Series/DiffrentStrokes'', ''Series/WhosTheBoss'' and ''Series/TheFactsOfLife'' among them) before hitting a bit of a lull, between having sold his assets to what eventually became Creator/SonyPicturesTelevision, and creating a string of shows that got ScrewedByTheNetwork after only a few episodes and generally aren't as highly regarded (or well remembered) as his early work. He found a surprise new success with the highly popular 2017 Netflix remake of ''Series/OneDayAtATime2017'', at age 93.