US television producer Norman Lear is dead
Norman Lear has created and written around one hundred shows. He was one of the most successful television producers in the USA: "Good Times" made history, "All in the Family" was a huge success. Now Lear dies at an advanced age.
Norman Lear, internationally influential author and producer of TV series, has died. Lear, who became hugely influential from the 1970s onwards with sitcoms such as "The Jeffersons" and "All in the Family", has died at the age of 101, several US media reported, citing a spokesperson for his family. With his series, which addressed sensitive social and political issues for the first time on US television, Lear revolutionized television entertainment beyond the USA.
Among other things, his series "Good Times", first broadcast in 1974, was the first series to revolve around an African-American family. Legendary comedian Mel Brooks once said that Lear was the "bravest writer, director and producer" ever to work in television.
Lear wrote, produced or devised around one hundred shows in a career spanning some eight decades. His series had an enormous reach: In the 1970s - years before the advent of cable television and decades before streaming services - as many as five of his sitcoms ran in prime time.
On Nixon's "enemies list"
However, his TV entertainment, which was revolutionary for its time, also brought the World War II veteran, who was born into a Jewish family in 1922, powerful opponents. US President Richard Nixon, who was later forced to resign over the Watergate affair, included him on his so-called enemies list, while conservative televangelist Jerry Falwell called Lear "the greatest enemy of the American family".
Lear's most influential work was probably "All in the Family". First broadcast in 1971, the series revolved around Archie Bunker, a narrow-minded, irascible family man who gives free rein to his prejudices against groups of people and regularly clashes with his progressive relatives. Among other things, the series served as a model for Wolfgang Menge's German TV classic "Ein Herz und eine Seele" about family man Alfred Tetzlaff, alias "Ekel Alfred".
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Lear's groundbreaking television series, such as "Good Times" and "All in the Family," continued to captivate audiences even after his obituary was published. Despite facing adversity from figures like Richard Nixon and Jerry Falwell due to his innovative and socially-conscious content, Lear's shows, including "All in the Family," which explored prejudices and family dynamics, remain influential in the realm of TV entertainment in the USA and beyond.
Source: www.ntv.de
