Editing Norman Lear (section)

===1967–1977===
[[File:Norman Lear standing before bank of camera monitors, 1975.jpg|thumb|left|Lear standing before a bank of camera monitors in 1975]]
Starting out as a comedy writer, then a film director (he wrote and produced the 1967 film ''[[Divorce American Style]]'' and directed the 1971 film ''[[Cold Turkey (1971 film)|Cold Turkey]]'', both starring [[Dick Van Dyke]]), Lear tried to sell a concept for a sitcom about a [[blue-collar]] American family to [[American Broadcasting Company|ABC]]. They rejected the show after two pilots were taped: "Justice for All" in 1968<ref name="All In the Family before it was aired">{{cite web |title=Justice For All |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5OzG4qnpTvI&t=108s | archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211107/5OzG4qnpTvI| archive-date=November 7, 2021 | url-status=live|via=YouTube | date=September 6, 2018 |access-date=September 6, 2018}}{{cbignore}}</ref> and "Those Were the Days" in 1969.<ref>{{cite web |title=Those Were The Days |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F7QTS8ARMNg&t=145s | archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211107/F7QTS8ARMNg| archive-date=November 7, 2021 | url-status=live|via=YouTube | date=October 8, 2018 |access-date=October 8, 2018}}{{cbignore}}</ref> After a third pilot was taped, CBS picked up the show, known as ''[[All in the Family]]''. It premiered on January 12, 1971, to disappointing ratings, but it took home several [[Emmy Awards]] that year, including Outstanding Comedy Series. The show did very well in summer reruns,<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0ONKnx6JA0IC&q=all+in+the+family+1971+summer+reruns&pg=PA29|title=See No Evil|first=Geoffrey|last=Cowan|date=March 28, 1980|publisher=Simon and Schuster|via=Google Books|isbn=9780671254117|access-date=October 19, 2020|archive-date=December 6, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231206195156/https://books.google.com/books?id=0ONKnx6JA0IC&q=all+in+the+family+1971+summer+reruns&pg=PA29#v=snippet&q=all%20in%20the%20family%201971%20summer%20reruns&f=false|url-status=live}}</ref> and it flourished in the 1971–72 season, becoming the top-rated show on TV for the next five years.<ref>{{Cite book| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oarWAQAAQBAJ&q=all+in+the+family+nielsen+ratings+five+years+1971-1976&pg=PA45| title=African Americans on Television: Race-ing for Ratings| isbn=9780275995157| last1=Leonard| first1=David J| last2=Guerrero| first2=Lisa| date=April 23, 2013| publisher=Abc-Clio| access-date=October 19, 2020| archive-date=December 6, 2023| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231206195155/https://books.google.com/books?id=oarWAQAAQBAJ&q=all+in+the+family+nielsen+ratings+five+years+1971-1976&pg=PA45| url-status=live}}</ref> After falling from the {{abbr|No.|Number}} 1 spot, ''All in the Family'' still remained in the top ten, with the exception of the [[Top-rated United States television programs of 1976–77|1976-1977 television season]] where it ranked No. 12,<ref>{{cite book |last1=Brooks |first1=Tim |last2=Marsh |first2=Earle |date=2007 |title=The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows 1946-Present |publisher=Ballantine Books |page=1688 |edition=Ninth |isbn=978-0-345-49773-4 }}</ref> and eventually became ''[[Archie Bunker's Place]]''. The show was based loosely on the British sitcom ''[[Till Death Us Do Part]]'', about an irascible working-class [[Conservative Party (UK)|Tory]] and his [[socialist]] son-in-law.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Prial |first=Frank J. |author-link=Frank J. Prial |date=May 12, 1983 |title=CBS-TV is Dropping Archie Bunker |language=en-US |newspaper=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1983/05/12/arts/cbs-tv-is-dropping-archie-bunker.html |url-access=subscription |access-date=September 25, 2021 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150524140239/https://www.nytimes.com/1983/05/12/arts/cbs-tv-is-dropping-archie-bunker.html |archive-date=May 24, 2015}}{{cbignore}}</ref>

Lear's second big TV sitcom, ''[[Sanford and Son]]'', was also based on a British sitcom, ''[[Steptoe and Son]]'',<ref>{{Cite web|title=''Sanford And Son'' may have copied other shows, but Redd Foxx was an original|url=https://www.avclub.com/sanford-and-son-may-have-copied-other-shows-but-redd-f-1798249550|first=Noel|last=Murray|access-date=September 25, 2021|website=The A.V. Club|date=July 19, 2016|language=en-us|archive-date=September 25, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210925030238/https://www.avclub.com/sanford-and-son-may-have-copied-other-shows-but-redd-f-1798249550|url-status=live}}</ref> about a west London junk dealer and his son. Lear changed the setting to the [[Watts, Los Angeles|Watts]] section of Los Angeles and the characters to African Americans, and the [[NBC]] show ''Sanford and Son'' was an instant hit.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.emmys.com/news/features/significance-sanford-and-son|title=The Significance of ''Sanford and Son''|last=Deggans|first=Eric|date=February 11, 2022|publisher=[[Academy of Television Arts & Sciences|Television Academy]]|access-date=December 6, 2023|archive-date=July 24, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230724122306/https://www.emmys.com/news/features/significance-sanford-and-son|url-status=live}}</ref> Numerous hit shows followed thereafter, including ''[[Maude (TV series)|Maude]]'', ''[[The Jeffersons]]'' (both [[spin-off (media)|spin-offs]] of ''All in the Family''), ''[[One Day at a Time (1975 TV series)|One Day at a Time]]'', and ''[[Good Times]]'' (which is a spinoff of ''Maude'').<ref>{{Cite web|last=Gray|first=Tim|date=January 12, 2021|title=How 'All in the Family' Spawned the Most Spinoffs of Any Sitcom|url=https://variety.com/2021/tv/spotlight/all-in-the-family-spinoffs-the-jeffersons-good-times-1234878187/|access-date=September 25, 2021|website=Variety|language=en-US|archive-date=January 18, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220118160315/https://variety.com/2021/tv/spotlight/all-in-the-family-spinoffs-the-jeffersons-good-times-1234878187/|url-status=live}}</ref>

Most of these Lear sitcoms share three features: they were shot on [[videotape]] in place of [[film stock|film]], used a live studio audience, and dealt with current social and political issues.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Weinman|first=Jaime|date=September 30, 2008|title=Is It Time For Sitcoms To Go Back to Videotape?|url=https://www.macleans.ca/uncategorized/is-it-time-for-sitcoms-to-go-back-to-videotape/|access-date=September 25, 2021|website=Maclean's|language=en|archive-date=September 25, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210925032515/https://www.macleans.ca/uncategorized/is-it-time-for-sitcoms-to-go-back-to-videotape/|url-status=live}}</ref> ''Maude'' is generally considered to be based on Lear's wife Frances, which she confirmed, with [[Charlie Hauck]] serving as main producer and writer.<ref name="NYTimes-FrancesObit-1996">{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1996/10/01/us/frances-lear-a-mercurial-figure-of-the-media-and-a-magazine-founder-dead-at-73.html |url-access=subscription |title=Frances Lear, a Mercurial Figure of the Media and a Magazine Founder, Dead at 73 |first=Enid |last=Nemy |author-link=Enid Nemy |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |date=October 1, 1996 |access-date=December 9, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160204164803/http://www.nytimes.com/1996/10/01/us/frances-lear-a-mercurial-figure-of-the-media-and-a-magazine-founder-dead-at-73.html?pagewanted=all |archive-date=February 4, 2016}}{{cbignore}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=Lee|first=Janet W.|date=November 20, 2020|title=Charlie Hauck, Writer-Producer of 'Maude' and 'Frasier,' Dies at 79|url=https://variety.com/2020/tv/obituaries-people-news/charlie-hauck-dead-maude-frasier-writer-1234836972/|access-date=September 25, 2021|website=Variety|language=en-US|archive-date=September 25, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210925032515/https://variety.com/2020/tv/obituaries-people-news/charlie-hauck-dead-maude-frasier-writer-1234836972/|url-status=live}}</ref>

Lear's longtime producing partner was [[Bud Yorkin]], who also produced ''All in the Family'', ''Sanford and Son'', ''[[What's Happening!!]]'', ''Maude'', and ''[[The Jeffersons]]''.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Roberts|first=Sam|date=August 19, 2015|title=Bud Yorkin, Writer and Producer of 'All in the Family,' Dies at 89|language=en-US|newspaper=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/19/arts/television/bud-yorkin-writer-and-producer-of-all-in-the-family-dies-at-89.html|access-date=September 25, 2021|issn=0362-4331|archive-date=September 25, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210925032708/https://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/19/arts/television/bud-yorkin-writer-and-producer-of-all-in-the-family-dies-at-89.html|url-status=live}}</ref> Yorkin split with Lear in 1975. He started a production company with writers and producers [[Saul Turteltaub]] and [[Bernie Orenstein]]; however, only two of their shows lasted longer than a year: ''What's Happening!!'' and ''[[Carter Country]]''. The Lear/Yorkin company was known as [[Tandem Productions]] and was founded in 1958. Lear and talent agent [[Jerry Perenchio]] founded [[T.A.T. Communications]] ("T.A.T." stood for the Yiddish phrase ''tuchus affen tisch'', "putting one's ass on the line".<ref>{{cite thesis |last=Miller |first=Taylor Cole |year=2017 |title=Syndicated Queerness: Television Talk Shows, Rerun Syndication, and the Serials of Norman Lear |type=PhD |chapter=Chapter 2: Rewriting Genesis: Queering Genre in Norman Lear's First-Run Syndicated Serials |publisher=University of Wisconsin–Madison}}</ref>) in 1974, which co-existed with Tandem Productions and was often referred to in periodicals as Tandem/T.A.T. The Lear organization was one of the most successful independent TV producers of the 1970s.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/writers/|title=The Writers|last=Banks|first=Miranda|date=March 4, 2015|magazine=[[Los Angeles Review of Books]]|access-date=December 6, 2023|archive-date=August 16, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220816131416/https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/writers/|url-status=live}}, excerpted from {{cite book|title=The Writers: A History of American Screenwriters and Their Guild|last=Banks|first=Miranda J.|publisher=[[Rutgers University Press]]|date=January 14, 2015|isbn=9780813571409}}</ref> TAT produced the influential and award-winning 1981 film ''[[The Wave (1981 film)|The Wave]]'' about [[Ron Jones (teacher)|Ron Jones]]' social experiment.<ref>{{cite book|title=Snitch Culture: How Citizens are Turned Into the Eyes and Ears of the State|last=Redden|first=Jim|date=2000|publisher=[[Feral House]]|page=190|isbn=9780922915637}}</ref>

Lear also developed the cult favorite TV series ''[[Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman]]'' (''MH MH'') which was turned down by the networks as "too controversial" and placed it into first run syndication with 128 stations in January 1976. A year later, he added another program into first-run syndication along with ''MH MH'', ''[[All That Glitters (American TV series)|All That Glitters]]''. He planned in 1977 to offer three hours of prime-time Saturday programming directly having stations place his production company in the position of an [[Fourth television network|occasional network]].<ref name="Gray-2015"/><ref name="Nadel">{{cite news |last=Nadel |first=Gerry |date=May 30, 1977 |title=Who Owns Prime Time? The Threat of the 'Occasional' Networks |work=New York |pages=34–35 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YeMCAAAAMBAJ&q=%22MetroNet%22%2B%22Metromedia%22&pg=PA35 |access-date=October 4, 2009 |archive-date=December 6, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231206195622/https://books.google.com/books?id=YeMCAAAAMBAJ&q=%22MetroNet%22%2B%22Metromedia%22&pg=PA35#v=onepage&q=%22MetroNet%22%2B%22Metromedia%22&f=false |url-status=live }}</ref>

In 1977, African-American screenwriter [[Eric Monte]] filed a lawsuit accusing [[American Broadcasting Company|ABC]] and [[CBS]] producers Norman Lear, [[Bud Yorkin]], and others of stealing his ideas for ''Good Times'', ''The Jeffersons'', and ''[[What's Happening!!]]'' Monte received a $1-million settlement and a small percentage of the residuals from ''Good Times'' and one percent ownership of the show. Monte, due to his lack of business knowledge and experience as well as legal representation, would not receive royalties for other shows that he created. However, Lear and other Hollywood producers, outraged over the lawsuit, blacklisted Monte and labeled him too difficult to work with.<ref name="npr.com">Dunn, Katia (July 29, 2006), [https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5591655/ "Classic TV Producer, Good Times No Longer"], NPR.com. Retrieved September 6, 2021. {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210907010117/https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5591655/ |date=September 7, 2021 }}.</ref>