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TV icon Norman Lear’s cultural influence and political voice are being heard again before November’s presidential election.
The legendary creator of TV shows such as “All in the Family,” “Maude,” and “The Jeffersons,” who died in December at age 101, is the vibrant center of a multimedia exhibit from the National Comedy Center in Jamestown, N.Y.
The exhibit highlighting Lear’s power to make TV audiences laugh while prompting vital discussions about the importance of elections opens Friday. But fans won’t need to trek to upstate New York (the birthplace of Lucille Ball) to revisit Lear’s get-out-the-vote legacy.
“Honoring Norman Lear’s Legacy in Comedy and Civic Engagement” features a Lear-filled online companion exhibit highlighting eight hilarious and thought-provoking election-time scenes from his classic comedies — ranging from “Maude,” “Good Times,” “Sanford and Son” to “All in the Family.”
“Norman believed that laughter brought us together, and what better way to talk about issues that divide us than through comedy, ” Lyn Davis Lear, Lear’s wife of 36 years, tells USA TODAY vis email. “Sharing with the world the intersection of comedy and civic engagement is something Norman would have been so excited for.”
“All in the Family,” which ran for nine seasons from 1971-79 on CBS, has an especially storied history of making political discussion accessible to everyday Americans.
A featured “All in the Family” clip from the Nov. 4, 1972 episode, “Mike Comes into Money,” aired three days before the 1972 presidential election between incumbent Richard Nixon and George McGovern. The scene, from the top-rated show in the country at the time, features blue-collar patriarch and World War II veteran Archie Bunker (Carroll O’Connor) arguing with Mike “Meathead” Stivic (Rob Reiner) over his broke son-in-law’s political donation to McGovern, the Democratic candidate.
A 1975 clip from “The Politicians” episode of CBS’ “Good Times” features Florida Evans (Esther Rolle) and her husband, James (John Amos) on opposite sides of a local election that hinges on low voter turnout.
“Norman wanted people to be involved; with their town, their state, and their country,” says Davis Lear. “He wanted to encourage and inspire that through his comedy. He wanted to entertain, but he also wanted to bring people together.”
It’s no coincidence that the exhibit opens on the eve of the Nov. 5 presidential election, with the goal of prompting more discussion and action.
“He would have been nervous about this election,” says Davis Lear. “He wanted to ‘matter’ all his life. He would be thrilled to know that his work and words live on with this exhibit, continuing to encourage people to vote and participate in the political process.”
That guidance with the guffaws was what Lear was all about, says Journey Gunderson, the executive director of the National Comedy Center.
“Lear’s hard-won, lasting legacy stemmed from his audacious belief that comedy could cut through to the heart of the matters that define the American experience,” says Gunderson. “That he reached multitudes without softening the punch of his message is a rare feat.”
