Norman Lear and his white
floppy hat have been back in the news of late.
First for being among the
recipients of this year’s Kennedy Center Honors; and then for announcing his
intention to skip the awards ceremony, as some sort of Donald Trump
protest.
I could write this blog
about that but I won’t. What I will observe is that this accolade really has
nothing to do with Mr. Trump. Honorees are selected by previous winners and the
Kennedy Center trustees. It’s one of the highest honors this nation bestows
upon its artists, and should have nothing to do with politics. Harry Belafonte
accepted his medal from Ronald Reagan, and Charlton Heston accepted one from
Bill Clinton. And everyone behaved themselves.
But, again, that’s not the
topic for today. Instead, I’d like to explore Norman Lear’s paradigm-shifting
contributions to television. The reflexive position among TV historians is to
praise them as brave and brilliant and progressive. And much of that is true. But
I don’t own any of the shows he created on DVD, and have rarely watched them
since their first runs, so joining that chorus of adoration would be
disingenuous.
I acknowledge that All In the Family, Maude, One Day At a Time, The
Jeffersons and Good Times are
classic TV, either as a result of their quality or enduring appeal. Classic TV
shows from the 1970s often serve as comfort TV as well. But this is one of
those times when, at least for me, they do not.
It’s not because they were
groundbreaking – a trait that implies shaking up the status quo. That Girl and The Mary Tyler Moore Show and I Spy and other comfort TV staples
also share that distinction. The difference to me is that with the Lear shows,
the controversial or incendiary elements were always at the forefront. It
became what they were about, instead of being just one ingredient in the
situation comedy stew.
As a result, they shared
another common denominator that disqualifies them from comfort TV status –
anger.
Quick – what’s the first
thing that comes to mind when you think of All In the Family? It’s probably Archie and Mike in a heated
argument over politics, or Archie calling his wife a dingbat. On The Jeffersons, a deluxe apartment in
the sky did little to assuage George’s seething resentment over past
indignities. And Julie on One Day At
a Time was always yelling about something.
Sure there were laughs
along the way as well. But when I think of Comfort TV I don’t think about shows
that consist largely of people screaming at each other. I get enough of that on
Facebook.
Norman Lear proved that
television comedy could incorporate contemporary issues into stories. And
since television reflects culture more than shapes it, it’s probable that if
Lear hadn’t done it someone else would have, and perhaps not as well.
But the fact that sitcoms
can be provocative doesn’t mean they have to be, or even that they should be.
Where I get perturbed is when cultural critics suggest that Lear’s shows were
better, or more important, because they engaged such topics.
I am not trying to demean
Norman Lear’s legacy. His shows deservedly achieved both popular and critical
success. All In the Family alone
earned more than 20 Emmys.
But there is a tendency in art, including
television, to pat itself on the back more when it’s ‘edgy,’ as evidenced by
the current Emmy dominance of cable and streaming shows over more traditional
network fare.
It’s fine to prefer
television that confronts current event issues, but 20 or 40 years later a joke
about school busing or Richard Nixon doesn’t pack the same punch. And it’s just
as difficult to write a good sitcom episode about more benign topics, and make
it funny and appealing. In fact I’d argue it’s more challenging, because you
can’t lift material from the newspaper.
And if you believe doing so
makes Maude more
substantial, and a series like Father
Knows Best more antiquated, watch an episode of both and get back to
me.