# Best Norman Lear sitcom **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 5, 2014, 5:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-norman-lear-sitcom/697556 "2014-09-05T05:20:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![installLSC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/54ee81/32.png) [@installLSC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/installLSC)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2014, 5:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-norman-lear-sitcom/697556/1 "2014-09-05T05:20:23Z")
With the news “One Day at a Time” will return to TV via the retro channel Antenna TV, I thought it was a good time to check out all the Norman Lear sitcoms of the seventies. What was the best? What has held up and what hasn’t? ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2014, 5:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-norman-lear-sitcom/697556/2 "2014-09-05T05:29:53Z")
All in the Family by a landslide. ---
**Author:** ![Killing\_Time](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/76d3ee/32.png) [@Killing\_Time](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Killing_Time)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2014, 5:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-norman-lear-sitcom/697556/3 "2014-09-05T05:32:31Z")
All In the Family was a groundbreaking show. They tackled social and political issues and didn’t pull any punches. In a lot of ways I think it was edgier even than shows now. The sitcoms of the 50s and 60s tended to present a rather whitewashed version of America. I can’t think of any earlier show that really did what All In the Family did. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2014, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-norman-lear-sitcom/697556/4 "2014-09-05T13:30:35Z")
All in the Family was groundbreaking, done extremely well, and had a stellar cast. That combination cannot be beat. ---
**Author:** ![simple\_homer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9de0a6/32.png) [@simple\_homer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/simple_homer)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2014, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-norman-lear-sitcom/697556/5 "2014-09-05T13:58:38Z")
I voted for All in the Family. My guess is that One Day at a Time has not aged very well as a TV show. ---
**Author:** ![Scumpup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2014, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-norman-lear-sitcom/697556/6 "2014-09-05T14:48:09Z")
Sanford and Son was consistently funny and lacked the shrill, preachy tone that All in the Family and (even more so) the other shows had too much of the time. Now, as then, I tune in a comedy to have a few laughs, not to get lectured. AitF was groundbreaking TV and very influential, but it doesn’t hold up as comedy. ---
**Author:** ![PSXer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/48db29/32.png) [@PSXer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PSXer)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2014, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-norman-lear-sitcom/697556/7 "2014-09-05T15:17:08Z")
All in the Family was a racist show I like Sanford and Son (even though until this topic I didn’t realize it was Norman Lear) ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2014, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-norman-lear-sitcom/697556/8 "2014-09-05T15:19:02Z")
A vastly more interesting poll would be “Best Norman Lear sitcom that isn’t ‘All In The Family’” ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2014, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-norman-lear-sitcom/697556/9 "2014-09-05T15:24:49Z")
> [@Scumpup](#): > > Sanford and Son was consistently funny and lacked the shrill, preachy tone that All in the Family and (even more so) the other shows had too much of the time. Now, as then, I tune in a comedy to have a few laughs, not to get lectured. AitF was groundbreaking TV and very influential, but it doesn’t hold up as comedy. I agree. I was watching some reruns of _All in the Family_ about ten years ago and I was surprised at how bad they were. The series had been great in its time for its willingness to face controversial issues of its time. But once that time had passed, the show failed to hold up as just a sit-com. ---
**Author:** ![Killing\_Time](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/76d3ee/32.png) [@Killing\_Time](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Killing_Time)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2014, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-norman-lear-sitcom/697556/10 "2014-09-05T15:29:07Z")
> [@PSXer](#): > > All in the Family was a racist show 😕 ---
**Author:** ![RikWriter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/49beb7/32.png) [@RikWriter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RikWriter)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2014, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-norman-lear-sitcom/697556/11 "2014-09-05T15:32:11Z")
> [@Killing\_Time](#): > > 😕 Either he’s whooshing you or he got whooshed. ---
**Author:** ![Hail\_Ants](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/dc4da7/32.png) [@Hail\_Ants](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hail_Ants)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2014, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-norman-lear-sitcom/697556/12 "2014-09-05T16:38:20Z")
I was immediately going to vote for _All in the Family_, but when I saw _Mary Hartman_ on the list (forgot that was a a Lear show) I say it wins by a mile. That show was no less than three decades ahead of its time. So much so it went over the heads of 99% of the audience. There are dozens more shows like it today (high-brow, laugh-trackless and studio audience-less) comedies than All in the Family, which was a ground breaking show for its time, but today just seems like kitsch. Its sort of in the same boat as\* I Love Lucy\*, it was never (and will never be) the _funniest_, it was just the _ **first** _… ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2014, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-norman-lear-sitcom/697556/13 "2014-09-05T16:49:48Z")
> [@Hail\_Ants](#): > > I was immediately going to vote for _All in the Family_, but when I saw _Mary Hartman_ on the list (forgot that was a a Lear show) I say it wins by a mile. That show was no less than three decades ahead of its time. So much so it went over the heads of 99% of the audience. There are dozens more shows like it today (high-brow, laugh-trackless and studio audience-less) comedies than All in the Family, which was a ground breaking show for its time, but today just seems like kitsch. Its sort of in the same boat as\* I Love Lucy\*, it was never (and will never be) the _funniest_, it was just the _ **first** _… Mary Hartman was highbrow? Maybe that’s why (at 15 years old) I thought it was the crappiest piece of shit of a show ever. I recall that it was supposed to be funny, but it had no laugh track, and was not filmed in front of an audience which was almost unheard of back at that time (1976 -1977). Are there episodes on Youtube? I can’t Youtube from here. ---
**Author:** ![Hail\_Ants](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/dc4da7/32.png) [@Hail\_Ants](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hail_Ants)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2014, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-norman-lear-sitcom/697556/14 "2014-09-05T16:56:36Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > Mary Hartman was highbrow? Maybe that’s why (at 15 years old) I thought it was the crappiest piece of shit of a show ever. I recall that it was supposed to be funny, but it had no laugh track, and was not filmed in front of an audience which was almost unheard of back at that time (1976 -1977). > > Are there episodes on Youtube? I can’t Youtube from here. Yes, that’s exactly why. It was shot on videotape with no audience or laugh track because it was supposed to be a parody of a daytime soap opera, but that went ridiculously over the top (a lot of daytime soaps almost did this anyway but still took themselves seriously). I was only about ten when it was on and I didn’t get it either, but I remember my older brothers & sisters finding it hysterical. It’s available on DVD. ---
**Author:** ![Aquadementia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aquadementia/32/555_2.png) [@Aquadementia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aquadementia)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2014, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-norman-lear-sitcom/697556/15 "2014-09-05T17:21:41Z")
Mary Hartman kind of blew my mind. I saw plenty of soap operas since my mom had them on so it was exactly everything that needed to be made fun of. Sanford and Son was pretty funny. Jeffersons and All in the Family were brilliantly written. It’s a tough call. I think if I saw One day at a time now I think all the sexism and feminism would be too much to bear. I’d rather watch Kate and Allie ---
**Author:** ![bup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6bbea6/32.png) [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2014, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-norman-lear-sitcom/697556/16 "2014-09-05T17:30:30Z")
In answer to your question “what has held up and what hasn’t?” I say none of them have held up well. _All in the Family_ was groundbreaking and my choice as the best, but I find it nearly unwatchable now. It was very much a product of is its time, as I think all his shows were. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2014, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-norman-lear-sitcom/697556/17 "2014-09-05T19:04:48Z")
_ **Fernwood 2Night** _, even though it wasn’t a sitcom _per se_. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2014, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-norman-lear-sitcom/697556/18 "2014-09-05T19:11:25Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > _ **Fernwood 2Night** _, even though it wasn’t a sitcom _per se_. That’s a mistake in the OP. _Mary Hartman_ morphed into _Forever Fernwood_ after Louise Lasser left. Now, Fernwood 2 Night was funny! ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2014, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-norman-lear-sitcom/697556/19 "2014-09-05T19:18:37Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > That’s a mistake in the OP. _Mary Hartman_ morphed into _Forever Fernwood_ after Louise Lasser left. > > Now, Fernwood 2 Night was funny! Aha! I still go with _ **2Night** _. It was brilliant satire! ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2014, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-norman-lear-sitcom/697556/20 "2014-09-05T23:55:22Z")
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