Norman Lear on Turning 100 and Changing the Face of Television (Exclusive)
etonline.comSanford and Son and sat down with ET's Kevin Frazier to talk about the impact the storylines from those iconic shows are still reflective of today's America.
He also shared his thought process for addressing some of the more sensitive subjects, like race, abortion and sexuality. Those subjects, somehow, continue to be sensitive multiple decades later, but Lear is hopeful.«I've said this as recently as yesterday or the day before, I don't want to wake up in the morning without hope and faith in the future,» he tells ET.Lear himself is gobsmacked at the thought of celebrating an entire century, but the milestone birthday offers him an opportunity to reflect on how he changed the face of television and what truly defines an All-American family.
Lear was the first to prominently feature an interracial couple in Thomas and Helen Willis (portrayed by Franklin Cover and Roxie Roker, respectively) on .«It was just the most glorious ride in the history of rides,» says Lear when asked to describe how he pushed that storyline.Lear developed some of TV's most iconic characters, including Jimmie Walker's James Evans Jr. (or J.J.) on , but even Lear admits that words are just words on paper and said words don't come to life until actors breathe life into them.
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