Norman Lear: Just Another Version of You Page #2

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I'm sorry, Mr. Lewis.

But something's gone wrong

in there. We're off the air.

-We're off the air?!

What do you mean,

"We're off the air"?

Why are we always doing things

that aren't right?!

-We're on!

We're on!

-Here's one of our technicians

that has been with us

for four years.

Isn't that right, Norman?

Get the mike boom

out of the way!

- Some people say a man

is made out of mud

A poor man's made

out of muscle and blood

Muscle and blood

and skin and bones

A mind that's weak

and a back that's strong

You load 16 tons,

and what do you get?

Another day older

and deeper in debt

St. Peter, don't you call me,

'cause I can't go

I owe my soul

to the company store

-"The Ford Show."

-You might call it

a comedy show.

-The following is brought

to you in living color.

- I picked up my shovel,

and I walked to the mine

I loaded 16 tons

of number-9 coal

And the straw boss said,

"Well, bless my soul"

You load 16 tons,

what do you get?

Another day older

and deeper in debt

St. Peter, don't you call me,

'cause I can't go

I owe my soul

to the company store

-It's every tobacco company

in the business.

[ Helicopter blades whirring ]

-People were dying in Vietnam.

[ Machine-gun fire ]

Nixon was escalating the war.

And we saw the demonstrations

outside the White House.

We saw the demonstrations

on college campuses --

the anti-war movement,

but exclusively

on the evening news.

You just didn't see that

in the distraction

that passed

as prime-time television.

-This is all taking place

in a period of time

where we were at probably

our greatest change, socially.

We were in the midst

of a revolution

of talking about ideas.

Mainstream television was one

of the last things to jump,

and the first person to force it

over that hill was Norman.

-You and your bloody wars.

Eh?

You and your bloody wars.

I mean, look at you.

Look at you!

-If ever there was a time

in history

of this bloody country

when we needed a war, mate,

it's now --

a war

to get rid of most of them.

-You're mad!

You know that?

-Mad?

[ Indistinct arguing ]

-I was living in England,

and that's where I saw a show

called "Till Death Us Do Part."

I sent a tape back to Norman,

and I said,

"This'll blow your mind."

And he was the one

that came up with the idea.

He said, "Well,

why don't we do it in America?"

I said, "Geez,

we get this on the air,

it'll be a miracle."

-The show

was about a father and son.

The father was conservative.

The kid was progressive.

And I thought, "Holy,

how did I never think

about that?

That's a terrific idea.

I lived that with my father."

So I went with that relationship

and never had reason

to regret it.

-Anything interesting

in the paper?

-Yeah, 200 arrested at Vietnam

Day Peace Demonstration.

200. They should have thrown

the whole bunch of them

in the can.

-Well, I think they just

don't like the idea of America

fighting an illegal

and immoral war.

-Well, if they don't like it,

they can lump it...

take it down the road

and dump it.

-What are you --

You're saying "America --

love it or leave it?"

-That's right.

'Cause this is America,

land that I love.

-Well, I love it, too,

Mr. Bunker,

and it's because I do, I protest

when I think things are wrong.

-And stand beside her

and guide her...

-The right of dissent

is the principle

upon this country was based!

-Through the night

with the light from above.

-Listen to me.

It's in the Bill of Rights!

-God bless America,

you dumb Polack!

-You're prejudiced!

You're prejudiced!

-My home, sweet home.

-Not anymore!

I'm leaving!

- God bless America

-You're prejudiced!

[ Door slams ]

My home, sweet home

-There's a reason Richard Nixon

put Norman

on his enemies list.

To be able

to talk about real life

and real issues, forget

how controversial they are --

They're real.

That's what's so relevant.

That stuff

didn't happen in sitcoms.

-I mean, it was, you know,

as we used to say,

it's too hip

for the room, you know?

I mean, it was just too smart

and too different and too edgy,

and, you know, we thought,

"Oh, goodbye, and good luck."

And the fact is,

CBS was nervous about it.

They put on a big disclaimer

saying, you know, essentially,

"We don't have anything

to do with this show."

-The headline is "'All

in the Family' introduces

the world

to foul-mouthed Archie Bunker.

CBS rolled the dice

last night

with a new situation comedy,

'All in the Family,'

which will either be

the biggest hit

of the season

or the biggest bomb."

So, here you go.

That's what it says.

Eight.

We did eight seasons.

-You know something, Archie,

just because a guy is sensitive

and he's an intellectual

and he wears glasses,

you make him out a queer.

-I never said a guy

who wears glasses is a queer.

A guy who wears glasses

is a four-eyes.

A guy who is a fag is a queer.

-You know, you're right, Archie.

You're right.

The British are a bunch

of pansies --

pansies, fairies, and sissies.

And the Japanese

are a race of midgets,

the Irish are boozers,

the Mexicans are bandits --

-And you Polacks are meatheads.

-We promise we'll get to our

guest here in just a moment.

Yes, ma'am.

You'll stand, please?

-I raised four children,

got through them

when sex was coming

into its own on television,

and now I have

a 5-year-old granddaughter,

after seeing

"All in the Family,"

asked me to explain to her

what is a vasectomy.

-Yeah.

Um, can I just...

Uh, so?

-So it's getting

a little difficult.

-Yeah, but you're intimidated

by the question.

-Yes, I am.

-Okay, I'm not asking -- Huh?

Well, hang on a minute.

Excuse me just a moment.

Yeah. You want to stand, please?

-Absolutely.

Why can't you explain it?

What's wrong with a vasectomy?

I mean --

-Oh, wait a minute.

[ Applause ]

-The way I look at it,

television

can be broken into two parts,

B.N. and A.N. --

before Norman and after Norman,

right?

He's the most

influential producer

in the history of television

because of this gigantic change

that happened when "All

in the Family" hit the air.

-CBS News

presents "Look Up and Live."

Today, "Laughter: Hurt or Heal?"

-I have to say,

I have to feel

that the laughter hurts,

that the repetition

of these stereotype terms

that we thought had died

tends to be hurtful and harmful

to the public good.

-Well, Mr. Lear?

-I've heard all these epithets.

If they had died,

where had they gone to?

Do you really believe

that "All in the Family"

resurrected them from death?

So, my mission is to entertain.

I chose to entertain with

what I consider real people.

-As everybody knows by now,

there's a television series

on the air

about a lovable bigot.

That's how they always refer

to this show and the character

that my next guest plays.

His name is Carroll O'Connor.

Will you welcome

the Archie Bunker?

[ Applause ]

How do you do?

See what happened to me?

-While you said "lovable bigot,"

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