Norman Lear: Just Another Version of You Page #8

---

white man I ever seen.

-Did you ever think

that possibly your father

just might be wrong?

My old man used to call people

the same things

as your old man,

but I always knew he was wrong.

So was your old man.

-No, he wasn't.

-Yes, he was.

-He wasn't.

-Your father was wrong.

-Don't!

-Your father was wrong!

-Your father is the man

that comes home,

bringing you candy.

Your father is the first guy

to throw a baseball to you...

and take you for walks

in the park,

holding you by the hand.

My father held me by the hand.

Oh, hey...

my father had a hand on him,

now, I'll tell you.

He busted that hand once,

and he busted it on me

to teach me to do good.

Hmm?

My father, he shoved me

in a closet for seven hours

to teach me to do good,

'cause he loved me.

He loved me.

Yeah.

How can any man that loves you

tell you anything that's wrong?

-[ Voice breaking ]

Oh, son of a b*tch

Was that good.

[ Sighing ] Oh.

Meanwhile, my father

was about to take a plane

to Tulsa, Oklahoma.

"Herman, I don't like this,"

she told him.

"I don't want you

to see those men."

That was

just past my 9th birthday.

This had to be the moment

when my awareness

of the foolishness

of the human condition was born.

-Straight ahead for me.

[ Camera shutters clicking ]

Straight ahead for me.

-This is Norman's book.

-Hello, hello.

-It's such an honor to meet you.

I'm...

You don't even know

how I feel about you.

It's beyond the beyond.

-Like all of you,

I've known the voice of Norman

my whole life,

and his voice

was in my living room,

on every night, when I grew up.

And the whole time,

we were laughing.

Do you know how hard that is?

Do you know how...hard

it is to make people laugh?

To tackle big issues

and get big ratings?

It's so hard that people

don't even do it anymore.

[ Laughter ]

[ Cheers and applause ]

Please help me congratulate

the winner

of the PEN Center U.S.A.

Lifetime Achievement Award...

Norman Lear.

[ Cheers and applause ]

-Thank you.

Here is where I am today --

a nonagenarian

in what the doctors tell me

is excellent health

looking down my arm

and wondering,

as I peck away

on my computer,

what my father's hand is doing

hanging out of my sleeve.

My family, nuclear and extended,

brings me nothing but joy.

I go to sleep each night,

anticipating and delighting

in the great taste of the coffee

I will be drinking

the next morning --

something I have done

almost 30,000 times.

And having looked back

with new eyes

on all the lives I've been

so fortunate to have led,

I've learned,

as hopefully you now will,

who I was as I scrambled

to get here from there.

Even this, I get to experience.

[ Cheers and applause ]

I thank you.

Oh.

Let's go to the wrap party.

Like any good film

or any good play,

you don't know what's there

until you get to it,

and isn't that

what we're talking about

when we're talking about life?

We, none of us,

know where it leads.

-Here he is, at 93,

thinking about,

"What's my next big hit?"

I mean, he doesn't think

death is the last act.

-All right,

let's get to...work!

[ Woman laughs ]

My name is Norman Lear.

[ Cheers and applause ]

Laughter, you know,

just has to add time.

You know, if lifting weights

or running, you know,

can add time, oh God,

how laughter can add time.

Laughing, myself,

and watching others.

That was my life.

Oh, yes.

[ "Sixteen Tons" plays ]

- Some people said

a man is made out of mud

-"Norman Lear:

Just Another Version of You"

is available on Blu-ray and DVD.

To order, visit shopPBS.org

or call 1-800-PLAY-PBS.

- You load sixteen tons,

and what do you get?

Another day older

and deeper in debt

Saint Peter, don't you call me

'cause I can't go

I owe my soul

I owe my soul

I owe my soul

To the company store

Rate this script:0.0 / 0 votes