On December 5, prolific sitcom producer and television maverick Normal Lear died at 101 years old. More than fifty years prior, around 1971, Lear began working on one of the primary shows that would come to define his career — Season 1 of “All in the Family” premiered that year on CBS. That show’s success led to a close working relationship with the network, which would go on to air many subsequent sitcoms Lear produced including “Maude,” “The Jeffersons,” and “Good Times.”
Of course, in an era where many of the cornerstones of popular culture inspire endless reboots, revivals, and remakes, the return of “All in the Family” seems like it should be inevitable. However, as it turns out, Lear shared his disinterest in rebooting the sitcom that kickstarted his career during a 2018 interview with Deadline. “I have no intention of doing ‘All In The Family’ again,” he said in no uncertain terms. He then specified that he was opting instead to work on newer ideas at that point in time. “I have about 100 ideas that go back 30 or 40 years, some only 12 years or 10 years. These are the ideas that we’ve had and nurtured for the longest time that we will imagine or reimagine,” he continued.
The reason “All in the Family” improbably remains a relic of its era and not fodder for a present-day revival, then, is that Lear himself was explicitly against the idea.
Normal Lear helped bring back All in the Family in an unconventional manner
That same Deadline piece — the occasion of which was a deal Norman Lear inked with Sony Pictures TV — noted that, while the late TV legend was against a strict “All in the Family” reboot, Sony earned the right to “re-imagine” some of Lear’s hit shows. Just under a year after that piece’s publication, the intent of this clause became apparent when “Live in Front of a Studio Audience” premiered to ABC in May of 2019.
In this TV special, filmed live as its title indicates, some big name contemporary actors like Woody Harrelson, Marisa Tomei, and Jamie Foxx reenact old episodes of “All in the Family” on close recreations of some of the original show’s sets. This first broadcast also included classic material from Lear’s spin-off “The Jeffersons.” ABC then reprised the idea on two subsequent occasions, one of which was absent Lear’s work, while the other returned to “All in the Family.”
Now that Lear’s death may well renew interest in his groundbreaking TV work, it’s entirely possible major networks like ABC or the show’s original home on CBS might try to find ways to bring back “All in the Family” once again. A return to the “Live in Front of a Studio Audience” model could be just the way to honor Lear, given its adherence to his explicit disinterest in reviving his classic sitcom while imbuing the material with a tinge of modernity nevertheless.
