Here are six of the best shows Lear was involved with:
‘All in the Family’ (1971-79)
For much of the 1960s, television producers tried to compete with the movies by making their shows more visually dynamic — more “cinematic,” in other words. But with “All in the Family,” Lear and his frequent writing-producing partner Bud Yorkin took TV back to its roots in live theater, staging what were essentially weekly one-act plays about the Queens-based Bunker family: the grouchy bigot Archie (Carroll O’Connor), his doting but dim wife Edith (Jean Stapleton), his feminist daughter Gloria (Sally Struthers) and his feisty liberal son-in-law Mike (Rob Reiner).
In the early seasons especially, the plots were minimal, and mainly an excuse to let these characters trade insights and insults while debating the issues of the day, in lengthy scenes at once uncomfortably intense and explosively funny.
Buy it on Apple TV.
‘Maude’ (1972-78)
The first “All in the Family” spinoff flips the original’s premise, shifting the setting from a ultraconservative, working-class Queens neighborhood to a proudly liberal upper-middle class home in Westchester County. In “Maude,” Bea Arthur plays the title character: an opinionated suburbanite who, like Archie Bunker, is certain she knows what’s wrong with the world … and who argues a lot about it with her family and neighbors.
A terrific show in its own right — featuring groundbreaking episodes that tackle topics like abortion, alcoholism and domestic violence — “Maude” is also the perfect counterpoint to “All in the Family,” making it clear that Lear and Yorkin saw the humanity and the flaws in people across the political spectrum.
Buy it on Amazon Prime Video or Apple TV.
‘Good Times’ (1974-79)
In the early seasons of “Maude,” the heroine occasionally clashed with her maid, Florida Evans (Esther Rolle), who had little patience for her well-meaning but often obstinate boss. Rolle’s performance earned her a sitcom of her own, playing Florida again, in a show about a close-knit but economically struggling Black family in the Chicago projects.