Norman Lear

An epic journey forty years in the making, acclaimed filmmaker, Louie Schwartzberg, the director of Fantastic Fungi, takes us on a transformational, cinematic experience of how to live a more meaningful life full of Gratitude through his intimate conversations with everyday people, thought leaders, and personalities such as Norman Lear, Jack Kornfield, Luisah Teish, Alex Grey and other luminaries.

The one-night-only celebration honoring the life and legacy of the famed producer features intimate conversations, special performances and surprise reunions that pay homage to the man behind some of television’s greatest stories in celebration of his 100th birthday.

The two-part documentary event “Right to Offend: The Black Comedy Revolution” explores the progression of Black comedy and the comedians who have used pointed humor to expose, challenge and ridicule society’s injustices and to articulate the Black experience in America. The series examines Black comedy through a unique lens, tracing the evolution and social awakening of the courageous comedians who dared to push against the constraints of their time and spoke truth to power.

8.1/10

A portrait of the life and career of Robert Downey, Sr., the visionary American director who set the standard for counterculture comedy in the '60s and '70s.

7.4/10
9.7%

A Case For Kindness is a journey to understand the true nature of Kindness, making a case for why it is our best way forward as a society. The film will examine different themes of kindness while exploring various stories, cultures and conversations. We thread the themes of bullying, hate, mental health, racial injustice, food insecurity and climate change. We interview experts, leading authorities and find real life moments to build the case that inspires humanity to adopt Kindness.

The live special event features reenactments of episodes from “The Facts of Life” and “Diff’rent Strokes”.

This documentary explores Bob Einstein’s unlikely discovery and enduring career, sharing the many evolving layers of his comedy from the people that knew him best.

Explore the history of the LGBTQ movement through the lens of TV in this five-part docuseries. Combining archival footage with new interviews, it looks at homophobia, invisibility, the evolution of LGBTQ characters, and coming out in the TV industry.

8.2/10
10%

In this uplifitng documentary, stars and musicians from across the industry speak to the power and importance of music in society. Here we examine how close we came to not having many of the incredible artists who we cherish today had it not been for arts programs. Music has the power to inspire and change world, and that starts with our supporting young talent.

8.5/10

Live performances of classic holiday-themed episodes from Norman Lear's hit shows "All in the Family" and "Good Times."

7.5/10
8.8%

The film is about the formation of a music channel that has shaped modern pop culture. On August 1, 1981, the life of a whole generation of Americans changed forever - on this day MTV began its broadcasting day, making VJ a new teen hero and creating a canon of music video as a vivid artistic statement.

7.2/10

Celebrities re-create an original episode each from "All in the Family" and "The Jeffersons."

7.7/10
8.8%

Irrepressible writer-comedian Carl Reiner, who shows no signs of slowing down at 94, tracks down celebrated nonagenarians, and a few others over 100, to show how the twilight years can truly be the happiest and most rewarding. Among those who share their insights into what it takes to be vital and productive in older age are Mel Brooks, Dick Van Dyke, Kirk Douglas, Norman Lear, Betty White and Tony Bennett.

7.5/10
10%

Throughout its 40-year history, the Kennedy Center Honors has redefined America's perception of its artistic legacy and reinvented the way this nation rewards its artists. The Honors have been compared to a knighthood in Britain, or the French Legion of Honor--the quintessential reward for a lifetime's endeavor. At the same time, the annual addition of new names to the roster of Honors recipients charts the international standard of excellence set by America's artists, as well as the aesthetic inspiration provided by artists of other nations who have achieved prominence on these shores.

In a reimagining of the TV classic, a newly single Latina mother raises her teen daughter and tween son with the "help" of her old-school mom.

8.2/10
9.8%

Arguably the most influential creator, writer, and producer in the history of television, Norman Lear brought primetime into step with the times. Using comedy and indelible characters, his legendary 1970s shows such as All In the Family, Maude, Good Times, and The Jeffersons, boldly cracked open dialogue and shifted the national consciousness, injecting enlightened humanism into sociopolitical debates on race, class, creed, and feminism.

7.2/10
8.6%

In the run-up to the 2016 presidential election, America Divided, this docu-series features narratives around inequality in education, housing, healthcare, labor, criminal justice and the political system. The show follows high-profile correspondents as they explore aspects of inequality related to their own biographies.

3.9/10

An intimate portrait and saga of four film pioneers--Harry, Albert, Sam and Jack who rose from immigrant poverty through personal tragedies persevering to create a major studio with a social conscience.

7.3/10

DVD featurette documenting the success of "All in the Family".

DVD featurette documenting the beginnings of "All in the Family"

On May 8th, 1945, writer, director Norman Corwin broadcast ON A NOTE OF TRIUMPH, an unforgettable homage to the end of war in Europe. This film shines a light on a lost work of genius, and examines it's haunting resonance to today's current events.

7.8/10

Lifetime's "Intimate Portrait" series shines a spotlight on the Golden Girls -- Bea Arthur, Betty White, Estelle Getty and Rue McClanahan -- with a collection of four programs offering an up-close look at the remarkable lives of the hit show's stars. Valerie Harper, John Ritter and Alex Trebek narrate this tribute, with guests including Angela Lansbury, Mary Tyler Moore, Edward Asner, Rosie O'Donnell and many others.

Channel Umptee-3 is a Saturday morning animated television series created by Jim George and produced by Norman Lear that aired on The WB in 1997. Ogden Ostrich, Sheldon S. Cargo, and Holey Moley drive around the world in a van with their own underground television station, while fleeing the wrath of corporate-villain Stickley Rickets. This one-season cartoon show was designed to teach kids to appreciate the wonders of everyday things, such as sleep and water. The title is derived from the fictitious number “umpteen.”

5.7/10

In this documentary, artist-filmmaker Nicholas Hondrogen asks people to describe memorable moments of their lives. Some, such as Norman Lear and Indian activist Russell Means, talk about religion, while composer Philip Glass and film-producer Irwin Winkler discuss the births of their children. Pastor Jess Moody recalls WW II deaths of his friends, and artist Janice Blake remembers being raped.

704 Hauser is an American sitcom that aired on CBS from April to May 1994. A spin-off of All in the Family, the series is built around the concept of a black family, the Cumberbatches, moving into the former Queens home of Archie Bunker years after Bunker had sold the house. The All in the Family character Joey Stivic, Archie's grandson, makes a cameo in the first episode.

4.7/10
3.3%

From Amos 'n' Andy to Nat King Cole, from Roots to The Cosby Show, blacks have played many roles on primetime television. Brilliantly weaving clips from classic TV shows with commentary from TV producers, black actors and scholars, Marlon Riggs blends humor, insight, and thoughtful analysis to explore the evolution of black/white relations as reflected by America's favorite addiction.

7/10

The Powers That Be is an American television sitcom created by David Crane and Marta Kauffman that aired briefly on NBC from 1992 to 1993. Norman Lear served as executive producer for the show.

8.2/10
6.3%

Sunday Dinner is an American sitcom which aired on CBS from June 2, 1991 until July 7, 1991. The series was produced by Norman Lear, and marked his return to television producing after an absence of several years. Lear's current wife Lyn Davis Lear served as co-producer on the series, which was the first official Lear show to be made under his latest production marquee Act III Productions.

5.2/10

In this enchantingly cracked fairy tale, the beautiful Princess Buttercup and the dashing Westley must overcome staggering odds to find happiness amid six-fingered swordsmen, murderous princes, Sicilians and rodents of unusual size. But even death can't stop these true lovebirds from triumphing.

8.1/10
9.7%

a.k.a. Pablo is an American sitcom that aired on ABC from March to April 1984.

6.2/10

Palmerstown, U.S.A. is a drama series. It centers on the lives of two 9-year-old best friends, one black and one white, growing up in a small Southern town during the 1930s.

6.6/10

Hanging In is an American sitcom that aired on CBS in 1979, executive produced by Norman Lear.

6.7/10

An all-star educational film about the positive side of hiring people with disabilities. A board sit and watch the film Michael Keaton's character's assembled to sell companies on hiring the handicapped, which takes "a different approach" by combining several approaches--most of them suggested by Hollywood personalities.

7.5/10

A Year at the Top is an American sitcom which aired for five episodes on CBS in 1977. Produced by T.A.T. Communications Company, the series was created by Heywood Kling and co-executive produced by Don Kirshner and Norman Lear.

7.7/10

The Nancy Walker Show is an American situation comedy which aired on ABC from September 30, 1976 until December 23, 1976. The series, produced by Norman Lear, was a starring vehicle provided to Nancy Walker after she gained a new-found television following as both maid Mildred on NBC's McMillan & Wife and as Ida Morgenstern, mother of Rhoda Morgenstern, on CBS' Rhoda; these roles had been preceded by a long, successful career in Broadway and movies.

6.2/10

Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman is an American soap opera parody that aired in daily syndication from January 1976 to May 1977. The series was produced by Norman Lear, directed by Joan Darling and Jim Drake, and starred Louise Lasser. The series writers were Gail Parent and Ann Marcus. The show's title was the eponymous character's name stated twice, because Lear and the writers believed that everything that was said on a soap opera was said twice. In 2004 and 2007, Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman was ranked #21 and #26 on "TV Guide's Top Cult Shows Ever".

7.6/10

The misadventures of a divorced mother, two teenage daughters, and new building superintendent in Indianapolis.

6.5/10

Hot l Baltimore was a 1975 American television situation comedy series adapted from a hit off-Broadway play by Lanford Wilson.

7.9/10

Good Times is an American sitcom that originally aired from February 8, 1974, until August 1, 1979, on the CBS television network. It was created by Eric Monte and Mike Evans, and developed by Norman Lear, the series' primary executive producer. Good Times is a spin-off of Maude, which is itself a spin-off of All in the Family along with The Jeffersons. The series is set in Chicago. The first two seasons were taped at CBS Television City in Hollywood. In the fall of 1975, the show moved to Metromedia Square, where Norman Lear's own production company was housed.

7.3/10

A computer programmer decides to become a thief. And when he starts making waves an insurance investigator hounds him. He also meets a woman who becomes his accomplice.

6.2/10

The misadventures of a cantankerous junk dealer and his frustrated son.

7.9/10

Well-educated and upper middle class, Maude Findlay is the archetypal feminist of her generation. She lives in suburban Tuckahoe, New York, with her fourth husband, Walter, their divorced daughter, Carol, and grandson Phillip.

7.1/10

Reverend Brooks leads the town in a contest to stop smoking for a month, But some tobacco executives don't want them to win, and try everything they can to make them smoke. If townspeople don't go nuts, from wanting a cigarette, or kill each other from irritation and frustration, they will will a huge prize.

6.7/10
6%

Archie Bunker, a working class bigot, constantly squabbles with his family over the important issues of the day.

8.3/10

An account of the adventures of two sets of identical twins, badly scrambled at birth, on the eve of the French Revolution. One set is haughty and aristocratic, the other poor and somewhat dim. They find themselves involved in palace intrigues as history happens around them. Based, very loosely, on Dickens's "A Tale of Two Cities," Dumas's "The Corsican Brothers," etc.

6.5/10
8.3%

Rachel arrives in New York from her Amish community intent on becoming a dancer. Unfortunately Billy Minsky's Burlesque is hardly the place for her Dances From The Bible. But the show's comedian Raymond sees a way of wrong-footing the local do-gooders by announcing the new Paris sensation "Mme Fifi" and putting on Rachel's performance as the place is raided. All too complicated, the more so since her father is scouring the town for her and both Raymond and his straight-man Chick are falling for Rachel.

6.1/10
6%

After 17 years of marriage in American suburbia, Richard and Barbara Harmon step into the new world of divorce.

6.3/10
10%

The story of a young man's decision to leave the home of his parents for the bachelor pad of his older brother who leads a swinging '60s lifestyle.

6.1/10
7.5%

A nightclub singer and his partner escape mobsters by fleeing to Cuba with a beautiful heiress, who has inherited a haunted castle on an isolated island. The trio hunt for a hidden treasure and encounter a ghost, a zombie, and a mysterious killer...

6.5/10
7.1%

The Colgate Comedy Hour is an American comedy-musical variety series that aired live on the NBC network from 1950 to 1955. The show starred many notable comedians and entertainers of the era, including Eddie Cantor, Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis, Fred Allen, Donald O'Connor, Bud Abbott and Lou Costello, Bob Hope, Jimmy Durante, Ray Bolger, Gordon MacRae, Ben Blue, Robert Paige, Tony Curtis, Burt Lancaster, Broadway dancer Wayne Lamb and Spike Jones and His City Slickers.

7.6/10