Norman Lear’s Comedy Center Voting Mission

TV icon Norman Lear Cultural influence and political voice are once again heard ahead of the November presidential election.

Legendary creator of TV shows such as All in the Family, Maude and The Jeffersons. who died in December at the age of 101is the vibrant center of a multimedia exhibition from National Comedy Center in Jamestown, New York

The exhibition, highlighting Lear’s ability to make television audiences laugh while sparking vital debate about the importance of elections, opens Friday. But fans won’t have to travel to upstate New York (home of Lucille Ball) to revisit Lear’s get-out-the-vote legacy.

“In Honor of Norman Lear’s Legacy of Comedy and Civic Engagement” presents Additional online exhibition filled with educational materials highlighting eight hilarious and thought-provoking scenes from their classic election comedies, from Maude, Good Times, Sanford & Son to All in the Family.

“Norman believed that laughter brings us together, and what better way to talk about the issues that divide us than through comedy,” Lyn Davis Lear, Lear’s wife of 36 years, told USA TODAY in an email. “Sharing the intersection of comedy and civic engagement with the world is something Norman would be so excited about.”

All in the Family, which aired on CBS for nine seasons from 1971 to 1979, has a particularly storied history of making political discourse accessible to everyday Americans.

The featured clip is “All in the Family” from the November 4, 1972 episode “Mike Comes in the Money”, which aired three days before the 1972 presidential election between incumbent Richard Nixon and George McGovern. Scene from the highest rated TV series. The country at the time depicts blue-collar patriarch and World War II veteran Archie Bunker (Carroll O’Connor) arguing with Mike “Meathead” Stivic (Rob Reiner) over his broke son-in-law’s political donations to McGovern, the Democratic candidate.

A 1975 clip from the CBS Good Times episode “Politics” shows Florida Evans (Esther Rolle) and her husband James (John Amos) on opposite sides of local elections, which depend on low voter turnout.

“Norman wanted people to get involved in their city, their state and their country,” says Davis Lear. “He wanted to encourage and inspire that through his comedy. He wanted to entertain, but he also wanted to bring people together.”

It’s no coincidence that the exhibition opens ahead of the November 5 presidential election with the goal of sparking more discussion and action.

“He would be nervous about this election,” Davis Lear says. “He wanted to matter his whole life. He would be delighted to know that his work and words live on in this exhibition, continuing to encourage people to vote and participate in the political process.”

Leading with laughter was what Lear was all about, says Journey Gunderson, executive director of the National Comedy Center.

“Lear’s hard-won and enduring legacy stems from his bold belief that comedy could get to the heart of the issues that define the American experience,” says Gunderson. “That he reached so many people without softening the edge of his message is a rare feat.”