Norman Lear Trailers
Norman Lear: A Life on Television TrailerBeing Mary Tyler Moore TrailerA Case for Kindness Trailer
Norman Milton Lear (July 27, 1922 – December 5, 2023) was a legendary American television writer and producer who produced such 1970s sitcoms as All in the Family, Sanford and Son, The Jeffersons, Good Times, Maude. As a political activist, he founded the advocacy organization People for the American Way in 1981 and has supported First Amendment rights and progressive causes.
Born in New Haven, Connecticut, to Enie/Jeanette (Sokolovsky) and Hyman "Herman" Lear, a traveling salesman. His grandparents were all Russian Jewish immigrants. Jeanette was the inspiration for the character Edith Bunker, and Herman for Archie Bunker. Lear won a one year-scholarship to Emerson College. He dropped out when news about Pearl Harbor struck, and decided to enroll in the United States Army. He was nineteen. In the army, Norman was a radio operator. He was discharged in 1945.
Norman landed a press agent job but was not being paid well so decided to pursue another career. In 1954, he was a writer for the CBS sitcom, Honestly, Celeste! Lear then became the producer of NBC's The Martha Raye Show. In 1959, he created his first TV series with Roland Kibbee, The Deputy, on NBC, starring Henry Fonda. In 1967 his comedic writing career began. He wrote and produced the 1967 film, Divorce American Style, and directed the film, Cold Turkey, starring Dick Van Dyke. All In The Family came about when Lear read a British column on the show "Til Death Do Us Part", about a father and a son-in-law who fought about everything politically. He immediately knew it was just like him and his father. Lear tried to sell the "blue" collar sitcom to ABC, and two pilots were filmed and rejected. A third pilot was filmed, and CBS picked up the show. It premiered on January 12, 1971.
When it was first aired, a big warning appeared on the screen stating none of the content being presented should be taken seriously and should only be seen for the purpose of hilarity. Next came Sanford And Son, along with creator Bud Yorkin, in 1972. It was inspired by British sitcom Steptoe and Son. In All In The Family, a guest-star named Bea Arthur appeared in an episode and in 1972 the first spin-off was formed called Maude, starring Arthur. A memorable episode from Maude which struck a degree of controversy was the abortion episode. A spin-off from Maude, Good Times, with the maid character played by Esther Rolle, premiered in 1974, dealing with issues like poverty, crime, welfare and life in low-income African-American housing areas. This wasn't the only sitcom to depict life for African-Americans: in 1975 The Jeffersons, another spin-off from All In The Family, followed. All In The Family received multiple Emmy awards. Good Times ran for five seasons till 1979, with multiple Golden Globe nominations. Maude ran for six seasons, till 1978, receiving multiple Emmy and Golden Globe wins and nominations. Sanford and Son ended in 1977 with a Golden Globe win and several Emmy nominations. All In The Family ended in 1979, after nine seasons. Next came another spin-off of the show called Archie Bunker's Place, with Caroll O'Connor and Danielle Brisebois. Archie Bunker's Place ended in 1983, and was his last successful television show.
Lear made a comeback in 1990 with several short-lived shows, including Sunday Dinner and 704 Hauser.
Most Popular Norman Lear Trailers
Total trailers found: 59
25 September 1987
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.
09 June 2009
DVD featurette documenting the success of "All in the Family".
21 January 2016
Arguably the most influential creator, writer, and producer in the history of television, Norman Lear brought primetime into step with the times.
01 January 1978
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.
01 November 2012
This essential new documentary pays tribute to the legacy of the late, legendary casting director Marion Dougherty and shines a light on one of the most overlooked and least understood crafts in filmmaking.
01 May 2019
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.
04 December 2017
An intimate portrait of Washington Post executive editor Ben Bradlee, tracing his remarkable ascent from a young Boston boy stricken with polio to the one of the most pioneering and consequential journalistic figures of the 20th century.
27 December 1991
Amidst her own personality crisis, a southern housewife meets an outgoing old woman who tells her the story of Idgie Threadgoode and Ruth Jamison, two young women who experienced hardships and love in 1920s Whistle Stop, Alabama.
21 March 1997
In this documentary, artist-filmmaker Nicholas Hondrogen asks people to describe memorable moments of their lives.
19 May 2017
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.
28 January 2019
A documentary on the six-decades long career of a muckraking journalist, who was involved with the radical 196os magazine Ramparts, with the Los Angeles Times newspaper, and later with the Internet website Truthdig.
11 July 2025
A coming-of-age story that follows Matias, an Argentine filmmaker in his forties, struggling with an unfinished movie inspired by his elusive first love to Alexander, a Swedish friend he met at an international school in the 90’s.
14 September 2007
Interviews, archival footage and home movies are used to illustrate a social history of folk artist and activist Pete Seeger.
13 March 2023
With unprecedented access to the Mary Tyler Moore Estate, friends, family, and colleagues, Being Mary Tyler Moore constructs an intimate mosaic of Mary's sixty-year career in show business.
02 September 2022
A portrait of the life and career of Robert Downey Sr. (1936-2021), the visionary and fearless US filmmaker — father of actor Robert Downey Jr.
10 November 2013
Terrence McNally’s Corpus Christi is a play retelling the Jesus story, with Jesus as a gay man living in the 1950s in Corpus Christi, Texas.
14 November 2018
Twenty-one year old Ben is on a journey - to follow his TV-obsessed dad and explore how television consumption has evolved from one generation to the next.
17 October 2012
Pablo blends documentary and animation elements to tell the saga of "famous unknown" Pablo Ferro, a man with a personal journey that spans from Havana, during the pre-Cuban revolution to his current home, in the garage behind his son's house.
16 August 1984
A magazine editor battles her ex-con husband when he returns to the scene after a 21-year absence.
25 June 2021
An epic love story spanning decades is sparked by a chance encounter between two men in provincial Mexico.
22 September 2022
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.
24 March 2020
In this uplifitng documentary, stars and musicians from across the industry speak to the power and importance of music in society.
08 December 2023
An ET special that features new interviews with stars of the long-running comedies Lear created and never-before-seen interviews from the ET vault.
01 March 1973
A computer programmer decides to become a thief. And when he starts making waves, an insurance investigator hounds him.
14 November 2021
Dean Martin had a laid-back charm that made him successful in everything from big-screen comedies to television variety shows to live acts in Las Vegas.
19 August 2005
On May 8th, 1945, writer, director Norman Corwin broadcast ON A NOTE OF TRIUMPH, an unforgettable homage to the end of war in Europe.
30 September 1984
New York urologist Harold Lear gets a taste of his own medicine when he suffers a heart attack and is confronted with a medical institution which doesn't seem equipped to help.
21 December 1968
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.
09 June 2009
DVD featurette documenting the beginnings of "All in the Family"
21 June 1967
After 17 years of marriage in American suburbia, Richard and Barbara Harmon step into the new world of divorce.
18 June 2021
Rita Moreno defied both her humble upbringing and relentless racism to become one of a select group who have won an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony Award.
04 February 1970
Two sets of identical twins are accidentally switched at birth. One pair, Phillipe and Pierre DeSisi, are aristocratic and haughty, while the other, Charles and Claude Coupé, are poor and dim-witted.
10 December 2003
Based on the award-winning best seller by Jess Mowry, "Way Past Cool" is a coming-of-age story told in reverse, for it is the story of a group of young black kids and their fight to reclaim their childhood.
21 January 2022
Explore the unlikely partnership and enduring legacy of one of the most prolific power couples in entertainment history.
07 December 2021
The live special event features reenactments of episodes from “The Facts of Life” and “Diff’rent Strokes”.
19 February 1971
Reverend Brooks leads his small Iowa 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.
16 October 2008
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.
01 January 2003
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.
05 June 1963
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.
28 December 2021
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.
18 December 2019
Live performances of classic holiday-themed episodes from Norman Lear's hit shows "All in the Family" and "Good Times.
21 March 1982
An all-star variety special saluting America.
22 May 2019
Celebrities re-create an original episode each from "All in the Family" and "The Jeffersons."
27 April 1953
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.
29 November 2021
Parker Baldwin finds her Christmas plans upended when her network persuades her to spend three days in the wild with survivalist Finn Holt for a holiday television event.
13 September 2020
The cast of The Princess Bride is together again! The stars of the iconic 1987 fantasy film reunited for a virtual table read hosted by Jason Reitman.
01 October 1999
Showtime's "In the 20th Century" is a millennium-related strand of feature-length documentaries in which famous directors take on major subjects of their choosing.
29 January 1992
From Amos 'n' Andy to Nat King Cole, from Roots to The Cosby Show, black people have played many roles on primetime television.
04 November 1965
A 60-year-old lumber supply businessman is dismayed to learn his 50-year-old wife is pregnant. A film adaptation of the hit Broadway comedy, with Paul Ford repeating his stage role as the flabbergasted papa-to-be.
29 October 1976
Bob's favorite memories and funniest moments on TV The biggest Stars! ... The biggest laughs! On DVD for the first time, this special 90 minute collection proves that laughter is the universal language with a sidesplitting salute to slapstick, satire, sketch comedy and zingers.
10 March 2023
In March of 2017, Baltimore was rocked by one of the nation’s largest Police corruption scandals when seven members of the elite Gun Trace Task Force unit were federally indicted on racketeering charges.
19 October 2022
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.
08 August 2020
Pioneers in Skirts is an Emmy-nominated 60-min documentary following filmmaker Ashley Maria’s quest to peel back the layers of obstacles that can limit a woman or girl's pioneering ambition.
16 September 2022
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.
06 January 1982
A documentary about Roger Baldwin, the founder of the ACLU.
20 March 1985
The video revolution and its impact on both the public and the family.
14 June 1996
Biography of Norman Corwin, the great writer, producer and director of the Golden Age of Radio. Actors in his radio plays included Orson Welles, Jimmy Stewart, Charles Laughton, Danny Kaye, Paul Robeson and Judy Garland.
