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RIP Norman Lear


Gregg

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I salute him.  Another WWII veteran who has died.

 

Lear dropped out of Boston's Emerson College to enlist in the U.S. Army Air Forces the next year. Originally assigned to pilot training, he couldn't pass the math sections, so he became a radio operator on a B-17 Flying Fortress (named "Umbriago") with the 772nd Bombardment Squadron, 463rd Bombardment (Heavy) Group, Fifteenth Air Force.  

 

As a radioman, he was also responsible for manning one of the plane's 13 machine guns.  He would fly 52 missions over Nazi-occupied territory before the war's end, at a time when surviving to fly 25 missions was considered next to impossible. He survived the war and was discharged as a technical sergeant, having received five Air Medals.

https://www.military.com/off-duty/television/2023/12/06/legendary-tv-producer-and-world-war-ii-veteran-norman-lear-dies-101.html#:~:text=He would fly 52 missions,having received five Air Medals.

 

 

 

MeTV is going to have a marathon on his shows. Considering many are replayed on that station it makes sense.

https://www.metv.com/stories/rip-norman-lear-creator-of-all-in-the-family-and-sanford-and-son

R.I.P. Norman Lear, TV legend who created All in the Family, Sanford and Son, and much more

There was no topic off limits for the legendary producer and writer. Lear was 101.

 

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6 hours ago, Mark Vader said:

Almost all of which can not be made today.

RIP, Sir.

 

True. Could you imagine today's soft society watching Archie Bunker, Fred Sanford, or George Jefferson. They would be "offended" 30 seconds into the show. LOL

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20 minutes ago, Gregg said:

 

True. Could you imagine today's soft society watching Archie Bunker, Fred Sanford, or George Jefferson. They would be "offended" 30 seconds into the show. LOL

 

It's why most people are midwits these days, they're never challenged by anything

 

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10 hours ago, Mark Vader said:

Almost all of which can not be made today.

 

I hear that about a lot of shows and movies from that era, but let me ask, would a show like "Jackass" have been possible in the 70s? The movie "Ted"?

 

Archie Bunker was essentially Colbert's character on his old show. "The Simpsons" has been offending people for more than three decades. Bill Maher pisses off both sides of the political spectrum on a regular basis. Steve Carell's character on "The Office" was so outrageously un-PC. I could come up with more examples, but clearly, controversial shows have not been banned.

 

 

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It goes both ways.

 

M*A*S*H was a show which broke a lot of boundaries and was known for all episodes not shown originally in some parts of the country.

Vietnamese Actress Kiều Chinh who plays Korean aristocrat Kyung Soon falls in love with Hawkeye in episode In Love and War (1997) was going to be added to M*A*S*H cast as multiple episode love interest but there was resistance to it due to politics.   This on a show with multiple GIs dating multiple bar girls, GIs fathering children and GIs marrying Korean women.   It was changed to single episode.

 

Quote

Kieu talks about M*A*S*H being her first acting opportunity in the USA, and how what was to be a re-occurring role on M*A*S*H disappeared because of the racism that existed in the 1970's.

 

I remember watching it as a teenager and thinking what a great match and then episode ended and Hawkeye went back to nurse a week in bed.

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1 hour ago, Limeaid said:

It goes both ways.

 

True. When Star Trek aired the kiss between Kirk and Uhura - incorrectly referred to as the first interracial kiss on TV - there were certain parts of the Deep South that were supposed to see a version where they didn't actually touch lips. But both actors intentionally messed up the lines while shooting the alternate scene until they ran out of film and had to air the kiss everywhere.

 

So while some lament the things "we'd never get away with in today's climate," let's remember all the things that they couldn't get away with back then that we take for granted now.

 

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12 minutes ago, WhoTom said:

 

So while some lament the things "we'd never get away with in today's climate," let's remember all the things that they couldn't get away with back then that we take for granted now.

 

 

With current number of channels and alternate ways to connect to viewers they can get away with it just not to have the ratings so one of the major broadcasting networks (ABC, CBS, NBC, FOX) will not add to lineup.

 

It is all about the money.

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