Thanks, Norman

Last week, I wrote about the DVD release of the first 25 episodes of "Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman". And for this Sunday, I'm writing about the DVD release of the first season of "Maude." And so this morning I woke up with Norman Lear and his genius on my mind. I can't think of another producer with such an awesome list of comedy credits, including "All in the Family," "Good Times," "The Jeffersons," and "One Day at a Time."

Without Lear's seminal 1970s work, I'm not sure I'd have such respect for what series TV can do. Lear really transformed the power and potential of sitcoms. He stretched the form way beyond kitsch, and beyond portrayals of some kind of bland American fantasy, and into real people's real lives. His comedies were hysterical -- "Maude" is still outrageously good -- but they were also socially and politically alive. Class, race, sexuality, education, bigotry, they were all blended inextricably into the characters and their comic situations. He established a model still worth emulating.