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Flat out, one of the best Hollywood memoirs ever written . . . an
absolute treasure. Booklist (starred review) In my ninety-plus
years I ve lived a multitude of lives. In the course of all these
lives, I had a front-row seat at the birth of television; wrote,
produced, created, or developed more than a hundred shows; had nine
on the air at the same time; founded the 300,000-member liberal
advocacy group People For the American Way; was labeled the no. 1
enemy of the American family by Jerry Falwell; made it onto Richard
Nixon s Enemies List; was presented with the National Medal of Arts
by President Clinton; purchased an original copy of the Declaration
of Independence and toured it for ten years in all fifty states;
blew a fortune in a series of bad investments in failing
businesses; and reached a point where I was informed we might even
have to sell our home. Having heard that we d fallen into such dire
straits, my son-in-law phoned me and asked how I was feeling. My
answer was, Terrible, of course, but then I added, But I must be
crazy, because despite all that s happened, I keep hearing this
inner voice saying, EventhisI get to experience. Norman Lear s work
is legendary. The renowned creator of such iconic television
programs asAll in the Family; Maude; Good Times; The
Jeffersons;andMary Hartman, Mary Hartman, Lear remade our
television culture from the ground up. At their peak, his programs
were viewed by 120 million people a week, with stories that dealt
with the most serious issues of the day racism, poverty, abortion
yet still left audiences howling with laughter. In Even This I Get
to Experience, Lear opens up with all the candor, humor, and wisdom
to be expected from one of America s greatest living storytellers.
But TV and politics are only a fraction of the tale. Lear s early
years were grounded in the harshness of the Great Depression and
further complicated by his parents vivid personalities. The
imprisonment of Lear s father, a believer in the get-rich-quick
scheme, colored his son s childhood. During this absence, Lear s
mother left her son to live with relatives. Lear s comic gifts were
put to good use during this hard time, as they would be decades
later during World War II, when Lear produced and staged a variety
show for his fellow airmen in addition to flying fifty bombing
missions. After the war, Lear tried his hand at publicity in New
York before setting out for Los Angeles in 1949. A lucky break had
a powerful agent in the audience the night Danny Thomas performed a
nightclub routine written by Lear, and within days his career in
television began. Before long, his work with Dean Martin and Jerry
Lewis (and later Martha Raye and George Gobel) made him the
highest-paid comedy writer in the country, and he was spending his
summers with the likes of Carl Reiner and Mel Brooks. Movies
followed, and soon he was making films starring Frank Sinatra, Dick
Van Dyke, and Jason Robards. Then came the 70s and Lear s
unprecedented string of TV hits. Married three times and the father
of six children ranging in age from nineteen to sixty-eight, Lear s
penetrating look at family life, parenthood, and marriage is a
volume in itself. A memoir as touching, funny, and remarkable as
any of Lear s countless artistic creations, Even This I Get to
Experience is nothing less than a profound gift, endlessly readable
and characteristically unforgettable."
All in the Family creator Norman Lear takes fans behind the scenes
of the groundbreaking sitcom on the occasion of its 50th
anniversary. The face of television was changed forever in 1971
with the premiere of All in the Family. The working-class Bunker
family of Queens, New York lovable bigot Archie (Carroll O'Connor),
his long-suffering 'dingbat' wife Edith (Jean Stapleton), their
liberal daughter Gloria (Sally Struthers), and son-in-law Mike
'Meathead' Stivic (Rob Reiner) instantly became, and half a century
later still are, four of the most iconic characters in television.
In All in the Family: The Show that Changed Television, Norman Lear
shares his take on fifty essential episodes that exemplify why the
show remains as funny and relevant as ever. Its boundary-pushing
approach to hot-button topics is examined with commentary from
co-stars O Connor, Stapleton, Reiner, and Struthers, as well as
writers, directors, and guest stars from the show. With previously
unseen notes from Lear, script pages, production designs, and a
foreword by super-fan Jimmy Kimmel, this book is the ultimate
companion to the seminal series and a must for fans of Lear s shows
and television comedy. 'Norman Lear,' said New Yorker critic
Michael Arlen, 'has a feel for what people want to see before they
know they want to see it.' All in the Family, like all of the Lear
shows that followed, was a turning point in television s handling
of taboo subjects such as race relations, feminism, homosexuality,
war, religion, gun control, social inequity, and other
controversial subjects, all of which remain in the news today.
"A comprehensive and insightful examination of the ways comedy can
help shape social justice movements."--Hasan Minhaj, Comedian and
Host of the Netflix series Patriot Act with Hasan Minhaj Comedy is
a powerful contemporary source of influence and information. In the
still-evolving digital era, the opportunity to consume and share
comedy has never been as available. And yet, despite its vast
cultural imprint, comedy is a little-understood vehicle for serious
public engagement in urgent social justice issues - even though
humor offers frames of hope and optimism that can encourage
participation in social problems. Moreover, in the midst of a
merger of entertainment and news in the contemporary information
ecology, and a decline in perceptions of trust in government and
traditional media institutions, comedy may be a unique force for
change in pressing social justice challenges. Comedians who say
something serious about the world while they make us laugh are
capable of mobilizing the masses, focusing a critical lens on
injustices, and injecting hope and optimism into seemingly hopeless
problems. By combining communication and social justice frameworks
with contemporary comedy examples, authors Caty Borum Chattoo and
Lauren Feldman show us how comedy can help to serve as a vehicle of
change. Through rich case studies, audience research, and
interviews with comedians and social justice leaders and
strategists, A Comedian and an Activist Walk Into a Bar: The
Serious Role of Comedy in Social Justice explains how comedy - both
in the entertainment marketplace and as cultural strategy - can
engage audiences with issues such as global poverty, climate
change, immigration, and sexual assault, and how activists work
with comedy to reach and empower publics in the networked,
participatory digital media age.
"A comprehensive and insightful examination of the ways comedy can
help shape social justice movements."--Hasan Minhaj, Comedian and
Host of the Netflix series Patriot Act with Hasan Minhaj Comedy is
a powerful contemporary source of influence and information. In the
still-evolving digital era, the opportunity to consume and share
comedy has never been as available. And yet, despite its vast
cultural imprint, comedy is a little-understood vehicle for serious
public engagement in urgent social justice issues - even though
humor offers frames of hope and optimism that can encourage
participation in social problems. Moreover, in the midst of a
merger of entertainment and news in the contemporary information
ecology, and a decline in perceptions of trust in government and
traditional media institutions, comedy may be a unique force for
change in pressing social justice challenges. Comedians who say
something serious about the world while they make us laugh are
capable of mobilizing the masses, focusing a critical lens on
injustices, and injecting hope and optimism into seemingly hopeless
problems. By combining communication and social justice frameworks
with contemporary comedy examples, authors Caty Borum Chattoo and
Lauren Feldman show us how comedy can help to serve as a vehicle of
change. Through rich case studies, audience research, and
interviews with comedians and social justice leaders and
strategists, A Comedian and an Activist Walk Into a Bar: The
Serious Role of Comedy in Social Justice explains how comedy - both
in the entertainment marketplace and as cultural strategy - can
engage audiences with issues such as global poverty, climate
change, immigration, and sexual assault, and how activists work
with comedy to reach and empower publics in the networked,
participatory digital media age.
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