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Norman Lear: 100 Years of Music & Laughter
On July 27, 2022, show business icon Norman Lear turned 100 years old and a lavish television celebration was produced and broadcast on ABC at the end of last year called Norman Lear: 100 Years of Music & Laughter, a deserved tribute to the legend, but a surreal and an oddly unmoving experience.
The celebration was divided into two parts. Stars gathered in a large ballroom and came onstage announcing how old Norman Lear was when they were born, and then offered their own tributes to the man, and then offered their own tributes to Lear. Which was strange, because a lot of the stars who appeared onstage either never worked with Lear or weren't even alive during the zenith of the man's career. A couple of tributes came from actors Assante Black and Isabella Gomez, who are both still in their teens! Having these children onstage gushing about Norman Lear felt hollow and insulting.
The other half of the show interspersed with the ballroom madness was a roundtable discussion with Lear, Jimmy Kimmel, Amy Poehler, Octavia Spencer, and Jennifer Aniston. First of all, how was it decided that these four people were qualified to sit down with the man and discuss his work. Aniston felt particularly out of place here, seemingly completely clueless abou why she was here.
This was such an odd film that I felt guilty about being disenchanted with because the subject is so worthy of celebration, but couldn't understand why people like George Wallace, Laverne Cox, Kristen Bell, Lisa Whelchel, Jay Pharoah, and Stephen Tobolowsky were doing there? We were also provided unremarkable musical sequences including Anthony Anderson and Tracie Ellis Ross performing the theme song from All in the Family, Kelly Rowland doing the Jeffersons theme and Justina Muchado performing the One Day at a Time theme. And after Tom Hanks' lengthy breakdown of Lear's military background, we got a five minute rendition of America the Beautiful that brought the show down. Yet, Marla Gibbs was in the audience and didn't get to say a word.
There aren't a lot of stars from Lear's shows who are still alive and it was disappointing that a few didn't show up, Sally Struthers in particular, though Rob Reiner did give a lovely tribute to the man. This film was just kind of dull and all over the place and so not worthy of Norman Lear. What a shame.
On July 27, 2022, show business icon Norman Lear turned 100 years old and a lavish television celebration was produced and broadcast on ABC at the end of last year called Norman Lear: 100 Years of Music & Laughter, a deserved tribute to the legend, but a surreal and an oddly unmoving experience.
The celebration was divided into two parts. Stars gathered in a large ballroom and came onstage announcing how old Norman Lear was when they were born, and then offered their own tributes to the man, and then offered their own tributes to Lear. Which was strange, because a lot of the stars who appeared onstage either never worked with Lear or weren't even alive during the zenith of the man's career. A couple of tributes came from actors Assante Black and Isabella Gomez, who are both still in their teens! Having these children onstage gushing about Norman Lear felt hollow and insulting.
The other half of the show interspersed with the ballroom madness was a roundtable discussion with Lear, Jimmy Kimmel, Amy Poehler, Octavia Spencer, and Jennifer Aniston. First of all, how was it decided that these four people were qualified to sit down with the man and discuss his work. Aniston felt particularly out of place here, seemingly completely clueless abou why she was here.
This was such an odd film that I felt guilty about being disenchanted with because the subject is so worthy of celebration, but couldn't understand why people like George Wallace, Laverne Cox, Kristen Bell, Lisa Whelchel, Jay Pharoah, and Stephen Tobolowsky were doing there? We were also provided unremarkable musical sequences including Anthony Anderson and Tracie Ellis Ross performing the theme song from All in the Family, Kelly Rowland doing the Jeffersons theme and Justina Muchado performing the One Day at a Time theme. And after Tom Hanks' lengthy breakdown of Lear's military background, we got a five minute rendition of America the Beautiful that brought the show down. Yet, Marla Gibbs was in the audience and didn't get to say a word.
There aren't a lot of stars from Lear's shows who are still alive and it was disappointing that a few didn't show up, Sally Struthers in particular, though Rob Reiner did give a lovely tribute to the man. This film was just kind of dull and all over the place and so not worthy of Norman Lear. What a shame.