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Dick Van Dyke is a national treasure. For the better part of a century, the comedic actor has been entertaining audiences with his endlessly flexible physical comedy, his sunny personality, and his big heart. He makes everything he's in better, which means there's really no such thing as a bad Dick Van Dyke movie. Plenty of Van Dyke's films are crowd-pleasers, but only one was ever a certified, unanimously loved critic-pleaser -- at least according to Rotten Tomatoes.

The movie in question is "Divorce American Style," a comedy from sitcom producing powerhouse Bud Yorkin. Yorkin is best-known today as the producing partner of Norman Lear and one half of the team behind groundbreaking shows like "All in the Family," "Sanford and Son," and "Maude." Four years before "All in the Family" hit the airwaves, though, Yorkin was seated in the director's chair for "Divorce American Style," a breakup comedy penned...

All in the Family is one of the most iconic sitcoms of the 1970s, and was so popular that it spawned a grand total of 7 spinoffs, fleshing out the on-screen lives of many minor and supporting characters with shows of their own. Produced by Norman Lear and Bud Yorkin, the working-class sitcom was set in Queens, New York and was based on a British sitcom called Till Death Do Us Part. All in the Family is famous for its prejudiced patriarch, Archie Bunker (Carroll O'Connor), who was used as a device for commentary on social issues in the 1970s.

The Bunkers and their neighbors, the Jeffersons, developed relationships with other characters throughout All in the Family, many of whom got spin-offs of their own. With the series' cultural relevance and fandom, it's no surprise All in the Family, The Jeffersons, and Good Times were also revived for a live performance...

Love it or hate it, "Sanford and Son" is one of the most groundbreaking American sitcoms of all time. The NBC series about a widowed get-rich-quick schemer (Redd Foxx) living in Los Angeles' Watts neighborhood with his adult son (Demond Wilson) was an undeniable hit during its run. It ushered in a Golden Age of Black family sitcoms thanks to dynamic performances, frank dialogue written from a working-class Black perspective, and its often uproarious scripts. It was such a ratings juggernaut that it's often credited for killing off its much more sanitized competition, "The Brady Bunch."

"It was a groundbreaking series," Eric Deggans wrote in a series retrospective for the official Emmys website, noting that "Before 'Good Times' and 'The Jeffersons' would make TV history with powerful stories focused on Black families, 'Sanford and Son' would explore the prickly relationship between a middle-aged Black man and his son.

Ron Nyswaner will soon be traveling to New York to reunite with his Writers Guild of America East fellows for a grand occasion. The Oscar-nominated screenwriter, producer and showrunner has been selected to receive the Walter Bernstein Award at the 76th Writers Guild Awards at New York’s Edison Ballroom on April 14.

The honor — named after the late screenwriter who was blacklisted for his political views only to persevere and get his career back on track with such credits as Fail-Safe, Semi-Tough and Yanks — is presented to writers “who have demonstrated with creativity, grace and bravery a willingness to confront social injustice in the face of adversity,” per the organization.

Nyswaner has been doing that for pretty much his entire career. A prime example is Jonathan Demme’s 1993 film Philadelphia. Penned by Nyswaner, the Tom Hanks and Denzel Washington-starrer was the first major Hollywood film to dramatize the real-world...

Frank Sinatra went through phases like he went through wives. The legendary crooner and movie star could exhibit impeccable taste for what people wanted to see and hear, and then, in a few year's time, completely lose his grasp of the zeitgeist.

Sinatra was threatening to enter one of his down periods in the mid-1960s. The popular music scene was in the throes of Beatlemania, while moviegoers were tiring of the Rat Pack's antics. Who wanted to see Sinatra and the gang saunter their way through Western and gangster pastiches like "4 for Texas" and "Robin and the 7 Hoods" when they could watch Elvis Presley set the screen ablaze with Ann-Margret in "Viva Las Vegas"?

To be fair, Sinatra was still Sinatra, but after giving one of his finest performances in John Frankenheimer's "The Manchurian Candidate," he started playing it way too safe. Bud Yorkin and...

Chicago – In his humility, Norman Lear liked to express that he was “just another version of you.” In our humanity, we are different renderings, but all related, as the titan of TV philosophically said. Norman Lear died at his home in Los Angeles on December 5th, 2023. He was 101 years old.

In 2015, Lear was lecturing at the Art Institute of Chicago, and I was privileged to get the opportunity to talk to him for a brief but significant amount of time. If the goal is to seek truth, there is no better guru. As an influencer on our times, Norman Lear is a cultural juggernaut, yet his humility is a driving force of his connection to his fellow humans, and he lived to connect to others.

Norman Lear: Just Another Version of You

Photo credit: Music Box Films

Lear is the embodiment of television history, having worked in the medium since its advent in the 1950s.

Prolific television producer Norman Lear has died at the age of 101. Lear, who forever changed TV by infusing his sitcoms with social and political commentary, died Tuesday at his home in Los Angeles, a spokesperson for his family confirmed early Wednesday.

Born in New Haven, Connecticut in 1922, Lear fought in World War II before moving to Los Angeles, where he began a career as a comedy writer. He worked steadily throughout the 1950s and '60s, writing for variety shows and producing specials, but his big break came later in the decade, when he and producing partner Bud Yorkin began developing a pilot about a narrow-minded bigot named Archie Bunker (played by Carroll O'Connor) and his family.

Norman Lear, the pioneering television producer, screenwriter, and activist who shaped the face of sitcoms as we know them, has died. The six-time Emmy winner who was the creative force behind shows like "All in the Family," "Maude," and "The Jeffersons" was 101 years old. He died of natural causes. Lear's official Instagram account posted the following message:

It is with profound sadness and love that we announce the passing of Norman Lear, our beloved husband, father, and grandfather. Norman passed away peacefully on December 5, 2023, surrounded by his family as we told stories and sang songs until the very end.Norman lived a life in awe of the world around him. He marveled at his cup of coffee every morning, the shape of the tree outside his window, and the sounds of beautiful music. But it was people—those he just met and those he knew for decades—who kept...

Norman Lear, the groundbreaking TV producer who smashed boundaries with politicized sitcoms such as All in the Family, helped diversify network television with shows The Jeffersons and Good Times, and used the half-hour comedy to address social issues and taboo, hot-button topics, died Tuesday at his Los Angeles home. He was 101. Lear’s rep, Lara Bergthold, confirmed his death to The New York Times.

“Norman lived a life in awe of the world around him,” his family wrote in a statement. “He marveled at his cup of coffee every morning,...

Norman Lear, the writer, producer and citizen activist who coalesced topical conflict and outrageous comedy in such wildly popular sitcoms as All in the Family, Maude, Good Times, Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman and The Jeffersons, has died. He was 101.

Lear died Tuesday at his home in Los Angeles surrounded by his family who, according to a statement on his official Instagram account, sang songs until the very end.

“Norman lived a life in awe of the world around him. He marveled at his cup of coffee every morning, the shape of the tree outside his window, and the sounds of beautiful music,” read the post. “But it was people — those he just met and those he knew for decades — who kept his mind and heart forever young. As we celebrate his legacy and reflect on the next chapter of life without him, we would like to thank everyone for all the love and support.

Norman Lear, who was responsible for revolutionizing television in the 1970s with such groundbreaking hit series as All in the Family, Good Times, and One Day at a Time, has died. He was 101.

Lear died Tuesday of natural causes at his home in Los Angeles, a spokesperson said.

Related: Paying Tribute To Norman Lear: Broadcast Nets To Simulcast In Memoriam Card Wednesday Night

“Norman lived a life of creativity, tenacity and empathy,” his family said in a statement. “He deeply loved our country and spent a lifetime helping to preserve its founding ideals of justice and equality for all. Knowing and living him has been the greatest of gifts.”

Related: Norman Lear’s Career In Pictures: ‘All In The Family,’ ‘Sanford And Son’, ‘The Jeffersons’ & Many More

Lear’s other iconic series include the Sanford & Son, Mary Hartman Mary Hartman, Fernwood 2 Night/America 2 Night, and the All in the Family spinoffs The Jeffersons,...

The Pink Panther franchise is one of the most iconic and beloved series in film history. From its debut in 1963 with the original movie to its most recent installment in 2009, the Pink Panther has been a staple of comedy-mystery films for generations.

Related: 10 Best Comedies of All Time, Ranked by Viewers

Inspector Clouseau’s misadventures have captivated audiences worldwide and left them laughing, guessing, and wanting more.

The films were mainly created by Blake Edwards and had theme music composed by Henry Mancini. Other forms of media, such as books, comic books, video games, and animated series, were later produced based on the elements and characters from the films.

With its unique blend of slapstick humor, witty dialogue, and clever mysteries, it’s no wonder why this franchise has become so popular over the years. In this blog post, we’ll look at all the Pink Panther movies in order...

Watching Blade Runner brings up a complicated decision for a first-time viewer, as there are multiple versions of the film. The variations of the film have important differences, each representing a different chapter of the film's history. Now considered one of the greatest examples of science fiction and neo-noir filmmaking, Blade Runner is a cult classic of cinema with a rocky road to its esteem.

Originally considered to be a commercial failure that received mixed reception from viewers and critics, the 1982 film was a spectacle of drama and studio interference that unfortunately overshadowed the great creativity and ideas on set for some time. Ridley Scott, now considered one of the most important directors of all time, was still early in his career during Blade Runner's production. Related: Why Blade Runner Changed Replicants From The Book

Ridley Scott Clashed With The Studio Over Blade Runner

Competing visions were the main...

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The home where infamous mobster Benjamin “Bugsy” Siegel was shot and killed 75 years ago has come on the market in Beverly Hills. Listed with Myra Nourmand of Nourmand & Associates, the Spanish Colonial-style mansion on North Linden Drive has an asking price of 16.995 million.

Siegel — the ruthless gangster who socialized with Hollywood stars and also drove the early development of Las Vegas — didn’t own the house. He leased it for his mistress, Virginia Hill, who served as a courier for the mob. On the night of June 20, 1947, Siegel was killed by an assailant who fired at him through the front window of the home with an M1 Carbine, dispatching him with two gunshots to the head. The case was never solved. (A photo in the Los Angeles Herald Examiner collection shows a detective pointing to five bullet holes in the wall the day after the murder.

While a number of executives have left Warner Bros. as the integration with Discovery continues, Warner Bros. Discovery chief David Zaslav shored up the studio’s transition team today with a veteran who knows the studio maybe better than anyone: former president and chief operating officer Alan Horn.

“I am thrilled to share with you that Alan Horn, one of the most respected studio executives in the industry, has agreed to assist me in a consultant role during this transition period, starting August 1. No one knows this business better than Alan does. He has had an extraordinary career spanning nearly half a century,” Zaslav announced in a memo today. “Most recently, he served as chairman and later co-chairman and chief creative officer of The Walt Disney Studios, where for a period of nearly 10 years, he oversaw the production of all motion pictures and the integration of Lucasfilm and the Fox film studios,...

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It’s official: Film studio veteran Alan Horn is helping out the new team at Warner Bros. Discovery.

The newly minted company — born when Discovery bought Warners from AT&T — has brought aboard Horn as a consultant during the transition period. Among other duties, he’ll assist Michael De Luca and Pamela Abdy, who have been tapped by Warner Bros. Discovery chief David Zaslav to run the movie studio (the duo replace Toby Emmerich).

Zaslav has been in talks with Horn for months, according to a staff memo circulated on Thursday. The high-profile hire is a reunion of sorts for Horn, who did a long stint as co-chairman of Warner Bros. prior to joining Disney. He left the Disney gig at the end of last year.

Here is Zaslav’s memo to staff in full:

All,

I am thrilled to share with you that Alan Horn,...

Disney’s former chief creative officer Alan Horn is joining Warner Bros. Discovery.

Horn, who retired from Disney in 2021 after a decade at the studio, has been hired in a consultant role to help the company’s newly appointed CEO David Zaslav in navigating the film business. He will start on Aug. 1. The formal announcement comes after reports that Horn had been in discussions with Warner Bros. Discovery executives and had been seen on the lot having meetings with top decision makers.

“I am thrilled to share with you that Alan Horn, one of the most respected studio executives in the industry, has agreed to assist me in a consultant role during this transition period, starting August 1. No one knows this business better than Alan does. He has had an extraordinary career spanning nearly half a century,” Zaslav said in a staff memo. “Most recently, he served as chairman and...

Television icon Norman Lear is celebrating his 100th birthday on Wednesday with some big news befitting the legend: ABC has revealed plans to celebrate Lear’s centennial with a primetime special this fall. Variety has exclusively learned that ABC will air “Norman Lear: 100 Years of Music and Laughter” on Thursday, Sept. 22 at 9 p.m. Et.

The two-hour special will honor the life and legacy of Lear, including his work as a producer, activist and philanthropist. The list of celebrity guests and musical performances set to appear on the special and pay homage to Lear will be announced at a later date.

The special will come just ten days after the 74th Emmy Awards, which Lear — already the TV Academy’s oldest Emmy nominee and winner ever — plans to attend in person. Lear, who has won two Emmys in recent years for his “Live in Front of a Studio Audience” specials with Jimmy Kimmel on ABC,...

Sanford and Son, the first mainstream, primetime sitcom in television history with an almost-all Black cast, debuted on NBC on Jan. 14, 1972. Created by Norman Lear, and starring legendary “blue” comedian Redd Foxx as an African American bigot, it was seen as a direct answer to CBS’ All in the Family. But the Bunker family series was a social satire which took its laughs seriously. The Sanfords presented pure comedy, any lessons it taught were intentionally coincidental. The most controversial part of the show, when it first aired, was its lead actor.

Foxx was already an underground comedy legend when Cleavon Little, best known for his role as Sheriff Bart in Mel Brooks’ Blazing Saddles, suggested him for the lead in the mid-season replacement. Little wasn’t available, but worked with Foxx on Ossie Davis’s 1970 neo-noir film Cotton Comes to Harlem. Before Foxx played the junk dealer stuck with the bale of genuine Mississippi cotton,...

You take the good, you take the bad, you take them both and there you have: “The Facts of Life.” But there’s no bad, only good — no, make that great — casting here for next week’s “Live in Front of a Studio Audience” remake of the classic 1980s sitcom.

Joining the previously announced Ann Dowd (as Edna Garrett) will be Jennifer Aniston as Blair, Gabrielle Union as Tootie, Allison Tolman as Natalie and Kathryn Hahn as Jo.

For the third installment of “Live in Front of a Studio Audience,” executive producers Norman Lear and Jimmy Kimmel are pairing the iconic late 1970s/early 1980s comedy “Diff’rent Strokes” with its spinoff, “The Facts of Life.” Both series came from Lear’s production companies during that era, Tandem Productions (originally founded by Lear and Bud Yorkin in 1958) and T.A.T. Communications, which were later folded into Embassy Communications.

“Live in...

Una Stubbs, the British actress who died in Edinburgh, Scotland, on Thursday at age 84, may be best known to modern audiences for her role as Sherlock Holmes’ landlady, Mrs. Hudson, on the Benedict Cumberbatch-led series “Sherlock.”

But she had her breakout role in the long-running BBC sitcom “Till Death Do Us Part,” which ran for seven seasons between 1965-75 and inspired Norman Lear’s classic American hit “All in the Family.”

In “Till Death Do Us Part,” Stubbs played the Sally Struthers role — the left-leaning daughter of a reactionary white working-class father (played by Warren Mitchell) who regularly clashes with the Liverpool socialist husband of Stubbs’ character (played by Anthony Booth).

In a 2017 interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Lear recalled how his partner, Bud Yorkin, tipped him off about “Till Death Do Us Part” while shooting a film in London in the late 1960s. “’Holy s—, I’ve lived through that,...

“I have never lived alone. I have never laughed alone. And that has as much with me being here today as anything.”

Wise words from television legend Norman Lear who, at 99, received the Hollywood Foreign Press’s Carol Burnett Award for outstanding contributions to television, both on and off the screen. Lear is one of only three recipients of the honor, the others being Ellen DeGeneres and Burnett herself.

Lear started his acceptance by thanking Burnett before going on to an appreciation of his collaborators throughout the years including Bud Yorkin, Alan Horne, Jerry Perenchio and his current partner, Brent Miller. Lear also saluted Sony Pictures TV, calling it “one of the gustiest, most able group of executives” he’s ever worked with.

The TV legend completed his thank you’s with a batch for wife Lyn Davis Lear and his children and grandchildren.

As he signed off, the Tv...

Norman Lear accepted the Carol Burnett Award on Sunday’s Golden Globes, and imparted some wisdom on longevity as he prepares to celebrate his 99th birthday this year.

“At close to 99, I can tell you that I have never lived alone,” he said in his acceptance speech. “I have never laughed alone and that has as much to do with my being here today as anything else I know.”

Lear said “there would be an entirely different Norman Lear tonight” without the help of partners throughout his career including Ed Simmons, Bud Yorkin, Alan Horn, Jerry Perenchio and Mark E. Pollack, as well as his current partner overseeing Act III Prods., Brent Miller. Lear also gave thanks to various writers, including “One Day at a Time” executive producers Gloria Calderón Kellett and Mike Royce, as well as his wife of 30 years, Lyn Davis Lear, and his children – who range in...

In his 2014 memoir “Even This I Get to Experience,” TV legend Norman Lear writes about the busiest period of his life as a time of “joyful stress.”

The 1970s were the pinnacle of Lear’s success as an uber producer, and at one point he simultaneously had eight shows on the air — including such landmark sitcoms as “All in the Family,” “One Day at a Time,” “Sanford and Son,” “Good Times,” “Maude,” “The Jeffersons” and “Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman.”

“Even doing your best work and enjoying the results of that, there is a reasonable amount to a great amount of stress,” Lear tells Variety. “And if one can learn to accept that joyfully, one can be stressed and understand that he or she is having a good time also. And so, I’ve enjoyed an awful lot of that through my career.”

Out of that “joyful stress” came Lear’s...

Gregory Sierra, who was a key part of two major 1970s sitcoms as Julio Fuentes on Sanford and Son and Sgt. Miguel “Chano” Amenguale on Barney Miller, has died. He was 83.

Sierra died Jan. 4 in Laguna Woods, California, from cancer, according to a family spokesman. His death just became public today.

Born in New York’s Spanish Harlem, Sierra worked with the National Shakespeare Company and in the New York Shakespeare Festival. He also appeared in off-Broadway plays and was a standby on Broadway for The Ninety Day Mistress in 1967.

Moving to Los Angeles, Sierra had guest appearances on such shows as It Takes a Thief, Medical Center, The High Chaparral, Mod Squad, The Flying Nun and Kung Fu.

In films he was also a supporting actor in Beneath the Planet of the Apes (1970), Getting Straight (1970), Papillon (1973), The Towering Inferno (1974) and the Orson Welles project The Other Side of the Wind.

Before “All in the Family” debuted, there was a profound gap between real life and what was being depicted on TV series.

In his autobiography “Even This I Get to Experience,” Norman Lear wrote, “Until ‘All in the Family’ came along, TV comedy was telling us there was no hunger in America, we had no racial discrimination, there was no unemployment or inflation, no war, no drugs, and the citizenry was happy with whomever happened to be in the White House.”

When Lear and Bud Yorkin pitched “All in the Family” to CBS, that network’s executives were looking for something different — but maybe not That different.

A week before the un-publicized sitcom debuted on Jan. 12, 1971, Variety’s Les Brown summed up the first four months of the new season for the three networks. Brown wrote that CBS had a lock on “the rural middle-American viewership” with its “rustic sitcoms,...

When “All in the Family” debuted Jan. 12, 1971, on CBS, it was exactly the TV show America needed — though America didn’t realize it at the time.

Norman Lear and Bud Yorkin had taped two ABC pilots of the script, both starring Carroll O’Connor and Jean Stapleton, starting in 1968. But ABC was reluctant to commit; as Lear told Variety’s Army Archerd, it was “too controversial.”

Lear and Yorkin took the show to CBS, which surprisingly bought it.

The show was carefully tested for a long time. On July 22, 1970 — six months before the debut — Variety asked CBS president Robert Wood why the network wasn’t trumpeting the new show. He said, “Frankly, we’re still not sure how to introduce this one to the public … it might just be best to go on with no fanfare, and then prepare ourselves for the explosion.”

The first episode, “Meet the Bunkers,” aired Tuesday,...

Oscar-winning composer, Grammy-winning arranger, jazz pianist and bandleader, pioneer in the digital recording world: Dave Grusin could retire on his laurels. But at 86, he’s itching to get back on the road and perform again.

“Oh, if they ever let us,” he tells Variety from his Montana ranch. “Not to have anything to do, it’s disconcerting to say the least.” Adds Grusin’s longtime bandmate, guitarist Lee Ritenour: “He’s gotten used to it, traveling the world and being appreciated. I think he enjoys that.”

And yet, if the pandemic continues to torture artists throughout 2021, there are still all those Grusin soundtracks to appreciate: the fragile beauty of “The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter” (1968), the atmospheric colors of “Three Days of the Condor” (1975), the hymn-like simplicity of “On Golden Pond” (1981), the delightfully upbeat “Tootsie” (1982), the Mexican folk influences of “The Milagro Beanfield War” (1987), the late-night jazz of “The Fabulous Baker Boys...

Exclusive: Rob and Michele Reiner have signed a multi-year overall production and directing deal with Warner Bros Television via their newly formed production company as the duo is reviving the Castle Rock banner.

Reiner co-founded indie production company Castle Rock Entertainment in 1987. The company’s more than 125 films included When Harry Met Sally…, Oscar nominee A Few Good Men, In the Line of Fire, City Slickers, Miss Congeniality and Oscar nominee The Shawshank Redemption.

In TV, Castle Rock produced one of the most successful comedy series in history, Seinfeld.

The company was acquired by Turner Broadcasting and became part of Warner Bros following the Time Warner merger. Castle Rock continued to produce movies for Warner Bros; eventually it was disbanded. Rob Reiner kept the name alive, using the Castle Rock moniker for his independent film producing. On his most recent movie, Shock and Awe, released in 2018 by Vertical Entertainment, he teamed with his wife,...

Netflix has given a 10-episode, straight-to-series order to a new animated take on Norman Lear’s classic sitcom “Good Times.” Lear and his Act III Prods. shingle is partnering with basketball star Steph Curry and his production company, Unanimous Media, as well as Seth MacFarlane and his shingle Fuzzy Door, to develop the show.

Both Act III and Unanimous are based at Sony Pictures TV, which is behind the animated “Good Times.” Carl Jones, whose credits include animated series “The Boondocks” and “Black Dynamite,” as well as TBS’ Tracy Morgan starrer “The Last O.G.,” will create, showrun and executive produce the project. Per the logline, the new animated series will follow “the Evans family as they navigate today’s world and contemporary social issues. Just as the original did years ago, ‘Good Times’ strives to remind us that with the love of our family, we can keep our heads above water.

Polly Platt, production designer, screenwriter, producer, and key collaborator to auteurs such as James L. Brooks and Peter Bogdanovich, doesn’t get the credit she deserves as a creative genius.

The new season of “You Must Remember This,” Karina Longworth’s deeply researched podcasts on all things Hollywood history, aims to rectify that injustice. Entitled “Polly Platt, The Invisible Woman,” the series recounts Platt’s integral role in the creation of such classics as “The Last Picture Show,” “Paper Moon,” “Terms of Endearment,” “Broadcast News,” and “Say Anything.” It also details her stormy personal life — a battle with alcoholism, as well as the emotional toll exacted by the breakup of her marriage to Bogdanovich, who left her on the set of “The Last Picture Show” for Cybill Shepherd.

Platt was a barrier-breaker in every sense of the phrase, becoming one of the first women to be admitted into the production designers guild,...

Emmy-nominated comedy writer and producer Saul Turteltaub died on April 9. He was 87

Director John Turteltaub, the youngest son of Saul confirmed that he died of natural causes at his home in Beverly Hills.

More from DeadlineWynn Handman Dies Of Covid-19: American Place Theatre Co-Founder, Teacher Of Future Stars Was 97Diane Rodriguez Dies: Actress, Playwright, Director, Producer In La Theater Was 68Nobuhiko Obayashi Dies: Influential Japanese Filmmaker Succumbs To Cancer At Age 82.

Saul Turteltaub served as a writer and producer for such iconic shows in television history as The Carol Burnett Show, Sanford and Son and That Girl. He received an Emmy nomination for The Carol Burnett Show in 1968 and earned back-to-back noms in 1964 and 1965 as part of the writing team for the U.S. version of the political satire TV series That Was the Week That Was.

Turteltaub teamed with Bernie Orenstein and Bud Yorkin to form Toy Productions and worked on What’s Happening!!,...

Few sitcoms have been as dominant throughout the history of television as All in the Family was. Created by Norman Lear and Bud Yorkin way back in 1971, All in the Family ran for nine years before it eventually spun off into Archie Bunker's Place.

Related: 10 Best Episodes Of All In The Family (According To IMDb)

But in those nine years, few shows were as challenging to the audiences of the 1970s as All in the Family was. (Perhaps only M*A*S*H came close!) Over the seasons, there were a plethora of iconic episodes for the Carroll O'Connor and Jean Stapleton led show. "Edith's Problem" from season two still sticks out in the memories of many.

Exclusive: Ten years ago this week, James Cameron big gambit payed off with the historic release of Avatar, a truly singular screen spectacle that took moviegoers to distant Pandora and in the process “changed the way we thought about movies, the way we thought about movie-making, even the way we thought about the movie screen,” says Stephen Lang, who memorably portrayed the 1999 sci-fi epic’s glowering heavy, Col. Miles Quaritch.

Lang returns to the military-man role in Cameron’s long-awaited sequel, Avatar 2, which Disney-owned 20th Century Fox has now scheduled for release one year from this Saturday: Dec. 21, 2021. That means Avatar 2’s opening weekend will arrive seven years later than Cameron’s originally announced target date, which makes the interplanetary saga the cinematic equivalent of a Guns N’ Roses album.

Lang’s presence in the sequel’s ensemble adds to the project’s aura of miracles-in-the-making. That’s...

ABC’s second “Live in Front of a Studio Audience” special has added several stars to its cast.

The special, which will air on Dec. 18, will feature classic episodes of “All in the Family” and “Good Times.” Joining the cast for “Good Times” are Viola Davis and Andre Braugher as Florida Evans and James Evans, Jay Pharoah as J.J Evans, Asante Blackk as Michael Evans, Corinne Foxx as Thelma Evans, and Tiffany Haddish as Willona Woods. Jharrel Jerome is also confirmed to join in an unspecified role. In addition, Anthony Anderson and Patti Labelle will sing the show’s theme song live.

Previously announced cast members for “All in the Family” include Woody Harrelson, Marisa Tomei, Ellie Kemper, and Ike Barinholtz, all of whom will reprise their roles from the first special earlier this year. Kevin Bacon, Jesse Eisenberg, and Justina Machado will also appear, with their roles will be announced live.

Tiffany Haddish, Viola Davis, Andre Braugher, Jay Pharoah, Asante Blackk, Corinne Foxx and Jharrel Jerome are set for ABC’s Live In Front Of A Studio Audience ‘All in the Family’ and ‘Good Times,’ a live staging of the Norman Lear sitcom classics.

The six will take on the roles first portrayed in the iconic sitcom Good Times, with Davis and Braugher as Florida Evans and James Evans, Pharoah as J.J Evans, Blackk as Michael Evans, Foxx as Thelma Evans and Haddish recreating the role of Willona Woods. Jerome is confirmed to join the cast in an unspecified role. Additionally, ABC’s Anthony Anderson and Patti Labelle will perform the theme song live.

The Emmy-winning Live In Front Of A Studio Audience will feature re-recreations of classic episodes of Norman Lear and Bud Yorkin’s All In the Family and groundbreaking sitcom Good Times, created by Mike Evans, Eric Monte and developed by Lear.

ABC has added seven new cast members to its upcoming “Live in Front of a Studio Audience” holiday special, which will feature re-creations of “All in the Family” and “Good Times.”

Starring as the cast of “Good Times,” Viola Davis and Andre Braugher will play Florida Evans and James Evans. Jay Pharoah will play J.J Evans, Asante Blackk will play Michael Evans, Corinne Foxx will play Thelma Evans, and Tiffany Haddish will play Willona Woods. “When They See Us” star Jharrel Jerome has also been cast in a role yet to be announced. The special will air Dec. 18.

Previously announced cast members for “All in the Family” include Woody Harrelson, Marisa Tomei, Ellie Kemper and Ike Barinholtz who are set to reprise their roles as Archie and Edith Bunker, Gloria Stivic, and Meathead from ABC’s first “Live in Front of a Studio Audience,” which aired in May. Kevin Bacon,...

Woody Harrelson, Marisa Tomei, Ellie Kemper and Ike Barinholtz are all set to return for ABC’s Live In Front Of A Studio Audience ‘All in the Family’ and ‘Good Times,’ a live staging of the Normal Lear sitcom classics. The four will reprise their All In the Family roles as Archie and Edith Bunker, Gloria Stivic and Meathead, respectively when the re-creation airs on December 18. They’ll be joined in the All In the Family cast by franchise newcomers Kevin Bacon, Justina Machado and Jesse Eisenberg. The special is executive produced by Lear who was behind the

Machado stars in another remake of a Lear classic comedy, One Day at a Time, headed into its fourth season on its network, Pop.

Details on the cast for the Good Times remake will be announced at a later date.

The Emmy-winning Live In Front Of A Studio Audience will feature re-recreations...

“Live in Front of a Studio Audience” has added three new stars to its cast.

Kevin Bacon, Jesse Eisenberg and Justina Machado have been cast in the “All in the Family” portion of the ABC special’s second installment, which is also tackling another classic Norman Lear sitcom in “Good Times” and is scheduled to air Dec. 18.

The Disney-owned network has also announced that Woody Harrelson, Marisa Tomei, Ellie Kemper and Ike Barinholtz are all set to reprise their “All in the Family” roles from the first installment as Archie and Edith Bunker, Gloria Stivic and Meathead.

Precisely which stars will be taking on the lead roles featured in “Good Times,” including iconic central couple Florida and James Evans, will be announced at a later date, as well as which parts Bacon, Eisenberg and Machado will be playing. Machado was originally lined up to play Florence Johnston in the first installment,...

ABC’s Emmy-winning Live In Front Of A Studio Audience is returning December 18 with a re-creation of classic episodes from Norman Lear and Bud Yorkin’s All In the Family and groundbreaking sitcom Good Times, created by Mike Evans, Eric Monte and developed by Lear. Additionally, Kerry Washington, who portrayed Helen Willis of The Jeffersons in the original special in the spring, will join as an executive producer.

The holiday-inspired live event produced by Sony Pictures Television, will reunite executive producers Lear, Jimmy Kimmel, Brent Miller, Will Ferrell and Justin Theroux, along with Washington.

ABC’s Live in Front of a Studio Audience: Norman Lear’s ‘All in the Family’ and ‘The Jeffersons’’was nominated for three Emmy Awards, and took home the prize for Outstanding Variety Special (Live). The May 22 premiere averaged 14.29 million Total Viewers and a 2.86 rating in Adults 18-49 across all platforms after 35 days of TV playback...

The second installment of the ABC special “Live in Front of a Studio Audience” has a premiere date as well as the lineup of shows it will feature.

The new special will air on Dec. 18 and will recreate episodes of the classic sitcoms “All in the Family” and “Good Times.” “All in the Family” was featured during the first special earlier this year, which also included an episode of “The Jeffersons.” Castings for the December special will be announced at a later date. “All in the Family” was created by Norman Lear and executive produced by Bud Yorkin, while “Good Times” was created by Mike Evans and Eric Monte and developed by Lear.

In addition, Kerry Washington, who portrayed Helen Willis of “The Jeffersons” in the original special in the spring, will join the creative team as an executive producer. The other executive producers are Jimmy Kimmel, Lear, Justin Theroux,...

Jane Fonda was the talk of Friday night’s British Academy Britannia Awards – and she didn’t even have to show up to steal the spotlight.

Receiving the prestigious Stanley Kubrick Britannia Award For Excellence In Film, Fonda pulled off what is easily the most unusual acceptance speech ever given in the annals of Hollywood awards shows. Although she had originally been scheduled to accept in person, I am told the organization learned a couple of weeks ago that she couldn’t attend because, as is her custom now every Friday, she planned to be in Washington D.C. demanding urgent action to battle climate change and calling for a Green New Deal and no new drilling for fossil fuels. Along with others, including actor Ted Danson, she was arrested, in her case, for the third Friday in a row, on the Southeast lawn of the Us Capitol building.

Presenter...

Quincy (which missed out on an Oscar nom but has high Emmy hopes) got his first television credit as a producer with the 1973 CBS special Duke Ellington … We Love You Madly.

Jones, then 39, already had composed music for a long list of films and TV shows, but on Madly, besides being a musical arranger, he shared production duties with Bud Yorkin. The 90-minute live show was filmed at L.A.'s Shubert Theatre, a 2,100-seat venue that sat on the Century City site where the CAA building now ...

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“Blade Runner 2049” didn’t set the box office on fire when it was released in October 2017, but the film has earned a devoted following over the last year. Denis Villeneuve’s epic sequel takes place three decades after the events of Ridley Scott’s original and centers around Ryan Gosling’s K, an Lapd blade runner who discovers that a replicant may have given birth to a child.

Read More: Denis Villeneuve’s Editor Looks Back at That Four-Hour ‘Blade Runner 2049’ Cut, Teases How He’s Approaching ‘Dune’

When Villeneuve kicked off production on “2049” in July 2016, producer Cynthia Yorkin began her own side project by deciding to keep a running diary of milestones, setbacks, and overall observations from the set. Collider has exclusively published Yorkin’s production diary, which offers a fascinating in-depth look at the making of “2049” on a month-by-month basis. IndieWire has rounded up some exciting tidbits...

Emmy Award winning producer Marian Rees, best known for films such as “Decoration Day” and “Miss Rose White,” died August 26 in Bainbridge Island, Wash. She was 90.

Rees began her career in Hollywood as a receptionist for NBC before joining Norman Lear and Bud Yorkin’s company, Tandem Productions in 1955. There, she worked as an associate producer on several projects including a television tribute to Frank Sinatra, the Emmy Award-winning special “An Evening with Fred Astaire” and the pilots for both “All in the Family” and “Sanford & Son.”

After 17 years, Rees left Tandem Productions for Tomorrow Entertainment and eventually the Nrw company where she became vice president and worked as the executive producer for “Angel Dusted” and “The Marva Collins Story,” starring Cicely Tyson. In 1981, Rees left everything behind in order to fund her own production company, Marian Rees Associates, with her partner Hopkins.

After mortgaging her house to fund the company’s productions,...

Marian Rees, who won a pair of Emmy Awards during a pioneering 50-year producing career and was an officer at the TV Academy, Women in Film and the PGA, has died. She was 90. She died August 26 in Bainbridge Island, Wa.

Born on October 31, 1927, in Le Mars, Ia, Rees moved to Los Angeles in the early 1950s. In 1955, she joined Norman Lear and Bud Yorkin’s Tandem Productions and was associate producer on TV tributes to Frank Sinatra and Ethel Barrymore and the Emmy-winning 1958 special An Evening with Fred Astaire. While at Tandem, she also was associate producer on the pilots of All in the Family (1971) and its spinoff Sanford & Son a year later.

Rees left Tandem in 1973 and joined Tomorrow Entertainment, where she worked on numerous productions including Orphan Train and the multiple-Emmy-winning Tell Me Where It Hurts. She later joined the Nrw Company as VP and was the executive...

Marian Rees, the two-time Emmy-winning producer and television pioneer who was known for tackling socially relevant issues in her telefilms, has died. She was 90.

Rees died Aug. 26 on Bainbridge Island in Washington, publicist Richard Hoffman announced.

In a career spanning more than 50 years, Rees started out at Norman Lear and Bud Yorkin's Tandem Productions, where she was an associate producer on the pilots of All in the Family and Sanford & Son. In 1981, she formed her own independent production company, a move that was rare for a woman at that time. She was a mentor ...

Alcon Media Group and Titan Publishing are partnering on a new co-publishing venture initially focused on the “Blade Runner” universe.

Alcon Entertainment produced “Blade Runner 2049,” which was released in October and produced by Alcon co-CEOs Andrew Kosove and Broderick Johnson, along with Bud Yorkin and Cynthia Yorkin. The film earned $259.2 million worldwide.

Johnson, Kosove, and Titan’s co-founders, Nick Landau and Vivian Cheung, said the companies will develop and publish a variety of both fiction and non-fiction print media with comics and graphic novels that dive deeper into the “Blade Runner” world as well as a variety of publications focused on the visual and technical sides of the production process.

Editorial duties will be handled by Titan’s David Manley-Leach and Alcon’s director of publishing Jeff Conner.

Kosove and Johnson said, “In partnering with the exceptional Titan Comics and Titan Books, we’re confident that the world of...

After 35 years Philip K. Dick’s brainstorm returns in a film sequel worthy of the original; Denis Villeneuve does right by the concept, but the show will be tough sledding for Add-plagued modern viewers. Ryan Gosling follows in Harrison Ford’s replicant footsteps, surrounded by an impressive group of supporting actors. It’s long, it’s moody, it’s not for babies — but it is rewarding.

Blade Runner 2049

Blu-ray

Warner Bros. Home Entertainment

2017 / Color / 2:40 widescreen / 164 min. / available through the WBshop / Street Date January 16, 2018 / 35.99

Starring: Ryan Gosling, Harrison Ford, Robin Wright, Ana de Armas, Carla Juri, Jared Leto, David Dastmalchian, Sylvia Hoeks, Mackenzie Davis, Sean Young, Hiam Abbass, Edward James Olmos, Dave Bautista.

Cinematography: Roger A. Deakins

Film Editor: Joe Walker

Original Music: Benjamin Wallfisch, Hans Zimmer

Written by Michael Green, Hampton Fancher, from his story, based on characters from Philip K. Dick

Produced by Cynthia Sikes Yorkin, Bud Yorkin...

Burbank, CA, December 7, 2017 – See what critics are calling “the best movie of the year” when Blade Runner 2049 arrives onto 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray Combo Pack, Blu-ray 3D Combo Pack, Blu-ray Combo Pack, DVD and Digital HD. From Oscar-nominated director Denis Villeneuve (“Arrival”) comes Alcon Entertainment’s science fiction thriller Blade Runner 2049. Sure as it is to delight ‘Blade Runner’ fans, this stunningly elegant follow-up doesn’t depend on having seen the original.

The film stars Oscar nominees Ryan Gosling (La La Land) as K, and Harrison Ford (the Star Wars films, Witness), reprising the role of Rick Deckard. The main international cast also includes Ana de Armas (War Dogs), Sylvia Hoeks (Renegades), Robin Wright (Wonder Woman), Mackenzie Davis (The Martian), Carla Juri (Brimstone), and Lennie James (The Walking Dead), with Dave Bautista (the Guardians of the Galaxy films) and Oscar winner Jared Leto (Dallas Buyers Club).

Blade Runner 2049...