The movies had a slogan at the time, to distinguish themselves from TV, that said 'movies are better than ever.'
Norman LearEd Simmons and I became stars in the emerging medium of television. We were new and fresh, just like TV at the time, so we automatically became 'THE' comedy writers for television.
Norman LearTV that people will never see, that giant international corporations will never touch, will never pay your salary.
Norman LearWe had two African American writers [Eric Monte and Michael Evans] on the show ['Good Times'] that knew Cabrini Green inside and out, and that's why we set it there.
Norman LearRatings translate into corporations, corporations that need a profit statement this quarter that's larger than the last.
Norman Lear'All in the Family' took ten weeks to take off in 1971, and we were lucky to start in January, because if it had started in the regular fall season of 1970, I don't know if we would have lasted. The ratings didn't take off until the end of that fall season, when the other two networks ran out of fresh shows.
Norman Lear