Whether you grew up from the 70s to the 90s or have simply watched reruns from retro channels you may hear the following familiar themes:

That was the power of Norman Lear, whom passed away at the age of 101.

Norman Lear was a legend in the TV Business, back at a time when being controversial didn't mean scandals, but a sign of rebellion against the censorship of the times. He was the influence of many greats including but not limited to Trey Parker and Matt Stone. Yes that Trey Parker and Matt Stone:

For example, Eric Cartman was meant to be a kid version of Archie Bunker.

However while he made many great shows, it all started with one, a controversial yet hilarious and surprisingly wholesome story about America's most lovable bigot. Archibald "Archie" Bunker:

All In The Family. A 70s sitcom about a conservative father clashing with his liberal son in law while he and his Daughter live with them. But rather than take it serious like many people today would, it was all played for laughs and rather than simply pick one side or the other, they make it work in a way to show both sides had their quirks and their flaws.

All in The Family was one of the first and many shows and movies that tried to do what was considered a new brand of comedy at the time. Archie Bunker, while the star character of the show, was meant to be the villain. However because the wrong people started to worship the ground Archie walked on, rather than simply cancel him like people would nowadays, they did a very interesting take on character development. Despite his racist ways, Archie has come to learn to love everyone no matter where they come from and went from wanting a Puerto Rican family off his street to threatening members of the KKK for attacking his son in law to defending his black maid when one of his more bigoted friends started to harass her:

However said comedy trope still stuck even when he wasn't the one usually doing it. Much like Mel Brooks in Blazing Saddles:

The formula was to make any character that was racist, sexist, homophobic or bigoted in other ways, be exaggerated caricatures, so that those that talk to them would think. "Gee this guy must be stupid if he's screaming about this or that." Sometimes if it didn't work, they'd give said character a hilarious or sometimes serious consequence for their actions.

The show became such an astounding success the following things happened. First they did a spin-off involving what Lear described as a racial swapped version of the Bunkers:

What started out as a comedic foil between the Bunkers and The Jeffersons, as well as a crowning achievement as they had two comedy legends with their families clashing with one and other, became such a hit that they wanted to give the Jeffersons their own show. But it wasn't the only success. The success of All in The Family paved the way for Lear's other shows. Such as Maude:

And Good Times:

Each with their own motif and much like All in The Family had their fair share of iconic moments:

The show was also great for laying the groundwork for many other media makers in the past, such as Rob Reiner. It also became a massive influence on TV Shows, Movies and the like. Which still continues to this day as Lear found some success remaking one of his shows One Day At A Time:

While he may be gone, Norman Lear, you and much of the majority of the cast, may have either died, retired or became washed up, you all became living proof that classic comedy hasn't died. We just didn't know where to look. And so long as Archie and Edith's Chairs remain at the Smithsonian:

No one will ever forget about you.

Rest In Peace Norman.