Norman Lear, who turns 97 in July, shows no signs of pumping the brakes on his rejuvenated television career.
Season 3 of “One Day at a Time” — the revamped version of his ’70s-era sitcom — premieres Friday on Netflix (he’s an executive producer and was the driving force behind its revival). In 2018, he signed a two-year deal with Sony Pictures Television to “reimagine” titles from his extensive library of TV classics, including “All in the Family,” “The Jeffersons,” “Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman,” “Sanford and Son” and “Good Times.” He’s producing an “American Masters” documentary about “One Day at a Time” co-star Rita Moreno.
And he’s loving every minute of it.
“I think it’s the golden age, which starts with being alive,” says Lear, on the phone from LA with Brent Miller, executive producer of “One Day at a Time” and head of production for Lear’s company, Act III. “It’s because of the hundreds or thousands of shows available on the tens of thousands of networks and streaming shows.
“There’s a show at hand every time you turn around,” he says. “America has a knack for producing excess. That may be our greatest product.”
“Each character has their own individual arc this season,” Miller says about Season 3 of “One Day at a Time.” “To give you a little hint, this is the first season that [rich building landlord] Schneider (Todd Grinnell) has a significant role toward the end of the season …. and Lydia (played by Moreno) has her ‘bouquet list’ she’s working on because of her death scare at the end of Season 2.”
Still, Lear says streaming networks impose some limitations. “It closes a certain door and there’s no way you can reopen that door,” he says. “The fact that the third season of ‘One Day at a Time’ is coming on Friday … how current can it be? It can be current in the long term, problems of humanity, etc., but not the problems of the week — not the political or social issues or whatever the current cultural dynamic is.
“We can’t be a current as we’d like to be.”
Lear says that the aforementioned Sony deal likely won’t result in reboots or revivals of his better-known series. He’s already said he won’t redo “All in the Family” or “Maude” — in any fashion — and talks similarly of his other titles. “I don’t think so,” he says. “Let’s start with the fact that there are so many new ideas bubbling around here. It seems silly to think about repeating the past. We’re doing ideas that are current. When you consider the fact that there isn’t a human being you know, or have heard of, ever, who isn’t waking up and living another day, every day — that’s where the stories come from. They’re infinite.”
“Norman has a huge library at Sony and we’re looking at a handful of properties [to reboot],” Miller says. “Maybe not all the ones you know well, but we’re exploring other little gems.
“We have a handful of projects we’re developing and one that’s getting closer and closer to the marketplace,” he says. “We’re also working with Richard Pryor’s daughter, Rain, and that could be a lot of fun.”
Not all of Lear’s recent projects have seen the light of day. NBC passed on “Guess Who Died?” a sitcom set at a retirement village; an animated Nickelodeon series, “Man of the House,” is on hold. “I don’t know where I can find some angry political humor in a sitcom,” Lear says. “And maybe if we’re in conversation a year from today [that show] will be coming from this office.”