I saw Abbey’s pop culture reference and was instantly reminded of something I saw last night. Wednesday night, Jimmy Kimmel and Norman Lear restaged episodes of both “All in the Family” and “The Jeffersons,” two tv shows from the 70s, in front of a live audience. These shows were known to push boundaries at the time (some of which we still push against today) and poked fun at some of the more conservative characters. Before the broadcast started, they mentioned that the script was kept entirely accurate and remained identical to the one performed at the time the episode was released. That said, they made adjustments by bleeping out language that we no longer consider politically correct. I was only able to watch the first one, “All in the Family,” but one of the topics that came up was having a woman president, something we have still yet to achieve. 44 years later. Initially, I felt disappointed that so many of the issues we faced in 1975 we are still dealing with today. However, earlier today, I read an NPR article about the broadcast that addressed my concerns. While some of the issues are the same, the need (which I fully support) to bleep out the n-word in a character’s line does show advancement. When the script was written, there was no regard for the language used. As NPR wrote, “back in the 1970s, network TV — the medium of the masses — didn't seem to care much whether anyone was put off by one of the worst racial slurs in our nation's history. Changing that attitude sounds like a good thing.” I agree. Maybe we haven’t achieved some important things, but that shouldn't distract us from acknowledging all of the things that have changed. As a society, we are so focused on what there is to be done (and I know there’s plenty) that we never take the time to note what has changed. Both restaged episodes are entirely ABC sponsored and if they broadcast this again, which I believe they are planning to do, I would highly recommend!Â
