It Was a Thing on TV: Episodes 291 & 292 - Norman Lear 100th Birthday Celebration

This week, we're celebrating Norman Lear's 100th birthday by looking at two of his less successful shows.  We start with Lear's adaptation of a play about a seedy hotel with even seedier residents, Hot l Baltimore.  Most of the players were relative newcomers, and three went on to much greater success in the decades that followed.

 

Next, we continue with possibly Norman's most obscure series, airing for just 5 episodes in 1977.  A Year at the Top followed the Faustian formula of selling one's soul to the devil for instant success.  Audiences gave it a month at the bottom of the ratings.

 

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Timestamps

1:47 - Hot L Baltimore

45:37 - A Year at the Top