Norman Lear was still active in developing television shows at age 101.
The television icon, who passed away Dec. 5 of natural causes, was in recent weeks working on his TV slate, including redeveloping a reboot of Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman after TBS exited the scripted originals business and the cable network released the project, sources tell The Hollywood Reporter.
“He loved the slate and was excited to bring it to the world,” a source close to Lear says.
Schitt’s Creek alum Emily Hampshire remains attached to take on the role originally played by Louise Lasser as well as co-write and exec produce the live-action update. The comedy landed at TBS on Lear’s 99th birthday on July 27, 2021, after months in development at Sony Pictures Television, where Lear and Brent Miller’s Act III Productions remains based with an active overall deal.
Sony acquired rights to Lear’s TV library via its 1985 acquisition of the producer’s Embassy Communications and has since updated One Day at a Time for Netflix/Pop while also developing other titles. As of press time, Lear’s overall deal at Sony remains active with several projects in the works that will carry Lear’s name with them.
Netflix is still readying an animated update of Lear’s beloved comedy Good Times with mega-producer Seth MacFarlane and NBA star Steph Curry attached to exec produce alongside creator Carl Jones (The Boondocks). A new showrunner is expected to be announced after the show landed at the streamer in September 2020. Netflix also went straight to series on The Corps, a gay teen who enlists in the Marines, based on a memoir by Greg Cope White with Miles Heizer (Parenthood) set to star in the drama from Lear, Sony and showrunner Andy Parker.
At Amazon’s ad-supported Freevee, the streamer picked up Clean Slate, a comedy about an old-school car wash owner played by George Wallace who reunites with his estranged child (Laverne Cox). Lear is attached as an exec producer alongside writer Dan Ewen, who developed the show alongside Cox and Wallace. The streamer is also poised to make a decision in the new year about a Who’s the Boss sequel featuring original stars Tony Danza and Alyssa Milano from One Day at a Time grads Mike Royce and Brigitte Muñoz-Liebowitz that has Lear attached though the show was not originally produced by the comedy mastermind.
ABC, meanwhile, aired three different Live in Front of a Studio Audience specials that paid tribute to some of Lear’s most beloved shows and episodes. The Emmy-winning franchise, which was steered by Jimmy Kimmel and Lear, last aired in 2021. Miller has been vocal about a desire to do a fourth live special for ABC, featuring Maude. It’s unclear if ABC will do another special but the network, sources say, remains open to the idea.
Dec. 6, 5:15 pm Updated to clarify the timing of when Lear was involved in the development of Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman.
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