Norman Lear Brings His "All in the Family" Touch to the Movies -- And Loses

As I recall, Cold Turkey the movie was released around the same time as All in the Family. Both had the same creative mind behind them -- Norman Lear. It was early in the 70's and Lear was staking his claim to a new type of sitcom on TV -- very political (from a liberal bent, but with an eye to making fun of "Meathead" types too), very coarse, and populated with some very weird looking people.

This all worked spectacularly well on 70's TV -- Lear parlayed All in the Family as a spin-off machine that brought us The Jeffersons and Maude -- but his one real attempt to do the same thing at movies? A bust.

"Cold Turkey" mixed some "new" weird looking guys who would become Lear staples -- Paul Benedict and Graham Jarvis -- with some classic 50s/60s weird looking guys -- Tom Poston and Bob and Ray -- and mixed them all up for rough-edged satire and...

...it didn't really work. The small screen could handle all that weirdness and coarseness, but on the big screen, movie length -- well, this didn't go down as one of the great comedies of all time. And Lear was revealed -- as TV talents sometimes are -- as not really equipped to handle a movie plot, start to finish.

"Cold Turkey" isn't a bad movie, its just not much OF a movie...which makes it all the more surprising that even as this was failing at the box office, Lear was about to take over 70's sitcoms.

Along with the more urbane Mary Tyler Moore productions. The Mary Tyler Moore show, too, spun out the spin-offs -- Rhoda and Phyllis -- and...

...and with new characters from the same producers: The Bob Newhart Show.

And whaddya know? Bob Newhart is in Cold Turkey, too. Not well served by Norman Lear's broad comedy and an overactive role. MTM found Newhart's deadpan and kept him there.

Ah...the 70's....a lifetime ago. All gone now, most of these people and their comedy.