Many of America’s best sitcoms had Norman Lear’s hand behind them.
In fact, many of our favorite TV characters were created by Norman Lear.
Or, were they?
You may love The Jeffersons or The Evans family, and wonder how Norman Lear came up with these
fascinating characters.
Well, while Norman Lear did bring these great shows to life, he wasn’t the genius behind
these characters.
There’s an unsung hero who helped create many of our favorite TV characters.
He wanted American audiences to see black heroes on screen and he never got the credit
he was due.
In fact, he ended up suing Norman Lear over Good Times.
But how exactly did this whole fiasco get started?
NORMAN LEAR’S CAREER
There’s no doubt that Norman Lear is a genius.
He helped create some of the best American sitcoms of all time.
He began his career as a comedy writer in the 1950s and flourished throughout the 1960s.
By the time the 70s came about, he now had the power to create his own shows.
Among the shows he created were All in the Family, Maude, The Jeffersons, and Good Times
– to name a few.
These sitcoms were instrumental in giving opportunities to black talent.
These shows were the first time that American audiences could see the black American experience
without the usual slapstick and degrading performances of characters such as Steppin’
Fetchit or Amos n Andy.
All in the Family and Maude mostly featured white cast members.
But it was on these shows that we first got introduced to George and Louise Jefferson
as well as Florida and James Evans.
We then saw these characters on their own shows, The Jeffersons and Good Times.
To this day, Norman Lear is remembered for his incredible contributions to these shows.
To this day, we’re grateful to Norman for introducing us to such wonderful characters.
He’s also been credited for creating opportunities for black American actors that didn’t exist
before.
But…there’s more to this story.
There is actually another person whom we should thank for these characters and their shows.
There’s someone who didn’t get the credit he deserved.
He felt he had been pushed around, and decided to sue Norman Lear…
Before we tell you more about why Norman Lear was sued over Good Times, please like this
video and subscribe to our channel for more current news and interesting stories.
Now, back to the video…
ERIC MONTE
In the 1960s, a young man named Kenneth Williams dropped out of his Chicago high school – Cooley
Vocational High School.
He enlisted in the US Army but didn’t last too long.
He had an insatiable thirst to tell stories and he had a rebellious spirit – feeling
he could accomplish anything with his talents.
He hitchhiked to Hollywood – the entire journey taking him 2 years!
On his way to Hollywood, he carried a dream.
He wanted to be a writer, despite not having any formal training.
He grew up watching popular American TV shows, particularly Westerns.
He was also an avid reader.
While he loved the characters on TV and in novels, he realized that there weren’t any
black heroes for him to look up to.
He decided he was going to create such characters.
Kenneth adopted the pseudonym Eric Monte and was determined to become a film and television
writer.
He managed to land a gig writing 1 script for Norman Lear’s hit sitcom All in the
Family.
To this day, it’s a bit of a mystery which episode Eric contributed to as he didn’t
receive credit for his work.
However, Eric Monte has claimed that he is the creator of George and Louise Jefferson
who first made their debut on All in the Family.
These memorable characters were then given their own sitcom, The Jeffersons.
Eric Monte also created the characters Florida and James Evans and their children – who
then had their own sitcom Good Times.
Apart from his work on Good Times, he also wrote the screenplay for The Nine Lives of
Fritz the Cat as well as an episode of the UK sitcom The Fosters.
His best-known work was the screenplay for the 1975 film Cooley High – based on his
own school experiences.
This film became the basis of the 1970s sitcom, What’s Happennin’.
So far, it seems that Eric Monte has had it good.
But there’s a darker side to the story…
BAD TIMES WITH GOOD TIMES
While Eric Monte is credited as the creator of Good Times and wrote several of the show’s
episodes, he still had many challenges working on the show.
The show's producer was Norman Lear, and it was he who held the reins!
Eric Monte often had arguments with Norman Lear about the direction of the show.
Esther Rolle and John Amos who played Florida and James Evans would often side with Eric
in these battles.
The trio didn’t like how many of the white writers depicted some of the black characters,
particularly Jimmie Walker’s character JJ.
They felt that the characters were stereotypical and presented negative images of black Americans.
But Norman Lear wasn’t having it.
Part of the reason why the character of James Evans was killed off in the show was because
John Amos was fired due to his demand to play a dignified character.
Eric Monte has unabashedly claimed that Norman Lear is a racist and felt that many episodes
of Good Times didn’t portray black Americans the way he wanted to show them!
Eric Monte was still seen as a talented writer.
However, just because someone is appreciated doesn’t mean that they’ll get treated
with respect.
Eric Monte never received credit for creating the Jeffersons characters or for inspiring
the TV show.
He also didn’t get paid residuals for the characters he created on Good Times.
While he was credited for writing Cooley High which inspired What’s Happennin’ – he
once again didn’t receive remuneration.
He decided to sue Norman Lear.
He also sued Bud Yorkin who produced What’s Happenin’ – accusing them of stealing
his ideas and not compensating.
He won a $1 million lawsuit.
While this was a victory, it was a short-lived one.
Eric Monte was blacklisted after this lawsuit and struggled to find regular work as a writer…
NORMAN LEAR’S LEGACY
The lawsuit was just a mere blip in Norman Lear’s incredibly successful career.
He’s now in his late 90s and is still remembered as one of the most important figures in the
American television industry.
He was the subject of a documentary entitled Norman Lear: Just Another Version of You.
In the documentary, he revealed that there was a story he used to tell, about his grandfather
that was a total fabrication.
He used to tell a story about how his grandfather wrote letters to the American President and
received responses back.
However, he revealed that it was actually his friend’s grandfather who wrote such
letters.
Director Heidi Ewing stated that Norman “likes to spin a yarn.”
While this particular anecdote may have been in jest, many of us wish that he had given
Eric Monte the proper credit he deserved.
Norman Lear deserves his success and has helped create some of America’s best sitcoms.
But Eric Monte remains an unsung hero and this isn’t fair…
WHAT’S ERIC MONTE UP TO TODAY?
Eric’s work after the lawsuit was sporadic.
He contributed to the script for the episode “Thy Brother’s Keeper” for the sitcom
Benson.
He also wrote the episode “Pop Gets Evicted” for The Wayans Brothers and wrote “That’s
My Mama” for the drama series Moesha.
He wasn’t proud of this latter script and felt it was his worst piece of writing.
Since 2001, he hasn’t been credited for any television or film scripts.
In fact, his life hasn’t been easy during the past few decades.
He had a drug habit and had to attend rehab to fight it.
He was living in a homeless shelter in California for several years.
But, despite these harrowing events, Eric Monte remains optimistic and feels he’s
lived a great life.
Best of all, he hasn’t stopped writing.
He wrote a novel called A Prophet Ranaway which was published in 2009.
It told the story of Nat Turner who led a rebellion amongst American slaves in the 1800s.
In 2016, he self-published a book called Blueprint for Peace.
In the book, he outlined his plan to prevent wars and reduce crime rates.
He also called for the abolishment of taxation in the book.
These books are widely available today and have become popular among fans of Mr. Monte’s
writing.
In recent years he’s given more interviews where he reflects on his career and his unfortunate
experiences working with Norman Lear.
Nevertheless, he remains an inspiration for many upcoming artists.
Many fans love the characters he created, and he’s still remembered for writing Cooley
High – which is considered one of the best films about the black American experience.
We can hope that Eric Monte will garner more attention in the coming years.
We can also hope that we’ll see a new TV show or film based on his writings.
While he didn’t get the credit, he was due, there are many upcoming artists who’ll continue
to be inspired by his work.
And if you loved 1970s American sitcoms, then you’ve probably got Eric Monte to thank…
Are you a fan of any of the hit sitcoms we discussed in this video?
Do you think that writers such as Eric Monte is finally getting his due?
Or do you think that we need to promote his incredible work so that he no longer remains
an unsung hero?
Let’s hear your thoughts in the comments.
If you liked this story, hit the 'like' button and be sure to Subscribe to FactsVerse for
more great stories!
Hit the bell icon to receive regular notifications!
We’ll see you in the next video!