An appreciation: How Norman Lear changed television — and with it American life — in the 1970s

In many American living rooms, the 1960s didn’t really begin until Jan. 12, 1971.

That was the night the comedy “All in the Family” debuted, almost instantly changing television and American society with it. Creator Norman Lear, who died at age 101 on Tuesday, was the man behind that transformation.

The series introduced the brash bigot Archie Bunker, his “dingbat” wife Edith, his feminist daughter Gloria and his liberal son-in-law Mike “Meathead” Stivic. From their house in the New York City borough of Queens, they co-existed loudly and watched the world spin uncontrollably.