Lear’s comedies were about more than laughs

In the new documentary about Norman Lear, an admiring fellow TV producer offers an opinion that’s hard to argue with — that the history of television divides into two eras, B.L. and A.L., “before Lear” and “after Lear.”

Just Another Version of You makes a compelling case that, by merging contemporary political, racial and gender issues with television’s traditionally middle-of-the-road sitcom genre, producer Lear paved the way for the likes of “Saturday Night Live” and Jon Stewart (who is seen in this film paying homage to the master).

The nation was more than ready for a radical revision of its viewing fare — the documentary asserts that at one time Lear was responsible for six of TV’s top 10 shows.

[...] the movie is by no means an attempt at a complete biography, nor does it make any pretense to journalistic objectivity.

The basic set-up is a situation comedy at its most fundamental — a working-class man from Queens, N.Y., interacts with his family and neighbors.

[...] Archie’s son-in-law is a die-hard liberal, and the next-door neighbors are black, while left-of-center ideas enrage Archie, who laces his speech with ethnic and racial epithets.

To its credit, the movie gives actor Carroll O’Connor his due for his portrayal of Archie, which was arguably as important as the scripts in making the show what it was.

The film briefly looks at his post-TV activism and founding of the group People for the American Way, “dedicated to making the promise of America real for every American,” but the movie’s heart is its depiction of Lear’s great 1970s string of hit shows that also included “The Jeffersons,” “Maude” and “Good Times.”