Norman Lear, a titan of television, died at the age of 101 on December 5 surrounded by family. He leaves behind not only a lasting legacy of on-screen delights, but also a string of upcoming projects, one of them reportedly being a voiceover cameo in the upcoming Netflix animated take on his beloved sitcom Good Times.
The original series starred Esther Rolle, John Amos, Jimmie Walker, and Ja’net DuBois. The sitcom followed Rolle’s Florida Evans as she raised her family in a Chicago apartment building. The new animated series was green-lit by Netflix in 2020 with basketball star Steph Curry and Seth MacFarlane‘s respective production companies attached in addition to Lear’s Act III Prods.
According to Deadline, the animated Good Times follows a new generation of the Evans family living in one of the last housing projects still standing in Chicago. Lear reportedly recorded a voiceover cameo for the series, which is said to be eyeing a 2024 release date.
Netflix and Sony Picture Television are teaming up on the new series. Lear had an active production deal with Sony TV at the time of his death. More projects, like the marine dramedy The Corps starring Vera Farmiga, are in the pipeline as well.
When it premiered in February 1974, Good Times became the first TV show to star two African American parents as the main characters. It was created by Lear, Mike Evans, and Eric Monte and ran for six seasons. Like several Lear shows, Good Times was a spinoff of the series Maude, which was a spinoff of All in the Family.
With his long list of hit TV shows, Lear changed the television landscape forever, giving representation to demographics that seldom had it before. He died in his Los Angeles home, but a specific cause of death has not yet been revealed.
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