The feud between the generations was a popular TV theme in the 1970s, and now the interactions and frictions between Gen Z, Gen X, millennials and boomers are all over our screens once again. Why does the generation gap continue to make us laugh – and can the laughter help to heal the rift?
More than 50 years ago, television producer Norman Lear did something radical: he created a sitcom that held up a mirror to the US’s yawning generation gap, All in the Family.
This groundbreaking 1971 show tackled bitterly contentious issues of the day – racism, women’s rights, and the Vietnam War – in a manner that was both humorous and relatable. For five years, All in the Family was the most-watched programme on television.
Every week, more than 40 million viewers tuned in to watch a bigoted blue-collar Greatest Generation veteran, Archie Bunker (Carroll O’Connor), wrangle over questions of right and wrong with his shaggy-haired son-in-law, Michael “Meathead” Stivic (Rob Reiner), a baby boomer.
Today, when the intergenerational divide is arguably wider and deeper than during the 1970s, TV producers appear eager to emulate Lear, and meet the moment with shows illuminating the clash between the old and the young. And what better setting than a college campus, a place where the generations naturally face off?
