NBC Orders Norman Lear Comedy ‘Guess Who Died’

Legendary sitcom producer Norman Lear, the creator of “All in the Family,” “Sanford and Son,” “Maude,” “Good Times” and “One Day at a Time,” among others, has a new sitcom on the horizon: “Guess Who Died” for NBC. The proposed series, which was ordered to pilot by the Peacock net and is inspired by 95 year-old Lear, is described as a humorous and inspiring look at the shared joys and challenges we all experience at any stage of life. It is based on Lear’s personal experiences and will be told in partnership with Peter Tolan’s (“Rescue Me,” “Murphy Brown,” The Larry Sanders Show”) authentic and irreverent voice.

Lear, one of this year’s Kennedy Center honorees, and Tolan will executive produce via their production companies, Act III Productions and The Cloudland Company, respectively, alongside Lear’s associate Brent Miller.

“The right people read it, the right people thought it’s funny, but the right people said it’s not our demographic,” said Lear in a recent documentary, lamenting TV networks’ obsession with younger demos. “I wrote it because we are so underrepresented.”

No casting for “Guess Who Died” has been announced yet.