but then he burst upon the public consciousness when he took on bigotry with his "all in the family." gilligan: norman lear and bud yorkin created absolutely iconic shows. shales: they revolutionized not only cbs, but all of american television. our world is coming crumbling down. the coons are coming. to use language like that on tv was just unheard of, but it really captured a certain moment. archie, 12% of the population is black. there should be a lot of black families living out here. yeah, this is only a beginning, but i think it's wonderful. well, let's see how wonderful it is when the watermelon rinds come flying out the window. it scared me when i first saw "all in the family" a little bit. i thought, "they better be careful." lear: there was no doubt in my mind the american people were gonna accept it. do you have a quick answer for the people who say the show reinforces bigotry, and you know that charge started from the very beginning? yes, my quick answer is no. everybody was gonna see something they knew damn well was going on, and i think that's surprising.