Writer-producer Norman Lear, who revolutionized American comedy with such daring and immensely popular early-‘70s sitcoms as “All in the Family” and “Sanford and Son,” died Dec. 5 in his home in Los Angeles. He was 101.

Lear’s shows were the first to address the serious political cultural and social flashpoints of the day — racism, abortion, homosexuality, the Vietnam War — by working new wrinkles into the standard domestic comedy formula. No subject was taboo. Their fresh outrageousness turned them into huge ratings successes. “Family” accounted for six spin-offs, was honored with four Emmys in 1971-73, and a 1977 Peabody Award for Lear “for giving us comedy with a social conscience.”

Some of Lear’s other creations played with TV conventions. “One Day at a Time” (1975-84) featured a single mother of two young girls, a new concept for a sitcom. “Diff’rent Strokes” (1978-86) followed the growing pains of two Black kids adopted by a wealthy white businessman.