• by Adam Buckman , Featured Columnist, December 27, 2023

What more can one say about Norman Lear that was not said on the day he died -- December 5 -- and in the days of tributes afterward?

He was the driving force behind a group of sitcoms that helped define television in the 1970s while also encapsulating the era’s social upheavals -- “All in the Family,” “Maude,” “Good Times,” “The Jeffersons” and “One Day at a Time.”

He was one of the very few producers and creators in television history to become a household name, partly due to his longevity. When he died, he was 101.

For reasons that are obvious, Lear takes the lead position in the TV Blog’s annual year-end farewell to the TV legends we lost in 2023. 

Game-show host and acclaimed animal activist Bob Barker was 99 when he died on August 26. He was also a household name, based mainly on two game shows he hosted for a total of 54 years -- “Truth or Consequences” (1956-75) and “The Price is Right” (1972-2007).

Matthew Perry’s death on October 23 at age 54 shocked us all. What can one say about the impact of this man on the popular culture? 

In the role of Chandler Bing on “Friends,” he was a member of one of the most storied and beloved acting ensembles in the history of television. There were six friends, and now there are five. When he died, a generation mourned.

Although Paul Reubens became associated with just one show, he was a creative superstar. His “Pee Wee’s Playhouse” ran on Saturday mornings on CBS from 1986 to 1990, and accomplished the neat, difficult trick of appealing to kids and adults. 

Paul Reubens, who was 70 when he died July 30, was more than the creator of a TV show. He was an artist, and the show he created was a work of art.

From the world of TV sitcoms, we lost Cindy Williams, unforgettable in the role of Shirley Feeney on “Laverne & Shirley,” one of TV’s best-remembered shows.

We also lost Suzanne Somers, who shot to fame as ditzy Chrissie on “Three’s Company,” and later made millions as a health and wellness entrepreneur. 

In 2014, she was inducted into the Infomercial Hall of Fame for her work as spokesperson for the exercise apparatus known as the Thighmaster, a product that made her at least as famous as playing Chrissie.

Although this is an oversimplification to say, Jerry Springer made TV history basically by showing up. 

If that was not necessarily true, it was the image he himself cultivated -- that of the nebbish bystander who stood well outside the melees that broke out daily on the stage of his talk show.

He was one of the most fascinating TV personalities of his era, and also a great guy to know. He died on April 27 at age 79.

Andre Braugher’s death at age 61 on December 11 revived memories of this consummate actor’s electrifying scenes in “Homicide: Life On The Street.” 

He was Det. Frank Pembleton, the Baltimore PD’s master interrogator. Braugher was a master too.

David McCallum will be forever remembered for TV roles spanning two separate generations. For many, he will always be Illya Kuryakin, the Russian secret agent in “The Man From U.N.C.L.E.” (1964-68).

And for many others, he will be remembered as Dr. Donald “Ducky” Mallard for 20 years on “NCIS” (2003-23).

So many other faces from the long history of television left us in 2023, including child stars Adam Rich (“Eight Is Enough”), Lance Kerwin (“James at 15”), and Lisa Loring, unforgettable as Wednesday on “The Addams Family.”

The death of “Everwood” star Treat Williams in a motorcycle accident was shocking, sad news. Also gone this year from “Everwood”: the great John Beasley.

From the television shows of decades past, we lost Phyllis Coates (“Adventures of Superman”), Robert Blake (“Baretta,” “Our Gang”), Charles Kimbrough (“Murphy Brown”), George Maharis (“Route 66”), Richard Belzer (“Law & Order: Special Victims Unit,” “Homicide: Life On the Street”) and Mark Goddard (“Lost in Space”).

We will not soon forget Richard Moll (“Night Court”), Ryan O’Neal (“Peyton Place”), Richard Roundtree (“Roots”), Lance Reddick (“The Wire”), Mark Margolis (“Oz”), Ron Cephus Jones (“This Is Us,” “Mr. Robot”), and Burt Young and Suzanne Shepherd from “The Sopranos.”

They were all part of our collective TV memories, but special farewells are owed to acting greats Alan Arkin (“The Kominsky Method”), Michael Gambon (“The Singing Detective”), Frances Sternhagen and Glenda Jackson.

Sternhagen made countless TV appearances for 54 years -- 1956-2012. Jackson’s television career was even longer, 62 years -- 1957 to 2019.

We will never forget the incomparable Len Goodman, master commentator on the art of ballroom dancing on “Dancing With The Stars.”

The great Barry Humphries will not soon be forgotten either. His performances in drag as the flamboyant Dame Edna Everage were a television staple from the late 1970s to the early ’00s.

The world of afternoon soaps lost Jaclyn Zeman (“General Hospital”), Tyler Christopher (“General Hospital,” “Days Of Our Lives”) and Peter White (“All My Children”).

From the world of TV news, we say good-bye to network correspondent Bernard Kalb, who lived to be 100, and network producer David Bohrman.

From local TV news, New Yorkers remember brash reporter Arnold Diaz, known for his “Shame On You” investigative reports; health and medical reporter Dr. Max Gomez; long-time anchorman John Roland; and probably the best-known weatherman in the history of New York local news, Dr. Frank Field, dead this year at 100.

New York also lost radio disc jockey Bob Shannon. Philadelphia radio said good-bye to Top 40 DJ Jerry Blavat, renowned as “the boss with the hot sauce.” 

Author John Jakes died this year. He wrote “North and South,” a trilogy of Civil War novels that were all made into television miniseries. He was 90 when he died last March.

Newton Minow was the FCC chairman who coined one of TV’s most enduring phrases when he described the TV of 1961 as “a vast wasteland.” 

Christian Broadcasting Network founder Pat Robertson’s TV career spanned 60 years. He founded CBN in 1960 and launched its flagship show, “The 700 Club,” in 1966. The show is still on.

In 2023, we said farewell to PBS political satirist Mark Russell, “Hee Haw’s” Buck Trent, TV executive Ed Bleier, and voice artist Johnny Hardwick, the voice behind one of animated TV’s most unforgettable characters, Dale Gribble in “King of the Hill.”

And finally, the TV Blog tips its hat to the greatest of all TV critics, Marvin Kitman. 

For 36 years -- 1969 to 2005 -- he plied his trade at one newspaper, Long Island’s "Newsday." Everything he wrote was on the money and supremely entertaining.

He was, quite simply, the most gifted writer in the craft of producing TV columns who has ever lived. Good-bye, Marvin, it was an honor to know you.

Photos: top (l-r): Matthew Perry, Norman Lear, Bob Barker, Paul Reubens. Bottom (l-r): Cindy Williams, Suzanne Somers, Jerry Springer, Andre Braugher.