Even when a group of people starts with the best intentions, it's difficult to maintain a long-term collaborative relationship. People have different personalities, and as those traits interweave, sometimes characteristics clash. What once power through contrast quickly devolves into turmoil. The differences that initially sparked creation have turned everybody against each other. 

Television production is a space where egos clash in the highest of profiles. TV can be an expensive endeavor, even outside of superstar salaries. Union positions run a costly clock, and each decision has to be carefully weighed to determine time and price. So when the process is halted for further discussion, the network can burn through some serious dough.

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All this pressure makes for some difficult backstage interactions, even in the most beloved shows of all time. A recent biography exposed just how severely things could go off the rails during Norman Lear's biggest shows, like All in the Family and Good Times. Lear was the most in-demand producer in television history, and as he spread himself thin, it put a strain on his relationships with actors on set.

Tripp Whetsall, author of Norman Lear: His Life and Times, said that Carroll O'Connor and Norman Lear "had a very difficult, contemptuous relationship." In a 2024 interview with Cracked, Whetsall stated that the issues could arise in a one-sided fashion. "It was much more Carroll than Norman," said Whetsall. "Carroll was carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders with Archie Bunker." 

The enormous burden of leading America's biggest sitcom made O'Connor very particular about his lines.

In his book, Whetsall quotes O'Connor, saying Lear's "idea of comedy, I think is at a variance with mine. We've disagreed over material from the beginning of the show over what made naturalistic comedy. I had one idea, and he had another. But my ideas prevailed."

Good Times became a contentious workplace as well. While the show was conceived of as a realistic series about the struggles of a Black family in Chicago, it became a catchphrase-heavy crowd-pleaser. The show's lead, John Amos, understood that ratings were important, but felt that Lear had sacrificed what made Good Times special.

"I looked at it objectively and said, 'I can see that [Jimmy Walker] is comic relief," Amos said in Whetsall's book. "We do a lot of serious issues on the show, and people don't want to get beat over the head when they turn on the boob tube.

"But then too much emphasis was being put on him and the balance was lost on the rest of us."

Amos wasn't happy with the way Good Times regressed. To him, the storylines never lived up to the show's potential, describing the writing as "intolerable." When Amos made his opinion heard one too many times, Lear fired him before the show's third season.

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