How Rob Reiner Helped TV Grow Up

Rob Reiner had much in common with Mike Stivic, the ardent young liberal he played on “All in the Family,” producer Norman Lear’s landmark 1970s situation comedy.

Like Mike, Reiner was effusive, emotional, deeply committed to liberal causes, prone to talking with his hands, and often loud. Even at the height of Reiner’s success as a Hollywood director, when he would arrive at a social or political event, “I don’t ever remember feeling like ‘oh, the great auteur has entered the room … aloof and ethereal and in their head,’” said Lara Bergthold, a Los Angeles communications consultant who worked closely with Reiner during her many years as Lear’s political adviser. “Rob was warm and fuzzy and huggy.”