The Jeffersons
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Jeffersons is an
American sitcom that was broadcast on
CBS from January 18, 1975, through June 25, 1985, lasting 11 seasons and a total of
253 episodes. The show was produced by the
T.A.T. Communications Company from 1975–1982 and by
Embassy Television from 1982-1985.
The Jeffersons is the longest-running comedy (or series of any genre) with a predominantly
African American cast in the history of American television.
[1] [1]
The show focused on
George and
Louise Jefferson, an
upper middle-class African American couple. The show was launched as the second
spin-off of
All in the Family, on which the Jeffersons had been the neighbors of
Archie and
Edith Bunker.
The show was the creation of prolific television producer
Norman Lear. However, unlike some of his other shows, it was less sharply political in tone and
The Jeffersons evolved into more of a traditional
sitcom, relying more on the characters' interactions with one another rather than explicitly political dialog or story-lines. It did, however, tackle a few serious topics including
racism,
suicide,
gun control and
adult illiteracy. Also, the words "
nigger" and "
honkey" were used occasionally, especially during the earlier seasons.
[citation needed]
The show had one
spin-off, titled
Checking In. The short lived series was centered around the Jeffersons' housekeeper, Florence.
Checking In only lasted four episodes, after which Florence returned to
The Jeffersons.
The show ended in controversy after CBS abruptly canceled the series without allowing for a proper
series finale. The cast were not informed until after the June 25, 1985, episode "Red Robins," and actor
Sherman Hemsley said he found out that the show was canceled by reading it in the newspaper.
[2] The cast later reunited in a stage-play based on the sitcom. In the series finale of
The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air in 1996 the Jeffersons made a guest appearance and bought the house from the Banks' family.
In 1985, Sherman Hemsley and Isabel Sanford made a special guest appearance as the Jeffersons in the TV comic show
Grand Hotel, where the Italian actors
Gigi Sammarchi,
Andrea Roncato,
Franco Franchi,
Ciccio Ingrassia,
Carmen Russo were starring in. They are guests in the hotel but just appeared twice during the show, for a total of five minutes. They were dubbed by their Italian voices,
Enzo Garinei (George) and
Isa di Marzio (Louise), which also dubbed their characters for the full series.
[edit] Series development
Before
Sherman Hemsley and
Isabel Sanford received their starring roles on
The Jeffersons, Isabel Sanford first appeared as
Louise Jefferson in the
All in the Family episode "
Lionel Moves Into the Neighborhood", which was broadcast on March 2, 1971,
as the series eighth episode, that focused on
Lionel,
George (who would not appear on the show until
1973) and Louise moving to a
working class section in
Queens.
Originally scripted in the series,
Norman Lear created the George Jefferson character for
Broadway veteran Sherman Hemsley, who was starring at the time in the Broadway musical,
Purlie. Lear made the decision to hold the George Jefferson character specifically for Hemsley. Lear created the character of
Henry Jefferson (played by
Mel Stewart), George's younger brother, and had Henry take George's place in
All in the Family scripts until
Purlie finished its run, making Hemsley available to join the cast.
The episode where George is introduced was the final appearance of Henry, and in the final minutes of that program, the two actors shared their one and only scene together. Sherman Hemsley, Isabel Sanford, and
Mike Evans kept making appearances until 1975, when Norman Lear gave them their own series. The roles of the
interracial family, Tom, Helen and Jenny, who had appeared on
All in the Family, were recast, with veteran actor
Franklin Cover as Tom,
Roxie Roker as Helen and
Berlinda Tolbert playing the role of
Jenny.
[edit] Synopsis
During the January 11, 1975 episode of
All in the Family,
Edith Bunker gave a tearful good-bye to her neighbor Louise Jefferson, as she and her husband George, and their son
Lionel, moved from a
working class section of
Queens into a luxury apartment in
Manhattan.
The Jeffersons premiered the following week, January 18, 1975, and 253 episodes were produced and aired during its 11-year run.
George's career as a dry-cleaner began in the first season of
All in the Family, in the episode "Oh, my Aching Back". After his car was rear-ended by a bus, he filed a civil action and won enough to open his first store. At the beginning of
The Jeffersons he was operating seven stores throughout
New York City. Louise made friends with
Tom and Helen Willis, an
interracial couple with two adult children of their own (whom George insultingly called "
zebras"): son
Allan (played by
Jay Hammer), an overzealous college drop-out who abandoned the family,
passed as
Caucasian and lived in
Paris for two years; and daughter Jenny, an aspiring
fashion designer. Jenny and Lionel became a couple, were married in December 1976, and later became the parents of a daughter, Jessica (played in later seasons by
Ebonie Smith).
[3] Lionel and Jenny experienced marital issues, and divorced in the winter of 1985.
Five-time
Emmy-nominee
Marla Gibbs portrayed the role of
Florence Johnston, the Jeffersons' back-talking, wisecracking, and devoutly religious
housekeeper. Florence often teased George, mostly about his short stature and receding hairline.
Paul Benedict arrived as Harry Bentley, a loyal, kind, friendly
British next-door neighbor, who worked as a Russian language
interpreter at the
United Nations. Bentley was written out at the end of the show's seventh season. A common sight-gag of the show was George slamming the door in Bentley's face mid-conversation. Bentley also had a bad back, and frequently enlisted George to walk on his back, since he was the same weight as a Japanese woman who had treated his back in that manner. He also became known for addressing the Jeffersons as "Mr. J" and "Mrs. J".
The series also stars
Zara Cully as
Olivia "Mother" Jefferson, who constantly disparaged Louise as not being a good wife. Cully, who had first appeared in the 1974
All in the Family episode, "Lionel's Engagement", reprised her role. She appeared regularly in the first season, but made sporadic appearances over the next two years and was written out in the third season (Cully died in 1978, from lung cancer; no episode was centered on Mother Jefferson's death.) Ned Wertimer played the doorman, Ralph Hart, throughout the series. Another character, often spoken about but rarely seen, was Mr. Whittendale, the building operator, played by Jack Fletcher.
[edit] Cast changes
Mike Evans ("Lionel") left the show after the first season; his replacement was
Damon Evans (no relation), who took over the role until partway through the fourth season. Damon Evans's last episode was "Lionel Gets the Business".
Mike Evans and Tolbert returned in the
1979–1980 season, with Tolbert's character, Jenny, written back into the series as being pregnant with a daughter named Jessica. However, Mike Evans only appeared for one more season, along with Tolbert.
The Jeffersons's sixth season peaked at #8 in the
summer of
1980.
The characters of Lionel and Jenny were written out by stating they had marital problems, the result of which became a two-part episode
storyline as the series'
eighth season premiere. The series' eighth season was the first African-American sitcom in years (since
Sanford and Son) to peak in the top 5 (the series' eighth season debuted at #3). Evans and Tolbert appeared in the two-part episode together; Evans also appeared in one episode during the series'
ninth season in
1982, and made his final appearance in two episodes in the series'
eleventh and final season. Berlinda Tolbert became a regular guest star throughout the rest of the series.
In the spring of
1981, Paul Benedict left the show for two seasons, returning in the final two seasons of the series. However, the ratings sank below the top 30, and
The Jeffersons aired its last episode, "Red Robins", on June 25, 1985.
[edit] Main cast
[edit] Supporting cast
[edit] Notable guest appearances
[edit] Episodes
The Jeffersons had many two part episodes, either over two consecutive weeks, or aired as an hour-long episode.
[edit] Production notes
[edit] Exterior Shot
- The building seen in the opening sequence is located at 185 East 85th Street in New York's Upper East Side.
[edit] Set design
- The balcony windows and doors were fitted with a special non-reflective material used in television to simulate real glass without the glare of studio lights. Most Norman Lear shows can be seen using this special effect.
- There was a hard-to-see, decorative entry fence that establishes the foyer.
- The picture on the Jeffersons' desk by the telephone changed in every episode. It alternated between shots of Louise, George, George and Louise together, Lionel, and Mother Jefferson.
- In early episodes, only Tom and Helen's kitchen and, in one or two episodes, their bedroom was shown. In later seasons, the Willis' living room and foyer were the only parts of their apartment that were featured.
- The blue flame stitch wallpaper that accented one wall in George and Louise's living room was actually leftover from the set re-decroation of The Young And The Restless which originally used the paper in the stairwell of the Brooks home in 1974.
[edit] Theme song
Ja'net Dubois (from
Good Times) and
Jeff Barry co-wrote
The Jeffersons's theme song, "Movin' on Up", which was sung by Dubois with a
gospel choir.
"Movin' on Up" found new life in the 1990s and 2000s in a number of
television commercials and other references: for example, in
Nelly's song "
Batter Up" (which featured Hemsley as a baseball stadium public address announcer) and in
Will Smith's song "Gettin' Jiggy Wit It" (
Now they give it to me nice and easy/Since I moved up like George and Weezie).
The song was also used in the
2006 film Garfield: A Tail of Two Kitties. This time, the song was sung by
Bill Murray who voices Garfield who joyfully sings about his new life in the palace. This version has different lyrics relating to Garfield's new life. The song is also referenced in the 2008 comedy
Tropic Thunder.
[edit] Studio tapings
[edit] Popularity
In its first season (
1974–75), the show ranked at number four, surpassed by its parent series
All in the Family (which landed at number one for the fifth year in a row). The show's
ratings for the following two seasons placed it in the Top 30, but during the
1977–78 and
1978–79 seasons (the show's fourth and fifth seasons), it fell out the top 30.
It returned to the Top 10 in
1979–80, and at the end of the
1981–82 season,
The Jeffersons finished third overall, only surpassed by fellow CBS series
Dallas and
60 Minutes. As a result, the series remained among the Top 20 for the next two seasons.
[edit] Nielsen Ratings
| Year | Rating |
| 1974–1975 | #4[4] |
| 1975–1976 | #21[5] |
| 1976–1977 | #24[6] |
| 1977–1978 | #56[7] |
| 1978–1979 | #49[8] |
| 1979–1980 | #8[9] |
| 1980–1981 | #6[10] |
| 1981–1982 | #3[11] |
| 1982–1983 | #12[12] |
| 1983–1984 | #19[13] |
| 1984–1985 | #56[14] |
[edit] Broadcast history
- January 1975 – August 1975, CBS, Saturday 8:30–9:00pm
- September 1975 – October 1976, CBS, Saturday 8:00–8:30pm
- November 1976 – January 1977, CBS, Wednesday 8:00–8:30pm
- January 1977 – August 1977, CBS, Monday 8:00–8:30pm
- September 1977 – March 1978, CBS, Saturday 9:00–9:30pm
- April 1978 – May 1978, CBS, Saturday 9:00–9:30pm
- June 1978 – September 1978, CBS, Monday 8:00–8:30pm
- September 1978 – January 1979, CBS, Wednesday 8:00–8:30pm
- January 1979 – March 1979, CBS, Wednesday 9:30–10:00pm
- March 1979 – June 1979, CBS, Wednesday 8:00–8:30pm
- June 1979 – September 1982, CBS, Sunday 9:30–10:00pm
- September 1982 – December 1984, CBS, Sunday 9:00–9:30pm
- January 1985 – March 1985, CBS, Tuesday 8:00–8:30pm
- April 1985 – June 1985, CBS, Tuesday 8:30–9:00pm
[edit] Awards and nomination
The Jeffersons received eleven
Emmy Award nominations during its time on the air. Sherman Hemsley and Marla Gibbs were nominated for Best Actor and Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series, respectively, each year from 1981 through 1985. Isabel Sanford was nominated for six consecutive Emmys, from 1979 until 1985. Her victory in 1981 made her the second African-American actress to win an Emmy Award;
Gail Fisher preceded her in 1970. Sanford was also the recipient of the five
Golden Globe Awards nominations the program also received.
[edit] DVD releases
Sony Pictures Home Entertainment has released the first six Seasons of
The Jeffersons on
DVD in
Region 1.
| DVD Name | Ep # | Release Date |
| The Complete First Season | 13 | August 6, 2002 |
| The Complete Second Season | 24 | May 13, 2003 |
| The Complete Third Season | 24 | April 12, 2005 |
| The Complete Fourth Season | 26 | October 11, 2005 |
| The Complete Fifth Season | 24 | August 15, 2006 |
| The Complete Sixth Season | 24 | March 27, 2007 |
[edit] References
- Newcomb, Horace (Ed.). (1997). Encyclopedia of Television. Fitzroy Dearborn Publishers: Chicago. ISBN 1-884964-26-5.
- Mitchell, Gordon Whitey. (2008). Hackensack to Hollywood-My Two Show Business Careers. BearManor Media: Albany. ISBN 1-59393121-2.
[edit] External links
