| The Jeffersons | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Genre | Sitcom |
| Created by | |
| Developed by | Norman Lear |
| Directed by |
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| Starring | |
| Theme music composer | Jeff Barry Ja'Net DuBois |
| Opening theme | "Movin' On Up" performed byJa'Net DuBois |
| Composer | Don Great |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language | English |
| No. of seasons | 11 |
| No. of episodes | 253(list of episodes) |
| Production | |
| Executive producers |
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| Producers |
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| Production locations |
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| Camera setup | Multi-camera |
| Running time | 22–24 minutes |
| Production companies |
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| Original release | |
| Network | CBS |
| Release | January 18, 1975 (1975-01-18) – July 2, 1985 (1985-07-02) |
| Related | |
The Jeffersons is an Americansitcom television series created byNorman Lear, which aired onCBS from January 18, 1975, to July 2, 1985, lastingeleven seasons and 253 total episodes. StarringIsabel Sanford andSherman Hemsley, the show revolved around aprosperous African-American couple who live in ahigh-rise apartment inManhattan, New York City. The show is a spin-off ofAll in the Family, on which the Jeffersons had been the neighbors of the Bunkers.
The show focuses onGeorge andLouise Jefferson, aprosperous black couple who have been able to move fromQueens toManhattan owing to the success of George'sdry-cleaning chain, Jefferson Cleaners. The show was launched as the second (and longest running)spin-off ofAll in the Family (afterMaude), on which the Jeffersons had been the neighbors ofArchie andEdith Bunker.[1][2] The show was the creation ofNorman Lear.[1][3]The Jeffersons eventually evolved into more of a traditionalsitcom, but episodes occasionally focused on serious issues such asalcoholism,racism,suicide,gun control, beingtransgender, theKKK, and adultilliteracy. The epithetsnigger andhonky were used occasionally, especially during the earlier seasons.[4][5]
The Jeffersons had onespin-off, titledChecking In. The series was centered on the Jeffersons' housekeeper, Florence, who takes a job as cleaning management at a hotel.[6]Checking In lasted only four episodes, after which Florence returned toThe Jeffersons with the story that the hotel had burned down in a fire.[7]The Jeffersons also shared continuity with the sitcomE/R, which featuredLynne Moody, who made a guest appearance in one episode ofThe Jeffersons.[8] Sherman Hemsley guest-starred as George in two episodes of the series, which lasted for one season.[9] The cancellation ofThe Jeffersons cleared the way for Marla Gibbs, who played Florence Johnston on the series, to move on to theNBC sitcom227 in the fall of 1985, a year earlier than scheduled.
The Jeffersons ended in controversy after CBS abruptly canceled the series without allowing for a properseries finale. The cast was not informed until after the July 2, 1985, episode, "Red Robins"; actorSherman Hemsley, who portrayed George Jefferson, said he learned that the show was canceled by reading it in the newspaper.[10]Isabel Sanford (Louise Jefferson), who heard about the cancellation through her cousin who read it in the tabloids, publicly stated that she found the cancellation with no proper finale to be disrespectful on the network's part.[11] Per an article in the May 8, 1985,Los Angeles Times, the series was cancelled by announcement at the CBS network "upfront" presentation the day before, nearly two months before the airing of the final episode. ActorFranklin Cover, who played Tom Willis, also heard about the cancellation while watchingEntertainment Tonight.
The cast reunited in a stage play based on the sitcom.[12] In season 5 episode 17 ofThe Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, titled "Will Is from Mars" (1995), the Jeffersons made a guest appearance as a couple in therapy class. In the 1996 series finale ofThe Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, the Jeffersons made a guest appearance as the buyers of the Banks family house.[13] In an episode ofTyler Perry's House of Payne in 2011,Sherman Hemsley andMarla Gibbs reprised their roles of George Jefferson and Florence Johnston.[14]
In 1985, Hemsley and Sanford (who was older than her TV husband by 21 years) made a special joint guest appearance in theCanale 5 comedy showGrand Hotel as the Jeffersons, acting with Italian actorsPaolo Villaggio, the comic duoFranco &Ciccio, andCarmen Russo.[15][16] They were guests in the fictional hotel and their voices were dubbed by Italian actorsEnzo Garinei (George) and Isa di Marzio (Louise), who also dubbed their characters for the full series. As of 2023[update], the members still alive from the main cast include Marla Gibbs, Berlinda Tolbert, Damon Evans, and Jay Hammer.[17]
Louise Jefferson, played byIsabel Sanford, first appeared in theAll in the Family episode "Lionel Moves Into the Neighborhood", which was broadcast on March 2, 1971. The episode,the eighth of the series, centers on Louise, her sonLionel, and her husbandGeorge moving next door toArchie andEdith Bunker in the working-class section ofQueens.[4] Lionel, played byMike Evans, first appeared in "Meet the Bunkers", the premiere episode ofAll in the Family.[4]
Norman Lear created the character of George Jefferson specifically for Hemsley. Lear originally intended for George to appear in the first season of the series, but Hemsley was starring in the Broadway musicalPurlie at the time, and Lear decided to postpone introduction of the character until Hemsley was available. Lear created the character ofHenry Jefferson, George's younger brother, who was portrayed byMel Stewart which replaced George with Henry in the series's scripts untilPurlie finished its run.[4][18]Denzel Washington auditioned for an unspecified role, but his agent convinced him not to do it.[19] Henry played as George when Louise felt embarrassed that George did not want to be in Archie Bunker's house due to prejudice. George was introduced in the episode "Henry's Farewell", and Hemsley and Stewart share their only scene together in its final minutes. The episode marked the final appearance of Henry throughout the series.
The idea of the Jeffersons "moving on up" came after three members of theBlack Panthers who were fans of Lear's productions visited Lear's CBS office, raising issues with the creator over the portrayal of Black people on television, including hisMaude spin-off seriesGood Times. "Every time you see a Black man on the tube, he is dirt poor, wears shit clothes, can't afford nothing," Lear recalled in his autobiography.[20] Lear consulted with his associateAl Burton on the concept.
George, Louise, and Lionel continued to appear onAll in the Family until 1975, when the spin-offThe Jeffersons, also created by Lear, premiered.[6] The characters of Lionel's multiracial fiancée,Jenny, and her family, all of whom first appeared in the 1974All in the Family episode "Lionel's Engagement", were also written into the new series.[21] However, the roles were all recast, withBerlinda Tolbert taking over the role of Jenny, veteran actorFranklin Cover playing her father, Tom Willis, whose first name was changed from Louis, as it was in their firstAll in the Family appearance, andRoxie Roker as her mother, Helen. Roker was asked during a casting interview if she would be comfortable with her character having a white husband. In response she showed a picture of her husband, Sy Kravitz, who was white.
During the January 11, 1975 episode ofAll in the Family, titled "The Jeffersons Move Up",Edith Bunker gave a tearful good-bye to her neighborLouise Jefferson as her husband George, their sonLionel, and she moved from a working-class section of Queens, New York, into the luxurious Colby East, a fictionalhigh-rise apartment complex on East 63rd Street on theUpper East Side ofManhattan.[22]The Jeffersons premiered the following week, on January 18, 1975.[6]
George's career as a dry-cleaner began in the first season ofAll in the Family in the third episode "Archie's Aching Back" (though the character himself did not appear on-camera). After his car was rear-ended by a bus, he filed a civil action and won $5000, enough to open his first store in Queens.[18] At the beginning ofThe Jeffersons, he was operating five stores throughout New York City, with another two opening during the following seasons.
Louise made friends withTom and Helen Willis, an interracial couple with two adult children of their own[6] (whom George derided as "zebras"):[13][23] sonAllan (played byAndrew Rubin in the first-season finale, and byJay Hammer throughout season 5), awhite-passing college drop-out; and daughter Jenny, an aspiringfashion designer. Jenny and Lionel became a couple, married on December 24, 1976, and later became the parents of a daughter, Jessica (played byEbonie Smith).[6][24] Lionel and Jenny experienced marital issues as evidenced in a two-part season 8 episode "The Separation", and divorced in the final season two-parter "Sayonara".[6]
Marla Gibbs portrayed the role ofFlorence Johnston, the Jeffersons' back-talking, tough, wisecracking, and devoutly religioushousekeeper. Florence often teased George, mostly about his short stature and receding hairline.[25] One episode featured George requesting Florence to insult him, in order to get to a prospective business partner who was fond of her wisecracks.
Paul Benedict arrived asHarry Bentley, an amiable, kind, loyal yet eccentric British next-door neighbor,[6] who worked as aninterpreter at theUnited Nations.[26] A frequent sight-gag of the show was George slamming the door in Bentley's face mid-conversation, usually during one of Bentley's stories which George invariably perceived as boring.[26] Bentley also had a bad back, and frequently needed George to walk on it.[27][28] He also became known for addressing the Jeffersons as "Mr. J" and "Mrs. J".[28]
Zara Cully played George's mother,Olivia "Mother" Jefferson, who constantly disparaged her daughter-in-law.[2][23][24] Cully, who had first appeared in the 1974All in the Family episode "Lionel's Engagement", reprised her role.[29] She appeared regularly in the first two seasons, but made sporadic appearances over the next two years, much thinner due to a severe case of pneumonia. Cully was written out in season 4 due to her death in 1978, from lung cancer.[30] No episode was centered on Mother Jefferson's death, but it was occasionally mentioned in future episodes that she had died.
Ned Wertimer played their tip-hungry doorman, Ralph Hart, throughout the series.[31] He was known for constantly stalling at the Jeffersons' door with his hand out waiting for a tip. Most of the cast usually didn't respond, but George almost always gave in. He also used it in a blackmail manner, usually requiring George to pay more in order to keep his mouth shut about something such as a stock tip. Ralph was also known for making up stories of him struggling to fulfill the Jeffersons' request to get more tips.
Danny Wells played Charlie, the owner and a bartender of a nearby bar to the Jeffersons apartment building. The cast commonly visited the bar for a drink or to attend a party. Charlie was also revealed to be an alcoholic in the season 11 episode "A Secret in the Back Room", in which Charlie is in denial, but the Jeffersons eventually get him to admit to his problem and advise him to get some help. His alcohol problem isn't referenced anymore throughout the series, but it is assumable Charlie overcame it.
Mike Evans ("Lionel") left the show after the first season; his replacement wasDamon Evans (no relation),[2] who took over the role until halfway through the fourth season.[6] Damon Evans's last episode was "Lionel Gets the Business".
Mike Evans and Tolbert returned in the1979–1980 season, with Tolbert's character, Jenny, pregnant with a daughter named Jessica. However, Mike Evans appeared for only one more season, along with Tolbert.[6]The Jeffersons' sixth season peaked at No. 8 in the summer of 1980. The characters of Lionel and Jenny were written out by stating that 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 (sinceSanford and Son) to peak in the top 5 (the series' eighth season debuted at No. 3).
Evans and Tolbert appeared in the two-part episode together; Evans made his final appearance in two episodes during the series'eleventh and final season. Tolbert became a regular guest star throughout the rest of the series. In the spring of 1981, Paul Benedict left the show for a season and a half, returning in the final two seasons of the series.[6] However, the ratings sank below the top 30, andThe Jeffersons aired its last episode, "Red Robins", on July 2, 1985.[32]
| Performer | Character | Seasons | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | ||
| Isabel Sanford | Louise "Weezy" Jefferson | Main | ||||||||||
| Sherman Hemsley | George Jefferson | Main | ||||||||||
| Mike Evans | Lionel Jefferson | Main | Does not appear | Main | Recurring | Does not appear | Guest | |||||
| Damon Evans | Does not appear | Main | Does not appear | |||||||||
| Roxie Roker | Helen Willis | Main | ||||||||||
| Franklin Cover | Thomas "Tom" Willis | Main | ||||||||||
| Zara Cully | Olivia "Mother" Jefferson | Main | Does not appear | |||||||||
| Berlinda Tolbert | Jenny Willis-Jefferson | Main | Recurring | |||||||||
| Paul Benedict | Harry Bentley | Main | Does not appear | Main | ||||||||
| Marla Gibbs | Florence Johnston | Recurring | Main | |||||||||
| Jay Hammer | Allan Willis | Does not appear | Main | Does not appear | ||||||||
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Source[34]
| Season | Episodes | Originally released | Rank | Rating | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| First released | Last released | |||||
| 1 | 13 | January 18, 1975 (1975-01-18) | April 12, 1975 (1975-04-12) | 4 | 27.6 | |
| 2 | 24 | September 13, 1975 (1975-09-13) | March 6, 1976 (1976-03-06) | 21 | 21.5 | |
| 3 | 24 | September 25, 1976 (1976-09-25) | April 11, 1977 (1977-04-11) | 24 | 21.0 | |
| 4 | 26 | September 24, 1977 (1977-09-24) | March 4, 1978 (1978-03-04) | 52[35] | 17.6[35] | |
| 5 | 24 | September 20, 1978 (1978-09-20) | April 18, 1979 (1979-04-18) | 49[36] | 17.4[36] | |
| 6 | 24 | September 23, 1979 (1979-09-23) | April 13, 1980 (1980-04-13) | 8 | 24.3 | |
| 7 | 20 | November 2, 1980 (1980-11-02) | March 29, 1981 (1981-03-29) | 6 | 23.5 | |
| 8 | 25 | October 4, 1981 (1981-10-04) | May 16, 1982 (1982-05-16) | 3 | 23.4 | |
| 9 | 27 | September 26, 1982 (1982-09-26) | May 1, 1983 (1983-05-01) | 12 | 20.0[a] | |
| 10 | 22 | October 2, 1983 (1983-10-02) | May 6, 1984 (1984-05-06) | 19 | 16.6 | |
| 11 | 24 | October 14, 1984 (1984-10-14) | July 2, 1985 (1985-07-02) | 50 | 13.2 | |
The Jeffersons had many two-part episodes, either over two consecutive weeks, or aired as an hour-long episode.
Ja'Net DuBois andJeff Barry co-wroteThe Jeffersonstheme song, "Movin' On Up", which was sung by DuBois with agospel choir.[37]
The song was created after DuBois approached Norman Lear, suggesting she expand upon her brief roles onGood Times and explore a music-related project. In response, Lear suggested she try writing a theme song for a new show he was developing about a dry cleaner. Initially, DuBois struggled with the composition until her mother encouraged her to draw from her personal dream of providing her mother with a comfortable retirement. Inspired by that idea, DuBois wrote the song. When Lear heard it, he was amazed at how perfectly it captured the essence ofThe Jeffersons—despite the fact that he hadn't fully explained the show's concept to her. Lear went on to develop a full arrangement of the song to serve as the show's theme.[38]
The Jeffersons changed time slots at least 15 different times during its 11-year run, unusual for a popular long running series.[39] The most common time slot was on Sunday night.[3]
In its first season (1974–75), the show ranked at number four, surpassed by its parent seriesAll in the Family (which landed at number one for the fifth year in a row).[40] The show'sratings for the following two seasons placed it in the Top 30, but during the1977–78 and1978–79 seasons (the show's fourth and fifth seasons), it fell out of the top 30, ranking 52nd in Season 4 and 49th in Season 5.[24]
It returned to the Top 10 in1979–80, and at the end of the1981–82 season,The Jeffersons finished third overall, only surpassed by fellow CBS seriesDallas and60 Minutes. The series would remain among the Top 20 for the next two seasons.[24]
The series was rebroadcast onCBS from February 4, 1980, to September 25, 1981.
Sony Pictures Home Entertainment released the first six seasons ofThe Jeffersons onDVD inRegion 1 between 2002 and 2007.[41]
On August 27, 2013, it was announced that Mill Creek Entertainment had acquired the rights to various television series from the Sony Pictures library includingThe Jeffersons.[42] They subsequently re-released the first two seasons on DVD on May 20, 2014.[43]
On August 8, 2014, it was announced that Shout! Factory had acquired the rights to the series from Sony Pictures Home Entertainment; they subsequently released the complete series on DVD in a 33-disc collection on December 9, 2014.[44][45]
On April 28, 2015, Shout! released season 7 on DVD in Region 1.[46] Season 8 was released on August 11, 2015.[47]
| DVD name | Ep. #s | Release date |
|---|---|---|
| The Complete First Season | 13 | August 6, 2002 May 20, 2014 (re-release) |
| The Complete Second Season | 24 | May 13, 2003 May 20, 2014 (re-release) |
| 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 |
| The Complete Seventh Season | 20 | April 28, 2015 |
| The Complete Eighth Season | 25 | August 11, 2015 |
| The Complete Series | 253 | December 9, 2014 |
The Jeffersons received 14Emmy Award nominations and won two awards. Marla Gibbs received nominations in Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series each year from 1981 to 1985, Sherman Hemsley received nomination in Best Actor in 1984, and Larry M. Harris won the Emmy for Outstanding Video Tape Editing for a Series in 1983.[48]
Isabel Sanford was nominated for 7 consecutive Best Actress Emmys, from 1979-85.[48] Her win in 1981 made her the first African-American actress to win an Emmy for Best Actress in a Comedy Series,[13][24][49] and the second to win any Emmy Award;Gail Fisher, who played Peggy on the TV showMannix, preceded her in 1970. Sanford was also the recipient of five of the eightGolden Globe Awards nominations the program received.[50]
Gregory Kane, journalist forThe Baltimore Sun, called the series "demeaning" in 1999, criticizing Hemsley's "pimp roll walk", bigotry, loud mouth and low intelligence. "I hereby declareThe Jeffersons stereotypical fare that depicts blacks in a buffoonish manner."[51]
In 1993, Sherman Hemsley, Isabel Sanford, Roxie Roker, Franklin Cover, and Marla Gibbs reunited for "The Jeffersons Live: The Movin' On Up Tour,"[52] AKA "The Best of the Jeffersons Live."[53] The stage show included recreations of the episodes "A Whole Lot of Trouble," "Social Insecurity," and "My Wife... I Think I'll Keep Her."[53] The tour began inDetroit, Michigan for a six-city stop,[54] and eventually Roker dropped out, but Berlinda Tolbert (Jenny) and Ned Wertimer (Ralph) reprised their roles for theLos Angeles staging in 1994.[55]
On May 22, 2019,ABC broadcastLive in Front of a Studio Audience: Norman Lear's All in the Family and The Jeffersons, produced by Lear andJimmy Kimmel and starringWoody Harrelson,Marisa Tomei,Jamie Foxx,Wanda Sykes,Ike Barinholtz,Kerry Washington,Ellie Kemper.[56] Marla Gibbs reprised her role as Florence Johnston.
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