The Jeffersons

For the South Park episode of the same name, see The Jeffersons (South Park).

The Jeffersons was an American sitcom broadcast on the CBS network from January 18, 1975 until July 23, 1985, lasting 11 seasons. It was a spin-off from All in the Family, a program on which the character Lionel Jefferson first appeared in 1971 in the premiere episode (followed soon by mother Louise), and on which George Jefferson first appeared in 1973. Like All in the Family, The Jeffersons was created and produced by Norman Lear. The show focused on a nouveau riche African American husband and wife. The Jeffersons was in the top ten in the Nielsen Ratings during its first season on the air and, later in its run, for three seasons in a row: 1979–80, 1980–81, and 1981–82. During the 1981–82 season, it was the #3 show on network television, behind only Dallas and 60 Minutes in popularity.

Synopsis

The main characters were George Jefferson, played by Sherman Hemsley, and Louise "Weezie" Jefferson, played by Isabel Sanford. George Jefferson was the owner of a chain of seven dry cleaning stores; he and his wife lived in a luxury high-rise apartment building on Manhattan's Upper East Side, to which they had moved from a working-class section of Queens (where they had been Archie Bunker's next-door neighbors on All in the Family). Their son, Lionel, a college student studying to be an electrical engineer, was first played by Mike Evans who left the show by the second season to work on the TV show Good Times with co-creator Eric Monte. Lionel was then played by Damon Evans from 1975-78, then Mike Evans returned in 1979 and stayed until the end of the series (although after 1981, his character was downgraded from starring to recurring, and his final appearance was in the February 5, 1985 episode of the show).

Another of the stars of The Jeffersons was Roxie Roker (Lenny Kravitz's mother), who played Helen Willis, opposite Franklin Cover as Tom Willis and their daughter Jenny Willis, (played by Berlinda Tolbert) who dated and in 1976 married Lionel, and later became pregnant, giving birth to their daughter, Jessica (played by Ebonie Smith). The fact that Helen Willis was an African-American woman married to Tom, a white man, was a source of great irritation to George Jefferson. Like George, Louise, and Lionel Jefferson, the characters Tom, Hellen and Jenny Willis also originally introduced on All in the Family. The Willis first appeared in a 1974 episode (season 4, episode 20) of All in the Family, titled "Lionel's Engagement". However, in the episode, Tom Willis was portrayed by Charles Aidman, Hellen Willis was portrayed by Kim Hamilton (21 years Mr. Aidman's junior!), and Jenny Willis was portrayed by Lynne Moody (only four years Ms. Hamilton's junior!). By the time "The Jeffersons" pilot aired in January, 1975, all three characters had been recast with the actors best associated with the roles of Tom (Franklin Cover), Hellen (Roxie Roker), and Jenny Willis (Berlinda Tolbert) joining the cast.

The show also featured Zara Cully as George's mother Olivia Jefferson (referred to as simply "Mother Jefferson"); Marla Gibbs as the Jeffersons' wise-cracking maid, Florence Johnston (who would later have her own spin-off show Checking In); Paul Benedict as the bumbling English neighbor, Harry Bentley (who worked as a Russian-language interpreter at the United Nations and who would occasionally suffer back spasms that could only be cured by George walking on his back); and Ned Wertimer as Ralph, the smarmy building doorman.

The keys to the popularity of the show were its having African-American actors in lead roles, its portrayal of a successful African-American family, and its confrontational humor, although at the time, some complaints were made about the stereotypes that the show allegedly purveyed. Roker and Cover portrayed network television's first regularly-appearing interracial couple in which one partner was African-American.

The show underwent numerous subtle changes as the 1970s moved into the 1980s. George Jefferson's afro vanished, and he toned down his explosive temper and his bigoted diatribes. In fact, George developed a closer friendship with Tom as well as Florence in the later years of the show.

Unlike many other series which run for such a long time, The Jeffersons did not have a special series finale episode, as CBS did not announce the show's cancellation until after production for the 1984-85 season had been concluded.

The buoyant theme song from The Jeffersons, "Movin' on Up" (composed by Jeff Barry and Ja'net DuBois of Good Times fame and sung by DuBois), found new life in the 1990s and 2000s in a number of television commercials and other references: for example, 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). Hemsley and Sanford reprised the characters George and Louise Jefferson in the late 1990s in the final episode of The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, where they purchase the family's Bel Air home.

The high-rise apartment building shown in the opening credits of The Jeffersons is located at East 85th Street and Third Avenue on the Upper East Side of Manhattan.

Currently, the show is distributed by Sony Pictures Television. It is rated TV-PG.^*

Broadcast History

PRIMETIME

January-August 1975: Saturdays — 8:30 p.m.
September 1975-October 1976: Saturdays — 8:00 p.m.
November 1976-January 1977: Wednesdays — 8:00 p.m.
January 1977-August 1977: Mondays — 8:00 p.m.
September 1977-March 1978: Saturdays — 9:00 p.m.
April-May 1978: Saturdays — 8:00 p.m.
June-September 1978: Mondays — 8:00 p.m.
September 1978-January 1979: Wednesdays — 8:00 p.m.
January-March 1979: Wednesdays — 9:30 p.m.
March-June 1979: Wednesdays — 8:00 p.m.
June 1979-September 1982: Sundays — 9:30 p.m.
September 1982-December 1984: Sundays — 9:00 p.m.
January-March 1985: Tuesdays — 8:00 p.m.
June-July 1985: Tuesdays — 8:00 p.m.

DAYTIME February 1980-September 1981, Monday-Friday 10:00 a.m. Source: TV.com

DVD releases

Season Releases

DVD Name	Release Date	Additional Information
The Complete First Season	August 6 2002	Includes all 13 episodes from Season 1.
The Complete Second Season	May 13 2003	Inlcudes all 24 episodes from Season 2
The Complete Third Season	April 12 2005	Includes all 24 episodes from Season 3.
The Complete Fourth Season	October 11 2005	Includes all 24 episodes from Season 4.
The Complete Fifth Season	August 15 2006	Includes all 24 episodes from Season 5.

Trivia

(Some entries from IMDb)

While George was said to be older than Louise on the show, in real life Isabel Sanford was 20 years older than Sherman Hemsley.

The picture on the Jeffersons' desk by the telephone changes in every episode. It alternates between shots of Louise, George, Lionel, and Mother Jefferson.

While Tom and Helen Willis are often referred to as television's first interracial couple, that distinction actually belongs to Ricky and Lucy Ricardo of I Love Lucy.

The characters of George & Louise Jefferson returned to television in 1995 to appear on an episode of The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, Ironically, Hemsley had already appeared on three episodes of the series back in 1992 as the judge running against Will Smith's uncle. George and Louise Jefferson would return on the Fresh Prince series finale in 1996 and even buy the family's house. Their final appearance together (before Sanford's death) was in 2001 for a series of Denny's Restaurant commercials.

Though it is rarely mentioned on the show, the name of the building the Jeffersons live in is called "Colby East".

Louise had an older sister named Maxine, who ran away from home several years earlier after she got pregnant. She eventually moved to France where she worked as a singer.

When Zara Cully died during the 1977-1978 season it was decided to write Mother Jefferson off the series by having her die as well.

In the sixth-season episode "The First Store", it is revealed that Jefferson Cleaners' first store opened in 1968 on the same day that Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated. The episode first aired on April 6, 1980, two days after the 12th anniversary of Dr. King's death.

The character George Jefferson was ranked #44 in TV Guide's list of the "50 Greatest TV Dads of All Time" (June 20, 2004 issue).

CBS never gave The Jeffersons a proper series finale. The cast, bitter that they never got a chance to say goodbye, reunited years later for a stage play based on the sitcom. Sherman Hemsley said he found out the show was canceled by reading it in the paper.

When the show first started George constantly referred to Tom as a "honky". After a few seasons Sherman Hemsley asked the writers to stop having George call him that, as he felt that the characters were friends and he felt George would not use a racist term on a friend. When the writers refused to stop Hemsley simply mumbled the word every time he said it, forcing re-shoots. Eventually the writers stopped using the word; however, George picking on Tom's weight did not stop.

When Mike Evans left the show for a second time, his absence was explained by having Lionel and Jenny separate and eventually divorce.

In 1982, episode 184 marks the first episode to be produced by Embassy Television.

During Oprah Winfrey's Legends Ball, Mariah Carey sang the The Jeffersons theme song to much of the delight of all the guests.

Sources

Newcomb, Horace (Ed.). (1997). Encyclopedia of Television. Fitzroy Dearborn Publishers: Chicago. ISBN 1884964265.

Studio Tapings

Season one at CBS Television City (1975)
Seasons 2-7 at Metromedia Square (1975-1982)
Seasons 8-11 at Universal City Studios (1982-1985)

External links