I must admit that I am not that familiar with its predecessor, All In The Family, seeing as I wasn't born when it was originally released, but neither was I familiar with The Jeffersons either. It wasn't until later on one of the episodes of the Fresh Prince of Bel Air back in the 90s that I saw George appear on the show for the first time. And so from then on, I caught up with The Jeffersons, thanks to the brilliance of the web and sites such as You Tube, seeing as they had hardly shown this sitcom in the UK.
George and Louise 'Weezy' Jefferson are arguably one of the funniest sitcom couples ever; as different as they are in terms of personalities, and despite their arguments and fall- outs, like all couples they have managed to stay together and see things through regardless, no matter how much they get on one another's nerves. Sherman was just excellent as the outspoken, no- nonsense George- who has a bit of a short fuse, whilst Isabel was marvellous as the care-free, down-to earth and less pessimistic Weezy. The couple live together in an apartment block along with their son, Lionel, and their mother would occasionally drop- by, much to the Jefferson's surprise, whilst their neighbours were a Caucasian man named Tom and his Afro-American wife, Helen- which, for a inter-racial couple appearing on mainstream TV- was a rarity to see back in those days. The other characters on the show were the (somewhat) likable and pleasant Mr Bentley, Ralph and Florence, the sarchastic maid.
The Jeffersons was a humorous, fun and enjoyable comedy, which ran for an astonishing 11 seasons between 1975-1985. Some of my favourite moments include George taking part in a boxing contest- I couldn't help but laugh my socks off, what with George jogging all over the ring and his movements had me in stitches - and when George, Tom and Helen are trapped in George's bathroom and the situation is further complicated when 1) Weezy is having her hair done; unaware of the predicament her husband and her friends find themselves in and 2)they realise that the door can only operated from the outside, and not whilst they are inside the bathroom! In one scene and to make matters worse, the door handle even falls off! Not to mention 'Brother Tom' when Tom tries to act Black, much to his wife's embarrassment, in an attempt to fit in with the other Black folks, of whom included George and Louise.
Even though the Fresh Prince of Bel Air, Diff'rent Strokes and The Cosby Show got plenty of air time, here in the UK, it is a bit of a shame that this sitcom was never actually televised in this part of the world because as I mentioned The Jeffersons is a great show, which deserved to be seen by its audiences.
Nevertheless, this was one of CBS's fewest hit sitcoms that managed to hit the big time and sustain a longevity that rivals the likes of NBC's other long running comedies, Frasier, Friends and The Fresh Prince of Bel Air.
Catch it if you can
George and Louise 'Weezy' Jefferson are arguably one of the funniest sitcom couples ever; as different as they are in terms of personalities, and despite their arguments and fall- outs, like all couples they have managed to stay together and see things through regardless, no matter how much they get on one another's nerves. Sherman was just excellent as the outspoken, no- nonsense George- who has a bit of a short fuse, whilst Isabel was marvellous as the care-free, down-to earth and less pessimistic Weezy. The couple live together in an apartment block along with their son, Lionel, and their mother would occasionally drop- by, much to the Jefferson's surprise, whilst their neighbours were a Caucasian man named Tom and his Afro-American wife, Helen- which, for a inter-racial couple appearing on mainstream TV- was a rarity to see back in those days. The other characters on the show were the (somewhat) likable and pleasant Mr Bentley, Ralph and Florence, the sarchastic maid.
The Jeffersons was a humorous, fun and enjoyable comedy, which ran for an astonishing 11 seasons between 1975-1985. Some of my favourite moments include George taking part in a boxing contest- I couldn't help but laugh my socks off, what with George jogging all over the ring and his movements had me in stitches - and when George, Tom and Helen are trapped in George's bathroom and the situation is further complicated when 1) Weezy is having her hair done; unaware of the predicament her husband and her friends find themselves in and 2)they realise that the door can only operated from the outside, and not whilst they are inside the bathroom! In one scene and to make matters worse, the door handle even falls off! Not to mention 'Brother Tom' when Tom tries to act Black, much to his wife's embarrassment, in an attempt to fit in with the other Black folks, of whom included George and Louise.
Even though the Fresh Prince of Bel Air, Diff'rent Strokes and The Cosby Show got plenty of air time, here in the UK, it is a bit of a shame that this sitcom was never actually televised in this part of the world because as I mentioned The Jeffersons is a great show, which deserved to be seen by its audiences.
Nevertheless, this was one of CBS's fewest hit sitcoms that managed to hit the big time and sustain a longevity that rivals the likes of NBC's other long running comedies, Frasier, Friends and The Fresh Prince of Bel Air.
Catch it if you can