User Reviews

This is a delightfully spicy episode, the first for the long-running sitcom "The Jeffersons", and it is truly memorable from start to finish. George wants to hire a maid simply to boost his status as someone who has moved on up, but Louise, having been a maid herself, doesn't think they need one. Of course, there's interference from Mother Jefferson and advice from the Willis's, and the introduction of Florence Johnson in the final scene sets the stage for the rest of the series.

It's too bad that theater actress Pauline Myers didn't make recurring appearances as the Willis's maid, Diane. She is an excellent actress and would have been a great part of the ensemble. Her scenes with Louise, thinking that she is a maid for The Jeffersons, are very telling, and when Florence meets both the Jeffersons and Helen Willis, her reaction is priceless.

The romantic interaction between the black Helen and her husband, the white Tom, are fantastic. They have a great conversation over how during fight they both thought of racial slurs to the other but never use them, and it is very apparent that the characters loved each other as much as the actors playing these parts loved working together. Mother Jefferson, Lionel and Jenny only play bit parts, but Bentley is amusingly eccentric in his three scenes, especially when he gets big laughs for unknowingly using a racial stereotype that sends George off the rails. The way this episode deals with racial issues is very funny and makes more valid points with humor then it would with a lecture.

Marla Gibbs appears in this first episode, and ensured her permanent place in the series. At the end of the episode, Florence asks: "Howcome we overcame, and nobody told me?" That line probably got the biggest laughs of the entire series. But, what exactly was everyone laughing at? A valid point had been raised. In this case, the women working as maids were racially the same as the affluent people hiring them. The maids didn't "have to" be maids. Paulene Meyers (as Diane) would go on to play a judge on All in the Family. The fact that the same actress played both roles was, in itself, an indication of how much times had changed. There's also the scene where George verbally assaults the Willises, and almost makes Helen cry. I loved the way she and Tom talked it out, and shared a passionate kiss. Roxie Roker and Franklin Cover were great together. All in all, a great first episode.