Nominated for 13 Emmys and 8 Golden Globes, The Jeffersons was a
groundbreaking situation comedy that was not only utterly hilarious,
but also explored the controversial social issues of its day.
Premiering in mid-season 1975, the show was a spin-off of the #1 hit
series All In The Family, where main characters George and Louise were
the next-door neighbors of Archie and Edith Bunker. During its nine-
season run, The Jeffersons spent all but its last season as a Top 25
Nielsen rated show. One of the first sitcoms to center exclusively
around the lives of African-Americans, The Jeffersons most likely
featured television's first interracial married couple in Tom and
Helen Willis. It was this fearless attempt to push the boundaries of
the status quo that made the show one of the funniest of its time as
well as a valuable resource for American race relations...
The Jeffersons follows the lives of George (Sherman Hemsley) and
Louise Jefferson (Isabel Sanford), a middle-aged African-American
couple who own a string of successful dry cleaning stores. The
windfall generated by their business paves the way for George and
Louise to "move on up" into an exclusive Park Avenue apartment. The
series is made by Hemsley's ****trayal of the stubborn and greedy, yet
quite lovable, character of George whose sarcasm and antics are only
equaled by the Jeffersons' quick witted live-in maid Florence (Marla
Gibbs). A sup****ting cast composed of omni-present neighbors Tom
(Franklin Cover) and Helen Willis (Roxie Roker), the ever-polite
Bentley (Paul Benedict), and a tip-grubbing doorman named Ralph (Ned
Wertimer) provide for endless sources of irritation and annoyance for
George. Throw in George's mother (Zara Cully) and her constant insults
of Louise, and The Jeffersons becomes one of the best-written humorous
shows of its time......
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