Kristen Shaeffer

14 February 2003

Professor Rohler

COM 290

 

The Jeffersons

                        The Jeffersons was one of the most humorous and longest running television shows in the history of television.  The Jeffersons debuted on CBS in September 1975 and ended 10 years later in July 1985.   The cast consisted of:

Damon Evans (1975-1978)

 

                        The Jeffersons was a spin-off from the television show All in the Family.  The Jefferson family had been the next-door neighbors to the Bunkers until George to started his own business.  He opened Jeffersons Cleaners.  As the business became more and more successful and many chains had been added the family moved to their “deluxe apartment in the sky” on the east side of Manhattan.

                        The Jefferson family consisted of George, the father, who was an opinionated bigoted black man who had a very loud mouth and often voiced his opinions in a rather sarcastic manner to anyone he wanted to.  George Jefferson’s character was very similar to that of Archie Bunker.  He was conceptualized as Archie Bunker in blackface.  Louise, the mother, was very levelheaded and often was the one to try control George and apologize to others for his actions.  And last, Lionel was their son who was in college.  The family also had a live in maid named Florence.  Florence had a quick wit that could usually put George into his place.  Florence quickly became like one of the family.  The banter between her and George was a great source of comic relief on the show.  She never missed a chance to make fun of George, calling him “Shorty” and was not afraid of his angry outbursts.

                        Tom and Helen Willis were the Jefferson’s neighbors.  They were an inter-racial couple who George made many puns at, such as calling them a “zebra couple.”  And George never missed a chance at calling Tom a “honkie.”   There was also neighbor Harry Bentley, who was the eccentric translator for the United Nations.  Last there was the doorman Ralph, who was always trying to get tips from George.

                        The show was widely popular because it showed a new portrayal of African-Americans on television.  It presented George as an affluent black man in New York society.  The plots on the show tended to be simple.  Many episodes were about the Jeffersons trying to deal with their new wealth and also were about George trying to plan some way to get more money but the cast’s comic force always made the simple plot a little more interesting.   It also dealt with many situations that had not been depicted on television such as: divorce, interracial marriage, street gangs and alcoholism. 

                         This comedy was a creation of Norman Lear, who also developed All in the Family, Good Times and Sanford and Son.  It was one of the top rated television shows during its 10-year primetime run, either stayed in the top-ten or close to it.  It is also the 24th highest rated show in television history.  The Jeffersons was the third television show that had African Americans in the leading roles.  It is still run in syndication.  Although the show was very popular, there was still criticism surrounding the show.  From television critics to black viewers who thought that the show had a lack of ethnic realism.  Many said that the portrayal of Louise was of an “old-south mammy type” and George was positioned many times as the butt of someone’s joke, not to mention the fact that Florence was his made and had no respect for him.

                        All in all the show did have a long term effect showing the viewers that it was possible for blacks to be successful in America, it showed that black actors were a commodity in the entertainment industry and last it had the clear message to all its viewers that if anyone tried hard enough, they could achieve anything. 


Bibliography

Handbook of American Popular Culture. Volume 2.

Links

http://www.geocites.com/Hollywood/9176/history.htm

http://www.yesterdayland.com/popopedia/shows/primetime/pt1373.php

http://www.museum.tv/archives/etv/J/htmlJ/jeffersonst/jeffersonst.htm

http://www.tvland.com/shows/jeffersons

http://timvp.com/jeffersn.html