I'll be curious to see which "All In The Family" script they use, -whether it will be one specific episode or a mash-up of one or two presented as a single piece. There was an episode in Season One (I think) where Edith and Louise Jefferson (who began as neighbors) wanted to get Archie and George together for a meal and hijinks ensued.

I was wondering if there's one iconic episode they'll be aiming at, -it would be hard to single out one storyline that stands out on it's own for this type of showcase (I doubt they'll go too heavy since the promos are playing it for laughs). I was never a fan of "The Jeffersons", so I'm not sure what their stand-out episode was. I remember re-visiting "Family"'s first season on DVD some years ago, and the complete episodes felt "long" compared to today's sitcoms (and not just because they were actually about four minutes longer).

I mean there are standout episodes, but there really aren't that many stand out arcs. All in the Family episodes at least were usually focused on an issue of the time (race, women's rights, religion, or other political topics). The arcs are more with the characters and how they live with each other. Really not sure what episodes they'll go with.

The first episode was probably the most "broad", in that it introduced all the characters and gave a rough outline of their politics; I forget if there was a "situation" that was resolved. However, like most pilots, the characters were a little different than they would become. Edith, for example, was less of the "lovable dingbat" (and virtual saint) that she would become.

Over the last month at work, I've listened to about a hundred episodes of All In The Family and The Jeffersons (they work perfectly as radio plays, there's only been a couple occasions I had to check the video to understand some information that was presented visually).

All In The Family was a much better show than The Jeffersons, but All In The Family never had better episodes (in my opinion) after the Jeffersons moved away. They were the perfect characters to interact with the Bunkers, and nothing made me laugh harder than Archie and George mixing it up. If I had to pick a favourite episode, it would hands down be Lionel's engagement party.



I think it's interesting how much value Norman Lear placed on Sherman Hemsley as an actor. When All In The Family started, Sherman Hemsley was doing a play on Broadway and didn't want to leave in the middle of the run. Norman Lear wanted him so badly to play George, that instead of casting another actor, for the first couple seasons George was referred to but never seen. The character of George's brother was created to accompany Louise. Finally, after the play ended Hemsley joined the show.

George Jefferson was supposed to be the black version of Archie Bunker but they definitely downplayed his bigotry compared to Bunker's. He was often presumptive of whites but not nearly as insulting if I remember correctly. They went for more standard fare since it was on commercial TV and still had to appeal to all audiences. It will be interesting but tough for other actors to pull off iconic characters. Nobody but nobody could have pulled off a Barney Fife and no one played the Music Man better than Robert Preston.

I kind of forgot that about the character of George. I didn't watch The Jeffersons quite as much truthfully. I agree though that I don't think George was as bigoted towards white people as Archie was towards any race that wasn't white. I think it seemed like The Jeffersons was overall a bit lighter in terms of the race/social satire.

Thanks for the reminder, I would have completely forgotten, and it's in 15 min! Pfewwwwww!

Tomai is fantastic in this so far.

Forgot all about this. Fortunately, I can PVR the west coast feed. Can't wait to watch it.

OK - so thoughts so far, 22 minutes in:

- Tomei is, indeed, doing a phenom job in impersonating Jean Stapleton
- Woody is a little shaky as Archie - He's overacting a bit too much, is sometimes channeling Carroll O'Connor, but is mostly doing his own interpretation, and is going in and out of a Queens accent
- Ike Barnolholtz is wooden as Meathead
- Ellie Kemper is good as Gloria
- Jamie Foxx is overdoing George Jefferson, but is probably the best choice to play George Jefferson. He's already flubbed once.

Yup, Woody is a little off, Tomei and Foxx are great, the others were fine too. That said, can't be too harsh, remaking a classic sitcom is a terribly unforgiving gig.

No spoilers for the West Coast, but stick around for Florence's appearance at the end of the Jeffersons. That was great!

Yo, when did Jennifer Hudson get hot?

Wife wanted to watch it but we gave up and will watch the recording later. Too many commercials. Saw the AITF portion and a few minutes of The Jeffersons then switched to a Castle episode.

I'm curious, has anyone seen AITF in syndication at all lately? I wonder if they let everything play without censoring.

You know who might have been a better Archie Bunker?

Danny DeVito