Live In Front Of A Studio Audience (ABC)
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Live In Front Of A Studio Audience (ABC)
Jimmy Kimmel will present a live 90-minute primetime event paying tribute to Norman Lear’s groundbreaking comedy series All in the Family and The Jeffersons on ABC.
An original episode from each iconic Lear comedy will be re-created; Jimmy Burrows is directing the live special. Live In Front Of A Studio Audience: Norman Lear’s ‘All In The Family’ and ‘The Jeffersons’ will air Wednesday, May 22, 8-9:30 PM ET.
Woody Harrelson will play Archie Bunker role; Marisa Tomei will play his wife Edith in the recreation of All In The Family. Jamie Foxx and Wanda Sykes take the roles of George and Louise Jefferson in the All in the Family spinoff, The Jeffersons.
ABC Entertainment President Karey Burke, meanwhile, declared the network “honored” to partner with “our brilliant friend Jimmy Kimmel and trailblazer Norman Lear” in the live TV project, agreeing with Lear that the two series are “as culturally relevant today as they’ve ever been.” She forecast it will be “the can’t-miss television event” of the year, if not the decade, while Sony Pictures Television Studios president Jeff Frost and co-presidents Chris Parnell and Jason Clodfelter called it an “exciting new format.”
All in the Family shaped political and social conversations in American homes in the post-civil rights era. From 1971 through 1979, the series about conservative working class Archie Bunker, his liberal son-in-law and daughter, and his wife Edith tackled such hot-button topics as women’s rights, racism, and homosexuality.
The success of All in the Family led to introduction of The Jeffersons, which ran from 1975 to 1985 – the first television series to feature an interracial couple. It would go on to be one of the longest running African American shows on TV, following George and Louise Jefferson as they moved to the East Side and showcased what it was like to be successful in a predominantly white world. The show is credited with shifting conversations about race and class, paving the way for other African American actors and TV series.
Live In Front Of A Studio Audience: Norman Lear’s ‘All In The Family’ and ‘The Jeffersons’ is being produced by Smoking Baby Productions, ACT III Productions, Gary Sanchez Productions and Sony Pictures Television.
Ellie Kemper will play Gloria Stivic, Will Ferrell will appear as Tom Willis and Justina Machado is set to play Florence Johnston, with more all-casting announcements to come.
Kimmel and Lear host; the project teams them with exec producers Brent Miller, Will Ferrell, Adam McKay and Justin Theroux.
“The fact that a group of Oscar winners eagerly agreed to play these iconic characters is testament to the greatness of these shows and their creator, Norman Lear,” Kimmel said, calling the project a “dream come true.”
People have said the two series were of the 70’s and “would not work today,” Lear said of his two TV-landscape-changing comedies.
“We disagree with them and are here to prove, with two great casts depicting of All In The Family and The Jeffersons, the timelessness of human nature,” Lear continued, adding, “I cannot wait to see what these glorious performers make in our time of these indelible characters.”
Last July, SPT announced a new deal with Lear and his Act III Productions, noting it had an “option to re-imagine titles from his extensive library including All In The Family, The Jeffersons, Good Times, Maude and Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman, to name a few.”
An original episode from each iconic Lear comedy will be re-created; Jimmy Burrows is directing the live special. Live In Front Of A Studio Audience: Norman Lear’s ‘All In The Family’ and ‘The Jeffersons’ will air Wednesday, May 22, 8-9:30 PM ET.
Woody Harrelson will play Archie Bunker role; Marisa Tomei will play his wife Edith in the recreation of All In The Family. Jamie Foxx and Wanda Sykes take the roles of George and Louise Jefferson in the All in the Family spinoff, The Jeffersons.
ABC Entertainment President Karey Burke, meanwhile, declared the network “honored” to partner with “our brilliant friend Jimmy Kimmel and trailblazer Norman Lear” in the live TV project, agreeing with Lear that the two series are “as culturally relevant today as they’ve ever been.” She forecast it will be “the can’t-miss television event” of the year, if not the decade, while Sony Pictures Television Studios president Jeff Frost and co-presidents Chris Parnell and Jason Clodfelter called it an “exciting new format.”
All in the Family shaped political and social conversations in American homes in the post-civil rights era. From 1971 through 1979, the series about conservative working class Archie Bunker, his liberal son-in-law and daughter, and his wife Edith tackled such hot-button topics as women’s rights, racism, and homosexuality.
The success of All in the Family led to introduction of The Jeffersons, which ran from 1975 to 1985 – the first television series to feature an interracial couple. It would go on to be one of the longest running African American shows on TV, following George and Louise Jefferson as they moved to the East Side and showcased what it was like to be successful in a predominantly white world. The show is credited with shifting conversations about race and class, paving the way for other African American actors and TV series.
Live In Front Of A Studio Audience: Norman Lear’s ‘All In The Family’ and ‘The Jeffersons’ is being produced by Smoking Baby Productions, ACT III Productions, Gary Sanchez Productions and Sony Pictures Television.
Ellie Kemper will play Gloria Stivic, Will Ferrell will appear as Tom Willis and Justina Machado is set to play Florence Johnston, with more all-casting announcements to come.
Kimmel and Lear host; the project teams them with exec producers Brent Miller, Will Ferrell, Adam McKay and Justin Theroux.
“The fact that a group of Oscar winners eagerly agreed to play these iconic characters is testament to the greatness of these shows and their creator, Norman Lear,” Kimmel said, calling the project a “dream come true.”
People have said the two series were of the 70’s and “would not work today,” Lear said of his two TV-landscape-changing comedies.
“We disagree with them and are here to prove, with two great casts depicting of All In The Family and The Jeffersons, the timelessness of human nature,” Lear continued, adding, “I cannot wait to see what these glorious performers make in our time of these indelible characters.”
Last July, SPT announced a new deal with Lear and his Act III Productions, noting it had an “option to re-imagine titles from his extensive library including All In The Family, The Jeffersons, Good Times, Maude and Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman, to name a few.”
#3
DVD Talk Limited Edition
re: Live In Front Of A Studio Audience (ABC)
I will watch it, but I highly doubt a show like All In the Family would make it in today's world. I was a kid when the show aired, but I remember Archie saying words like ***, queer, spade, diego, among other things. There's no way you could away with saying those things now.
#4
DVD Talk Legend
re: Live In Front Of A Studio Audience (ABC)
Yeah, kind of a cool idea but I do wonder if they’ll censor the language for modern times. I kind of get that they’d want to, but then it defeats the purpose of it being a recreation as like it or not the politically incorrect language used by Archie was a big part of the show as that was his character.
Audiences now days are probably too sensitive and won’t realize that the show was a satire and the way Archie acted was supposed to make him look dumb and closed minded.
Audiences now days are probably too sensitive and won’t realize that the show was a satire and the way Archie acted was supposed to make him look dumb and closed minded.
Last edited by Mike86; 04-19-19 at 11:48 AM.
#6
re: Live In Front Of A Studio Audience (ABC)
Yeah, kind of a cool idea but I do wonder if they’ll censor the language for modern times. I kind of get that they’d want to, but then it defeats the purpose of it being a recreation as like it or not the politically incorrect language used by Archie was a big part of the show as that was his character.
Audiences now days are probably too sensitive and won’t realize that the show was a satire and the way Archie acted was supposed to make him look dumb and closed minded.
Audiences now days are probably too sensitive and won’t realize that the show was a satire and the way Archie acted was supposed to make him look dumb and closed minded.
Last edited by DWilson; 04-19-19 at 11:06 PM.
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re: Live In Front Of A Studio Audience (ABC)
At any rate, I'll definitely check it out when it airs.
#8
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re: Live In Front Of A Studio Audience (ABC)
Maybe it'll be the episode of All in the Family that The Jeffersons spun off from and the pilot episode of The Jeffersons. It would kind of make sense as a way to tie the two episodes together. The only thing doing that is part of the chemistry of the two casts (paricularly Archie and George) would be lost without their history.
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re: Live In Front Of A Studio Audience (ABC)
Are they going to do a specific old script of each series, or will it be a kind of a hybrid or greatest hits?
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re: Live In Front Of A Studio Audience (ABC)
Whatever happened to George's brother Henry?
Man, I loved both of those shows, they were among my favorites when growing up, I tuned in every week.
Man, I loved both of those shows, they were among my favorites when growing up, I tuned in every week.
#12
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#13
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re: Live In Front Of A Studio Audience (ABC)
So is Foxx supposed to do an impersonation of Sherman Hemsley? Because without him there is no The Jeffersons. But if he does it will probably come off like an In Living Color sketch.
#14
DVD Talk Limited Edition
re: Live In Front Of A Studio Audience (ABC)
They should do the All in the Family episode with Sammy Davis Jr. They could just have Billy Crystal play him.
#15
re: Live In Front Of A Studio Audience (ABC)
I would imagine it will be handled as if doing a well-known play, -if you're doing "Streetcar Named Desire", you don't do Marlon Brando, but just by acting out the script you might hit similar notes.
Last edited by DWilson; 04-21-19 at 02:46 AM.
#16
DVD Talk Legend
re: Live In Front Of A Studio Audience (ABC)
Harrelson feels like a weird choice for Archie to me. Archie was an older grandpa type character who was out of shape.
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#21
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re: Live In Front Of A Studio Audience (ABC)
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#22
DVD Talk Legend
re: Live In Front Of A Studio Audience (ABC)
#23
DVD Talk Legend
re: Live In Front Of A Studio Audience (ABC)
Thanks for the bump. I knew it was coming up soon but need to set my DVR.
Last edited by Mike86; 05-20-19 at 04:28 PM.
#25
Senior Member
re: Live In Front Of A Studio Audience (ABC)
Really promoting this on one of the lesser known streaming channels. Can't recall which channel but I was watching an older episode of "American Pickers" and every commercial, and there were plenty, had a spot promoting this.