Voting Station

Jeffersons

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TV Series

The Resume

    (January 18, 1975-July 23, 1985)
    Aired on CBS
    Created by Norman Lear
    Sherman Hemsley as George Jefferson
    Isabel Sanford as Louise Jefferson
    Marla Gibbs as Florence Johnston
    Roxie Rocker as Helen Willis
    Franklin Cover as Tom Willis
    Mike Evans as Lionel Jefferson
    Berlinda Tolbert as Jenny Willis Jefferson
    Paul Benedict as Harry Bently
    Zara Cully as Mother Jefferson
    Mike Evans as Lionel Jefferson #1 (1975, 1979-1981)
    Damon Evans as Lionel Jefferson #2 (1975-1978)
    Ned Wertimer as Ralph the Doorman
    Opening theme 'Movin' on Up' composed by Jeff Barry and Ja'net DuBois

Why Jeffersons might be annoying:

    It popularized the racial term 'honkey.'
    Sherman Hemsley did not like using the word 'honkey' in reference to Franklin Cover but the writers forced him to say it.
    It was highly controversial for its depiction of black racists.
    George Jefferson was essentially Archie Bunker in black face.
    As a result of this show, Sherman Hemsley and Isabel Sanford were forever typecast as the Jeffersons. They appeared together in restaurant commercials, Old Navy commercials and 'The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air' as their Jeffersons characters.
    African Americans remain sharply divided over the quality of the show.
    It toned down its confrontational humor to fit with the more conservative 1980s.
    They switched Lionel Jeffersons and then switched back.
    CBS changed its time-slot fourteen times.
    It was cancelled without a chance for a proper series finale.

Why Jeffersons might not be annoying:

    They were a moving on up, to a deluxe apartment in the sky (to the 'Colby East' apartment building to be exact).
    It was the second (and most successful) spin-off of 'All in the Family.'
    Though there was a twenty year age difference, Sherman Hemsley and Isabel Sanford were able to portray a realistic black couple.
    They wisely decided to write-out the Mother Jefferson character after Zara Cully died.
    It portrayed a successful African-American family years before 'The Cosby Show.'
    It was the first sitcom to show an interracial marriage.
    It is one of the longest running sitcoms of all time.
    It proved that an African-American sitcom could still be enormously successful.
    The cast, bitter of their treatment by CBS, reunited to do a stage version of the sitcom.
    They finally got their piece of the pie.

Credit: Captain Howdy


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    For 2024, as of last weekly ranking, Out of 7 Votes: 0% Annoying
    In 2023, Out of 11 Votes: 18.18% Annoying
    In 2022, Out of 18 Votes: 11.11% Annoying
    In 2021, Out of 22 Votes: 40.91% Annoying
    In 2020, Out of 63 Votes: 52.38% Annoying
    In 2019, Out of 7 Votes: 42.86% Annoying
    In 2018, Out of 1 Votes: 0% Annoying
    In 2017, Out of 4 Votes: 25.00% Annoying
    In 2016, Out of 7 Votes: 42.86% Annoying
    In 2015, Out of 9 Votes: 33.33% Annoying
    In 2014, Out of 18 Votes: 33.33% Annoying
    In 2013, Out of 12 Votes: 41.67% Annoying
    In 2012, Out of 23 Votes: 43.48% Annoying
    In 2011, Out of 74 Votes: 48.65% Annoying
    In 2010, Out of 31 Votes: 58.06% Annoying
    In 2009, Out of 49 Votes: 40.82% Annoying
    In 2008, Out of 45 Votes: 40.0% Annoying
    In 2007, Out of 124 Votes: 44.35% Annoying
    In 2006, Out of 182 Votes: 46.15% Annoying
    In 2005, Out of 151 Votes: 50.33% Annoying