This is the third time I'm writing this review from memory - the other two were deleted without saving, even a draft was lost and I really wanted my 450th review to be special, so here it goes again!
I started watching The Jeffersons during covid when all of us had way too much spare time on our hands and I wanted to dive in some uncharted territory for me back then in terms of entertainment and I was trying out TV shows with almost exclusively black casts, and out of all I touched upon - Good times, Family matters, Sanford and son, The Fresh Prince of Bel Air - The Jeffersons stood out like a rock that no one dared to touch. Without exaggeration they were one of the best TV families to ever surface on the small screen.
What made the show great was not only the quality humor and relevant topics that resonate with viewers even today but its characters. Let it be loud-mouthed and abnoxious George or calm and rational Louise, or Lionel, or the Zebras (I mean the Willises), or posh Harry Bentley, or witty and sarcastic Florence (hands down my favorite character - boy her quick remarks toward Mr. Jefferson were out of this world), or even Ralph the doorman or Charlie the bartender - all of them were outstanding, with their own stories, backgrounds, personal agendas and problems - they all were real people. And I felt like a part of their big family over the course of 11 seasons and 253 episodes, when I tuned in episode after episode just to spend a little time with them in the deluxe apartment in the sky (probably THE best theme song of ALL times).
Sure the show had got some questionable decisions over the years it was on the air - like recasting Lionel's character and replacing Mike Evans with Damon Evans (no relation), or having the character of Alan Willis brought in only to have him appeared in the handful of episodes and shortly after vanishing without a trace and never spoken of again (nod to Cunningham's older son from Happy days) or just the fact that the show did not have a proper series finale, having been cancelled too abruptly for all those people involved - all those things have played out in its own favor after all. Damon found his Lionel way sooner than I was expecting it and have made this familiar role his own (but I still prefer Mike's version of the character who is more suited to the Jeffersons family), Alan still made some impact on viewers with some funny and memorable episodes and who cares that the show does not have an ending? It truly does not need one because the stories could go on and on forever, as long as we feel like a part of the family.
The Jeffersons was, is and will always be one of the best sitcoms, surely high above 99% of them all; it spoke loudly of racism, intolerance, inequality and many other things in times when it was rarely heard. The raw and unbridled energy of the first seasons, with frequent usage of N-words that could really put anyone off but were justified those days nonetheless, match splendidly with wisdom of the later seasons and the perfect balance between comedy and drama have made it a show with no drops in quality whatsoever.
I may have forgotten some things I said in the previous renditions of my review but I do believe I've said everything by now. The Jeffersons is that good that I'm ready to write over and over again about them, and that says something.
I started watching The Jeffersons during covid when all of us had way too much spare time on our hands and I wanted to dive in some uncharted territory for me back then in terms of entertainment and I was trying out TV shows with almost exclusively black casts, and out of all I touched upon - Good times, Family matters, Sanford and son, The Fresh Prince of Bel Air - The Jeffersons stood out like a rock that no one dared to touch. Without exaggeration they were one of the best TV families to ever surface on the small screen.
What made the show great was not only the quality humor and relevant topics that resonate with viewers even today but its characters. Let it be loud-mouthed and abnoxious George or calm and rational Louise, or Lionel, or the Zebras (I mean the Willises), or posh Harry Bentley, or witty and sarcastic Florence (hands down my favorite character - boy her quick remarks toward Mr. Jefferson were out of this world), or even Ralph the doorman or Charlie the bartender - all of them were outstanding, with their own stories, backgrounds, personal agendas and problems - they all were real people. And I felt like a part of their big family over the course of 11 seasons and 253 episodes, when I tuned in episode after episode just to spend a little time with them in the deluxe apartment in the sky (probably THE best theme song of ALL times).
Sure the show had got some questionable decisions over the years it was on the air - like recasting Lionel's character and replacing Mike Evans with Damon Evans (no relation), or having the character of Alan Willis brought in only to have him appeared in the handful of episodes and shortly after vanishing without a trace and never spoken of again (nod to Cunningham's older son from Happy days) or just the fact that the show did not have a proper series finale, having been cancelled too abruptly for all those people involved - all those things have played out in its own favor after all. Damon found his Lionel way sooner than I was expecting it and have made this familiar role his own (but I still prefer Mike's version of the character who is more suited to the Jeffersons family), Alan still made some impact on viewers with some funny and memorable episodes and who cares that the show does not have an ending? It truly does not need one because the stories could go on and on forever, as long as we feel like a part of the family.
The Jeffersons was, is and will always be one of the best sitcoms, surely high above 99% of them all; it spoke loudly of racism, intolerance, inequality and many other things in times when it was rarely heard. The raw and unbridled energy of the first seasons, with frequent usage of N-words that could really put anyone off but were justified those days nonetheless, match splendidly with wisdom of the later seasons and the perfect balance between comedy and drama have made it a show with no drops in quality whatsoever.
I may have forgotten some things I said in the previous renditions of my review but I do believe I've said everything by now. The Jeffersons is that good that I'm ready to write over and over again about them, and that says something.