To the East Side.
"Sherman Hemsley dies at 74; actor was television’s George Jefferson" by Adam Bernstein | Washington Post, July 25, 2012
WASHINGTON — Sherman Hemsley — an actor best known for his overbearing sitcom roles, notably the upwardly mobile and bigoted African-American George Jefferson in the long-running show ‘‘The Jeffersons’’ — has died....
In 1973, Mr. Hemsley debuted as George Jefferson on the Norman Lear sitcom ‘‘All in the Family,’’ playing the bombastic paterfamilias who integrates a Queens neighborhood lorded over by Archie Bunker (Carroll O’Connor).
Jefferson, who owned a dry-cleaning business, was the black counterpart to Bunker’s working-class racist, and the chemistry between the two allowed them to spew bluster and ignorance in comic droves.
Like other secondary characters from ‘‘All in the Family,’’ the Jeffersons spun off into their own series that aired on CBS from 1975 to 1985. In the new show, George Jefferson’s success allows him to move his family into a luxury high rise. Financial security did not stop George from bickering with his wife, Louise (Isabel Sanford), or their son, Lionel (Mike Evans and later Damon Evans).
The program’s theme song, ‘‘Movin’ on Up,’’ conveyed the comic situations sparked by George’s boorish and argumentative nature amid their new neighbors. Suspicious of white people, he does not hesitate to call them ‘‘honkies.’’
Reviewers noted a crucial distinction between Archie Bunker and George Jefferson. ‘‘The problem here is that unlike Bunker, we find little about George that we can like,’’ Joel Dreyfuss wrote in The Washington Post in 1975. ‘‘Bunker, under all the bigotry and irrational fears, displayed some warmth and human understanding. In this case we are left with George Jefferson as simply irrational and unlikable.’’
Then he couldn't have watched much of the show because some episodes and subplots did develop that side (about the 20-minute mark) of him. Same can be said for Archie (starts about the six-minute mark), which is why the show was so good. Or maybe it was the tremendous acting.
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I hope he is finally getting a piece of heavenly pie.
Also see: ‘The Jeffersons’ showed Americans how to speak frankly about race
What I find is sit-coms from those days (MASH, Barney Miller, All in the Family) also discussed the serious political issues of the day like war and peace -- something lacking in today's god-awful fare.
