Live In Front Of A Studio Audience - General Discussion

[memememe76]

I enjoyed it. To defend the cast, sitcoms have the benefit of doing multiple takes and selecting the best ones to show an audience. That is why we got all those bloopers over the years. The scripts were not intended as one continuous play. 

[shapeshifter]

To watch the after-show,
"All About 'All in the Family' and 'The Jeffersons,'"
(including Kerry Washington's explanation of the decision about how to treat the N-word in the script) 
on Hulu, search for:
   ABC News Specials
It's Season 1, Episode 134.
  
 
 

Edited May 27, 2019 by shapeshifter

[Ubiquitous]

On ‎5‎/‎23‎/‎2019 at 8:42 PM, shapeshifter said:

I cannot find the 90 minute after show, "All About 'All in the Family' and 'The Jeffersons,'" anywhere

I am still looking for the original version of the after-show.

[GHScorpiosRule]

2 hours ago, Ubiquitous said:

I am still looking for the original version of the after-show.

It wasn’t an aftershow special, but a Nightline special interviewing everyone involved in the revival, I think?

[shapeshifter]

4 hours ago, Ubiquitous said:

I am still looking for the original version of the after-show.

2 hours ago, GHScorpiosRule said:

It wasn’t an aftershow special, but a Nightline special interviewing everyone involved in the revival, I think?

Yes.

It's here: 
https://view.yahoo.com/show/abc-news-specials/episode/61357269/all-about-all-in-the-family-and
with Kerry Washington's explanation on the use of the N-word starting at about the 15:30 mark.

And it's on Hulu:

16 hours ago, shapeshifter said:

To watch the after-show,
"All About 'All in the Family' and 'The Jeffersons,'"
(including Kerry Washington's explanation of the decision about how to treat the N-word in the script) 
on Hulu, search for:
   ABC News Specials
It's Season 1, Episode 134.
  
 
 

Edited May 27, 2019 by shapeshifter

[Kromm]

On 5/26/2019 at 5:10 PM, biakbiak said:

He’s not a big enough name, is only 12 years younger than Sherman Hemsley and hasn’t regularly acted in years choosing to be behind the camera directing.

Two words: Kevin Hart.

[cpcathy]

Jamie Foxx can act circles around Kevin Hart. 

[shapeshifter]

22 hours ago, memememe76 said:

I enjoyed it. To defend the cast, sitcoms have the benefit of doing multiple takes and selecting the best ones to show an audience. That is why we got all those bloopers over the years. The scripts were not intended as one continuous play. 

I appreciated it too; I'm just bummed that when Jamie Foxx was walking back his mistake that he didn't redo the entire joke that was supposed to be [more or less]:

Quote

When I was young, I asked for a TV for Christmas, but I was told all we could afford was a little brother.

—but that's probably because I'm older than Jamie Foxx, and so the concept of a TV as a luxury actually has meaning to me. 

[Ubiquitous]

7 hours ago, GHScorpiosRule said:

It wasn’t an aftershow special, but a Nightline special interviewing everyone involved in the revival, I think?

No, I distinctly remember about ten years ago, there were a bunch of "behind the scenes" shows that covered different shows like The Facts of Life, Different Strokes, Happy Days, and these two. I remember they used the same stills-in-a-strip-of-film-with-sprockets style and the narrator describing elements of the show.

[Gimmick Genius]

If they do a live MAUDE it'll probably be the one with her abortion. That's the most famous episode. I'm only afraid they'll cast Jane Lynch in the part.

[zillabreeze]

On 5/23/2019 at 10:28 PM, Kromm said:

Indeed. While there are less people like Archie in Queens, NY 

Of course, I wouldn't presume to know about the Queens mindset.  (I'm a libtard Texas girl)  My wildass guess is that racism probably does not respect the Mason-Dixon line.  

Archies are everywhere.  BUT!  If you watch the old show carefully, Archie had big moments of internal conflict; he just couldn't quite put it all together. 

He didn't want to, but he liked the hell out of Lionel.

I like to think Archie just needed a little more time with the Georges, Maudes and Sammys in his living room to realize that we aren't really all that different.

Meathead tried to shove a whole new world down Archie's throat.  That just wasn't a good plan.  Archie was redeemable, he just had to have time to digest and adapt.

[GHScorpiosRule]

8 hours ago, Ubiquitous said:

No, I distinctly remember about ten years ago, there were a bunch of "behind the scenes" shows that covered different shows like The Facts of Life, Different Strokes, Happy Days, and these two. I remember they used the same stills-in-a-strip-of-film-with-sprockets style and the narrator describing elements of the show.

Right. But Kimmel mentioned that Nightline that was airing right after the revival, would be discussing the revival and the original shows. I’m not denying that they probably used the same clips. But it wasn’t the typical after show, as I’ve seen on other shows.

[shapeshifter]

4 hours ago, zillabreeze said:

Archies are everywhere.  BUT!  If you watch the old show carefully, Archie had big moments of internal conflict; he just couldn't quite put it all together. 

He didn't want to, but he liked the hell out of Lionel.

I like to think Archie just needed a little more time with the Georges, Maudes and Sammys in his living room to realize that we aren't really all that different.

Meathead tried to shove a whole new world down Archie's throat.  That just wasn't a good plan.  Archie was redeemable, he just had to have time to digest and adapt.

I agree that Norman Lear and the other writers probably were trying to convey this message: That if folks of different stripes hung out together, they'd eventually feel comfortable with one another. 
But recent studies in social psychology have shown that Archies will always have the potential to like individual members of the groups that they don't like in general, but rarely if ever will liking a Lionel translate to Archie liking Blacks in general. 
Nevertheless, learning to like one Lionel at a time probably keeps Archie from joining a hate group.

ETA: I just realized that Norman Lear totally understood this phenomenon of human behavior; it was exactly what was meant by the discussion of Helen and Tom, who, although they do love each other, in a moment of anger revert to seeing each other as members of a group which they still don't trust.

Edited May 28, 2019 by shapeshifter

[dingochick]

Quote

He’s not a big enough name, is only 12 years younger than Sherman Hemsley and hasn’t regularly acted in years choosing to be behind the camera directing.

I know he's a director, but I still think he would have given a better performance than Jamie Foxx. As for age, there's always makeup. I mean, Marla Gibbs was there. 🙂

I was too distracted by Foxx's impersonation of Hemsley, plus when he broke the fourth wall...meh.

[biakbiak]

1 hour ago, dingochick said:

mean, Marla Gibbs was there. 🙂

Marla Gibbs is famous, he is not. 

[ItCouldBeWorse]

On 5/24/2019 at 9:09 AM, Vixenstud said:

On 5/23/2019 at 7:47 PM, msrachelj said:

but it's ok to say kike or hebe or whatever it was, and pollock? if it was going to be the original script, they should have stuck to it and had a  conversation at the end.

And Helen said honky!

My opinion: although the racial epithets Archie used in this episode, "polack", "hebe", "spic" and "spade" should certainly not be used today, I think they rarely, if ever, are, and are more an artifact of the time the shows originally aired. "Honky" started being used somewhat frequently by some black people in the 60's as a retort to those who used the common pejorative for blacks. "Honky" always sounded like a silly made-up word to me, and if one used it to describe a white person today,  I believe people would think you were joking.  "N___r" on the other hand, has never lost its message of hate when used by someone of non-African origin against someone perceived to be inferior. Perhaps it will someday, but we're not even close. Therefore, ABC didn't want to broadcast it/normalize it as if it's just another insult since it's not.  I'm fine with the way they did it.

I feel differently about censoring Huckleberry Finn, but I would also expect that there would be a historical discussion before reading it in a middle school or high school. I don't want such a discussion before a sitcom. 

Edited May 30, 2019 by ItCouldBeWorse

[Ubiquitous]

On ‎5‎/‎27‎/‎2019 at 11:25 PM, Gimmick Genius said:

If they do a live MAUDE it'll probably be the one with her abortion. That's the most famous episode. I'm only afraid they'll cast Jane Lynch in the part.

Don't hold your breath. They're going to redo the pilot eps, like they did this time around.

[Ohwell]

16 hours ago, ItCouldBeWorse said:

My opinion: although the racial epithets Archie used in this episode, "polack", "hebe", "spic" and "spade" should certainly not be used today, I think they rarely, if ever, are, and are more an artifact of the time the shows originally aired. "Honky" started being used somewhat frequently by some black people in the 60's as a retort to those who used the common pejorative for blacks. "Honky" always sounded like a silly made-up word to me, and if one used it to describe a white person today,  I believe people would think you were joking.  "N___r" on the other hand, has never lost its message of hate when used by someone of non-African origin against someone perceived to be inferior. Perhaps it will someday, but we're not even close. Therefore, ABC didn't want to broadcast it/normalize it as if it's just another insult since it's not.  I'm fine with the way they did it.

I feel differently about censoring Huckleberry Finn, but I would also expect that there would be a historical discussion before reading it in a middle school or high school. I don't want such a discussion before a sitcom. 

I grew up in southwestern PA where the word "hunkie" was used to describe white people.  The thing is, it was used as an insult or a term of endearment (I'm not kidding!) depending upon the person it was directed at.  So imagine my surprise when I was watching an old movie called Pittsburgh with John Wayne and Marlene Dietrich where in one scene they referred to themselves as "hunkies."  I had never heard "honky" until I left the area.

[ItCouldBeWorse]

10 hours ago, Ubiquitous said:

Don't hold your breath. They're going to redo the pilot eps, like they did this time around.

The All in the Family episode wasn't the pilot. It was from the 4th season. It was chosen because it was the episode that introduced George Jefferson.

[Ubiquitous]

31 minutes ago, ItCouldBeWorse said:

The All in the Family episode wasn't the pilot. It was from the 4th season. It was chosen because it was the episode that introduced George Jefferson.

Didn't they include the scene from the pilot in which Archie so famously says "You... are a MEATHEAD!"? 

[ItCouldBeWorse]

12 hours ago, Ubiquitous said:

Didn't they include the scene from the pilot in which Archie so famously says "You... are a MEATHEAD!"? 

I think Archie calls Mike a meathead in multiple episodes.

[GHScorpiosRule]

12 hours ago, ItCouldBeWorse said:

The All in the Family episode wasn't the pilot. It was from the 4th season. It was chosen because it was the episode that introduced George Jefferson.

Yep. Episode 4 aired on Sundance yesterday and it' still hilarious. Though this revival, didn't do the tag--where Mike squirts water into Archie's face with his "carnation" at the end as he and Gloria are getting ready to leave for a movie.

12 hours ago, Ubiquitous said:

Didn't they include the scene from the pilot in which Archie so famously says "You... are a MEATHEAD!"? 

21 minutes ago, ItCouldBeWorse said:

I think Archie calls Mike a meathead in multiple episodes.

Yup.

Edited May 31, 2019 by GHScorpiosRule

[BW Manilowe]

From HuffPost: Read Jamie Foxx’s Touching Post on ‘Jeffersons’ Star Marla Gibbs After Live Remake

[shapeshifter]

On 5/31/2019 at 7:22 AM, ItCouldBeWorse said:

On 5/30/2019 at 7:13 PM, Ubiquitous said:

Didn't they include the scene from the pilot in which Archie so famously says "You... are a MEATHEAD!"? 

I think Archie calls Mike a meathead in multiple episodes.

Maybe the explanation of a "meathhead" ("dead from the neck up") was from the pilot?
  
  

4 hours ago, BW Manilowe said:

From HuffPost: Read Jamie Foxx’s Touching Post on ‘Jeffersons’ Star Marla Gibbs After Live Remake

Quote

“She took a character of service and turned it into a character of strength and honor ... she made us laugh ... she made us cry ... with confidence and ease ... and she made us rush to that TV with the knobs on it and tune into her soul.”

[babyhouseman]

On ‎5‎/‎31‎/‎2019 at 8:22 AM, ItCouldBeWorse said:

I think Archie calls Mike a meathead in multiple episodes.

Norman Lear said his father called him meathead. His father seemed to be the inspiration for Archie.

https://news.yahoo.com/video/norman-lear-father-called-meathead-043615425.html

[Ubiquitous]

On ‎6‎/‎1‎/‎2019 at 8:48 AM, shapeshifter said:

Maybe the explanation of a "meathhead" ("dead from the neck up") was from the pilot? 
  

Yes, that was in the pilot, so when they did it, I thought they were re-enacting the pilot.

[sd dude]

I was out of town when this aired live but was able to set my DVR and was able to watch it several days later.  Since then I have been unwilling to delete it and have watched it all or in part a number of times.  I'm still not sure if it "worked" (not referring to ratings of course - they were high; more referring to how well it compared to the original), however the opportunity to see these recreations of classic episodes of two of my favorite childhood shows clearly was greatly nostalgiac and satisfying for me - perhaps that's all that matters.  Furthermore, I enjoyed seeing how much fun the cast had in doing these episodes and getting to work together.  I felt throughout like they were just as much fans of the original cast and productions as I am and were thrilled to have the opportunity to portray these classic characters.

Best part:  JHud performs the Jefferson's theme song.  Harrelson and Tomei in the AitF intro do deserve honorable mention.

Best character portrayal:  Marisa Tomei as Edith - eerily on point without being over the top imitation or mockery (looking at you, Foxx).  Like others, I initially thought Tomei a very strange and inappropriate casting choice.  Fortunately, that woman can act.  She paid great homage to a great character and did Stapleton proud.

The N-word controversy:  I would have preferred to hear the original script uncensored, but I appreciate that the production did perform it as written.  If the network chose to bleep the word, that really wasn't something the producers had any control over.  However, I haven't read anyone comment on Weezy's (Wanda Sykes) use of the word "crap" at one point.  More shocking than "nigger" being bleeped in 2019, was the implication that "crap" was part of a sitcom script and broadcast on primetime network TV in 1975.  I haven't watched the original Jefferson pilot in many many years.  I know I can find it on youtube or elsewhere and can check for myself, but does anyone else recall whether the word was used then or was that a Sykes ad lib?  As a 10 year old, I imagine I would have been a bit shocked to hear it on broadcast TV in the mid-70's.  I don't recall it being in the show and don't think that word was used at all on TV at that time.

Foxx being Foxx:  I think one other person mentioned this, but I'm surprised more weren't put off by Foxx breaking character and the fourth wall in order to recover from his flub.  I thought it was distracting, self-indulgent, unprofessional, and not particularly funny.  I acknowledge Foxx is a very talented award-winning actor, but so were most of the other men and women performing on that soundstage.  Other actors occasionally stuttered or stammered around some of their dialogue but they didn't feel the need to draw everyone's attention to themselves.  I was disappointed.  But I have always had the impression that Foxx has a rather huge ego - maybe I was right all along.

[sd dude]

Answered my own question - Isabel Sanford said "Two can play at that superior jazz", not "superior crap".  They didn't exactly perform the original script.

[Kromm]

On 5/23/2019 at 9:56 AM, DearEvette said:

 

I thought Wanda was a bit miscast.  Also the original Mother Jefferson is just so iconic in my head I could not really see the replacement actress in her place, also she got the disdain down correctly.

_____________

Also I remember thinking Justina Machado was such an odd casting for Florence when the case was announced.  Not because she was Latina, but becuase I didn;t think she could channel the essence that was Florence.  But having gotten such a great surprise when Marla Gibbs showed up, I think the Justina Machado announcement was a red herring to disguise the surprise.

Interesting thing I heard a week or so after the show.  Gibbs was ALWAYS planned as part of the show, but playing the role of MOTHER JEFFERSON. 

Machado truly was supposed to be Florence. 

So the woman who wound up playing Mother Jefferson was a last minute addition and the performance suffered for it.  And Machado seemingly got screwed over (hopefully she still got paid her full fee). 

[DXD526]

For anyone who missed this, or wants to see it again, ABC is scheduled to rerun on Aug. 17 at 8 p.m. ET.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

One Emmy award!

Outstanding Variety Special (Live)

[chitowngirl]

Looks like they’re doing another one with All in the Family and Good Times. Wonder if the All in the Family cast will be the same?

[cpcathy]

Wouldn't it be interesting to mix it up with the cast? (Except perhaps for Jamie Foxx, who I thought was fantastic).

[UYI]

Since the second version of this on December 18th will be including All in the Family paired with Good Times instead of The Jeffersons, I'm going to go ahead and create a separate thread for that (since I originally created this one, too).

You know, I had meant to post my thoughts about this when it aired back in May--I wasn't able to watch it live, but I did watch it when it aired again a few nights later, but I was so tired afterwards I decided to wait, and then (of course), I never remembered to (or felt motivated enough to, heh). Most of what I wanted to say was already posted here anyway, but I do want to make a special note of this: The way Marisa Tomei's Edith said "HERE WE ARE!" was SPOT.ON. I heard her say it and just about died from how perfect it was. 

[UYI]

I'm about a billion years late in creating this (okay, more like a month late), but whatever:

Back by popular demand! 🙂

Airs Wednesday, December 18th, 2019 at 8-9:30 PM Eastern time on ABC. 

https://variety.com/2019/tv/news/abc-live-in-front-of-a-studio-audience-second-special-1203394287/

For those of you who don't know: Good Times was a spinoff of AITF's OTHER spinoff series, Maude, where the late Esther Rolle played the title character's first of three housekeepers, Florida Evans. 

Edited December 11, 2019 by UYI

[msrachelj]

Is this just a repeat of the one aired a few months ago? If so, why repeat it, it’s not “live” anymore?

[GHScorpiosRule]

2 hours ago, msrachelj said:

Is this just a repeat of the one aired a few months ago? If so, why repeat it, it’s not “live” anymore?

No. Last year it was All in the Family and The Jeffersons. This one is with Good Times.

[UYI]

4 hours ago, msrachelj said:

Is this just a repeat of the one aired a few months ago? If so, why repeat it, it’s not “live” anymore?

Like @GHScorpiosRule said, this is a different one that includes Good Times instead of The Jeffersons with AITF. That's why I created a new thread. 😉 

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Critics' Choice Award nomination!

Best Comedy Special

[WendyCR72]

And the cast has been announced for both shows!

All in the Family keeps the cast from its last outing with the additions of Kevin Bacon, Jesse Eisenberg, and Justina Machado, whose roles are being kept under wraps.

For Good Times, Viola Davis will be Florida Evans, Andre Braugher as her husband James, Jay Pharoah as JJ, Corrine Foxx (Jamie Foxx's daughter) as Thelma, Tiffany Haddish as neighbor Willona Woods, and Jharrel Jerome in an unspecified role.

[tvchick]

That's a very impressive cast for Good Times.  It will interesting to see what they do.

[GHScorpiosRule]

5 hours ago, WendyCR72 said:

And the cast has been announced for both shows!

All in the Family
<snip>
Jesse Eisenberg

WHYYYYYYYYYYYY????????????

[Bastet]

8 hours ago, WendyCR72 said:

All in the Family keeps the cast from its last outing with the additions of Kevin Bacon, Jesse Eisenberg, and Justina Machado, whose roles are being kept under wraps.

How fantastic - especially given the false rumor the wonderful Machado would appear in The Jeffersons episode last time (well worth the fakeout when Marla Gibbs reprised her role) - except Eisenberg.  Bleh.  And why?

8 hours ago, WendyCR72 said:

For Good Times, Viola Davis will be Florida Evans, Andre Braugher as her husband James, Jay Pharoah as JJ, Corrine Foxx (Jamie Foxx's daughter) as Thelma, Tiffany Haddish as neighbor Willona Woods, and Jharrel Jerome in an unspecified role

This cast, though, sounds great; unlike with All in the Family and The Jeffersons, I was only a sporadic viewer of Good Times, but I'm still all in.

At any rate, I found this a deliciously fun experiment last time, and look forward to seeing it further explored.

Edited December 13, 2019 by Bastet

[Queena]

On 12/10/2019 at 11:01 PM, UYI said:

I'm about a billion years late in creating this (okay, more like a month late), but whatever:

Back by popular demand! 🙂

Airs Wednesday, December 18th, 2019 at 8-9:30 PM Eastern time on ABC. 

https://variety.com/2019/tv/news/abc-live-in-front-of-a-studio-audience-second-special-1203394287/

For those of you who don't know: Good Times was a spinoff of AITF's OTHER spinoff series, Maude, where the late Esther Rolle played the title character's first of three housekeepers, Florida Evans. 

Ty! I've been trying to find the date. I can't wait! 

[bmoore4026]

And it's on! 

[mariah23]

Who’s playing Jimmy Pearson?

[opus]

And it’s off.

[mariah23]

And it’s back on.

[greekmom]

Who's ever playing JJ really isn't good at all.

Happy to see John Almos.

[callie lee 29]

Jay pharoah is JJ. I think Jharrel Jerome is Jimmy Pearson.