Live In Front Of A Studio Audience - General Discussion

[Snow Apple]

JJ looks too old and trying too hard to act like the original that he can't relax and be more natural.

I never like the Alderman Davis episodes but it's worth it to see John Amos.

[greekmom]

Just now, Snow Apple said:

JJ looks too old and trying too hard to act like the original that he can't relax and be more natural.

Yeah you're right.  Everyone else though, I really enjoyed.  I liked Viola Davis as Florida.  They even gave her the space between her front teeth.

[greekmom]

What word did they bleep in All in the Family?

[CJBinATX]

6 minutes ago, greekmom said:

What word did they bleep in All in the Family?

Asian ethnic slur. 

[bmoore4026]

1 minute ago, CJBinATX said:

Asian ethnic slur. 

Wusses.  Either have the word or don't do these things at all.

[SoMuchTV]

8 minutes ago, greekmom said:

What word did they bleep in All in the Family?

 

1 minute ago, CJBinATX said:

Asian ethnic slur. 

Does anyone remember if it was in the original episode? I’m assuming it referred to an ethnicity that was traditionally associated with laundries?

[Nordly Beaumont]

3 minutes ago, bmoore4026 said:

Wusses.  Either have the word or don't do these things at all.

They tried saying the actual words last time. It seems most people didn't like it. I think bleeping is a good solution, better than changing the script.

 

[CJBinATX]

1 minute ago, SoMuchTV said:

 

Does anyone remember if it was in the original episode? I’m assuming it referred to an ethnicity that was traditionally associated with laundries?

It was. I have a copy nearby for reference. It was a particularly bad one you might get in your armor. 

Just now, Nordly Beaumont said:

They tried saying the actual words last time. It seems most people didn't like it. I think bleeping is a good solution, better than changing the script.

 

Except one particularly offensive word which was bleeped, like tonight. 

[mtlchick]

Good Times was....not good.  It felt some of the actors bothered to go to rehearsals and others only mentally checked in today.  Also, Viola Davis needs to do a balls to the walls comedy. 

[greekmom]

All in the Family continues to knock it out of the park.  I have to admit it I am wondering if they will do The Fact of Life next?

My vote is on Maude or One Day at a Time.

[Snow Apple]

I wonder why Ralph Carter (Michael Evans) didn't make an appearance?

[Nordly Beaumont]

Marisa Tomei looked beautiful in that wig and outfit! My favorite part is her doing Edith's run/walk. Woody Harrelson was much better in the role this time. He seemed more at ease. Nice detail of putting his wedding ring on his middle finger (but Archie had rings on both middle fingers)

11 minutes ago, mtlchick said:

Good Times was....not good.  It felt some of the actors bothered to go to rehearsals and others only mentally checked in today.  Also, Viola Davis needs to do a balls to the walls comedy. 

It felt clunky, they stepped on each other's lines and some jokes just didn't land. I'm sure the guy doing JJ was trying, but it came off as an intentionally bad impersonation. And he was too old. It wasn't horrible, but like you say... not good.

[SoMuchTV]

Can anyone help me figure out why “meathead” (Ike Barinholtz) is so familiar to me? Nothing on his IMDb stands out, but both his name and his face are so familiar. 

[shapeshifter]

Two Kleenex from Kevin Bacon's speech on.
But maybe ya had ta be there (during Vietnam).
Marisa Tomei was barely holding it together, which didn't help me any. 
 😢

Woody Harrelson and Marisa Tomei have their characters down much more than last year (which was pretty good).

Excuse me while I get another Kleenex.

[chitowngirl]

7 minutes ago, greekmom said:

My vote is on Maude or One Day at a Time

One Day at a Time has been rebooted, so I don’t see them doing that one. I think we discussed last time who could play Maude and I don’t think a definitive actress’s name came up. 
 

The Facts of Life wasn’t Norman Lear, was it?

[WendyCR72]

Just now, chitowngirl said:

One Day at a Time has been rebooted, so I don’t see them doing that one. I think we discussed last time who could play Maude and I don’t think a definitive actress’s name came up. 
 

The Facts of Life wasn’t Norman Lear, was it?

Someone on another site suggested Alison Janney to play Maude.

[greekmom]

Just now, chitowngirl said:

One Day at a Time has been rebooted, so I don’t see them doing that one. I think we discussed last time who could play Maude and I don’t think a definitive actress’s name came up. 
 

The Facts of Life wasn’t Norman Lear, was it?

I still would like ODAAT even though they rebooted it.

No Facts isn't Norman Lear but having Martin Short singing the theme song made me nostalgic. 

[Joimiaroxeu]

IMO Jay Pharoah is not quite skinny enough for JJ. JJ didn't have visible pecs. Jay maybe should've dropped 5 or 10 pounds for the role. 😉 (Wonder why they didn't get Lakeith Stanfield? Too expensive?)

Loved Viola and Andre. Just perfect.

Cool how they made 1970s-style promos for the current ABC TV shows. I don't remember, did they do that the last time?

Was John Amos going up on his lines? There were some awkward pauses.

[opus]

2 minutes ago, greekmom said:

I still would like ODAAT even though they rebooted it.

Yeah, that’s my vote too. The reboot probably wouldn’t prevent them from grabbing an old script. In fact, commercials for the reboot during the live show would increase awareness of it.

It does now look like this is always going to be All In The Family plus one other.

[greekmom]

I think Marcus Scribner would have been great as JJ.

[callie lee 29]

21 minutes ago, greekmom said:

All in the Family continues to knock it out of the park.  I have to admit it I am wondering if they will do The Fact of Life next?

My vote is on Maude or One Day at a Time.

I would love a facts of Life. 

 

Good Times was definitely the weaker of the two, though I thought Andre Braugher, Viola David, and Tiffany Hadish were great. 

[greekmom]

13 minutes ago, WendyCR72 said:

Someone on another site suggested Alison Janney to play Maude.

I agree Alison Janney would be perfect for Maude.

[SiouxB]

6 minutes ago, Joimiaroxeu said:

Was John Amos going up on his lines? There were some awkward pauses.

I seriously think that his dentures were out of whack ...made it difficult to speak....

[shapeshifter]

4 minutes ago, greekmom said:

I think Marcus Scribner would have been great as JJ.

ABC followed this show with Black-ish's "Good-ish Times" episode (2.24) in which Marcus Scribner does pull off JJ. 

[Snow Apple]

Edith spends so much time running around and acting ditzy that when she gets serious and emotional, it sure make an impact and make you feel. And not just in this episode. 

[UYI]

13 minutes ago, chitowngirl said:

One Day at a Time has been rebooted, so I don’t see them doing that one. I think we discussed last time who could play Maude and I don’t think a definitive actress’s name came up. 
 

The Facts of Life wasn’t Norman Lear, was it?

Not directly, but he was involved in developing both it and Diff'rent Strokes (more DS than FOL; the latter being spun off from from the former, of course), although the creation is technically credited to other people.

I started to tear up when John Amos showed up. That was truly special, especially given the circumstances surrounding his departure from the original show:

Marisa Tomei continues to amaze as Edith. She's just fantastic.

GLORIA HAD BLONDE HAIR, DAMN IT. They couldn't find a wig at Party City and slap it on Ellie Kemper's head? SMH.

Woody Harrelson tried his best, bless him, but he didn't even come CLOSE to the intensity of Carroll O'Connor in that dinner scene.

 

[Nordly Beaumont]

23 minutes ago, shapeshifter said:

Two Kleenex from Kevin Bacon's speech on.

I remember this episode well and I cried then too. I remember Carrol O'Connor worked up a sweat at the end. It was so emotional. I thought Jesse Eisenberg was good in his role too. 

[txhorns79]

I'm sorry, but Good Times was not good.  I thought Viola Davis had the right look and made a good Florida, but I was not impressed with the other actors.  It may have just been that they chose a weaker episode of the show to use, but it just kind of dragged.  And did John Amos forget his lines?  They had that awkward silence with him, and it sounded like one of the actors off camera was trying to keep the scene moving.

[babyhouseman]

I knew All in the Family was going to do the draft dodger show when it was announced Kevin Bacon was going to be Pinky Peterson and Jesse Eisenberg was cast. Marisa Tomei continued to amaze me as Edith. If you didn't know what the storyline of the show was, it must've been a shocker. All in the Family had sad Xmas shows. The one when Beverly LaSalle was murdered showed more of the Edith character.

Good Times was so-so. To me, Viola Davis just didn't have Esther Rolle's spark. John Amos did seem to have trouble with his lines. He'll be 80 next week. I was glad to see the actors from the original show. It was funny when Bernadette Stanis slammed the door in Jimmie Walker's face. John Amos was fired from the original show for complaining about storylines. I guess he and Norman Lear made up.

[txhorns79]

23 minutes ago, babyhouseman said:

John Amos was fired from the original show for complaining about storylines. I guess he and Norman Lear made up.

I think they made up a long time ago.  John Amos starred in Lear's mid-90s All in the Family spin-off, 704 Hauser.  It was about a black family living in the Bunker's old home.  The twist was the parents were black liberals, and the son was a black conservative dating a white Jewish girl (played by Maura Tierney). 

[shapeshifter]

1 hour ago, Nordly Beaumont said:

I remember this episode well and I cried then too. I remember Carrol O'Connor worked up a sweat at the end. It was so emotional. I thought Jesse Eisenberg was good in his role too. 

Yes. Jesse Eisenberg was wonderful. I didn't even recognize him.
  
  

 

1 hour ago, txhorns79 said:

I'm sorry, but Good Times was not good.  I thought Viola Davis had the right look and made a good Florida, but I was not impressed with the other actors. 

Viola Davis is always in the moment, no matter the role. The others in Good Times would probably do well if they do another episode, just like, IMO, Woody and Marisa did much better this time.
  
  

1 hour ago, babyhouseman said:

I knew All in the Family was going to do the draft dodger show when it was announced Kevin Bacon was going to be Pinky Peterson and Jesse Eisenberg was cast. Marisa Tomei continued to amaze me as Edith. If you didn't know what the storyline of the show was, it must've been a shocker. All in the Family had sad Xmas shows.

Although I was a couple of years too young and the wrong gender to have to worry about the draft, I was in Canada living without electricity when this and most AITF episodes were airing, and I've never caught up on them, so, yeah, I didn't know exactly how this was going to play out. It seemed pretty obvious from the point that Pinky and David first met that it would be something like it was, but, wow, so intense, so well written (and acted).

[Bastet]

Wow, it was quite something to see John Amos appear; I didn't know that was coming.  I loved seeing him and Norman Lear hug after All in the Family, given their long, messy history.

Good Times was the weaker show for me back in the day, and it was tonight, too - as strictly compared to tonight's production of All in the Family.  But the original GT episode was run of the mill, while the original AITF episode was more powerful.  And tonight's AITF was good, but paled in comparison - even Kevin Bacon - to the original.  So if I examine it instead as which one best embodied the source material, GT comes out looking pretty good.  (It helps that impeachment voting was done by the time it aired here, so no interruptions by the network and also no split focus on my part).  And small acts of resistance always resonate.

Jay Pharaoh was off, big time, (and not the right physique for JJ), but Viola Davis papers over a lot - she had good chemistry with Andre Braugher (who stumbled more than I expected) and Tiffany Haddish and evoked Florida.  After When They See Us, I'm in favor of anything that puts Jharrel Jerome on my screen -- speaking of which, it was nice to see Asante Blackk as Michael, too.  And it's just always nice to revisit these shows and see what's changed and what hasn't among the issues and dynamics.  I enjoyed it.

And I enjoyed AITF, too, of course, but it just didn't pack the same punch as the original despite the cast.  Woody Harrelson remains no substitute for Carroll O'Connor as Archie Bunker; that doesn't mean he's an inferior actor (not at all), but just that he can't hit that particular role anywhere near as well.  That scene needed the scary as hell, about to burst rage of O'Connor's Archie to make Pinky's contrasting response as powerful as it was the first time around.

Marisa Tomei has big shoes to fill as well, and does it more naturally; she remains a standout in this project.

Gloria as a non-blonde is distracting.  But, I'll be damned, Jesse Eisenberg isn't; I was bummed by his casting, but he fit in.

[absnow54]

I cut Good Times some slack, since it was happening in parallel with Impeachment voting, and it seemed like they were pausing production whenever ABC News cut in, so that had to be killing their pacing. 

[jah1986]

Just coming in to add my two cents. I thought Good Times was definitely the weaker of the two, but I loved seeing John Amos again and cut him so slack as he'll be 80 in a few days.  I thought Viola Davis did a great job as Florida but was surprised to see Andre Braugher stumble a couple times. Tiffany Haddish seemed to get better as it went on, maybe she was nervous at the start. The actor playing JJ was just so bad in the role.

I thought All in the Family was really good. Feels like Woody Harrelson did a much better job this time around. I didn't even hate Jesse Eisenberg like I normally do. Marissa Tomei was great as Edith again.  Would it kill Ellie Kemper to wear a blonde wig?

All in all I still enjoyed it and hope they do it again.

[TV Diva Queen]

I remember this episode and I feel they did a decent job with it last night.  This boomer suggests that for those who haven't seen the original, to go find it somewhere on the interwebs - powerful stuff

[JBC344]

Enjoyed this particular round of live shows but like most thought Good Times was the weaker of the two.

Good Times; Absolutely thrilled to see John Amos. Viola and most of the cast did fine, but the show ultimately suffered the most from picking a " bad episode". Personally I've always stayed clear of the Alderman Davis episodes as I find them the most boring. What went wrong here is that the Davis character was always a "slimy politician", but John played him more straight forward and reserved/dignified which cut right into all the comedy of the episode. Ultimately Good Times just wasn't funny which was it's biggest mistake. 

AITF; This 2nd time around I think the cast really settled in and it showed. Woody was much more relaxed, and Marissa continues to be the standout of the cast. It also helped that they picked the Draft Dodger episode, one of my all time favorites. Jesse Eisenberg got to remind us that he is a great actor, this is the best he has been in years. 

Kevin Bacon, Justina Machado,  Ike and Ellie were all good. Still don't understand while they won't have Ellie in a blond wig, which was instrumental to who Gloria was. 

My only complaint was that I wish Woody had gone much bigger with Archie's rage. The contrast of Pinky's acceptance, with the comedy as Archie calms down only works well if Archie goes full throttle. 

One change I noticed that actually works well in the episode is in the original when David comes back into the room to meet Pinky he is more upbeat since he hears laughter and is inquisitive before shaking Pinky's hand. In last night's version Jesse as David enters the scene and visibly avoids Pinky and plays it more somber as to not bring attention to himself before ultimately shaking Pinky's hand. It's very subtle but a change that actually makes the scene work a little better. 

Moving forward I would like to see a change; I think AITF should retire. I think a Good Times and Maude combo would work well for next year especially if they used an episode of Maude that included Florida Evans. 

[GHScorpiosRule]

9 hours ago, Bastet said:

Wow, it was quite something to see John Amos appear; I didn't know that was coming.  I loved seeing him and Norman Lear hug after All in the Family, given their long, messy history.

Good Times was the weaker show for me back in the day, and it was tonight, too - as strictly compared to tonight's production of All in the Family.  But the original GT episode was run of the mill, while the original AITF episode was more powerful.  And tonight's AITF was good, but paled in comparison - even Kevin Bacon - to the original.  So if I examine it instead as which one best embodied the source material, GT comes out looking pretty good.  (It helps that impeachment voting was done by the time it aired here, so no interruptions by the network and also no split focus on my part).  And small acts of resistance always resonate.

Jay Pharaoh was off, big time, (and not the right physique for JJ), but Viola Davis papers over a lot - she had good chemistry with Andre Braugher (who stumbled more than I expected) and Tiffany Haddish and evoked Florida.  After When They See Us, I'm in favor of anything that puts Jharrel Jerome on my screen -- speaking of which, it was nice to see Asante Blackk as Michael, too.  And it's just always nice to revisit these shows and see what's changed and what hasn't among the issues and dynamics.  I enjoyed it.

And I enjoyed AITF, too, of course, but it just didn't pack the same punch as the original despite the cast.  Woody Harrelson remains no substitute for Carroll O'Connor as Archie Bunker; that doesn't mean he's an inferior actor (not at all), but just that he can't hit that particular role anywhere near as well.  That scene needed the scary as hell, about to burst rage of O'Connor's Archie to make Pinky's contrasting response as powerful as it was the first time around.

Marisa Tomei has big shoes to fill as well, and does it more naturally; she remains a standout in this project.

Gloria as a non-blonde is distracting.  But, I'll be damned, Jesse Eisenberg isn't; I was bummed by his casting, but he fit in.

This is how I felt. And especially the bolded. Jay is otherwise very good, but he just failed to deliver JJ in this.

And yeah, Woody is a good actor, but he's no substitute for O'Connor. And this episode really needed Archie's scary rage.

Color me SHOCKED! SHOCKED! that Eisenberg turned out a good performance. I still don't like him though.

I will never, ever, ever warm up to the two that play Gloria and Mike. They don't sound like Gloria or Mike; don't even look like them.

I'm hoping with the next one they do (because, of course they will), that Rob Reiner actually makes a cameo.

John Amos was a wonderful surprise. Just like Marla Gibbs was for The Jeffersons last year.

Viola Davis can do no wrong!

And I won't lie---big GIANT SQUEE when I saw Janet Dubois!

[Quickbeam]

I thought Woody did an amazing job in an almost impossible role. Very well done. 

[Yogisbooboo64]

Funny, but I didn’t care for last year’s AITF but loved The Jeffersons skits….this year, I loved the AITF skit but thought Good Times was terrible!

First of all, The Politicians is one of my fave GT eppies.  From James acting like a jerk towards Jimmy Pierson to the late, great Albert Reed as ‘Balderman’ (compliments of Willona) Davis, the episode was funny. 

For me, Viola Davis and Tiffany Haddish were the standouts.

I love Andre Braugher but IMO his James dialect was too well spoken so the slang was a bit jarring.

John Amos was a lovely surprise.  However, he was wayyy thin from the last interview I saw him on, hope he isn’t sick.  It was concerning the long gaps between his responses, maybe it has been a while since he’s been on the stage.

Jay Pharoah was awful!  And why was he talking like he was an actor in a kung-fu movie?  Plus he was over exaggerating JJ’s hand mannerisms. 

Corrinne Foxx wasn’t that bad, but she didn’t have the umph that is Bernadette Stanis.

Speaking of which, Bernadette, Jimmie and especially Ja’net DuBois looked great!  Jimmie lost a lot of weight and I thought Ja’net was sickly since I haven’t seen her in years but when she came out, she came out stunning.

Marisa Tomei is a great Edith.  She was cracking me up with her running to and fro.

I love Woody Harrelson's Archie but I'm having too many naughty thoughts looking at him due to harboring a serious crush on the man.

Edited December 19, 2019 by Yogisbooboo64

[UYI]

1 hour ago, TV Diva Queen said:

I remember this episode and I feel they did a decent job with it last night.  This boomer suggests that for those who haven't seen the original, to go find it somewhere on the interwebs - powerful stuff

I'm a 30 year old millennial who grew up watching the show on Nick at Nite and TV Land in the late 90's/early 2000's (surely there HAVE to more like me in this regard somewhere!), and I totally concur. That's part of the reason Woody Harrelson fell so flat in the dinner scene to me--Carroll O'Connor was so loud and intense in the original episode, he ECHOED, at least twice. You could hear a pin drop among the studio audience, it was just crazy. 

 

[Quickbeam]

56 minutes ago, Yogisbooboo64 said:

 

Jay Pharoah was awful!  And why was he talking like he was an actor in a kung-fu movie?  Plus he was over exaggerating JJ’s hand mannerisms. 

 

Yes, I liked the episode but he was dreadful.

[Was-MArsenault]

This did not do well at all in the ratings:

https://variety.com/2019/tv/news/tv-ratings-live-in-front-of-a-studio-audience-the-masked-singer-survivor-finale-1203448728/

https://deadline.com/2019/12/impeachment-all-in-the-family-good-times-live-review-donald-trump-abc-1202813199/

[Lady Iris]

2 hours ago, Yogisbooboo64 said:

Marisa Tomei is a great Edith.  She was cracking me up with her running to and fro.

I love Woody Harrelson's Archie but I'm having too many naughty thoughts looking at him due to harboring a serious crush on the man.

I was seriously impressed with Marisa Tomei. I only caught the last several minutes but she really has Edith down in a beautiful way.

Lol about Woody Harrelson. Me too. Always had a big old crush on him.

I thought Jesse Eisenberg did a really great job. What's with the dislike for the actor? Not being snide, genuinely curious.

[Queena]

They should have picked the dog food episode. I love that one. 

Viola is a goddess. She can do no wrong. Annalise Keating will forever be one of my favorite TV characters. 

[UYI]

55 minutes ago, MikaelaArsenault said:

This did not do well at all in the ratings:

https://variety.com/2019/tv/news/tv-ratings-live-in-front-of-a-studio-audience-the-masked-singer-survivor-finale-1203448728/

https://deadline.com/2019/12/impeachment-all-in-the-family-good-times-live-review-donald-trump-abc-1202813199/

In fairness, given the real life drama surrounding it, it was going to be difficult for it to compete with that no matter what. I could see a rerun of it doing MUCH better, without any distractions to conflict with it. 

[Was-MArsenault]

Just now, UYI said:

In fairness, given the real life drama surrounding it, it was going to be difficult for it to compete with that no matter what. I could see a rerun of it doing MUCH better, without any distractions to conflict with it. 

Or maybe if it was on a different day.

[UYI]

3 minutes ago, MikaelaArsenault said:

Or maybe if it was on a different day.

Not necessarily: The original in May aired on a Wednesday night, too. 

[rmontro]

Funny thing is, John Amos looked younger than Jimmy Walker (who they brought out during the break), and Amos played his father.  I thought the Good Times was enjoyable enough, but I agree poor Jay Pharoah's portrayal fell flat.  That's the type of thing that is either going to kill or flop, and it is kind of a dated character.

The All in the Family episode was just remarkable.  So brilliantly written, what a great idea to set up a dinner with a draft dodger and a father who had lost his son in the Vietnam War.  I liked how Kevin Bacon's speech was so understated.  They could have given him a very long speech, with a lot of political opinions, but instead they boiled it down to a simple message of peace and living together, which was perfect for the holiday season.

[BW Manilowe]

I fell asleep & missed it last night, but saw it this afternoon once it was posted for streaming on Hulu. The only thing I have to comment on is I thought the Latina woman in AITF just seemed to come outta nowhere. I don’t remember Edith or anybody else mentioning her before she just suddenly was walking downstairs at the Bunkers’ & kissing (trying to kiss) any guy she could get under the mistletoe. Was she mentioned before she just appeared, & did she just vanish again by the time the dinner scenes started? She just seemed like “random extraneous person” to me.

[Bastet]

3 minutes ago, BW Manilowe said:

I fell asleep & missed it last night, but saw it this afternoon once it was posted for streaming on Hulu. The only thing I have to comment on is I thought the Latina woman in AITF just seemed to come outta nowhere. I don’t remember Edith or anybody else mentioning her before she just suddenly was walking downstairs at the Bunkers’ & kissing (trying to kiss) any guy she could get under the mistletoe. Was she mentioned before she just appeared, & did she just vanish again by the time the dinner scenes started? She just seemed like “random extraneous person” to me.

That was Justina Machado playing Teresa Betancourt; she was a recurring character during the season in which this episode appeared -- she was renting a room from the Bunkers, which is why she came down from upstairs and why she had dinner with them.