Good characters, writing and funny. It portrayed George as usually wrong in his prejudiced views. It was not offensive but shoewed a flawed character in a funny light.

I don't which is better out of Good Times, this show or Sanford and Son. This is I believe another good black show. I don't the "H" word means (the one George uses to describe Tom Willis) but other than that I like it. It does remind me of All in the Family. George as the black Archie Bunker, Louise as the black Edith Bunker, Lionel as the black Mike and Jenny as the black Gloria. I especially like Olivia "Mother" Jefferson, she's real funny yet mean to her daughter-in-law. But I think as well that George is the second funniest of the bunch, all though crabby and petite he makes people laugh. Bentley is also funny cuz he's English and he gets massages from George. This is a good sitcom so turn on TVland at 11:30, watch it, get a load of laughs and if you like it, buy it on DVD.

Spinning off from "All in the Family" after about two seasons on that show,dry-cleaning entrepreneur George Jefferson(Sherman Helmsley,sassy and irreplaceable as the character)and wife Louise(Isabel Sanford,just as irreplaceable as "Weezy")move to the nicer section of New York(Uptown Manhattan?).From there,they become foils and friends with their luxury apartment neighbors,particularly the interracial couple Tom and Helen Willis(Franklin Cover and Roxie Roker),the stately and genteel Bentley(Paul Benedict) and the doorman Ralph(Ned Wertimer). George,being the stubborn,scheming and curmudgeonly sort with a burr up his behind over white folks(particularly ones who marry blacks),is both the hero and the goat of this show,as his cantankerousness is the catalyst of most of the episodes. He is,however,not lacking heart,and many times can be appealed to,many times by(among others) Weezy and sometimes even by his arch-nemesis,the sharp-witted,no-nonsense maid Florence(MArla Gibbs,if it was possible to be TOO good at a role,she was it).I was but a small boy of three when this show premiered,and probably only have even a decent memory of shows from about seasons four through nine,and to make matters worse,it seemed like it was somewhat tough to run across in syndication(would you believe!)after the show left the air in 1985. But watching it again on TVLand recently and my memories of the show were such good experiences that I thought I needed to write a blurb for it. This is a good tribute to the careers of actors Roxie Roker,Franklin Cover and Isabel Sanford,who have(among others on this shows run)passed on or recent. I am very glad TVLand is rerunning this show and hope that new generations(as well as older ones)can get acquainted or reacquainted with the family that moved on up!

The Jeffersons (1975) was a spin-off of the madly successful "All In theFamily". The Jeffersons were the neighbors of the Bunkers. After theircharacters proved to be unexpected draws, the producers decided to givethem their own series. The pilot was an "All In the Family" episode. Wesaw the Jeffersons moving into a high rise. They finally made the bigleagues.The first four seasons of this show were highly entertaining. But thisdidn't last long. The show dragged on for seven more seasons before thenetwork decided to pull the plug. The series even had two spin-off showsof their own but they didn't last more than a month or so. ShermanHemsley and Isabel Sanford become one of the biggest and most wellknown t.v. couples. George and Louise along with Florence (Marla Gibbs)and company. George's mother was around for a few seasons until shepassed away. A fun show that was one of my favorites when I was younger. But likemost shows it just went on too long. By the time it was the 80's, thewriters were just recycling older plots are making one too many "special"episodes. Even through all that and two actors playing one character(George and "Wheezy's" son). The show became a t.v. classic and a bigpart of American pop culture.Factoid: The character of Mother Jefferson seems to be based upon the mother inlaw in "Til Death Do Us Part", a B.B.C. program that was the basis for"All in the Family".