The Jeffersons: The True Story Behind One Of TV's Most Iconic Shows

Spanning 253 episodes from 1975 to 1985 and developed by TV legend Norman Lear, "The Jeffersons" was among the most popular shows of its day, depicting the life of a well-to-do Black family in a high-rise apartment building on New York's Upper East Side. Created by Don Nicholl, Michael Ross, and Bernie West, and starring Sherman Hemsley and Isabel Sanford as George and Louise (Weezy) Jefferson, the show arrived on the heels of "Good Times," another successful Lear-developed show that portrayed the lives of a Black family, and found a following as a spinoff of Lear's classic "All in the Family."

This was something of a golden era for sitcoms about Black families, with "What's Happening!!" (based partially on "Good Times" co-creator Eric Monte's film "Cooley High") also running concurrently with "The Jeffersons" from 1976-1979, and "The Jeffersons" was among the most successful. Even after all these years, though, there's still plenty about this long-running hit series that even the biggest fans may not know.

Mike Evans (above left) was the first Jefferson to appear on "All in the Family" and co-created "Good Times." Given his behind-the-scenes involvement, it's perhaps understandable that he felt he felt he deserved more screen time than Sherman Hemsley and Isabel Sanford, whom Evans saw as cast members on "his show." According to Jimmie Walker, who played J.J. on "Good Times," Evans made this clear to Lear at a holiday party,  threatening to walk if his wishes weren't fulfilled. Lear, unmoved by Evans' demand, turned to his Tandem Productions accountant (and future chairperson of Walt Disney Studios), Alan Horn, to ask if there would be any issue releasing Evans from his contract. Horn confirmed that it was in no way a problem, and with that, Evans was out. Another actor, Damon Evans (above right, no relation), took over the role of Lionel until 1979, when Mike returned, and remained a regular through 1981 (though he appeared sporadically until 1985).

The stigma around the idea of mixed-race couples was still a television taboo when "The Jeffersons" premiered; after all, this wasn't far removed from 1967, when the Supreme Court (in Loving v. Virginia) struck down laws banning interracial marriage and the aforementioned "Guess Who's Coming To Dinner?" was released. Representation in the movies hasn't really become more prevalent since, according to Syracuse University law professor Kevin Noble Maillard, whose 2017 New York Times article noted, "The census finds record rates of mixed marriages and relationships, but few of these couples or their children make it to the screen. We may see and know mixed couples and families, but the anecdotal does not translate into collective visibility."

TV's record is somewhat different. In 1968, there was a memorable kiss between William Shatner and the late Nichelle Nichols on "Star Trek," and, in the '70s, "The Jeffersons" brought us Helen and Tom Willis, played by Franklin Cover and Roxie Roker. The Willises were a couple in the Jeffersons' building with two adult children named Allan and Jenny. Initially unable to stomach the Willis' relationship, George refers to the pair as "chocolate and vanilla" and "zebras," but eventually becomes good friends with Tom. Jenny marries Lionel and the two have a child, only to separate and divorce in Season 8.

Eric Monte (above, right), who co-created "Good Times" with Mike Evans, sued Norman Lear (above, left), who, he claimed, had stolen his ideas for "The Jeffersons" and other shows, including "Sanford and Son" (which was based on a similarly themed British television program, "Steptoe and Son"). Monte's idea was that "Sanford" should be cast with Black actors and feature comedian Redd Foxx, of whom Lear apparently knew nothing. Lear, Monte claimed in an interview with the Philadelphia Inquirer, was comfortable depicting Black Americans in stereotypical ways, and felt that audiences would never buy George's bigoted attitude toward white people. Monte was eventually offered a million-dollar settlement, and according to Monte, was blackballed from the industry after creating the modestly successful "What's Happening!!" (based partly on his 1975 film "Cooley High"). Lear went on to receive numerous awards, including five Emmys, the National Medal of Arts, and a Kennedy Center Honor, and was inducted into the Television Academy Hall of Fame.

In one of the more delightful behind-the-scenes subplots of Norman Lear's television dynasty, the prodigiously talented Ja'net DuBois approached Lear and asked if she could write music for one of his shows. According to DuBois, Lear agreed to hear her pitch, telling her only that his new show involved a man who ran a dry cleaning business. When DuBois returned with her song, Lear was dumbstruck: how could she have known the show was about an upwardly mobile couple moving to the Upper East Side? In fact, DuBois just wrote what she knew. Her dream had always been to move her mother to a penthouse on the East Side of Manhattan, and the lyrics reflected that. The song, "Movin' On Up," co-written with Jeff "Be My Baby" Barry, and performed by DuBois and Oren Waters with a 35-piece gospel choir, became one of the most enduring themes of its time.

Before she landed the role of Florence, the Jeffersons' maid, Marla Gibbs had been working as a flight reservation clerk for United Airlines for 11 years — but getting the part didn't mean the end of her time with United. In fact, she held onto the job for two years after she began work on "The Jeffersons." 

Gibbs told The Washington Post that when the series was being taped, she'd leave the studio at 5:30 pm, then go to United, where she worked until 11 at night. In a Q&A with The Hollywood Reporter, Gibbs credited producer Bernie West with convincing her to leave United by offering to cover her extra expenses. She recounted in the interview that West asked if she still had the United job. "I said, 'Yeah.' He said, 'Aren't you tired?' I said, 'No.' He said, 'Would you take a leave?' I said, 'If you pay me.' So I took a 90-day leave from United." Gibbs never looked back, and went on to a successful career that included a leading role in another successful sitcom, "227."

Among a uniformly excellent cast, the only "Jeffersons" actor to win a Primetime Emmy was Isabel Sanford, in 1981. Nominated seven times overall for her work on the show, Sanford was the first Black woman to win an Emmy for Best Actress in a Comedy Series. Marla Gibbs was nominated six times and Sherman Hemsley once, but neither took home the award. (The other Emmy the show won was a technical award for tape editing — props to Larry Harris and the editing department at CBS.) 

"The Jeffersons" also received Golden Globe Award nominations in 1977, 1978, 1983, and 1984, all for Sanford; in 1985, the show was nominated, along with Sanford, Gibbs, and Hemsley. The show was also a nominee for the Humanitas Prize and received a WGA Award nomination (for "Once a Friend") in 1978, and won two NAACP Image Awards in 1982, for Hemsley and Gibbs.