Season four has some entertaining moments, but when you begin and end the season with a multi-episode hostage crisis, it shows a lack of imagination.
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As the black Yang to Archie Bunker's Yin, the openly bigoted and hyperactive George Jefferson was even more of a double-edged caricature than his counterpart. Norman Lear introduced "The Jeffersons" as an "All in the Family" spin-off in 1975, thinking that the feisty Jefferson, with his distinctive rooster-strutting, arm-swinging walk, and his frequent come-uppances would hold a Bunkeresque appeal for audiences. He's a wheeler-dealer with a broken axel for a spine, and the show was driven by his personality foibles much more than "All in the Family," which was driven by social issues.
After going toe-to-toe with Archie as his neighbor in Queens, the Jeffersons went "movin' on up to a de-luxe apartment in the sky" when George's dry-cleaning business turned into a little empire of sorts. And Jefferson (Sherman Hemsley) ran his household like a little emperor—even, this season, paying someone to create a bust of himself. Already the shortest member of the household, George found no shortage of people willing to cut him down to size. "Weezie" (Isabel Sanford), held her own against George's tirades, and so, for that matter, did Florence (Marla Gibbs), the family's maid who started as a live-in the third season and began to be even mouthier this fourth season. Audiences loved the banter between the maid and her cocky employer, and Florence got more air-time as a result. George: "Florence, I want to see you right now!" Florence: "Okay. Look in the kitchen."
The jokes also come as a result of the contrast between George and Weezie and their "Oreo" neighbors, black Helen Willis (Roxie Roker) and her white husband, Tom (Franklin Cover)—now related because Lionel Jefferson (Damon Evans) married the Willis's daughter, Jenny (Berlinda Tolbert). "Sesame Street" alum Paul Benedict gets more play as the Jeffersons' British neighbor across the hallway, Mr. Bentley, and Ralph, the doorman (Ned Wertimer) makes an occasional appearance, as does Mother Jefferson (Zara Cully). For all of the racial themes that occasionally emerge, this season also has moments that will probably irritate racially sensitive viewers. George's employee Leroy comes across as a Stepin Fetchit throwback, and Jefferson himself comes across more often as the fool than a shrewd businessman, loving husband, or complex thinker.
It's first year "The Jeffersons" finished #4 in the Nielsen's, but the show slipped to #21 its second season, then #24, then out of the Top-30 for a few years until the 1979-80 season when it cracked the Top-10 again. The highest the show finished was #3 in 1981-82—the year it was the highest-rated sitcom behind #1 "Dallas" and #2 "60 Minutes. The fourth season is better than the third in terms of the writing and the plots, but there's still too much reliance on the same old tired plots and caricatures.
Here's how the episodes shake out:
1-2) "The Grand Opening," Parts 1 &2—George's advertisement to his own success backfires when two small-time criminals decide to kidnap his wife.
3) "Once a Friend"—Shock time, when George hooks up with an old Navy buddy, only to discover the he is now a she.
4) "George's Help"—When a jacket turns up missing, George instantly suspects the street kid whom Louise had helped land a job at Jefferson Cleaners.
5) "George's Legacy"—In an episode with some funny lines, George's ego takes a beating when he has a bust made of himself, ala Julius Caesar.
6) "Good News, Bad News"—When a job opens up at the Help Center where Louise has been volunteering, it's her ego that takes a bruising when the position goes to Helen instead.
7) "The Visitors"—Florence's parents visit for the weekend and provide more than a few fireworks in this funny episode.
8) "The Camp-Out"—To escape his mother, George decides to try his hand at camping, leaving Louise behind to deal with the fallout.
9) "The Last Leaf"—When Louise loses her wedding corsage and thinks their marriage is cursed, George tries everything to convince her otherwise.
10) "Louise's New Interest"—Louise gets passionate about American Indian archaeology as a volunteer at the museum, but her archaeologist boss gets passionate in a more romantic way. One of the less over-the-top episodes.
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