Jeffersons: The Complete 3rd Season (DVD)

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Here's a TV trivia question for you: What does "The Jeffersons" have in common with "M*A*S*H" and "Cheers"—other than the fact that they're sitcoms? Give up?

All three shows had 11-year runs. As I watched episodes from "The Jeffersons" third season, I found myself wondering how the show lasted as long as the Emmy Award-winners.

Norman Lear introduced the "All in the Family" spin-off in 1975, thinking that the feisty George Jefferson, with his distinctive rooster-strutting, arm-swinging walk, would appeal to audiences as a black version of the bigoted Archie Bunker. 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. Sort of—though his wife, "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. But much of the humor was generated by the contrast between George and Weezie and their "Oreo" neighbors, black Helen Willis (Roxie Roker) and her white husband, Tom (Franklin Cover).

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—the year it was the highest-rated sitcom.

So what happened to the show its second through fifth seasons?

Well, for one thing, the actor who played the Jefferson's son, Lionel, changed. Mike Evans, who'd made the move from "All in the Family" and had become a fan favorite, left "The Jeffersons" after the first season. Unknown Damon Evans replaced him for several years, and the character of Lionel was gradually phased out of the scripts, relegated to a mention here and there. Mike Evans returned in 1979, and the show shot back into the Top-10. Coincidence? I think not. His last year with the show, when he and his on-screen wife, Jenny, separated also was the best showing that "The Jeffersons" made. After he left, it was "moving on down" to #21 again.

That's the only thing that stands out, really. And yet, Damon Evans isn't that bad. The problem is that overall the show just plain isn't as well written or funny as "All in the Family," as proven by the fact that the show never fared well with Emmy voters while Bunker & Co. won statue after statue. This third season makes that painfully clear. Maybe Mike Evans somehow inspired the writers and those around him to come up with snappier scripts and performances, but you won't find the same level of energy in these episodes—not even from the Englishman next door, who's still finding his way. Here's the rundown on the episodes:

1) "Louise Suspects"—When George tries to hide the fact that he's opening up another store against Louise's wishes, for all appearances it looks as if he's having an affair. And, interestingly, everyone keeps telling Louise that "it's 1976. Are you going to throw away 25 years of marriage? Let him have his fling. He'll come back." O-kay.

2) "George and the President"—This show was often used for promo shots because it features George in a Thomas Jefferson outfit with powdered wig, the brainchild of an ad man George hired to help him wage war against a dry-cleaning rival. Plain silliness.

3) "Louise Gets Her Way"—The episode where Florence is hired as a live-in maid by Louise, then fired by George . . . until her nosiness pays off and she overhears two men trying to cheat her boss. One of the better episodes.

4) "The Lie Detector"—One of the "issues" episodes, this time with Lionel quitting his first job on the first day rather than submit to a polygraph test. A decent episode.

5) "George's Diploma"—George tries for his GED after he learns that his son lied to people at work about his father's level of education, telling them he graduated "cum laude" from Harvard.

6) "The Retirement Party"—In a slow-moving but otherwise solid episode, George decides to sell out to a corporation and doesn't care that he's also selling out his employees . . . until the chickens come home to roost.