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Did anyone catch the live version of All in the Family and The Jeffersons last night?

psuro

psuro

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Aug 24, 2001
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The corner table at the Skellar
I missed it but caught it On Demand.

I think it was a nice effort, but the characters and actors in those shows are so iconic, it's difficult to match their timing and general embodiment of the character.

Marisa Tomei as Edith and Jamie Foxx as George Jefferson were the best. Woody Harrelson as Archie....kind of left me scratching my head. If for no other reason....he is too skinny. Nice appearance by Marla Gibbs as Florence the maid. Woman is 88 years old and still was sharp as a tack.
 
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I agree with you 100% re: Jamie Foxx and Marisa Tomei... Jamie Foxx was brilliant - even with muffing his line easly and breaking out of character...

Woody Harrleson should have not tried so hard to be another Carroll Oconnor... awkward, as if he was in a HS play...

Marla Gibbs was awesome... likewise whatshername as Weezy

Scary sad how real / relevant these characters still are... Norman Lear is a genius
 
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Thought it was interesting, enjoyable if not great tv. I found the fact that the actors are so well-known distracting. Probably would’ve enjoyed it more without the celebrity status of the actors, although I’m sure it was the celebrities that sold it.

It did highlight the sharpness of the original writing, though.

On a whim, I searched for a scene that I remembered from the original series. Check this out — this is practically perfect television. Clever, pointed script combined with acting that I don’t think could’ve been improved upon by the principles. Jenny’s parents are a little weak, probably why they were replaces on The Jeffersons. This is tv at the highest level.

 
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I didn't see it but the fact that they got big stars for the roles instead of just auditioning and getting who was best didn't sit well with me. And I can't imagine Woody Harrelson as Archie.

If they were going to do that I'd have preferred they followed it with a repeat of the actual episode they were re-creating so people could see the contrast.

I think All In The Family was a great show and we badly need shows like that now. Archie was a bigot but if that's all you got from it you weren't watching closely. There was way more. It had nuance and it explained people instead of just caricaturing them. We are way too tribal now and nobody cares about anything except painting their side as completely good and the other side as completely bad.
 
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yeahtoasty said:
Thought it was interesting, enjoyable if not great tv. I found the fact that the actors are so well-known distracting. Probably would’ve enjoyed it more without the celebrity status of the actors, although I’m sure it was the celebrities that sold it.

It did highlight the sharpness of the original writing, though.

On a whim, I searched for a scene that I remembered from the original series. Check this out — this is practically perfect television. Clever, pointed script combined with acting that I don’t think could’ve been improved upon by the principles. Jenny’s parents are a little weak, probably why they were replaces on The Jeffersons. This is tv at the highest level.

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"If you've got enough green in your pocket, then black becomes his favorite color."

"Geez, Al Jolson called his mother mammy for years."

"Beats me Jefferson. I'll I got to say is here's to yesterday."

That was fantastic. I remembered it as I went along. Great clip.
 
yeahtoasty said:
Thought it was interesting, enjoyable if not great tv. I found the fact that the actors are so well-known distracting. Probably would’ve enjoyed it more without the celebrity status of the actors, although I’m sure it was the celebrities that sold it.

It did highlight the sharpness of the original writing, though.

On a whim, I searched for a scene that I remembered from the original series. Check this out — this is practically perfect television. Clever, pointed script combined with acting that I don’t think could’ve been improved upon by the principles. Jenny’s parents are a little weak, probably why they were replaces on The Jeffersons. This is tv at the highest level.

View embedded media
Click to expand...

That's great. Sharp, clever, funny. Thanks for posting.
 
psuro said:
I missed it but caught it On Demand.

I think it was a nice effort, but the characters and actors in those shows are so iconic, it's difficult to match their timing and general embodiment of the character.

Marisa Tomei and Edith and Jamie Foxx as George Jefferson were the best. Woody Harrelson as Archie....kind of left me scratching my head. If for no other reason....he is too skinny. Nice appearance by Marla Gibbs as Florence the maid. Woman is 88 years old and still was sharp as a tack.
Click to expand...

Florence made a cameo in The Neighborhood. She was excellent as always. That show had one of the best casts of any show all time. Could be number one frankly.

https://ew.com/tv/2018/12/11/the-neighborhood-marla-gibbs/
 
yeahtoasty said:
Thought it was interesting, enjoyable if not great tv. I found the fact that the actors are so well-known distracting. Probably would’ve enjoyed it more without the celebrity status of the actors, although I’m sure it was the celebrities that sold it.

It did highlight the sharpness of the original writing, though.

On a whim, I searched for a scene that I remembered from the original series. Check this out — this is practically perfect television. Clever, pointed script combined with acting that I don’t think could’ve been improved upon by the principles. Jenny’s parents are a little weak, probably why they were replaces on The Jeffersons. This is tv at the highest level.

View embedded media
Click to expand...
Thanks for posting. What a great show. Shame it couldn't be done now.
 
Op2 said:
I didn't see it but the fact that they got big stars for the roles instead of just auditioning and getting who was best didn't sit well with me. And I can't imagine Woody Harrelson as Archie.

If they were going to do that I'd have preferred they followed it with a repeat of the actual episode they were re-creating so people could see the contrast.

I think All In The Family was a great show and we badly need shows like that now. Archie was a bigot but if that's all you got from it you weren't watching closely. There was way more. It had nuance and it explained people instead of just caricaturing them. We are way too tribal now and nobody cares about anything except painting their side as completely good and the other side as completely bad.
Click to expand...


They followed the two live shows last night with a 30 minute follow-up show that flashed back to many of the scenes (maybe 25-30) from the originals shows.

I think if you watched them side-by-side on a split screen you’d be amazed how close the two live shows were to the originals.

Thought it was well done considering it was live. Listening to Woody and Marisa sing the opening number alone made the show worth watching.

FWIW - Woody looked way way way too young to be playing Archie.
 
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psuro said:
I missed it but caught it On Demand.

I think it was a nice effort, but the characters and actors in those shows are so iconic, it's difficult to match their timing and general embodiment of the character.

Marisa Tomei and Edith and Jamie Foxx as George Jefferson were the best. Woody Harrelson as Archie....kind of left me scratching my head. If for no other reason....he is too skinny. Nice appearance by Marla Gibbs as Florence the maid. Woman is 88 years old and still was sharp as a tack.
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Network?
 
ILLINOISLION said:
They followed the two live shows last night with a 30 minute follow-up show that flashed back to many of the scenes (maybe 25-30) from the originals shows.

I think if you watched them side-by-side on a split screen you’d be amazed how close the two live shows were to the originals.

Thought it was well done considering it was live. Listening to Woody and Marisa sing the opening number alone made the show worth watching.

FWIW - Woody looked way way way too young to be playing Archie.
Click to expand...
?????? Carroll O was 49 when the original episode aired. Woody is 59 NOW!
 
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Knowing what I know about Woody Harrelson, it's just really hard to buy into him as Archie Bunker. I know actors act, but there's a point where folks should be precluded from portraying certain characters.

A 5 year old white girl shouldn't be cast as Barry Sanders in a biopic about him as a professional football player.
James Woods shouldn't be cast as an actual human being.
And Woody Harrelson shouldn't be cast as Archie Bunker.
 
I've seen stuff online about how "Woody & Marisa were too young to play Archie & Edith" and then responses of "The actors that played Woody & Marisa are older now than the actors that played Archie & Edith were back then." And I heard in response to that, and I think it's correct, that for whatever reason, people today look younger now than they did back then, given the same age. Better medicine or nutrition or exercise or whatever.
 
gogolion said:
The "whatever" would be plastic surgery, botox, etc.
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Yes, that happens with actors, but I think ever regular people look younger now at a given age that they did back then. Maybe it's just the current styles that makes it look that way.
 
Op2 said:
Yes, that happens with actors, but I think ever regular people look younger now at a given age that they did back then. Maybe it's just the current styles that makes it look that way.
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Maybe it’s the reduction in second hand smoke everyone used to be subjected to. Or the increased knowledge of the dangers of baking in the sun every day which leads to the skin looking like a catchers mitt.
 
yeahtoasty said:
Thought it was interesting, enjoyable if not great tv. I found the fact that the actors are so well-known distracting. Probably would’ve enjoyed it more without the celebrity status of the actors, although I’m sure it was the celebrities that sold it.

It did highlight the sharpness of the original writing, though.

On a whim, I searched for a scene that I remembered from the original series. Check this out — this is practically perfect television. Clever, pointed script combined with acting that I don’t think could’ve been improved upon by the principles. Jenny’s parents are a little weak, probably why they were replaces on The Jeffersons. This is tv at the highest level.

View embedded media
Click to expand...

I think you have a good point. I might have liked it better with no name actors.
Marla Gibbs was great.
 
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BBrown said:
I think you have a good point. I might have liked it better with no name actors.
Marla Gibbs was great.
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There was a lot of "oh look an actor I recognized just entered the stage" applause. I found it distracting and it took me out of the story. Nothing against the actors who were on stage -- Jamie Foxx in particular did a great Sherman Hemsley impersonation. But it just seemed like the applause was for the actors and not their acting. Maybe I'm being nitpicky here.

Either way, 100% agreed on Marla Gibbs. Her appearance was a highlight.
 
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yeahtoasty said:
There was a lot of "oh look an actor I recognized just entered the stage" applause. I found it distracting and it took me out of the story. Nothing against the actors who were on stage -- Jamie Foxx in particular did a great Sherman Hemsley impersonation. But it just seemed like the applause was for the actors and not their acting. Maybe I'm being nitpicky here.

Either way, 100% agreed on Marla Gibbs. Her appearance was a highlight.
Click to expand...

That happens in a lot of live shows and I hate it. Even worse is the loud WOOOOO!!! when someone famous comes on.
 
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Op2 said:
Yes, that happens with actors, but I think ever regular people look younger now at a given age that they did back then. Maybe it's just the current styles that makes it look that way.
Click to expand...
Maybe so. I also think part of that may be the quality of the video and the outdated fashions and hairstyles just make them look "older".
 
psuro said:
I missed it but caught it On Demand.

I think it was a nice effort, but the characters and actors in those shows are so iconic, it's difficult to match their timing and general embodiment of the character.

Marisa Tomei as Edith and Jamie Foxx as George Jefferson were the best. Woody Harrelson as Archie....kind of left me scratching my head. If for no other reason....he is too skinny. Nice appearance by Marla Gibbs as Florence the maid. Woman is 88 years old and still was sharp as a tack.
Click to expand...
I watched all in the family for about 10 minutes and turned it off. Sorry but Woody Harrelson is not Archie Bunker.
 
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