"How come we overcame, and nobody told me?" – Florence
In 1971, All in the Family debuted on American television, and introduced us to the Bunker Family. At the same time, in the premiere episode, we met Lionel Jefferson, a friend of the "Meathead", who was working hard to go to college and make something of himself. By the eighth episode of the series, we were introduced to his mom, Louise Jefferson (Isabel Sanford), and then in the final episode of that season we met Lionel's Uncle Henry, who was standing in for the as-yet-uncast George Jefferson. In 1973 the producers of All in the Family cast a then-unknown postal clerk named Sherman Hemsley to play the role of George, Archie Bunker's foil. A proud black man who was every bit as prejudiced against white folk as Archie Bunker was against non-whites, Hemsley launched into the role of George Jefferson with gusto.
The saga of the Jefferson clan was chronicled on and off for a couple of years, as a sidebar to the ups and downs of the Bunkers. Key events in the lives of George & "Weezy" were given attention in entire episodes of All in the Family, especially the next-to-last episode of season 4, "Lionel's Engagement" (Feb. 1974). For the first time, we met Tom, Helen, and Jenny Willis (the latter of whom was the target of Lionel's affection)...except that none of the actors were the ones who would permanently play those three roles. We also met Mother Jefferson for the first time, played to perfection by Zara Culley, who held the role until her death in 1978.
Over the course of the '74 summer break, pressure for more black-oriented programming was on, and it was natural to spin off The Jeffersons into their own show. On the January 11, 1975 episode of All in the Family, "The Jeffersons Move On Up", George's success in his chain of cleaning stores was depicted, and to Archie's astonishment the Jefferson family moved out of his neighborhood, and over to the ritzy east side of New York. Here we met Mr. Bentley (the odd Englishman who lived next door and worked for the U.N.) and Ralph the Doorman (who didn't show up again for more than a month), and were introduced to the actors who would permanently play the Willis family (who lived upstairs). Unfortunately, that episode is not included in this set...we'll have to wait for All in the Family – Season 5 to view it.
One week later, CBS debuted The Jeffersons in its regular timeslot, as a mid-season replacement. In the first episode, we see the circumstances that led up to the hiring of a maid, and thus we are introduced to the remarkable character of Florence Johnston (Marla Gibbs). Florence was only a semi-regular at first (she only showed in 3 of the 13 first-season episodes) until she proved popular enough to become a permanent fixture until 1981, when she was spun off into her own series, Checking In.
The Jeffersons, like the series that spun it off, was no stranger to controversy. Like Archie Bunker, George Jefferson was no stranger to words like "Honky", "Nigger", "Whitey", and "Spade", and those words got used in the series. Also, the Willis' were an interracial couple: a black woman married to a white man. Their daughter Jenny was black, but her brother Allan (who showed up in the final show on Season 1 and returned later in Season 4) was white. This was the first time an interracial family was depicted on a television series, and the passionate kiss that Tom & Helen shared in front of the elevator in the debut episode was contentious in the eyes of many affiliates. It's interesting to note that in syndication this scene was routinely cut "for running time purposes" (i.e., to fit in more commercials). This DVD set restores it for you to see, for what most of you will be the first time in 27 years.
The show had a very successful 10-year run, always landing highly in the ratings until the last couple of years. In 1981, Isabel Sanford won an Emmy Award for "Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series". The show was nominated for 12 other Emmy's, and for 8 Golden Globe Awards. Interestingly enough, there was also a final-season nomination for a Young Artist Award, for a guest actor named Jaleel White. Jaleel would go on to make a name of his own years later, as Urkel in the series Family Matters. In the meantime, America developed an enduring love for the characters of George and Louise Jefferson, which has led to guest appearances by the Hemsley– in character – in later TV shows as varied as E/R (the Elliot Gould show, not to be confused with E.R.), In Living Color, and Fresh Prince of Bel Air. On Fresh Prince he showed up twice, both times with Isabel Sanford in tow as "Weezy"...and both of them just as feisty as ever!
The DVDs: "The Complete First Season" If you were among those who read my review for All in the Family, then you know I had a few complaints about that DVD set: There were video issues, mostly due to the age of the source materials, but also due to data compression. The digipak-style case would not stay closed sitting on the shelf, because there was no latching mechanism. The episode list insert didn't have a dedicated place to stay, and could slip out to the floor as you were carrying the package around. There was no "Play All" feature, to watch a disc's worth of shows in one sitting. And there was no way to skip past the opening credits, or go straight to a favorite scene, as the individual episodes had no chapter stops provided for jumping around.
Two of the issues were not addressed: there are still no chapter stops, and still no "Play All" feature. Columbia provides "Play All" features on many of their kids' titles...they even advertise them on the boxes! I fail to understand how such a simple feature can be overlooked in their season box set efforts.
Those complaints aside, I must commend Columbia on all other counts! The packaging is 100% improved (see below), including a place for the insert, and they've changed the disc configuration to solve the video compression problems. Instead of spreading 13 episodes across 3 single-layer (4.38 gig) discs, Columbia put the same number of shows (with the same running time) onto 2 dual-layer (7.95 gig) discs. This gave them 15.9 gig of storage space to work with this time, instead of the 13.2 gig they had on All in the Family (and on The Larry Sanders Show, for that matter). The extra 2.76 gig of space seems to have done the trick. The show has a much sharper, artifact-free look throughout. See the "Video" section of this review for more details. In the meantime, I'll back off the technical jargon, and give you an episode list:
Disc 1 (208 Minutes)
#01 A Friend In Need
#02 Louise Feels Useless
#03 George's Family Tree
#04 Lionel, The Playboy
#05 Mr. Piano Man
#06 George's Skeleton
#07 Lionel Cries Uncle
#08 Mother Jefferson's Boyfriend
Disc 2 (130 Minutes)
#09 Meet The Press
#10 Rich Man's Disease
#11 Former Neighbors
#12 Like Father, Like Son
#13 Jenny's Low
The Packaging: Latching problems have been resolved on this new set with the simple addition of a slipcase for the digipak to slide into. A handsomely composed cover features George and Louise against a New York City backdrop, with shots of five of the other principal characters along the bottom (where's Jenny?). The package stays closed on the shelf, with no worries about stuff falling out. Also, since the set has been reduced to only two discs, the now-free first panel of the tri-fold digipak is dedicated to a pocket housing the four-page episode list insert. The lyrics to the theme song are on the pocket.
The insert features a sweet Jeffersons' family portrait on the cover, with more shots of the various characters along the bottom (this time with Jenny included). Inside and on the back you'll find a numbered listing of the episodes, complete with a short description of the story and a brief look at the principal credits for each show. The two panels of the digipak where the discs reside consist of a clear plastic disc holder, over circular black-and-white portraits of George (under Disc 1) and Louise (under Disc 2). Unfortunately there is something marring the effect: under the clear plastic of the Disc 1 panel is a black security tag, which cannot be reached for removal by the consumer. Although it's perfectly understandable that Columbia wants to assist retailers in prevention of shoplifting, perhaps Columbia can place the tag where legitimate purchasers of the set can remove it later, without destroying the irreplaceable digipak in the process.
Video
Again, I will refer back to my review last march of All in the Family – Season 1. There I described the source materials routinely used back in those days for Norman Lear's shows: analog videotape. At the time, it was an inexpensive alternative to film-based shooting, and there was no consideration for preserving the materials for home video use decades later. As such, the fact that this magnetic media erodes with time and use comes into play when Columbia prepares these shows for DVD.
With All in the Family, I stated that the video quality of the disc made a rotten first impression. Well, The Jeffersons turns that impression around 180°, without a doubt. While the picture is still a tad softer than film-based series like the original Star Trek, overall the quality is much sharper and defined than on the previous Columbia season set effort.
Additionally, color is perfectly balanced throughout each and every episode. Clear, brilliant hues leap off the screen throughout the entire set. Yellow and oranges mix cleanly with the wooden décor in the kitchen of the Jefferson's apartment. The lavish décor of their living room looks spectacular; I was pleased to enjoy the wonderful seaside painting on the right-side wall, above the telephone: you can pick out the color tones in the sunset it depicts. George's carnations stand out against his business suits, with very, very little in the way of color bleeding.
There is still a small amount of haloing effects present, and video dropouts – while much more rare – are still apparent from time to time. One exception to that: on Disc 2, the episode "Rich Man's Disease" has subtle dropout artifacts running throughout the entire third act. It is a bit distracting at times, but more than tolerable. A bigger issue, to me, is this: series of this age and source material is best viewed on a screen 30" or smaller (they were originally composed for 23" or smaller). The lack of resolution and all the little defects fade into the background a lot more than on a larger screen. However, when viewed on a smaller screen, these shows exhibit a bit of overscan. The very tops of heads are cut off a bit, and the bottom and sides are "trimmed" as well. The information isn't missing, though. If viewed on a big-screen TV, especially a High Definition widescreen, all the information is visible again. This is especially apparent during the closing credits...even with the final appearance of the Columbia log added to the end of each episode. The wording at the bottom of the full-screen logo is cut off on all of my smaller sets, but plainly visible on the two larger screens I viewed it on (one of them a friend's...I'm not THAT well equipped!).
Even with these small complaints, I must say that it would be difficult for a show of this source material and age to look significantly better. The authors of The Jeffersons DVDs have done themselves proud, with a great improvement over the video quality effort shown on All in the Family. Kudos to these guys!
Audio
The audio presentation here is what you would expect from a mid-70's television show: monaural sound without a really active voluble range...exactly as it was broadcast over-the-air 27 years ago. However, the sound is clean and clear, and brings out every nuance of every actor's performance. The Jeffersons is often associated with a lot of yelling and joking: George yelling (and jumping) at everyone, Louise yelling back, Florence yelling at George, and Helen Willis gets her shots in. Mother Jefferson's quavering voice as she puts Louise down at every turn. Lionel's jests and chuckles, Bentley's stories, and Ralph the Doorman's jibes as he successfully snatches tips from Mr. J. Every last ounce of that comes through in every episode, and it would be difficult to do a better job than was done here. This is a near-perfect soundtrack, and another good job by the folks who prepared these discs.
There are no supplements included with this set at all. Unless I'm missing an Easter Egg, that is. I hope so; the inclusion of the All in the Family episode "The Jeffersons Move On Up" would be a terrific surprise to find on these discs. The room is certainly available on Disc 2. Unfortunately, it doesn't appear to be there, nor are any other "gifts". Shucks.
Summary
I cannot tell you how much I looked forward to viewing this set when I heard it was coming out. I have been a big fan of the show, enjoying it since it debuted when I was a pre-teen (wow, I just dated myself). It, along with other shows at the time, taught me a few things about life. In particular, this show demonstrated to my impressionable mind that there are no fundamental differences between people of different skin color, and that - like the Willis' - we can mix it up and get along just fine. There is a lot to recommend about this show, and the quality of the DVD set will not let you down. I can highly recommend that you pick it up. Sure, I had a few complaints...but then I'm a picky guy. This is a great set, though. Worthy of a great American television series like The Jeffersons.
