Open Post: Hosted By Marla Gibbs Making Her Triumphant Return As Florence In ABC’s “All In The Family/The Jeffersons” Live Event
Whoever was left alive at the end of the Game of Thrones finale can take their sucio sister-and-brother-fucking asses off of the TV throne and give up the crown, because the end of their little show is no longer the television event of the year! That honor now belongs to Marla, Miss Gibbs if you’re nasty, for making oldies wreck their chonies with shock when she made a surprise appearance as Florence in ABC’s live remake staging of All In The Family and The Jeffersons last night.
Last night, every memaw and pepaw in America added crush-up No-Doz to the Metamucil they snort nightly, because they all stayed up to watch Norman Lear and Jimmy Kimmel’s live presentation of AITF/TJ. It brought in a little more than 10 million viewers.
The cast of The Jeffersons included Jamie Foxx as George, Wanda Sykes as Louise, Kerry Washington as Helen, Will Ferrell as Tom, Thee Jackee Harry as Diane, Stephen Tobolowsky as Mr. Bentley, Jovan Adepo as Lionel, Amber Stevens West as Jenny, and MARLA GIBBS as Florence. Justina Machado was previously announced as Florence, so I’m not sure what happened. Either Marla was going to be Florence all along and they wanted to make it a true surprise, or 30 minutes before the live taping, 87-year-old Marla was feeling charitable and called to say, “Okay, I’ll do it. I’m bored anyway.” And before she could spit out “it,” security was already escorting Justina Machado out of the building.
An icon for an iconic night! #LiveInFrontOfAStudio #TheJeffersons #MarlaGibbs pic.twitter.com/gDcfzYMzj7
— ABC (@ABCNetwork) May 23, 2019
Here’s a pic of the queen of the night on her throne:
We’re movin’ on up! ?#LiveInFrontOfAStudioAudience pic.twitter.com/Iob69nhNoH
— ABC (@ABCNetwork) May 23, 2019
And here’s Jennifer Hudson singing out The Jeffersons theme song while bouncing around like her bladder needed to move on up to a bathroom STAT:
.@IAMJHUD brought the house down! #TheJeffersons #LiveInFrontOfAStudioAudience pic.twitter.com/6Bxz8cJYjQ
— ABC (@ABCNetwork) May 23, 2019
The other moment that is making the rounds was from the All In The Family staging, which starred Woody Harrelson as Archie, Marisa Tomei as Edith, Ike Barinholtz as Meathead, Ellie Kemper as Gloria, Anthony Anderson as Henry Jefferson, and Sean Hayes as Mr. Lorenzo. Jamie Foxx (who looked like a real-life version of a Marion Berry cartoon, if that makes any sense) was also in the episode and his mouth fucked up his lines as he did his best impersonation of Sherman Hemsley as George Jefferson.
We said anything could happen! #LiveInFrontOfAStudioAudience #TheJeffersons #AllintheFamily pic.twitter.com/d8lNCjUzD3
— ABC (@ABCNetwork) May 23, 2019
Woody Harrelson didn’t really laugh, so either he was stoned or he’s a SERIOUS ACK-TOR unlike Jamie Foxx’s unprofessional ass!!! (He was stoned.)
And finally, here’s Woody and Marisa doing their best Carroll O’Connor as Archie Bunker and Jean Stapleton as Edith impersonations while yodeling out Those Were The Days.
This is what we call classic! Tune in RIGHT NOW for #LiveInFrontOfAStudioAudience to watch the star-studded event on ABC! #AllintheFamily #TheJeffersons @WoodyHarrelson @MarisaTomei pic.twitter.com/8GlCjVBpS1
— ABC (@ABCNetwork) May 23, 2019
AITF and The Jeffersons were before my time (yes, one of my grey pubes turns back to brown whenever I smugly type that) and I never really watched reruns, so I could enjoy last night’s live stating without being that critical. Besides, since this was a hit, ABC is going to do it until the end of time with every show they’ve ever done, and I need to save my rage for when they do a live staging of Diff’rent Strokes (starring Kevin Hart) and The Facts of Life (starring Not Charlotte Rae or Not Charlotte Rae’s Ghost or Not A Charlotte Rae Hologram as Mrs. Garrett).
Pic: ABC