‘All in the Family’ & ‘The Jeffersons’ Live Cast on Working With Norman Lear (VIDEO)

Anthony Anderson
Exclusive
ABC

ABC is taking viewers down memory lane with live recreations of original episodes of All in the Family and The Jeffersons Wednesday.

The special, hosted by Jimmy Kimmel and television icon Norman Lear, brings together a star-studded cast for the 90-minute primetime event. Several of those actors — Woody Harrelson, Ellie Kemper, Ike Barinholtz, Jamie Foxx, Stephen Tobolowsky, Wanda Sykes, Anthony Anderson, and Marisa Tomei — speak about what Lear and his work meant to comedy and to them as individuals in TV Insider’s exclusive clip below.

“He’s an icon,” Kemper says. “He changed our culture.”

All in the Family aired from 1971 through 1979 and tackled controversial subjects through the highly opinionated Archie Bunker and his working-class family. Its success led to The Jeffersons, which aired from 1975 to 1985. It was one of the longest-running African-American shows on TV and also the first television series to feature an interracial couple. The series helped shift conversations about race and class.

 

Live in Front of a Studio Audience: Norman Lear’s All in the Family and The Jeffersons, Wednesday, May 22, 8/7c, ABC