But readers have asked what I thought and I must say I was surprised by my reaction.
Nostalgia.
Seeing that JEFFERSONS set unleashed a flood of memories.
THE JEFFERSONS was the first show my partner David Isaacs and I ever sold. So I will always have a warm spot in my heart for that show... although I rarely watched it after our episode aired.
Gordon Mitchell, the story editor of THE JEFFERSONS had read and liked our spec MARY TYLER MOORE SHOW. He sent us a letter inviting us to call him and set up a meeting to pitch stories. I was thrilled just getting stationery that said THE JEFFERSONS. This was June 1975. The show had premiered earlier that year as a mid-season replacement and was a hit from day one (being sandwiched between ALL IN THE FAMILY and THE MARY TYLER MOORE SHOW didn't hurt either).
At the time, they were doing the show out of CBS Television City so it was amazing to actually go to CBS for our pitch meeting. I can still picture the wallpaper with the CBS eye logo. This was the BIG TIME. I'll probably do a podcast on this, describing in greater detail the process. It's etched indelibly in my mind. You never forget your first time.
The night our episode was taped (also at Television City) I got to see those sets for the first time. I must say of all the Norman Lear shows, THE JEFFERSONS had the coolest sets. And here were the actual actors flitting about doing our script (or at least the few lines of our script that remained).
Two years before I had been fired as a jock from San Bernardino and couldn't get another radio job to save myself. Imagine being turned down for all-nights in Fresno. And now I was writing on a top ten CBS Norman Lear TV show.
So my reaction to the reboot was nostalgia, gratitude, and warmth. And Wanda Sykes crushed it.
We also pitched ALL IN THE FAMILY but they never bought one of our ideas so I was less nostalgic about that segment.
What did you guys think?
from By Ken Levine
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