Editing Sherman Hemsley (section)

== George Jefferson ==

Hemsley's casting as George Jefferson on "All in the Family" (1973-1975) introduced a character whose combativeness matched Archie Bunker's while embodying Black achievement that the show's Queens setting made visible. George's dry cleaning business success, his willingness to trade insults with Archie, and his striving for the prosperity his business was providing created a Black character of unprecedented complexity for network television. The character's popularity led to "The Jeffersons" (1975-1985), the spin-off that became one of television's longest-running sitcoms.<ref name="bogle"/>

"The Jeffersons," which followed the family's move to a Manhattan luxury apartment, allowed exploration of themes—interracial marriage through the Willises, class conflict through George's mother—that network television rarely addressed. The show's famous theme song, "Movin' On Up," articulated aspirations that the civil rights movement had promised and that George's success embodied. Hemsley's portrayal, combining bluster with vulnerability in ways that humanized a character who could have become caricature, demonstrated acting skill that comedy's commercial success might obscure.<ref name="gray"/>

His chemistry with Isabel Sanford, who played his wife Louise, created one of television's most beloved couples, their bickering affection recognizable to audiences who understood such marriages. The show's eleven-season run demonstrated audience loyalty that sustained engagement long after novelty had faded. His Philadelphia origins—the striving, the chip on the shoulder, the insistence on respect—remained visible in George Jefferson throughout the character's television life.<ref name="bogle"/>