12 Reviews of Christmas - Live in Front of a Studio Audience: All in the Family & Good Times (2019)
Hey guys, Chuck here. Well, last night ABC aired a special presentation - Live in Front of a Studio Audience: All in the Family & Good Times, which features re-creations of two episodes from the shows All in the Family and Good Times, with the characters from the shows being played by contemporary actors. So, I thought I'd discuss my thoughts on the special as part of the 12 Reviews of Christmas.
For a little background on the whole idea behind this special, back in May of this year, ABC did a similar special, with the main difference being that All in the Family was paired up with The Jeffersons. That special features Woody Harrelson and Marisa Tomei as Archie and Edith Bunker, Ellie Kemper and Ike Barinholtz as Gloria and Michael Stivic, with Sean Hayes and Anthony Anderson as part of the All in the Family episode, with Jamie Foxx and Wanda Sykes as George and Louise Jefferson, with Stephen Tobolowsky, Kerry Washington, and Will Ferrell appearing as part of The Jeffersons episode, which included a special appearance by Marla Gibbs, reprising her role as Florence Johnston, as well as Jennifer Hudson performing the theme from The Jeffersons. The special was a hit, and I definitely enjoyed it. So, when it was announced that ABC would be airing another special for the holiday season, I was definitely excited.
The special started off with a re-creation of the Good Times episode "The Politicians - Young Verses Old," and stars Andre Braugher and Viola Davis as James and Florida Evans, with Jay Pharoah, Corinne Foxx, and Asante Blackk as the Evans children J.J., Thelma, and Michael, Tiffany Haddish as Willona Woods, Jharrell Jerome as Jimmy Pierson, and John Amos (the original James Evans from Good Times) as Fred Davis, with the Good Times theme performed by Anthony Anderson and Patti LaBelle. The politically-charged episode focuses on a rift within the Evans household, as James and J.J. are choosing to back Chicago Alderman Fred Davis in his re-election, while Florida, Thelma, and Willona are choosing to support his younger opponent Jimmy Pierson. This is due to Florida, Thelma, and Willona believing that despite all the good that Davis did before, he's not getting anything done any more, and his current actions are doing more harm than good. After a debate involving BOTH Davis and Pierson in the Evans home, the election results swing in the favor of Davis, and Pierson learns what he has to do for the next election: talk to the people, not at them. James and Florida make up and the episode ends.
After a brief musical interlude by Martin Short performing the theme from The Facts of Life, which is interrupted by Jimmy Kimmel, the co-host of the event, we start off the All in the Family episode, which is a re-creation of the Christmas episode of All in the Family: "The Draft Dodger." The All in the Family theme is sung, once again, by Woody Harrelson and Marisa Tomei, who return as Archie and Edith Bunker. Ellie Kemper and Ike Barinholtz are back as well in the roles of Gloria and Michael Stivic. This time around, they are joined by Kevin Bacon, Jesse Eisenberg, and Justina Machado. It's Christmas Eve at the Bunker house, and Archie's friend, Pinkey Peterson, is coming over for Christmas dinner. Pinkey had just lost his son, Steve, who died fighting during the Vietnam War. Another guest arrives named David Brewster, who is an old friend of Michael's. David was living in Canada due to his being a draft dodger, someone who left the country to avoid being drafted to fight in the war. Michael and Gloria arrive, and Michael is concerned about David being back in the US for Christmas. Pinkey arrives soon after and he and Archie catch up. It is during dinner that, while talking about David's living situation, that Archie learns the truth and is furious over the whole ordeal. Despite Edith and Gloria's attempts, and Michael standing up and saying that what David did took a lot of guts, Archie still has trouble processing this news. Pinkey eventually speaks out that David did what he thought was right by avoiding the draft and being alive to enjoy Christmas with friends, much like how Pinkey's son did what he thought was right by fighting in the Vietnam War. So, everyone sits back down for dinner, but not before Archie gets back up to tell a group of Christmas Carolers to pipe down, ending the episode.
I really enjoyed the special. While I wasn't able to catch it while it aired last night, I was able to watch it on Hulu, where BOTH specials, including the one from May, which was All in the Family and The Jeffersons, are available to watch. The Good Times performers were terrific, especially Andre Braugher, Viola Davis, and Tiffany Haddish. Corinne Foxx, whose father Jamie Foxx played George Jefferson in the previous special, was terrific here in the role of Thelma Evans. I also liked that Anthony Anderson, who was also in the previous special as Henry Jefferson, came back for this one to perform the theme from Good Times. However, the highlight of the special was the All in the Family episode - "The Draft Dodger." Now that I've seen this re-creation of the iconic episode, I can see why the Nostalgia Critic included the original episode on his Top 11 Christmas Specials list, which was the second Christmas specials list he did. Woody Harrelson was terrific once again as Archie Bunker, and Marisa Tomei was great once again as Edith. Ellie Kemper and Ike Barinholtz were enjoyable as Gloria and Michael, but the two real stand-outs were Kevin Bacon as Pinkey and Jesse Eisenberg as David. Both of them were terrific, and I thought it was great getting to see Woody Harrelson and Jesse Eisenberg sharing the screen once more this year (the other time being in Zombieland: Double Tap). The one moment that I felt was a little too out-of-left-field was Martin Short showing up and singing the theme from The Facts of Life. But, if a quick joke in between the two episodes is the only thing I didn't like, then that's not a big deal. Overall, the special was great, producer and co-host Jimmy Kimmel did a great job once again, and I just love seeing Woody Harrelson as Archie Bunker. I'm going to go ahead and give Live in Front of a Studio Audience: All in the Family & Good Times a rating of 5/5. This is Chuck signing off. See you guys next time as the 12 Reviews of Christmas continues.
For a little background on the whole idea behind this special, back in May of this year, ABC did a similar special, with the main difference being that All in the Family was paired up with The Jeffersons. That special features Woody Harrelson and Marisa Tomei as Archie and Edith Bunker, Ellie Kemper and Ike Barinholtz as Gloria and Michael Stivic, with Sean Hayes and Anthony Anderson as part of the All in the Family episode, with Jamie Foxx and Wanda Sykes as George and Louise Jefferson, with Stephen Tobolowsky, Kerry Washington, and Will Ferrell appearing as part of The Jeffersons episode, which included a special appearance by Marla Gibbs, reprising her role as Florence Johnston, as well as Jennifer Hudson performing the theme from The Jeffersons. The special was a hit, and I definitely enjoyed it. So, when it was announced that ABC would be airing another special for the holiday season, I was definitely excited.
The special started off with a re-creation of the Good Times episode "The Politicians - Young Verses Old," and stars Andre Braugher and Viola Davis as James and Florida Evans, with Jay Pharoah, Corinne Foxx, and Asante Blackk as the Evans children J.J., Thelma, and Michael, Tiffany Haddish as Willona Woods, Jharrell Jerome as Jimmy Pierson, and John Amos (the original James Evans from Good Times) as Fred Davis, with the Good Times theme performed by Anthony Anderson and Patti LaBelle. The politically-charged episode focuses on a rift within the Evans household, as James and J.J. are choosing to back Chicago Alderman Fred Davis in his re-election, while Florida, Thelma, and Willona are choosing to support his younger opponent Jimmy Pierson. This is due to Florida, Thelma, and Willona believing that despite all the good that Davis did before, he's not getting anything done any more, and his current actions are doing more harm than good. After a debate involving BOTH Davis and Pierson in the Evans home, the election results swing in the favor of Davis, and Pierson learns what he has to do for the next election: talk to the people, not at them. James and Florida make up and the episode ends.
After a brief musical interlude by Martin Short performing the theme from The Facts of Life, which is interrupted by Jimmy Kimmel, the co-host of the event, we start off the All in the Family episode, which is a re-creation of the Christmas episode of All in the Family: "The Draft Dodger." The All in the Family theme is sung, once again, by Woody Harrelson and Marisa Tomei, who return as Archie and Edith Bunker. Ellie Kemper and Ike Barinholtz are back as well in the roles of Gloria and Michael Stivic. This time around, they are joined by Kevin Bacon, Jesse Eisenberg, and Justina Machado. It's Christmas Eve at the Bunker house, and Archie's friend, Pinkey Peterson, is coming over for Christmas dinner. Pinkey had just lost his son, Steve, who died fighting during the Vietnam War. Another guest arrives named David Brewster, who is an old friend of Michael's. David was living in Canada due to his being a draft dodger, someone who left the country to avoid being drafted to fight in the war. Michael and Gloria arrive, and Michael is concerned about David being back in the US for Christmas. Pinkey arrives soon after and he and Archie catch up. It is during dinner that, while talking about David's living situation, that Archie learns the truth and is furious over the whole ordeal. Despite Edith and Gloria's attempts, and Michael standing up and saying that what David did took a lot of guts, Archie still has trouble processing this news. Pinkey eventually speaks out that David did what he thought was right by avoiding the draft and being alive to enjoy Christmas with friends, much like how Pinkey's son did what he thought was right by fighting in the Vietnam War. So, everyone sits back down for dinner, but not before Archie gets back up to tell a group of Christmas Carolers to pipe down, ending the episode.
I really enjoyed the special. While I wasn't able to catch it while it aired last night, I was able to watch it on Hulu, where BOTH specials, including the one from May, which was All in the Family and The Jeffersons, are available to watch. The Good Times performers were terrific, especially Andre Braugher, Viola Davis, and Tiffany Haddish. Corinne Foxx, whose father Jamie Foxx played George Jefferson in the previous special, was terrific here in the role of Thelma Evans. I also liked that Anthony Anderson, who was also in the previous special as Henry Jefferson, came back for this one to perform the theme from Good Times. However, the highlight of the special was the All in the Family episode - "The Draft Dodger." Now that I've seen this re-creation of the iconic episode, I can see why the Nostalgia Critic included the original episode on his Top 11 Christmas Specials list, which was the second Christmas specials list he did. Woody Harrelson was terrific once again as Archie Bunker, and Marisa Tomei was great once again as Edith. Ellie Kemper and Ike Barinholtz were enjoyable as Gloria and Michael, but the two real stand-outs were Kevin Bacon as Pinkey and Jesse Eisenberg as David. Both of them were terrific, and I thought it was great getting to see Woody Harrelson and Jesse Eisenberg sharing the screen once more this year (the other time being in Zombieland: Double Tap). The one moment that I felt was a little too out-of-left-field was Martin Short showing up and singing the theme from The Facts of Life. But, if a quick joke in between the two episodes is the only thing I didn't like, then that's not a big deal. Overall, the special was great, producer and co-host Jimmy Kimmel did a great job once again, and I just love seeing Woody Harrelson as Archie Bunker. I'm going to go ahead and give Live in Front of a Studio Audience: All in the Family & Good Times a rating of 5/5. This is Chuck signing off. See you guys next time as the 12 Reviews of Christmas continues.
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