I'm a big fan of a lot of 1970s TV. My favorite sitcom from the era -- and of all time -- is "All in the Family".
On Wednesday, May 22, Jimmy Kimmel will be presenting a 90-minute special, remaking both "All in the Family" and "The Jeffersons".
https://abc.go.com/shows/jimmy-kimme...dnesday-may-22
Woody Harrelson will play Archie, Marisa Tomei will play Edith, Wanda Sykes will play Louise Jefferson, and Jamie Foxx will play George Jefferson.
Reportedly they're going to "remake two classic episodes" of the two shows.
It's not clear if modern actors are simply going to act out the exact scripts of these two shows from the '70s, or if we're going to see a greatly updated version of them.
If they do update the scripts, I have a feeling it's going to be a huge fail, and probably just a transparent attack on Republicans.
The Archie character is one which can easily be misunderstood, especially by people in modern times who either didn't see much of the original show, or don't remember it that well.
Archie was a lot more than an ignorant, bigoted Republican. He was a complex character who was mostly good and loyal to his family, yet didn't understand the world changing around him. It was revealed several times that Archie's bigoted views came from his abusive, racist father. It was also revealed that, due to the early death of his father, Archie had to drop out of high school to support his family, thus explaining his ignorance and lack of education.
At the same time, "educated" liberal Mike/Meathead was often shown to be hypocritical and sanctimonious. In one episode, he objected to being operated on by a female doctor. In another, he chided Archie in front of two black people that he "doesn't understand the problems faced by black people in the inner city", to which one of the black guys asked him, "And you do?" Mike then responded, "Well, I read it in a sociology textbook", and the black guys laughed heartily.
Don't get me wrong -- when it came to politics, the show almost exclusively attacked Republicans, and cast Archie as the ignorant voice of Republican politics. Norman Lear wasn't really being honest when he said that they "gave it to both sides equally".
However, I enjoyed the show because these attacks were more subtle, and the characters were complex enough to where Archie turned out to be lovable, and the liberal characters like Mike were shown to be flawed and often hypocritical.
Most shows trying to make a political point on TV today are embarrassingly one-note, and that note is always, "The left is good, the right is bad."
I'm fearing that any remake beyond the original scripts will fall into the trap of being afraid to say or do anything which could even slightly be taken as a criticism of the left.
I hope I'm wrong.
I'll be watching.
