The Best Episodes of The Jeffersons
Last Updated: Aug 24, 2018
A sitcom about a black couple "movin' on up" from a modest Queens neighborhood to deluxe apartment in Manhattan's ritzy East Side. The show was spun-off from "All in the Family" in 1975 and for the next 11 seasons, The Jeffersons lived among a kaleidoscope of characters, including their sassy maid Florence, a bizarre British neighbor named Bentley, and the Willises -- TV's first married couple in which one character was black and one was white. Like All in the Family, The Jeffersons had a bigoted, opinionated loud-mouth at its center: George Jefferson, who was constantly putting his foot in his mouth. The show tackled many serious issues, although comedy was the key element of its success.
#1 - They Don't Make Preachers Like Him Anymore
Season 11 - Episode 7
Florence is all excited since her and her church choir are going to Ohio for a competition. However, Florence loses her faith in God when the Reverend steals the money they needed to enter the competition.
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#2 - Death Smiles on a Dry Cleaner (2)
Season 9 - Episode 9
The novelists try to solve the apparent "real" murder with George trying his best to solve it as well. When it is determind that the victim, Edgar, was poisoned the crew deduces that the Duchess did it, however in the end George discovers the real culprit.
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#3 - My Wife, I Think I'll Keep Her
Season 8 - Episode 18
Upset that their husbands do not feel they should be involved in business matters, Louise and Helen move in together leaving George and Tom to live together in the Jefferson apartment. All this prompted by George not consulting Louise about a commercial he was making and Tom's plans to go ahead publishing a book by written by a sexist.
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#4 - How Not to Marry a Millionaire
Season 10 - Episode 5
Florence and her friend, Betty go down to the museum in hopes of landing millionaires. Florence is surprised when a millionaire follows her home and begins showering her with expensive gifts. However, his true intentions prove to be extremely painful to Florence.
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#5 - My Girl, Louise
Season 9 - Episode 16
With the Help Center on its last legs, Louise and Helen desperately try to find someone who could make a sizeable donation to keep the Help Center going. This prompts Louise to go to her ex-employer, Lillian Warren, whom Louise worked for as a maid and who treated her like a piece of furniture.
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#6 - Poetic Justice
Season 9 - Episode 11
Louise discovers some old poems the George once wrote and has them bound in a book. However, in order to get it bound she must order a number of copies, copies which get circulated around to those living in the building. George is furious however his attitude changes when a publisher takes an interest in his poems.
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#7 - Mr. Clean
Season 9 - Episode 19
One evening while playing poker, George and his buddies make a mess of the living room throwing food all over. This prompts Florence to stay up all night cleaning up after George's mess which is why she is exhausted the next morning. This leads George to make a bet with Florence stating that he can do in three hours what she does in a day.
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#8 - The House That George Built
Season 8 - Episode 8
George wants everyone to know him when he dies so he sets out to create himself into a legend. First he tries writing a book about his life but he then changes his mind and does the unthinkable. He buys a building and turns it into the George Jefferson Museum, complete with exhibits about his life and times.
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#9 - The Good Life
Season 9 - Episode 20
The good life is striking everyone, George has hit success with the stocks allowing Louise to get a ring she wanted, Tom has just gotten a new client and Helen has just been pampered at a spa where she met famous celebrities. Wanting in on the "good life" Florence shells out enough money to go to the spa wanting to meet celebrities and unknowingly runs into Gladys Knight.
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#10 - Designing Woman
Season 9 - Episode 23
George is trying to drum up some cleaning business from a famous fashion designer, Camille Hendricks. George tricks Jenny into swinging by the apartment to meet her in order to show her some of her designs, however Jenny is unprepared for this unexpected surprise.
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#11 - A Whole Lot of Trouble
Season 8 - Episode 9
Louise is furious when she learns that George is the businessman who plans on building over a local children's playground. However, George has second thoughts after he makes a visit to the playground.
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#12 - Death Smiles on a Dry Cleaner (1)
Season 9 - Episode 8
For George's birthday, Louise books herself, George and Florence on a murder mystery cruise ship for mystery novelists, thus George pretends to be a novelist. George is having fun trying to solve a murder mystery until an apparant "real" murder occurs.
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#13 - George's Old Girl Friend
Season 10 - Episode 20
Louise finds a perfume soaked letter in the mail to George from an old girlfriend. After a discussion, Louise decides to allow him to meet with her, which turns out to be a big mistake. Almost as soon as she arrives, she pulls a gun on him with intent to kill him.
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#14 - Louise's Setback
Season 6 - Episode 13
Louise is ecstatic when she learns that a television documentary will be done on the suicide helpline available down at the Help Center, and she is going to be interviewed. However, in the midst of all the excitement, Louise inadvertently neglects a teenage girl who later swallows a bottle of pills.
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#15 - A Case of Self-Defense
Season 8 - Episode 17
When Lionel and Jenny's apartment gets broken into, George begins to worry that his apartment could just as easily be broken into. His solution: buy a gun, something that Louise is totally against. However, George buys one on the sly and later proves to be a dangerous possession.
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#16 - I Spy
Season 8 - Episode 13
Helen's comments that Tom hasn't been paying any attention to her, fuel George's belief that she is having an affair especially since he sees her and another man having lunch together. This leads George to bring Tom down to the restaurant to see for himself.
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#17 - A Charmed Life
Season 8 - Episode 11
George doesn't understand why he wasn't invited to a posh gala event at the Whittendale apartment, until Tom, Helen, Louise and Florence break the news the Whittendale "hates his guts." Wanting to earn some respect, George takes charm lessons in order to live up to the standards of the behavior of "rich folks"
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#18 - George's Dream
Season 5 - Episode 5
Workaholic George falls asleep in his office, one evening, and has a dream that takes him to the year 1996. In the dream, Louise is celebrating the 22nd anniversary of George's business, who isn't there celebrating, since he passed on a few years earlier.
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#19 - Florence's New Job (Part 1)
Season 7 - Episode 19
A hotel owner being wooed by George as a potential customer offers Florence a job as executive housekeeper. (This is a backdoor pilot for the spinoff series titled "Checking In".)
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#20 - The Other Woman
Season 5 - Episode 18
A business trip of Tom's sparks an argument between him and Helen which gets even worse when she discovers that a beautiful blond is accompanying him.
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#21 - Blazing Jeffersons
Season 8 - Episode 15
George is distraught when he learns that his Brooklyn store has burned down due to faulty wiring. However, Tom raises his spirits by reminding him that his insurance will cover it by taking to court the person responsible for the faulty wiring. Just then George remembers who put in the wiring, Lionel.
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#22 - My Hero
Season 7 - Episode 15
After saving a woman from a mugger, George seeks to hire a personal bodyguard.
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#23 - Men of the Cloth
Season 8 - Episode 16
For Jessica's baptism, Louise wants Florence and her gospel singing group to perform and Jenny agrees with her. However, George wants someone else and sets out to get Andrae Crouch to preform at the baptism, going so far as to say he is a reverend.
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#24 - Thammy the Thongwriter
Season 8 - Episode 12
George and Louise receive a post card from Harry, who's been transfered out of the country. Soon after, they meet the man who's moving into Harry's old apartment, a jingle writer whom George tries to get to write a jingle for his business. However, jingles are far from his mind, since he's having marital problems.
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#25 - Brother Tom
Season 6 - Episode 14
When two old friends of Helen's come for a visit, Tom feels like a "white" outsider in his own home. This prompts him to ask George to teach him how to act black.
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