[boop]

"Wasn’t George Jefferson supposed to essentially be a black version of Archie Bunker?"

In *some* ways, yes. But George Jefferson was racist about 99% of the time.

Archie could be really tender every once in a while.

And you could laugh at and laugh with Archie.

George seemed perpetually mean and angry.

To Weezy, Lionel, the black/white couple.

I didn't think his character was particularly likeable.

By anyone.

[ichabod1]

Of course, the Jeffersons were part of the Archie Bunker show from season 1, until they got their own show. At the beginning, Archie was never tender, so he and George made perfect foils for one another. I didn’t watch the Jeffersons enough to know if Sherman Helmsley’s character grew as did Carroll O’Connor’s. I think it did, though, at least in part, as I recall.

[TBP]

One of Archie's moments was when Lionel came around circulating a petition to keep the Hispanic family out of the neighborhood.

As he's signing, Archie said, "You know, Jefferson, I always liked you."

BTW, the All in the Family theme was written by the team of Charles Strouse and Lee Adams, who wrote the score for and Applause.