Jimmy Kimmel’s long-awaited live sitcom special, recreating “All in the Family” and “The Jeffersons,” now has an air date and all-star cast.
“Live in Front of a Studio Audience: Norman Lear’s All in the Family and The Jeffersons” will air May 22 on ABC, the network announced.
A pair of Oscar winners will take on the iconic roles.
Woody Harrelson and Marisa Tomei will star as Archie and Edith Bunker, while Jamie Foxx and Wanda Sykes will portray George and Louise Jefferson. Ellie Kemper takes on the role of Gloria Stivic, with Will Ferrell as Tom Willis and Justina Machado as Florence Johnston.
Kimmel is set to co-host the event with legendary television producer Norman Lear, who created the shows back in the 1970s.
“The fact that a group of Oscar winners eagerly agreed to play these iconic characters is a testament to the greatness of these shows and their creator, Norman Lear,” Kimmel said in a statement. “To be a part of this is a dream come true for me and for everyone involved.”
Lear noted that it has been “said over and over again that these two shows were meant for the ’70s and would not work today.”
“We disagree with them and are here to prove, with two great casts depicting ‘All in the Family’ and ‘The Jeffersons,’ the timelessness of human nature,” Lear said in a statement. “I cannot wait to see what these glorious performers make in our time of these indelible characters.”
“The Jeffersons,” which ran from 1975 to 1985 on CBS, was a spinoff of “All in the Family,” which ran from 1971 to 1979.
