The Jeffersons

CBS abruptly cancelled the series without a proper finale, and the cast learned about the cancellation from the media rather than from the network; Sherman Hemsley said he read about it in the newspaper, while Isabel Sanford heard about it from her cousin who read the tabloids.

According to the Los Angeles Times, the cancellation was announced at CBS's 'upfront' presentation nearly two months before the final episode aired, and actor Franklin Cover found out about it while watching Entertainment Tonight.

The idea for the Jeffersons 'moving on up' to a wealthier lifestyle originated after three fans of Norman Lear's shows who were members of the Black Panthers visited his CBS office to criticize the portrayal of poor Black characters on television, including in Lear's own show Good Times.

Norman Lear created the character of George Jefferson specifically for Sherman Hemsley, but delayed introducing him because Hemsley was performing in the Broadway musical Purlie; Lear instead created George's brother Henry, played by Mel Stewart, to fill the role until Hemsley became available.

Denzel Washington auditioned for an unspecified role on the show but was convinced by his agent not to take the part.

During her casting interview, actress Roxie Roker was asked if she would be comfortable playing a character with a white husband; she responded by showing a photo of her real-life husband, Sy Kravitz, who was white.

The theme song 'Movin' On Up' was co-written by Ja'Net DuBois and Jeff Barry after DuBois asked Norman Lear for a music-related project; she struggled with the song until her mother encouraged her to draw on her personal dream of giving her mother a comfortable retirement, and Lear was amazed at how well it captured the show's essence even though he hadn't fully explained the concept to her.

Actress Zara Cully, who played Mother Jefferson, appeared much thinner in her later episodes due to a severe case of pneumonia, and her character was eventually written out of the series following Cully's real-life death from lung cancer in 1978.

In 1985, Sherman Hemsley and Isabel Sanford made a special guest appearance in character as the Jeffersons on the Italian comedy show Grand Hotel, where their voices were dubbed by Italian actors Enzo Garinei and Isa di Marzio, the same actors who dubbed them for the entire series.