Season 5

The Jeffersons: Season 5
The Jeffersons Season 5 DVD cover.
Program information
Episodes aired:
24
Dates aired:
September 20, 1978 - April 18, 1979
Network/Country:
CBS-TV / United States
Previous Season: Season 4
Next Season: Season 6

The Jeffersons:Season 5

A total of 24 episodes of The Jeffersons aired on CBS-TV during Season 5, from Sepember 20, 1978 to the season's conclusion on April 18, 1979.

Season summary

In Season 5 of the series, George, Weezy, Florence, and the entire gang are funnier than ever with their wisecrackin' ways, as Jay Hammer joins the cast as Allan Willis, Tom and Helen's estranged son, returns to New York City from his life living in an Arizona commune, as the same issues between he and dad tom arise when Tom's father dies and bequaeths a warehose which George covets to use for his business to Allan in "The Homecoming: Part One" (#2) and "The Homecoming: Part Two" (#3).

In the episode "Every Night Fever" (#21), Louise (Isabel Sanford) and Tom (Franklin Cover) are both at a loss about what to do when their spouses, George (Sherman Hemsley) and Helen (Roxie Roker) are both bitten by the dance bug as they both come down with a case of disco fever, staying out and dancing at disco clubs until the wee hours of the morning..

Damon Evans, who had played the part of Lionel Jefferson from Season 2, departed the series just before the the start of production and shooting for the episodes of Season 5 began to commit to what would become a successful, long-running Broadway production of Porgy and Bess, where he assumed the role of Sportin' Life. The character Lionel would not make an apperance this season and would not appear again until season 6, when Mike Evans, who had been co-producing Good Times with Eric Monte, would return to the cast.

Billy Dee Williams makes a special guest appearance in "Me and Billy Dee" (#7) as George, posing as Roots author Alex Haley, cons Billy into speaking at a benefit he's hosting, as Florence, perhaps Billy's #1 fan, thinking that George, who invited Billy to drop by the Jeffersons' apartment, soon becomes disappointed when it's confirmed that the she's gotten a kiss from the "real deal" instead of an impersonator!

In the season opener, "Louise's Painting", Louise (Isabel Sanford) gets an eyeful when her drawing class sketches a nude model. In the episode "Florence Meets Mr. Right" (#16) Florence (Marla Gibbs) receives a marriage proposal from a strictly religious overly devout man. Finally, In the season finale, "The Freeze-In" (#24), things get uncomfortable when a broken heater forces Harry, Tom and Helen to spend the evening cramped up with the Jeffersons

Series overview 

Seasons		Episodes	Originally aired
			Season premiere	Season finale
	1	13	January 18, 1975	April 12, 1975
	2	24	September 13, 1975	March 6, 1976
	3	24	September 25, 1976	April 11, 1977
	4	26	September 24, 1977	March 4, 1978
	5	24	September 20, 1978	April 18, 1979
	6	24	September 23, 1979	April 13, 1980
	7	20	November 2, 1980	March 29, 1981
	8	25	October 4, 1981	May 16, 1982
	9	27	September 26, 1982	May 1, 1983
	10	22	October 2, 1983	May 6, 1984
	11	24	October 14, 1984	July 2, 1985

Season 5 (1978-79)

• Sherman Hemsley as George Jefferson
• Isabel Sanford as Louise Jefferson
• Marla Gibbs as Florence Johnston
• Franklin Cover as Tom Willis
• Roxie Roker as Helen Willis
• Berlinda Tolbert as Jenny Willis-Jefferson
• Jay Hammer as Allan Willis
• Paul Benedict as Harry Bentley
• Ned Wertimer as Ralph the Doorman

Image	No. in series	No. in season	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original air date	Prod.code
	88	1	"Louise's Painting"	Jack Shea	Nancy Vince & Ted Dale	September 20, 1978	5.1 / 501
Prompted by Helen, Louise begins taking an art class. However, when George discovers she's been sketching models who pose in the nude, he tries to get her to stop attending class.
	89	2	"The Homecoming: Part One"	Jack Shea	Jay Moriarty & Mike Milligan	September 27, 1978	5.2 / 503
George decides that he needs a cleaning factory and sets out to find a place for it. Meanwhile, Allan Willis returns to New York and learns that he has inherited a warehouse from his grandfather. Seeing that the warehouse would be perfect for his factory, George goes all out to try to get it, even allowing Alan to move in with the Jeffersons' due to squabbling between Alan and Tom. Note: Jay Hammer makes his first appearance as Allan Willis.
	90	3	"​The Homecoming: Part Two"	Jack Shea	Teleplay by: Robert Wolterstoff, Paul M.Belous, Jay Moriarty & Mike Milligan Story by: Jay Moriarty & Mike Milligan	October 4, 1978	5.3 / 504
Alan moves in with the Jeffersons and George continues efforts to get the warehouse for himself. Meanwhile, battles with the landlord prompt Louise and Helen to try to find a better place for the Help Center.
	91	4	"How Slowly They Forget"	Erwin Washington	Nancy Vince & Ted Dale	October 11, 1978	5.4 / 505
Louise has been trying to get a permit for the Help Center but she hasn't been able to get anywhere with the bank. This leads George to go down to the bank and discovers that the banker is an old U.S. Navy pal of his, one who still holds a grudge over some trickery George pulled on him back in their Navy days.
	92	5	"George's Dream"	Jack Shea	Bob Baublitz	October 18, 1978	5.5 / 502
Workaholic George falls asleep in his office, one evening, and has a dream that takes him to the year 1996. In the dream, Amy Carter is President of the U.S.; Louise is celebrating the 22nd anniversary of George's business, who isn't there celebrating, since he passed on a few years earlier; Florence, Helen and Tom Willis are considerably older; Ralph owns the apartment building; Leroy is a financial genius who owns Jefferson Cleaners; Bentley is still the same.
	93	6	"George's New Stockbroker"	Jack Shea	Bryan Joseph, Jim Rogers, Jay Moriarty & Mike Milligan	November 1, 1978	5.6 / 509
George's new stockbroker is quite a ventriloquist, after he introduces the Jeffersons to his dummy, J.P. However, George has second thoughts about him after he learns that he has spent time in a mental institution.
	94	7	"Me and Billy Dee"	Jack Shea	Written by: Bryan Joseph Story by: Jay Moriarty & Mike Milligan	November 4, 1978	5.7 / 511
At the last minute, George's speaker at a benefit cancels which leaves him scrambling to find a celebrity to speak. He sets out to rope Billy Dee Williams into speaking, even considering getting a celebrity look-alike. However, George passes himself off as Alex Haley, and Billy Dee agrees to speak. Meanwhile, an excited Florence is let down when she mistakes Billy Dee, her idol, for an impersonator.
	95	8	"Half a Brother"	Jack Shea	Bob Baublitz	November 8, 1978	5.8 / 510
George is being considered for a position on a bank's board of directors and when a banker comes over to interview him, Alan and the banker's daughter hit it off. This leads George to worry that because Alan is half black this will jeopardize his chances of getting the position.
	96	9	"What Are Friends For?"	Jack Shea	Teleplay by: Jay Moriarty & Mike Milligan Story by: Skip Usen	November 22, 1978	5.9 / 512
George is thrilled to get a visit from his favorite cousin, Dusty. George's thrill turns to shock when Dusty asks George for a kidney since his are failing. This leads George to take a long hard look at the pros and cons of parting with one of his organs.
	97	10	"George, Who?"	Jack Shea	Christine Houston	November 29, 1978	5.10 / 513
Louise is convinced that George and her are in a routine, something that George scoffs at. However, their routine gets shaken up after Louise is brutally mugged resulting in her getting amnesia.
	98	11	"Harry's House Guest"	Jack Shea	Fred S. Fox & Seaman Jacobs	December 13, 1978	5.11 / 507
Harry practically moves into the Jefferson's apartment to avoid his annoying house guest, Felicia. George tries to help him out by giving him tips to throw her out, but this results in Felicia thinking that Harry is proposing.
	99	12	"George Finds a Father"	Jack Shea	Teleplay by: Kurt Taylor, John Donley, Paul M. Belous & Robert Wolterstoff Story by: Kurt Taylor & John Donley	December 20, 1978	5.12 / 516
The Christmas season brings old friends, Buddy and Zeke, to the Jefferson apartment. With them comes along a long buried secret, one that George can't handle. Buddy and George's mother were once lovers.
	100	13	"Louise's Sister"	Jack Shea	Bob Baublitz	January 3, 1979	5.13 / 514
George is planning a surprise party for Louise in which her gift is a surprise visit from her sister, Maxine. When Louise has a strange reaction to her sister, George is puzzled, unknown to him, her reasons stem to her and Maxine's childhood. Note: This is the only time we get to see Louise's sister,  Maxine Mills; Josephine Premice guest stars as Maxine.
	101	14	"Louise's Reunion"	Jack Shea	Howard Albrecht & Sol Weinstein	January 10, 1979	5.14 / 508
On the evening of her class reunion, Louise discovers in George's will that all of his money would go to her on the condition that she never remarries. This obviously prompts yet another argument resulting in Louise attending her reunion without George.
	102	15	"A Bedtime Story"	Jack Shea	Stephen Neigher	January 24, 1979	5.15 / 520
George is trying to hide his impotence from Louise and explores many means to cure his problem, including, oysters, medications and even a sex therapist.
	103	16	"Florence Meets Mr. Right"	Jack Shea	Peter Casey & David Lee	January 31, 1979	5.16 / 519
Florence's latest boyfriend, Buzz Thatcher, proposes marriage which she accepts happily. However, his overly religious attitudes give Louise a bad feeling about the whole thing.
	104	17	"Louise's Award"	Jack Shea	M. Martez Thomas	February 7, 1979	5.17 / 515
Louise is excited that she's being considered to receive the Volunteer of the Year award due to her work down at the Help Center. However, what she doesn't know is that George is planning to make sure she wins the award by bribing one of the judges.
	105	18	"The Other Woman"	Jack Shea	Writers: Jerry Perzigan & Don Siegel Original story by: Jack Shea	February 21, 1979	5.18 / 521
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.
	106	19	"The Hold Out"	Jack Shea	Written by: Bryan Joseph Original story by: Bernard Burnell Mack	February 28, 1979	5.19 / 518
George becomes the holdout when he refuses to sell his first store to a company who is buying up all the buildings on the block. His strategy, holdout to up the offer despite the fact that the company plans to build an expensive apartment building which would put those living there now, out on the street.
	107	20	"The Ones You Love"	Jack Shea	Stephen Neigher	March 7, 1979	5.20 / 517
Tom and Alan's fight causes a fight to erupt between George and Louise on the same evening a reporter from Black Life Magazine is to interview them on the subject of happily married life.
	108	21	"Every Night Fever"	Jack Shea	Bryan Joseph	March 28, 1979	5.21 / 523
Louise turns down an offer to be in a play being put on by the Help Center because she wants to spend her evenings with George. However, after an evening at a disco, George catches disco fever and begins spending all night every night at the local disco.
	109	22	"Three Faces of Florence"	Jack Shea	Teleplay by: Paul M.Belous & Robert Wolterstoff   Story by: Bernard Burnell Mack	April 4, 1979	5.22 / 522
Florence is reading a novel in which a woman pretends to be different people this gives Florence the idea to act like different people to attract men. While down at the Help Center, she tries it out on a man, unknown to her he's a psychiatrist who becomes convinced Florence has multiple personalities.  Note: Adam Wade guest stars.as Dr. Greg Martin and Jane Brody guest stars as Nancy.
	110	23	"Louise's Convention"	Jack Shea	Paul M.Belous & Robert Wolterstoff	April 11, 1979	5.23 / 506
Helen gives Louise the news that both of them have been invited to California to attend a convention, however, the planned trip coincides with the date of her wedding anniversary. Meanwhile, George mistakenly plans a business meeting on his anniversary and later at home happily allows Louise to go to California but his joy arouses suspicions in her. Guest star: Sheryl Lee Ralph (as Jeanie); Jay Hammer makes his final series appearance as Allan Willis.
	111	24	"The Freeze-In"	Jack Shea	Writers: Jay Moriarty, Mike Milligan, Jerry Perzigan & Don Siegel  Original story by: Jay Moriarty & Mike Milligan	April 18, 1979	5.24 / 524
When the heat goes out in a few of the apartments in the building, Harry, Tom and Helen convene at the Jefferson's heated apartment, causing cramped space and sore feelings. This episode was videotaped on February 20, 1979.