The Jeffersons Character Review: Louise Jefferson

*For the foreseeable future, some Character Review posts may not be published every Thursday as they have in the past.

*Warning: This post contains spoilers about the characters from the television series The Jeffersons. Read at your own risk if you have not watched the show.

There is something to be said about a well-written, human character. They leap off the page and speak to us as if they were right in front of us, as flesh and blood human beings, instead of fictional creations. For every yin, there is a yang. The best partnerships are the one in which one person balances out the other. On The Jeffersons, Louise Jefferson (Isabel Sanford) is the the exact opposite of her husband, George (Sherman Hemsley).

When George is obnoxious and full of it, she is kind and openhearted. Willing to give people a chance, she becomes good friends with Tom and Helen Willis (Franklin Cover and Roxie Roker), a bi-racial couple who lives in the same building. Remembering the poverty she experienced in her childhood, she is reluctant to hire a maid. After some convincing on George’s part, she agreed to hire a maid. Over the years, the relationship between Louise and Florence Johnston (Marla Gibbs) becomes less like employer and employee and more like two women who know each other well.

But even as calm and collected as Louise is, there is one person that gets under her skin: her mother-in-law. Mother Jefferson (Zara Cully) knows exactly how to push Louise’s buttons. Though Louise and George have been married for a long time, she is still the target of criticism and disapproval.

To sum it up: Without Louise, George would be just another asshole. Her presence is both a calming influence on both him and the audience, allowing us to laugh without feeling the need to knock him down a peg or two. Louise is the character the audience can connect with, giving us a natural access point and allowing us to enjoy everything this show has to offer.

Which is why she is a memorable character.

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How Many More Deaths Does Texas Governor Greg Abbott Want on His Watch?

With the anniversary of the explosion of Covid-19 coming up next week, I would have hoped that logic and science would have finally won the day. But stupidity and politics still have still have a hand to play.

Earlier this week, Texas Governor Greg Abbott ended the mask mandate. As of next Wednesday, March 10th, all businesses are re-opening as if the pandemic never happened.

From an economic perspective, his decision is a sound one. The only way to restore the state and the nation to the pre-pandemic financial state is to get people working again. That being said, the only way we can contain this virus and stop the spread is to follow the protocols established by the CDC and the medical community.

Adding to the foolishness is the Governor’s statement blaming the spread of Covid-19 on undocumented Mexican immigrants and the Biden administration.

I wonder, as many others have wondered, if this is nothing but a smoke screen? The mess that the snow storm created is far from cleaned up. If he thinks that solely catering to his base is enough to keep him in office, he should look to the former President. There is a reason why you know who is thankfully no longer on the job.

The fact is that we can only return to some version of normal if we work together. It does not help that some people are so thickheaded that they ignore the facts to save their own skins.

Throwback Thursday: Brad Meltzer’s Decoded (2010-2012)

History is full of myths, half-truths, and stories that over time have been embellished or altered in some way.

Brad Meltzer’s Decoded aired on the History Channel from 2010-2012. Hosted by writer and investigator Brad Meltzer, the series follows a group of history detectives as they look into a variety of symbols, secret codes, and conspiracy theories.

Though the show has been off on the air for nearly a decade, it is available for streaming on Hulu. I watched one episode a while back. As a history nerd, I am all for exploring the narrative beyond the accepted facts. The problem is that it was just background noise. I enjoyed it, but I can’t say that I am excited to sit down and binge the entire series.

Do I recommend it? Maybe.