What Happened on the First Episode of ‘The Jeffersons’ and Why It Mattered

When The Jeffersons — which, starting on August 25, 2025, will air on FETV every day at 6:50 pm — began, it told story of a couple who had worked their way from a modest life in Queens to a luxury apartment on Manhattan’s Upper East Side. The first episode, titled “A Friend in Need,” which aired on January 18, 1975, set the tone for what would become one of television’s most groundbreaking portrayals of a Black family.

In the pilot, George Jefferson (Sherman Hemsley) is eager to embrace their new lifestyle and decides they need a maid. Louise (Isabel Sanford), also known as Weezy, is not so sure, as she spent years working as a maid herself and feels uneasy about hiring someone to do a job she knows all too well. George presses the idea until Weezy finally agrees. That decision leads to the hiring of Florence Johnston (Marla Gibbs), whose sharp wit and no-nonsense personality would quickly make her a fan favorite.