ABC’s experimental variety show, Live In Front Of A Studio Audience, must be on a lot of people’s Christmas lists this year, because Deadline has reported the show is returning on December 8th, just in time for the holidays. Live In Front Of A Studio Audience was a show that made its debut on May 22, 2019, conceptualized by Jimmy Kimmel who also hosted the special. The show recreated episodes from All In The Family and its spinoff, The Jeffersons, two iconic television series of the 1970s whose influence and fingerprints can be found in many sitcoms that came after them. Woody Harrelson played All In The Family’s Archie Bunker, a role made famous by Carroll O Connor, while Jamie Foxx starred as George Jefferson in The Jeffersons, picking the character up where the late Sherman Helmesly had last left him off. Live In Front Of A Studio Audience, hosted by Jimmy Kimmel, was a massive success. It drew in 10.4 million viewers when it aired, marrying classic television with a contemporary vision that helped widen its appeal, while also being boosted by the star power of its cast. It was also nominated for three Emmys and scored the Emmy for Outstanding Variety Special. Given its overnight success, it’s no wonder that the holiday special would be getting a second run.
The second special will be following the same concept as the first, and while All In The Family will be getting the same treatment as it did last time, Good Times will be the next classic show to receive its modern makeover. Kerry Washington, who played Helen Willis in Kimmel’s rendition of The Jeffersons, will be returning in the form of an executive producer. Jimmy Kimmel will also find himself producing the show’s second phase along with Norman Lear, the original creator of All In The Family, The Jeffersons and Good Times.
“Being a part of Norman Lear’s word was a career highlight; and working with great actors on these great shows was so much fun,” Kimmel had said. “We couldn’t resist tackling a holiday episode of ‘All in the Family’ and one of my favorites, ‘Good Times,’”