Jimmy Kimmel to host a live ABC special re-creating All in the Family and The Jeffersons

Deadline

Woody Harrelson and Marisa Tomei will take on the roles of Archie and Edith Bunker, while Jamie Foxx and Wanda Sykes will play George and Louise Jefferson in the 90-minute May 22 primetime tribute to Norman Lear's groundbreaking classic CBS sitcoms. Kimmel will host with the 96-year-old Lear. Ellie Kemper will play Gloria Stivic, Will Ferrell will appear as Tom Willis and Justina Machado is set to play Florence Johnston, with more big-name casting announcements to come. “The fact that a group of Oscar winners eagerly agreed to play these iconic characters is testament to the greatness of these shows and their creator, Norman Lear,” said Kimmel, calling the project a “dream come true.” The Live In Front Of A Studio Audience: Norman Lear’s All In The Family and The Jeffersons will air on the final night of the 2018-19 TV season, from 8 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. Kimmel will serve as executive producer along with Ferrell, Adam McKay and Justin Theroux. According to Lear, some people have said All in the Family, which aired from 1971 to 1979, and the The Jeffersons, which lasted for 11 seasons from 1975 to 1985, “would not work today" because they are too outdated. "We disagree with them and are here to prove, with two great casts depicting of All In The Family and The Jeffersons, the timelessness of human nature,” Lear said, adding: “I cannot wait to see what these glorious performers make in our time of these indelible characters.”