The Jeffersons Trivia
0Loading crowd target
0Loading crowd target
7correct to beat the crowd
39 free The Jeffersons trivia questions with answers — entertainment quiz, new questions added Aug 2026.
The Jeffersons moved on up in 1975 and stayed for eleven seasons, the longest run of any All in the Family spin-off. This quiz covers it top to bottom. Forty-one questions take in George and Louise, the dry-cleaning chain built on a $5,000 bus settlement, the high-rise on East 63rd Street, Florence's wisecracks, Bentley's bad back, Ralph the doorman's open palm, Mother Jefferson, and Tom and Helen Willis, prime time's first regular interracial couple. The backstory gets its due too: George's debut on All in the Family, the Broadway show that delayed Sherman Hemsley's arrival, the Black Panthers who pushed Norman Lear to write a prosperous Black family, Ja'Net DuBois writing 'Movin' On Up', Isabel Sanford's landmark Emmy, the four-episode spin-off Checking In, and the way the cast learned of the cancellation from newspapers. Easy questions ask what George's business is; hard ones want the number of time slots the show cycled through and who played George in the 2019 live special. Every answer was checked against Wikipedia's articles on the series and cast, and each question carries the sentence that supports it.
30 of 39 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01The Jeffersons is a spin-off of which sitcom?
All in the Family
The Jeffersons spun off from All in the Family in January 1975; George and Louise had been the Bunkers' next-door neighbours in Queens.
Q 02Who created The Jeffersons?
Norman Lear
It was his second All in the Family spin-off, after Maude, and by far the longest running.
Q 03How many seasons did The Jeffersons run?
Eleven
The Jeffersons ran for eleven seasons on CBS, from January 1975 to July 1985, making it one of the longest-running sitcoms with a mostly Black cast.
Q 04What business made George Jefferson prosperous?
A dry-cleaning chain
George built his fortune on Jefferson Cleaners, a dry-cleaning chain that grew from a single Queens store into several across New York.
Q 05What did Lionel and Jenny name their daughter, George and Louise's granddaughter?
Jessica
Jessica Jefferson, played as a child by Ebonie Smith, was Lionel and Jenny's daughter; her birth made George and Louise grandparents late in the 1970s.
Q 06Who played Louise 'Weezy' Jefferson?
Isabel Sanford
Isabel Sanford played Louise from the character's 1971 debut on the parent show through the final 1985 episode, earning seven consecutive Emmy nominations.
Q 07In 1981 the woman who played Louise became the first African-American to win an Emmy in which category?
Lead Actress in a Comedy Series
She was nominated seven years running; no Black actress won the award again until Quinta Brunson in 2024.
Q 08Sherman Hemsley's debut as George was delayed by his role in which Broadway musical?
Purlie
Hemsley was committed to Purlie, the 1970 Broadway musical based on Ossie Davis's play Purlie Victorious, so George was only talked about on the parent show until he finally appeared in 1973.
Q 09In which episode of the parent show did George Jefferson finally appear on screen?
Henry's Farewell
George first appeared in 'Henry's Farewell', an October 1973 episode in which his brother leaves Queens; Hemsley shares a single scene with the departing character in its final minutes.
Q 10The idea of a prosperous couple "moving on up" came after the creator's office was visited by which group?
The Black Panthers
They complained that every Black man on TV was 'dirt poor'; Lear worked out the concept with Al Burton.
Q 11Who co-wrote and sang the theme song 'Movin' On Up'?
Ja'Net DuBois
Ja'Net DuBois, who played Willona Woods on Good Times, co-wrote 'Movin' On Up' and sang it over the opening credits with a gospel choir.
Q 12Who played the wisecracking housekeeper Florence Johnston?
Marla Gibbs
Florence teased George about his short stature and receding hairline; Gibbs got five Emmy nominations for it.
Q 13For her first two years on the show, the actress who played Florence kept her day job doing what?
Airline reservations agent
Gibbs kept her job as a United Airlines reservations agent for two years after joining the show, unsure the part would last; she did not quit until 1977.
Q 21Who played George's mother, Olivia 'Mother' Jefferson?
Zara Cully
Zara Cully played Mother Jefferson, who constantly ran down Louise; Cully died of lung cancer in February 1978 and the character was written out.
Q 22What was doorman Ralph Hart's defining habit?
Stalling at the door, hand out for a tip
George almost always gave in, and Ralph occasionally used it as blackmail.
Q 23Which actor played Tom Willis, Helen's husband, throughout the series?
Franklin Cover
Franklin Cover played Tom Willis for the show's entire run, the good-natured white half of the Willis marriage and a frequent target of George's jibes.
Q 14After The Jeffersons was cancelled, the Florence actress moved to which NBC sitcom?
227
Gibbs moved to 227, the NBC sitcom she had developed from a stage play she produced in Los Angeles; it premiered in September 1985 and ran until 1990.
Q 15Harry Bentley, the eccentric British neighbour, worked in what job?
Interpreter at the United Nations
Bentley worked as an interpreter at the United Nations; George regularly slammed the door on his rambling stories and was pressed into walking on his bad back.
Q 16How did Bentley address the Jeffersons?
'Mr. J' and 'Mrs. J'
Bentley called them 'Mr. J' and 'Mrs. J'; Paul Benedict played him from the first season, left in 1981 and returned in 1983 for the final two seasons.
Q 17Paul Benedict, who played Bentley, was also known to children as which Sesame Street character?
The Number Painter
Benedict was Sesame Street's Number Painter, also called the Mad Painter, who painted numerals on everything in early-1970s film segments; his distinctive jaw and nose were caused by acromegaly.
Q 18Tom and Helen Willis were notable as what?
An early prime-time interracial couple
George derided their children as 'zebras'; their daughter Jenny married Lionel.
Q 19Roxie Roker, who played Helen Willis, is the mother of which rock musician?
Lenny Kravitz
Roxie Roker's son is Lenny Kravitz, born in 1964 to her marriage with a white television producer; his 1989 debut album was Let Love Rule.
Q 20Two unrelated actors with the same surname played Lionel Jefferson. What was it?
Evans
Mike Evans left after season one and Damon Evans took over until midway through season four; Mike later returned.
Q 24How did Sherman Hemsley say he learned the show had been cancelled?
By reading it in the newspaper
Franklin Cover heard it on Entertainment Tonight, and Isabel Sanford called the lack of a finale disrespectful.
Q 25What was the title of the final episode, aired July 2, 1985?
Red Robins
'Red Robins' aired as the last episode on July 2, 1985; CBS had announced the cancellation at its May upfront presentation, so the series ended without a proper finale.
Q 26In which 1996 series finale did George and Louise appear as the buyers of the Banks mansion?
The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air
The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air ended in May 1996 with George and Louise buying the Banks mansion; the pair had also appeared in a couples' therapy session in a 1995 episode.
Q 27In which 2011 sitcom did Hemsley reprise George, alongside the original Florence?
Tyler Perry's House of Payne
Hemsley reprised George, with the original Florence actress, in a 2011 episode of Tyler Perry's House of Payne on TBS; Hemsley died the following year, in July 2012.
Q 28After The Jeffersons, Sherman Hemsley starred as Deacon Ernest Frye on which NBC sitcom?
Amen
Amen ran on NBC from 1986 to 1991 with Hemsley as Deacon Ernest Frye; before acting he had worked for the Postal Service in Philadelphia by day and studied drama at night.
Q 29The Louise actress appeared in which landmark 1967 film before The Jeffersons?
Guess Who's Coming to Dinner
Sanford made her film debut as Tillie, the Drayton family's maid, in Guess Who's Coming to Dinner (1967), opposite Spencer Tracy, Katharine Hepburn and Sidney Poitier.
Q 30In ABC's 2019 special Live in Front of a Studio Audience, who played George Jefferson?
Jamie Foxx
Jamie Foxx played George opposite Wanda Sykes as Louise in the May 2019 live special, famously breaking character when he flubbed a line.