50 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 50 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01The Jeffersons is a spin-off of which sitcom?
All in the Family
The Jeffersons had been the Bunkers' 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
253 episodes between January 1975 and July 1985.
Q 04What business made George Jefferson prosperous?
A dry-cleaning chain
Jefferson Cleaners had five stores in New York when the series began.
Q 05How did George get the money to open his first store?
A $5,000 settlement after a bus hit his car
The story was told in an early All in the Family episode before George ever appeared on camera.
Q 06How many stores was George operating when The Jeffersons began?
Five
Two more opened in later seasons.
Q 07The Jeffersons' luxury high-rise, the Colby East, sits on which numbered Manhattan block?
63rd Street
Edith Bunker gave Louise a tearful goodbye in the All in the Family episode 'The Jeffersons Move Up'.
Q 08Who played Louise 'Weezy' Jefferson?
Isabel Sanford
She was 21 years older than her on-screen husband Sherman Hemsley.
Q 09In 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 10Sherman Hemsley's debut as George was delayed by his role in which Broadway musical?
Purlie
Lear wrote George's brother Henry, played by Mel Stewart, into the scripts until Hemsley was free.
Q 11In which episode of the parent show did George Jefferson finally appear on screen?
Henry's Farewell
Hemsley and Mel Stewart share their only scene together in its final minutes.
Q 12Which future star auditioned for an unspecified role on the show but was talked out of it by his agent?
Denzel Washington
He would have to wait for St. Elsewhere.
Q 13The 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 21Paul Benedict, who played Bentley, was also known to children as which Sesame Street character?
The Number Painter
His distinctive jaw and nose were partly due to acromegaly, first diagnosed by an endocrinologist in a theatre audience.
Q 22Tom 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 23Roxie Roker, who played Helen Willis, is the mother of which rock musician?
Lenny Kravitz
Q 14Who co-wrote and sang the theme song 'Movin' On Up'?
Ja'Net DuBois
She played Willona on Good Times and wrote it with Jeff Barry after her mother suggested she draw on her own dreams.
Q 15Who 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 16For her first two years on the show, the actress who played Florence kept her day job doing what?
Airline reservations agent
She later starred in and co-produced 227, and even sang its theme.
Q 17What was the name of the short-lived spin-off in which Florence took a hotel job?
Checking In
It lasted four episodes; Florence returned with the story that the hotel had burned down.
Q 18After The Jeffersons was cancelled, the Florence actress moved to which NBC sitcom?
227
The cancellation let her start a year earlier than planned.
Q 19Harry Bentley, the eccentric British neighbour, worked in what job?
Interpreter at the United Nations
George regularly slammed the door on his stories and had to walk on his bad back.
Q 20How did Bentley address the Jeffersons?
'Mr. J' and 'Mrs. J'
Paul Benedict left for a season and a half in 1981 and returned for the final two seasons.
Asked at her casting whether she could play a woman with a white husband, she showed a photo of her real husband, Sy Kravitz.
Q 24On what date did Lionel and Jenny marry on the show?
December 24, 1976
They later had a daughter, Jessica, and divorced in the two-parter 'Sayonara'.
Q 25Two 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 26Who played George's mother, Olivia 'Mother' Jefferson?
Zara Cully
She constantly ran down Louise; the actress died of lung cancer in 1978 and the character was written out.
Q 27What 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 28Charlie, the bar owner on the ground floor, was revealed to have what problem in the final season?
Alcoholism
The episode was 'A Secret in the Back Room'.
Q 29How many Emmy nominations did The Jeffersons receive?
14
It won two, including Sanford's 1981 Best Actress award.
Q 30How often did The Jeffersons switch time slots during its decade-plus run?
At least 15 switches
Unusual for a popular long-running series.