'All in the Family' and 'Good Times' Fans Already Weighing in Before TV Special

Fans are already excited for the Live in Front of a Studio Audience: All in the Family and Good [...]

By Allison Schonter

Fans are already excited for the Live in Front of a Studio Audience: All in the Family and Good Times special set to air on ABC Wednesday night. Ahead of the big debut, fans of the two series are taking to social media to share their excitement over the holiday-inspired live event, the second installment of the Emmy-winning Live In Front Of A Studio Audience.

"If you aren't watching the 'All in the Family' live special on ABC next Wednesday night....we can't be friends," one excited fan joked.

"Viola Davis as Florida and Andre Braugher as James...I'm HERE for it!!" another person praised the casting.

"I'm a excited for All In The Family & Good Times LIVE !" a third person tweeted.

"I didn't watch that last All In The Family/The Jeffersons Live.... but with Viola Davis playing Florida in this live adaptation of Good Times, Patti as Willona and Anthony Anderson as Bookman, I'm in," another person shared their excitement.

Set to premiere Wednesday, Jimmy Kimmel and Norman Lear will return to produce and host the special, which will pair an episode of All in the Family with Good Times. All in the Family was co-created by Lear in the early 1970s. A few years later, he also helped to develop Good Times, a spinoff of Maude, which itself was a spinoff of All in the Family.

Kimmel and Lear had first teamed up for a primetime live presentation of episodes of All in the Family and The Jeffersons in May. That first installment of for the Live in Front of a Studio Audience special proved to be a major success, drawing in 10.36 million viewers and a 1.7 rating in the key 18-49 demographic. The special was also nominated for three Emmy awards, winning Outstanding Variety Special (Live), and a Critics' Choice Award.

Following that success, ABC Entertainment president Karey Burke said the network was interested in holding the event many times in the future, and the network announced just last week that the series would be returning.

Woody Harrelson (Archie Bunker), Marisa Tomei (Edith Bunker), Ellie Kemper (Gloria Stivic) and Ike Barinholtz (Mike "Meathead" Stivic) will reprise their roles in the All in the Family episode alongside Kevin Bacon, Jesse Eisenberg and Justina Machado, with Viola Davis, Andre Braugher, Tiffany Haddish, Jay Pharoah, Asante Blackk, Jharrel Jerome, and Corinne Foxx starring in the Good Times episode.

Live in Front of a Studio Audience: All in the Family and Good Times airs on Wednesday, Dec. 18 at 8 p.m. ET on ABC.

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