‘Live in Front of a Studio Audience’ Viewers Still Loving the ‘All in the Family’ and ‘Good Times’ Special

ABC’s Tuesday night schedule might have been a rerun of Live in Front of a Studio Audience, but […]

July 8, 2020, 12:03am

ABC’s Tuesday night schedule might have been a rerun of Live in Front of a Studio Audience, but viewers loved the encore presentation all the same. The special, which first aired back in December, recreates two episodes of classic Norman Lear sitcoms, All in the Family and its spinoff, Good Times.

The castmembers for the All in the Family episode include Woody Harrelson and Marisa Tomei as Archie and Edith Bunker, Ike Barinholtz as Meathead, and Ellie Kemper as Gloria. For Good Times, Viola Davis and Andre Braugher take on the roles of George and Florida Evans, with SNL alum Jay Pharoah as J.J. Evans. While the scripts and performances are lifted directly from their 1970s counterparts, set designer Bernard Vyzga told PopCulture back in May that recreating the original sets wasn’t done with quite the same scrutiny — and for good reason.

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“We talked about not matching the sets exactly, but capturing the spirit of them,” Vyzga said. “So we researched, and we have some drawings from All in the Family. We found some drawings from Good Times, but we weren’t looking for exact replicas of everything but trying to get a sense of recreating the set with the spirit of the original.”

Accuracy aside, viewers were plenty happy to relive some classic TV nostalgia for the night. Here’s a snippet of what was talked about online.

I’m really enjoying Live in front of a studio audience, Good times. Great casting too.
— Christal (@cbullock5003) July 8, 2020

Today was a shit day, but they’re re-airing Live in Front of a Studio Audience with Good Times and All in the Family and @violadavis makes everything better.
— Scott Armato (@ScottArmato) July 7, 2020

I just saw the new revised “Good Times” with Tiffany Haddish and jay pharoe playing JJ 😆 now all in the family is on with woody harrelson lol
— PETEROCK.COM (@PeteRock) July 8, 2020

A redo of an All in the Family episode? Right now? Interesting.
— LookAtchu (sucks teeth) 🇱🇷🇸🇱 (@BrennieTellu) July 8, 2020

Watching ABC’s Good Times and All in The Family… Live Performance… Two of my Favorite Shows… So far not bad…but def not the original for sure. Classics! Also Loved The Jeffersons…Sanford and Son… Issues are still relative to this very day…
— Tinerbocker (@tinerbocker) July 8, 2020

If you need some @violadavis in your like right now, ABC is re-airing #LiveInFrontOfAStudioAudience. No other people could have played Florida Evans better than Viola
— Jordan (@TVTalkWithJWalk) July 8, 2020

Even though they’re both reruns, I’m having such an AWESOME time rewatching the #Brilliant @TheNormanLear and the #Hysterical @jimmykimmel ‘s #LiveInFrontOfAStudioAudience #GoodTimes and #AllInTheFamily 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼😂🤣😊
— Elsa❤️🇺🇸💚🐕💜🦋🧡🇵🇷💙 (@Elsa050467) July 8, 2020

I wondered when they aired this last year and I wonder again – did she mean to shut the door in Jimmie Waker’s face like that? #LiveInFrontOfAStudioAudience
— 📺 FSM Media (@FSMMedia) July 8, 2020

Enjoying this cast!!! #LiveInFrontOfAStudioAudience
— Kee (@KeeImages) July 8, 2020

Watching #LiveInFrontOfAStudioAudience brings back so many memories! These shows need to come back – there’s never been a better time.
— Kaz ➕➕ (@Kazshak1) July 8, 2020

Wasn’t planning on watching the live reboot of Good Times but Jay Pharoah (of course) and Viola Davis are both excellent.
— BC the Man (@BCakaTheMan) July 8, 2020

Obviously I know it’s a rerun, but it’s LOVELY to see @violadavis back on my TV again 💜💜

#Goodtimes #abc @ABCNetwork pic.twitter.com/GHvuGwOW1l
— Tim Andrews (@TimOnTheRadio) July 8, 2020