I thought Woody was awful as Archie - he was poorly cast (too fit, too youthful) and his accent was terrible. Made me appreciate how brilliant Carroll O'Connor was in that role - irreplaceable and arguably one of the BEST acting jobs in TV history.
All in The Family: Overall B-, stage play cancelled after 1yr
Edith - Tomei more than solid, i thought great, perfect
Mike - Who? Eh to terrible
Gloria - Kempler was fine, needed a blonde wig
The Jeffersons: A , Predict a ten season run on Broadway
Overall much better as other than his character break/mistake, Fox was perfect mix of camping Sherman Helmsley and just being George Jefferson. An easier task vs Archie as acting from the chair is just so much harder, again degree of difficulty amplifies performance of Carroll O'Connor. Mimic-ing the physical stuff was fun to do and you could enjoy it with him.
Got off to great start as Angela Hudson KILLED on the theme song. Tour de force.
George: JFox was GREAT
Weezy: Wanda Sykes was Great - perfectly matched
Helen Willis: GREAT
Tom Willis: Disappointing, poor casting, Will Ferrell is funny when he loses it, Tom subdued by nature
English dude - who? whatever, not funny, would have been better use of Will Ferrell
FLORENCE - I recognized her immediately despite not having seen her in 30 years (and not even remembering if they had a maid?!), phenomenal highlight of the night along with Fox. You could feel the actors and your own joy as Weezy opened the door to reveal Florence a character we all loved.