The Jeffersons on CBS

Question: Help me out here. I'm a big fan of The Jeffersons and I always thought the first actor who played Lionel left because of a swelled head, then came back when his solo career didn't take off. But my brother insists it was so that his brother could take over. Who's right?

Answer: Why, you are, Brenda, assuming you mean Mike Evans, who played young Lionel Jefferson on All in the Family and then on its Jeffersons spin-off. He left because of an inflated sense of self rather than a bump on the noggin. However, it's probably nicer to say he suffered from the inexperience of youth rather than to tar him with the ego brush. Of course, the actor himself took it a step further in 1980 and told TV Guide he was dar read more

LIFE GOES ON | Today's News: Our Take | 9/21/2005
VH1 has announced the has-beens who will be cohabitating in the sixth season of its megahit The Surreal Life. They are — and I swear I'm not joking — The Jeffersons' Sherman Hemsley, Whitesnake video vamp Tawny Kitaen, Poison guitarist C.C. DeVille, Playboy TV's Andrea Lowell, Smashmouth rocker Steve Harwell and Alexis Arquette, Rosanna, Patricia and David's cross-dressing sibling. Wait, it gets better: Florence Henderson will also be on hand as the roommates' official den mother. Charlene Tilton's application was rejected yet again. read more