Did Lionel and Jenny split up? I vaguely remember an episode where they were on the verge of divorce. I never did like their relationship to begin with. They just never seemed to have that chemistry together.

The seperated and got back together in a two-part 1981 episode. Then in a two-part 1985 episode, Lionel and Jenny announce that they're planning to get a divorce, but if I remember correctly, they got back together at the end of the Part 2 episode.

Thanks boechsner. I remember the 1981 split. It had to have been the 1985 episodes that I was thinking about.

No, Lionel and Jenny did divorce. I remember at the end of the episode George hugging Jenny and saying he would still love her like a daughter even if her and Lionel weren't together (touching, but George had toned down too much and was no longer funny). I think Berlinda Tolbert wanted to make occasional appearances but Mike Evans did not appear at all after this and the divorce made it easier to show Jenny but not Lionel. The show was mercifully cancelled soon after this, it had long jumped the shark.

So Lionel and Jenny DID divorce?! I think that makes sense because I remember that Mike Evans wanted to leave the show.

Originally posted by Brian Damage
Did Lionel and Jenny split up? I vaguely remember an episode where they were on the verge of divorce. I never did like their relationship to begin with. They just never seemed to have that chemistry together.

The problem the show had that we did not get to see much of them as a married couple. They had the chemistry going on while dating, giving there was two different actors playing Lionel, and it was an enjoyable relationship to watch. When they got married it was like watching our own kids married. Too bad they did not have a wedding episode but the way they did it was clever and funny. We got cheated out of watching Lionel and Jenny develop and grow into their marriage.

Originally posted by Brian Damage
So Lionel and Jenny DID divorce?! I think that makes sense because I remember that Mike Evans wanted to leave the show.

Yes Lionel and Jenny did get a divorce. The two part episode that originally aired in 1985 was done by way of guest appearance by Berlinda Tolbert and Mike Evans. The dialogue especially when the parents got into it was somewhat like the early seasons of the shows. I would like to seen that episode with that type of dialogue before they toned George down. It would been interesting to see the fireworks. The fireworks was what made that particular episode funny. Looking at that particular episode, in reality all of the episodes from the final season, the show looked tired and ran its course. It was sad to see how Norman Lear allowed such a great program to wear its welcome out to a point of being forced off the air. As I stated in many posting about Norman Lear he does not know how to pull the plug on his shows and go out on top that leaves his fans wanting more. The divorce episode was a desperate attempt to get another storyline going.

I don't think Norman Lear is to blame. He wanted AITF to end in 1977, it was CBS who wanted to continue the show, thus it became ABP in 1979 and ran until 1983. The same goes with the Jeffersons. I sure Norman would have wanted to end the show sooner but as long as the actors wanted to stay and CBS wanted to keep it on it would stay on. Norman was no longer involved in the production of his shows after 1978, so even if he wanted to pull the plug on the Jeffersons earlier (which I'm sure he did) he would have been vetoed by CBS.

I also blame the network. They squeezed the life out of the show by keeping it on too long. Because of that, fans were robbed of a proper send off in the form of a finale.