Jealousy

[CDThe1]

I always found it odd that jealousy was so rampant in George and Louise's marriage. One would be suspicious of the other all the time it seemed. I can kind of understand George and his unreasonable attitude, but Louise always shocked me. She seemed so level-headed, except when it involved her marriage.

Just some examples of George:

*-Jealous of Louise going to her high school reunion
*-Accusing Louise of having a child while he was in Korea
*-Jealous of Louise going on an archaelogical dig

Examples of Louise:

*-Suspects George sees another woman when he is opening a new store. (Even though George lied to her).
*-Suspects George is fooling around with his old navy buddy who had a sex change operation
*-Jealous of Ruuuu-by when George is hypnotized

I am sure there are many others, but I always wondered why Louise got jealous. They were married more than 20 years when the show first started, but they always suspected the other. Just seemed out of character for Louise.

[jamesanthony]

It's called not having any other ideas to write about.

Louise is also jealous of George's dingbat of a secretary in A Night to Remember

There are a bunch of variants on the jealousy/one character thinks another character is two timing another character gimmick in various episodes

I:Spy, Appointment in 8B, Do Not Forsake Me Oh My Helen (all 3 of these episodes were produced in the same season)


There's another episode with Judy Landers as Tom's boss' secretary whom Helen thinks he's cheating with.

[LoveMrsG]

In Louise's defense, given George's character, the way that he lied all the time and put money and business before family/friends/marriage and was chauvinistic to Louise all the time and insulted her constantly, etc., etc., I think that it was actually understandable that Louise would be suspicious. I mean, come on, let's face it. A person who behaves the way that George does 85-95% of the time, in spite of the fact that he's good-hearted deep down, is NOT the most trustworthy person in the world. I think it's understandable, given the DISMAL amount of love and affection and respect George showed her, that she wouldn't exactly be secure in her marriage all the time. And in terms of RUUU-BY and all the other women George made a big deal over, I understand that too...how often does George ever take Louise aside and lovingly tell her how beautiful and attractive she is to him??? Um, almost NEVER...yet he goes nuts over the memory of RUUU-BY and his younger secretaries and all other pretty younger women he sees. If I had a husband and he treated me like that, I'd feel hurt and jealous too.

[jamesanthony]

Originally Posted by LoveMrsG

In Louise's defense, given George's character, the way that he lied all the time and put money and business before family/friends/marriage and was chauvinistic to Louise all the time and insulted her constantly, etc., etc., I think that it was actually understandable that Louise would be suspicious. I mean, come on, let's face it. A person who behaves the way that George does 85-95% of the time, in spite of the fact that he's good-hearted deep down, is NOT the most trustworthy person in the world. I think it's understandable, given the DISMAL amount of love and affection and respect George showed her, that she wouldn't exactly be secure in her marriage all the time. And in terms of RUUU-BY and all the other women George made a big deal over, I understand that too...how often does George ever take Louise aside and lovingly tell her how beautiful and attractive she is to him??? Um, almost NEVER...yet he goes nuts over the memory of RUUU-BY and his younger secretaries and all other pretty younger women he sees. If I had a husband and he treated me like that, I'd feel hurt and jealous too.

One thing in defense of the later seasons (which most fans feel are inferior to the earlier ones)

George is sweeter to Louise in several eps and they fight less:

State of Mind- George is very sweet to Louise in making her feel like she's not old and washed up,

And the Winner is, Secret in the Back Room, the Strays parts 1 and 2, Try a Little Tenderness, Personal Business are all eps that show a much more considerate George. Even in year 4- The Last Leaf we see it.

This is one thing that makes the later years redeemable to me- the fireowrks die down, but they're enjoyable on another level and for very different reasons.

[LoveMrsG]

Originally Posted by jamesanthony

One thing in defense of the later seasons (which most fans feel are inferior to the earlier ones)

George is sweeter to Louise in several eps and they fight less:

State of Mind- George is very sweet to Louise in making her feel like she's not old and washed up,

And the Winner is, Secret in the Back Room, the Strays parts 1 and 2, Try a Little Tenderness, Personal Business are all eps that show a much more considerate George. Even in year 4- The Last Leaf we see it.

This is one thing that makes the later years redeemable to me- the fireowrks die down, but they're enjoyable on another level and for very different reasons.

Oh, I couldn't agree with you more. That's exactly why I TOTALLY prefer the later eps to the earlier ones. I LOVE George in The Strays 1 and 2 and Try A Little Tenderness and State of Mind. I find it a great relief seeing the kind heart that lies underneath all of his usual crap. I don't understand why people think that the only way you can laugh and enjoy a show is if hurtful, mean insults are always being exchanged between characters. I might get bashed for saying this, but I don't understand why so many Jeffersons and AITF fans think it is SUCH a terrible tragedy for characters like George and Archie to evolve over time into, morally speaking, better men which they do in both series. I think it's a good thing that Carroll O'Connor and Sherman Hemsley were instrumental behind the scenes in making their characters grow emotionally and become wiser, better people. That's very realistic. We all grow wiser as we grow older and gain new life experiences. Nobody stays EXACTLY the same over a 9-10 year period of time, which of course was how long AITF and The Jeffersons ran, AITF 9 years (before Archie Bunker's Place) and The Jeffersons 10 years. Nobody stays exactly the same within the span of an entire decade and I don't know why fans think it is so incredibly terrible that during that time, George and Archie truly grew up and matured. I think it's a great thing they showed that, and I don't think it's always necessary to have a Jeffersons or AITF episode crammed full of racist, chauvinistic crap coming from George and Archie. God knows that in terms of the poor wives of the shows, Louise and Edith DEFINITELY deserved a break from that in the later years and deserved to be treated better.

Okay, I got it off my chest now....let the bashing begin.

[jamesanthony]

Originally Posted by LoveMrsG

Oh, I couldn't agree with you more. That's exactly why I TOTALLY prefer the later eps to the earlier ones. I LOVE George in The Strays 1 and 2 and Try A Little Tenderness and State of Mind. I find it a great relief seeing the kind heart that lies underneath all of his usual crap. I don't understand why people think that the only way you can laugh and enjoy a show is if hurtful, mean insults are always being exchanged between characters. I might get bashed for saying this, but I don't understand why so many Jeffersons and AITF fans think it is SUCH a terrible tragedy for characters like George and Archie to evolve over time into, morally speaking, better men which they do in both series. I think it's a good thing that Carroll O'Connor and Sherman Hemsley were instrumental behind the scenes in making their characters grow emotionally and become wiser, better people. That's very realistic. We all grow wiser as we grow older and gain new life experiences. Nobody stays EXACTLY the same over a 9-10 year period of time, which of course was how long AITF and The Jeffersons ran, AITF 9 years (before Archie Bunker's Place) and The Jeffersons 10 years. Nobody stays exactly the same within the span of an entire decade and I don't know why fans think it is so incredibly terrible that during that time, George and Archie truly grew up and matured. I think it's a great thing they showed that, and I don't think it's always necessary to have a Jeffersons or AITF episode crammed full of racist, chauvinistic crap coming from George and Archie. God knows that in terms of the poor wives of the shows, Louise and Edith DEFINITELY deserved a break from that in the later years and deserved to be treated better.

Okay, I got it off my chest now....let the bashing begin.

The later episodes are good viewing because those actors really knew how to bring life to those parts. A lot of bashers on these types of message boards just want to get a rise out of someone and who better to rile up than someone anonymous in cyberspace?

[LoveMrsG]

Originally Posted by jamesanthony

The later episodes are good viewing because those actors really knew how to bring life to those parts. A lot of bashers on these types of message boards just want to get a rise out of someone and who better to rile up than someone anonymous in cyberspace?

Well said! You're right. They can say whatever they want...I'm right and I know it and that's all that matters. j/k But if somebody wants to bash me, I won't let it bother me. BTW, I may be repeating myself, but you made some great points in your posts and I couldn't agree more.