Jimmy Kimmel and Norman Lear are serving up another re-created episode of “All in the Family” with a side of Bacon – Kevin Bacon, that is.
Bacon will be one of the newcomers to the second edition of ABC’s “Live in Front of a Studio Audience,” which will feature episodes of “Family” and “Good Times” re-enacted from scripts of Lear’s ’70s sitcom hits, ABC announced Wednesday. The holiday outing is scheduled for Dec. 18 (8 EST live/PST taped).
Woody Harrelson and Marisa Tomei will reprise their roles as Archie and Edith Bunker, with Ellie Kemper returning as daughter Gloria and Ike Barinholtz as her husband, Mike Stivic, the network announced.
Jesse Eisenberg and Justina Machado, who star in a rebooted version of Lear’s “One Day at a Time,” also join the “Family” cast for the second Lear-Kimmel collaboration. ABC did not reveal which characters Bacon, Eisenberg and Machado will play in the live show, which will be directed by Pam Fryman and Andy Fisher.
Casting for the episode of “Good Times,” which starred Esther Rolle, John Amos and Jimmie Walker, will be announced at a later date.
The “Live” experiment, a collaboration between ABC late-night host Kimmel and TV legend Lear, carried extra risk because of the live format, since the sitcoms originally were taped in advance.
Instant hit: Famous cast sticks live-TV landing in Norman Lear’s ‘All in the Family,’ ‘The Jeffersons’
However, the project, which paired episodes of “Family” and “The Jeffersons,” proved to be a huge success when it launched in May, earning big ratings (14.3 million viewers), rave reviews and three Emmy nominations, including a win for outstanding variety special.
Jamie Foxx, Wanda Sykes, Kerry Washington and Will Ferrell appeared in “The Jeffersons” episode. Washington and Ferrell serve as executive producers of the new special.
As with the May presentation, ABC is not revealing in advance which episodes will be presented.
In the original “All in the Family,” which was produced by Lear and Bud Yorkin and ran from 1971 to 1979, Carroll O’Connor and Jean Stapleton played Archie and Edith, with Sally Struthers as Gloria and Rob Reiner as Michael.
“Good Times,” which ran from 1974 to 1979, was created by Mike Evans and Eric Monte and developed by Lear.
