Their banter was legendary. On The Jeffersons, George Jefferson and Florence the maid shared some of the show’s funniest, most savage one-liners. But behind the scenes, Sherman Hemsley and Marla Gibbs weren’t always laughing.
In Season 7, a script called for Florence to insult George during a Thanksgiving episode—this time a line that involved George’s height and a crude remark about his late mother. Hemsley took offense, not just to the content, but to how Marla delivered it during rehearsals.
“He walked off set and said, ‘She crossed a line,’” a crew member recalled.
For nearly two weeks, the two actors avoided eye contact. Their tension became so noticeable, producers had to split their scenes—writing around their absence in shared dialogue.
Eventually, Isabel Sanford, the show’s glue, intervened. She invited both actors to her trailer and reportedly said, “You’re not playing enemies—you’re playing soulmates who don’t know it.”
The talk worked. Hemsley and Gibbs reconciled. But that cold stretch changed their rhythm permanently. Though they remained professional, insiders say the spark of their earlier chemistry never fully returned.
