Maybe there should’ve been a delay! Jamie Foxx made a major goof while playing George Jefferson during ABC’s live tribute to The Jeffersons and All in the Family on Wednesday, May 22.
During one scene, while 51-year-old Foxx’s George was insulting Anthony Anderson’s Uncle Henry, the Oscar winner just couldn’t seem to get the punchline out.
“Ever since I was a little boy, I would always beg my mother for a little brother,” Foxx began smoothly before his gaffe. “But you know, we was broke, so all … all …”
We said anything could happen! #LiveInFrontOfAStudioAudience #TheJeffersons #AllintheFamily pic.twitter.com/d8lNCjUzD3
— ABC (@ABCNetwork) May 23, 2019
As he struggled with his lines, the actor finally broke the fourth wall by turning to the studio audience and saying matter-of-factly, “It’s live! Everyone sitting at home just thinking they TV just messed up.”
While the audience cracked up, Foxx struggled to keep a straight face too, eventually breaking out in a small smile and giggling.
“… all we could afford was you!” he finally managed to squeeze out as the audience roared with laughter.
Though Foxx — who starred on sketch comedy show In Living Color in the early ‘90s — struggled with his line and eventually recovered, his fellow cast mates mostly kept their cool. In addition to Black-ish star Anderson, that included Wanda Sykes as Weezy Jefferson, and Marisa Tomei as Edith Bunker. However, a few others did crack up. Among them were Woody Harrelson, who was playing Archie Bunker, Ellie Kemper as Gloria Stivic and Ike Barinholtz as Mike Stivik.
ABC also had a little bit of fun with the snafu, tweeting, “We said anything could happen! #LiveInFrontOfAStudioAudience”