Original subtitles

Well, we're moving on up. Moving on up. To the top. Moving on up.

To a deep.

outnumbered the cheap things that try to pick us up.

Well, I had an absolutely boffo time.

It is so exhilarating to spend the day surrounded by culture and craftsmanship.

You know, to explore and browse and then to purchase some beautiful item

directly from the artist who created it. There's no doubt about it. New York

City is the fine arts capital of the world.

Careful, Mr. Bentley.

You almost sat on your toilet paper, Tina.

Well,

I just...

I love my new Boston fern. Yeah, but you better be careful, Louise. Those ferns

can be pretty hard to raise.

Oh, no, Helen.

They just want a little attention.

And if you want them to grow big and healthy, you've got to put them in a

that's filled with love.

I'll kill him.

I swear I'll kill him. Well, nice knowing you.

Listen to this, Louise. Blue Sky Cleaners stole my new air campaign.

What new ad campaign?

The one that I sweated blood over. The one that had me walk on the floor all

night. The one that took me six weeks to come up with. Well, all I can think of

is the one -fourth off promotion.

That's the one.

Someone actually stole that?

Well, let him come right out directly and steal it, but I know it's my ad

because this ad hit the paper this morning, one day before mine is supposed

See? It's the same layout, same lettering, same everything.

Except the only difference is they said one -third off, and they just put that

three there to throw me off.

Sounds to me like an inside job.

Nobody on the outside cares.

Really? I mean, Mr. J, do you have any idea who the spy was?

Yeah, it was Orlando, my ad man. He admitted it.

Oh, my goodness, that's terrible.

Did you fire him? No, I gave him the store.

It's now called Orlando's Cleaners.

Of course I fired him. Now I'm out of an ad man.

What are you laughing at?

Now, what is this?

George, that's the caricature of Florence.

We picked it up at the street fair today.

It's the ugliest thing I've ever seen in my life.

Oh, but Mr. J, a caricature isn't supposed to be a perfect likeness. I

you can still recognize it.

There's a picture of you on the back.

Oh, I don't see nothing.

Captured you perfectly, didn't it?

Hey, you know, George, maybe the young man...

Who drew that could be your new ad man.

His name is Walter, and he's very good. He's coming by tonight. You can talk to

him. He's bringing our drawings. He framed them for us. Oh.

How come you didn't get yours framed, Flark?

Well, I didn't want to make a big deal out of it. Oh, you couldn't afford it,

huh? Not on what you pay.

Look, George, we like him so much that we've invited him to set up his

caricature booth at the Help Center's Carnival Night next week.

You know, that'll probably be the biggest attraction of the evening.

Hey, wait a minute. Aren't you thinking that?

Yeah. Then the SWAT team should be the biggest attraction of the evening.

Hi, Walter. Hi, Florence.

Hi, everybody.

Hi, Walter.

Here you go.

Your frame's on the house.

Oh, well, thank you.

But why?

Well, you were the only customers I had all day, and if it wasn't for you, the

only thing I'd have drawn is a blank.

Well, I do have an eye for recognizing talent, don't I? Uh -huh. Yeah, I knew

that the minute I heard you say, hey, come on, everybody, there's no line in

front of this guy's booth.

Walter.

Well, I'm sure you've got a lot to talk about, so I'll be going. And, Walter,

I'll probably see you at the carnival. I'm going to be in the booth right next

to yours. Oh, that's great. You draw, too?

No, but Mr. J has volunteered me for something called Dunk the Limey.

Walter. Meet my husband, George.

How you doing, sir?

Oh, how you doing? You in the mood for a sketch?

Well, look, I saw what you did to Florence. Now, what could you do with a

-looking face?

Judge for yourself.

George,

that's me.

Yeah, that's beautiful.

Oh, I really love your work, Walter. How long have you been doing this?

Well, all my life.

You see, I drive cab to make a living, but art's what I'm really all about. I

want to be a cartoonist.

Really?

You hear that, George?

Look, Weez, just because the guy can draw doesn't mean he can handle the

-and -tumble, dog -eat -dog world of big -city advertising.

Now, check. Watch.

Okay, look here, Walter. Now, I'm in the dry -cleaning game, okay?

Now, if you were doing some advertising for me, what part of my business would

you emphasize the most?

Well, I know we just met.

But with a man like you at the helm, what else would anybody emphasize but

George Jefferson?

Can you start tomorrow?

Tomorrow? Man, you kidding? You got a deal. I've been waiting for something

this all my life. Hey, right, now.

Now let's decide on what aspect of my greatness should we talk about. My

personality, good looks, business sense.

Oh, why don't you start with something small, like your sense of humility.

Hey, you know what might be great?

An animated commercial for your stores.

You can do animation?

Sure. I can even make a little cartoon character out of you.

Why not?

Mother Nature did.

Look, Walter, I want you to work on a concept tonight, and I want to meet you

the store the first thing tomorrow morning, okay? First thing in the

You got it. All right. Thanks.

And don't forget about the help center next week. Right. Carnival night. I'll

there with bells on. Good.

I knew we could depend on you.

Oh.

Can you believe that, Walter? I should have known we couldn't depend on him.

I wonder why he didn't show up. It seemed like he was looking forward to

carnival night.

Oh, come on, Wheezy.

The help center's going to be okay. Lots of people get stood up.

Tell the Florence.

Well, I don't understand it.

Walter shows up every day at work for you.

Why couldn't he do just one little favor for me?

I don't know. He's probably working on that sketch for my commercial. You know

he's supposed to be bringing it over here tonight.

Well, I just don't understand it.

Well, Miss Jefferson, the help center did do okay without him.

And they would have done better if I hadn't got stuck doing these

I had one family all evening.

Oh, yeah, how did it go?

How do you think it went?

Look, Weezy, I gotta run downstairs for a minute to the store. One of my

machines broke down.

When Walter comes, just grab the best sketch and make sure he reads the script

and don't say nothing about him not showing up tonight, okay? Why not?

Because he's an artist, Weezy, and artists are very temperamental.

But, George... Look, Weezy, all artists are like that. You know how I am when

I'm pressing pleats.

No, George. He's not here yet.

Okay.

Come on when you can.

Bye -bye.

Miss Jefferson.

Is this plant supposed to look this dead?

No. Have you been talking to it?

Yeah. And when we went out, I even put it in front of the TV.

That shouldn't hurt it, should it?

Well, I don't know. There was a forest fire on the news.

Maybe some of his relatives died.

Well, uh... Well, just pick off the dead leaves and throw them away.

Get that out of there!

Mr. Jefferson, I brought the sketches for your husband.

He's not here.

Mr. Jefferson, what do you want me to do with this phone?

I don't know.

Just tell it what you think it should hear.

Okay.

If you're not there on judgment day, I'll know you went the other way.

Looks like a thick plant.

Never mind the plant, Walter. Come in.

Now, I promised George I wasn't going to mention this, but there's nothing to

stop you from talking about Carnival Night.

What about Carnival Night? Well, since you just brought it up, why weren't you

there? Why would I be? Carnival Night's not till tomorrow.

No, we moved it up to tonight, and we put flyers everywhere.

George said he gave you one.

Well, I didn't get it.

You didn't? No, this is the first I've heard of it.

Well, I can't believe you. Maybe he just forgot.

You know, he's got a lot on his mind. Why don't we just, you know, let it

and I'll make it up some other time.

Well, okay.

As long as you are not at fault.

Oh, uh, before I forget.

Uh, George wanted your opinion of this script he wrote for the commercial.

Yeah, well, I'm not much of a writer. I know, but he wants everything to be so

perfect. And he's got a lot of faith in you.

Now, last night, George and I timed this, and it came out six seconds too

And we just can't agree on what to cut.

Well, it looks fine to me.

Yeah, I know, but it's too long. Watch.

Now, we'll time this together.

Mrs. Jefferson, I can't. I just came to get these sketches approved. Well, now,

this will only take a minute.

Now, you read George, and I read the customer. Ready?

Okay, I'll start.

Oh, no.

Blueberry jam.

That stain will never come out.

Uh... Come on, Walter. I'm timing this.

Okay, I'll start again.

Oh, no.

Blueberry Jam.

That thing will never come out. Mr. Jefferson, I have to go.

But wait.

We haven't even looked at the sketches yet.

Well, let's do it then, okay?

I tell you, I'm an artist. I'm not a writer.

Well, you're not writing. You're reading.

You can read, can't you?

Well, can't you?

You can't, can you?

No.

Then you did see that flyer.

You just couldn't read it.

Mr. Jefferson, look, why don't I just leave and come back when your husband's

here, okay?

Oh, no, please don't go, Walter. I'm sorry.

But you...

You just don't seem the type who would drop out of school.

Who said I dropped out?

But how? What do you mean, but how? I don't know, but how.

I just did what I was supposed to do. I showed up every day. I stayed out of

trouble. The grades stopped at 12, and here I am.

But Walter... Look, I don't want to talk about it anymore, okay?

You want to do the sketches, we'll do the sketches. But I'm not about to stand

here and take that all poor baby look you're giving me.

You understand?

Fine.

Okay, thank you.

Now, Mr. Jefferson really never had a clear -cut theme in mind for the

commercial, so I went a couple different ways here.

Now, I like this one. This is my favorite.

It looks just like him.

That's it.

Whoa, whoa, whoa. What's the matter? You're doing it again.

You're giving me that look again. Oh, but how? But how?

No, I mean, but how do you function?

You said you drive a cab. Yes, so?

Well, how can you tell if you're going east or west?

It's simple. If I drive until the car fills up with seawater, I know I'm going

east.

You're getting upset, aren't you? Mrs. Jefferson.

Look, Walter.

How do you expect to become a cartoonist if you don't know how to read?

I'll work it out somehow.

I'll tell you what.

We'll finish with the sketches, and then we're going to talk about getting you

back in school. School?

Yes, do. What's wrong with that? In case you haven't noticed, I'm a grown man.

I don't think they'd make Mr. T lunchboxes in my size.

I was talking about night school.

And I'm not going to hang around with a bunch of old dummies either.

They are not just old dummies.

Some of them are probably your age.

I didn't mean that you were a dummy, but...

How long do you think you can go on fooling people? Look, Mrs. Jefferson,

don't you just get off my back?

It's my life, and the way I choose to run it is nobody's business but mine.

Oh, is that so?

Well, Walter, Jefferson Cleaners happens to be my business.

And as long as you are working for me, your business is my business.

Mrs. Jefferson, this job means a lot to me, but if you don't stop ragging me,

I'm going to pick up my stuff and walk out of here.

Well, if you don't have enough self -respect to try to help yourself, I'll

the door open for you.

Wait,

Walter.

Look, believe me, it's not as hard as you think it is.

I'll go to the first couple of classes with you, all right?

Gleep on it, okay?

Mr.

Jefferson, I don't think talking to this plant is doing no good.

Why don't we have it bronzed?

Yeah.

Well, what's the matter?

Where's Walter?

Oh, I don't know.

Florence, did you know that Walter...

It's a functional illiterate.

No!

That's terrible!

And he looks so healthy.

No, functional illiterate means he can't read or write.

And he goes through life as if it's not a problem.

So what happened?

Well, I suggested that he go to night school.

He got angry.

Then I got angry.

And then he stormed out.

But I was just trying to bluff him into learning.

What went wrong?

Well, offhand, I'd say you're bluffed.

Well, what'll I do?

George is going to kill me. Oh, shoot. No, he won't. You see, the way I treat

him, and I'm still alive.

The worst thing that could happen is that he'll stay married to you.

I'll leave you with that thought.

George, I fired Walter.

Now, it's too blunt.

Hello, dear.

You'll never guess what happened while you were away.

Nah, it's not personal.

I know.

George, did I ever tell you how much I love you?

Sometimes I feel I'm the luckiest woman in the world.

You're so sweet.

And you have a wonderful sense of humor.

So, I know you'll understand when I say I had to fire your ad man.

You what?

George,

how long have you been standing there?

Long enough to hear that you say you fired Walter. Oh, George, I had to. What

you mean you had to?

I leave you alone for 20 minutes and then come back and you fire the best ad

I ever had.

Oh, but George, he couldn't read or write. I don't care if he couldn't read

write. Florence can't cook or clean. They never fired her.

Where is he?

I don't know, but... Wait a minute, George. Where are you going?

To his house. And you better pray to God I find him. If I don't, you're going to

have to use that help center yourself.

Hi, Mr. Jefferson.

I came back to apologize for losing my temper. I shouldn't have done that.

Can you forgive me?

Yeah, sure.

Hey. See, I knew it wouldn't matter to you.

What wouldn't? That I can't read.

Look, I don't care if you can read. The thing is, you're good and I need you.

All right, that's all I wanted to hear. All right, then you coming back?

Where else do I have to go?

Right. Shoot, we'll get you to school tomorrow. Hey, wait.

I told Mrs. Jefferson I'm not going back to school.

Oh, come on, Walter. Everybody's got to learn how to read. No, Mr. Jefferson,

I'm serious.

If you take me the way I am, well, you can just keep your job.

Those are my terms, man. Take them or leave them.

Uh -huh.

Let me get this straight now.

You are telling me that I have to accept your terms.

Take them or leave them.

You want me to do what you want. The ball's in your court.

Oh, well, let me tell you something.

Next time you talk to me like that, I will stick my foot so deep in your butt,

you'll think I grew there.

son talk to me like that.

And I know I ain't gonna take nothing from somebody who has to sign their name

with an X.

Okay, brother.

You blew it.

I blew it?

I blew it, huh?

Look, Walter, I have seven cleaning stores.

Bought and paid for.

Now that's blunted. I guess I just blew right on by you, huh?

You think this is some kind of joke, don't you? Huh?

All you wanted out of me was the commercial. You don't give a damn about

See? There you go thinking you're my son again.

Why should I give it to him about you? I'm not supposed to. You're supposed to

give a damn about yourself.

You should try it sometime.

Maybe someday you'll get a chance to blow it, too.

You don't think I can, do you? Look, I know you can.

All you gotta do is make that step.

You're talking about reading again, right? Look, to read or not to read, I

care. I got mine.

Yeah, well, good for you.

By the way, the bottom button says down.

Wow. Maybe you should get used to the idea.

Damn,

I'm good.

Come on, Miss Jefferson.

It has been a month. I mean, even the aphids on that plant are dead now.

It's not dead.

It can't be.

Maybe it needs a little more heat.

Maybe we need to cremate it.

You want to get the door, Florence?

No. But since when does that matter?

Hi, Walter. Hi, Florence.

Hi, Mr. Jefferson. Commercial been on yet? No, it should be on any minute.

Great.

Uh, Mr. Jefferson, I brought you a little gift.

Oh, why, thank you, Walter. But I can't think of anything I really need.

Oh, I don't know. I think you need this.

Oh. How to keep from killing your plants.

Well, I guess it wouldn't hurt me to give it a read.

Oh, speaking of read, how's night school going?

Well... It's only been a month, but here, judge for yourself.

Just like people, plants

need love and patience.

Great. Patience.

Oh, George, isn't that wonderful Walter's reading?

Of course it can read. You think I'd hire a loser?

Hey, here comes my commercial. Everybody sit down quiet.

I'm George Jefferson of Jefferson Cleaners. You know, a lot of other dry

cleaners make claims about how gentle they are. But stains are tough.

So you need a dry cleaner that'll be just as tough on them as they are on

And that's exactly the kind of dry cleaner I am.

Blueberry jam, grease, oil.

Jefferson Cleaners, seven locations, Jefferson Cleaners, one near you. The

Belt.

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