Memorable moments from Jimmy Kimmel's 'All in the Family,' 'The Jeffersons' live special

LOS ANGELES -- What's old was new again Wednesday evening, when Jimmy Kimmel and legendary television producer Norman Lear teamed up with an all-star cast for a live presentation of classic episodes of "All in the Family" and "The Jeffersons" on ABC.

Here are the memorable moments from "Live In Front of a Studio Audience: Norman Lear's 'All in the Family' and 'The Jeffersons'" that people are still talking about.

Jamie Foxx flubs a line in the best way

Anything can happen on live television, and even pros like Jamie Foxx aren't immune to minor flubs. While playing fast-talking George Jefferson, Jamie Foxx fumbled over one of his lines but quickly recovered, leaving the cast and the studio audience howling with laughter.

"It's live!" he joked, adding, "Everyone sitting at home just thinks their TV just messed up," as his co-stars struggled to stay in character. Woody Harrelson turned his back to the audience to laugh, while Ellie Kemper and Marisa Tomei let a chuckle slip on-camera.

Only Wanda Sykes managed to completely hold it together.

Jennifer Hudson belts out a surprise performance of the "The Jeffersons" theme song

What better way to honor the legendary "Jeffersons" theme song than to bring in a contemporary legend to perform it? Kimmel and Lear recruited Jennifer Hudson to belt out a special rendition of "Movin' on Up" at the top of the "Jeffersons" episode.

Clad in a gold, '70s-inspired dress, Hudson performed the song on the set of the Jeffersons' apartment, accompanied by three background vocalists and a pianist. Ja'Net DuBois performed the song in the original series.

The classic, crowd-pleasing "All in the Family" theme song also got a new rendition, but this one held truer to the original version, with Harrelson and Tomei performing "Those Were the Days" seated behind a piano, just like Carroll O'Connor and Jean Stapleton.

Marla Gibbs makes a surprise cameo to reprise her original role

Hudson's wasn't the only surprise appearance of the night. Decades after she originated the role, Marla Gibbs returned to reprise her performance as Florence Johnston, the Jeffersons' maid.

Her performance was a fan favorite and even wooed fellow castmate Ike Barinholtz.

"May I have a career long enough where I'm able to enter a scene and have the walls shake. She's a legend," he later said.

Decades-old episodes ring true in 2019

When they originally aired in the 1970s, both sitcoms were heralded for their willingness to use humor as a tool to address complex hot-button social issues like class inequality, racism, LGBT rights and abortion rights, among others.

Lear and Kimmel both were clear about why they wanted to give the episodes new life. At the top of the telecast, Lear explained, "We hope tonight will make you laugh, provoke discussion, and encourage action. There is so much more work we must do in this country we love so much."

Both episodes stayed true to the original scripts except for two lines that were censored for their use of a derogatory term for black people, censorship that didn't occur back in the 1970s.

Kerry Washington was proud of the decision to even include the word at all, saying, "We struggled a lot with how we were going to deal with that. 'Should we change it? Should we rewrite it?' I'm really proud of the decision the producers came to with our cast. So we're saying it, but we're bleeping it, and I feel like that's a really beautiful kind of middle ground to honor the truth and not shy away from it but also do it responsibly."