Poll: Which Lionel Do You Like Best(Mike Evans or Damon Evans)????

[AtlantaBravesFan29]

I was wondering which Lionel did everyone like,the one played by Mike Evans or the one played by Damon Evans!!

I liked Mike Evans better because he was more livelier than Damon Evans was!! Mike was more with it than the other one!!!
The only episode which I liked of Damon is the term paper episode,he was funny in it,but in my preference Mike was better!!!

[buddy love]

This one to me is a no brainer. Definitely Mike Evans beginning when he was a prominent semi-regular on All in the Family. He was great on that show the way he always put Archie on. I'm not a huge Jefferson's fan (the tv series), but Mike was Lionel.

[Brian Damage]

100% Mike Evans. Damon seemed to turn the Lionel character into a much more dramatic role.

[AtlantaBravesFan29]

My Poll Is In The OOPS I FORGOT Post!!!

[Kitt]

Mike Evans was a riot. Just his expressions made him funny before he even said anything. The other Lilonel was a dissapointment for me from the start. I mean, he did a good job in his own right but he was not the 'Lionel' character. He was much more straight-laced. He didn't seem like the son of George. Mike Evans played the character convincingly as someone who grew up dealing with his dads overbearing but funny personality. They made a good team.

[I Am Shazam]

Just like everyone else here, I'll have to go with Mike Evans. He was a more natural performer; sometimes it didn't even seem like he was reading lines. This is not to knock Damon Evans. He wasn't bad, just not as good as Mike E.

What's interesting is that the show picked such two very different performers to play the same person. Mike E and Damon E's acting styles were so different, and consequently, Lionel's characterization changed. As played by Mike E, Lionel was more soulful, playful, a little irresponsible. As played by Damon E, Lionel was more studious, straightforward, no-nonsense. There are things that Mike Evans did that I couldn't picture Damon Evans doing. For example, can you picture Damon Evans strutting into the apartment singing "Life of the Party-yy-yy"? And can you picture Mike Evans letting out a guttural scream of frustration before storming off to his room at the end of the Term Paper episode?

The remarkable thing is that Lionel's girlfriend Jenny NEVER NOTICED!!!!!!!!! Now that's what I call a loyal girlfriend. A girlfriend who can put up with such drastic mood changes???!!! We should all be so lucky.

[LucyFan]

I like the first one the best, the one that was played by Mike Evans. I wasn't all that crazy for the second one. He added no flavor to the show and was in fact an insult to the Lionel character. He made the character seem unrealistic and so stupid besides the dang laugh of his. It was a great move on the producers part when they brought back the first Lionel and got rid of the second one.

[jon123]

The producers should have made a deal with Mike Evans for reduced air time so that he would have stayed, when he left the first time. His character was important to the show and he was also an important link between the Jeffersons and the Bunkers. Had he stayed, we may have seen more crossover episodes. When Damon Evans took the role, Lionel became less important was not seen as frequently and even when Mike Evans returned after Good Times ended he was not able to make Lionel more relevant again, thus he left the second time.