Today, marks the 50th Anniversary of the hit-groundbreaking series “Good Times.” The program premiered on CBS on Friday February 8th, 1974.
Evictions, gang warfare, financial problems, muggings, rent parties, and discrimination were frequent elements in the television program Good Times, which aired on CBS from February 1974 to August 1979. The program was created by Norman Lear and Bud Yorkin, a highly successful team of independent producers who enjoyed unmitigated success during the 1970s and 1980s with a number of hit television shows including Maude, Sanford and Son, The Jeffersons, and one of television’s most controversial sitcoms, All in the Family.
Good Times was a spin-off show of Maude. On Maude, Esther Rolle played the title character’s black maid/housekeeper, Florida, whose family became the center of Good Times.
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In addition to Florida, the spinoff featured her unemployed but always looking for work husband, James Evans (John Amos); their teenaged son, J.J. (Jimmy Walker); a daughter, Thelma (BernNadette Stanis); and a younger son, Michael (Ralph Carter). The Evans‘ neighbor, a 40ish woman named Willona (Ja’ net DuBois), made frequent appearances. A very young Janet Jackson later joined the cast as Willona‘s adopted daughter, Penny.
Good Times earned its place in television history for a number of reasons. The program is significant for its decidedly different view not only of black family life but of American family life in general. Unlike the innocuous images served up in early televisions shows such as Father Knows Best and Julia, Good Times interjected relevancy and realism into primetime television by dealing with the pressing issues of the day.
Good Times was also noteworthy in its portrayal of a Black family attempting to negotiate the vicissitudes of life in a high-rise tenement apartment in an urban slum-the first show to tackle such a scenario with any measure of realism. The program exploited, with comic relief, such volatile subject matter as inflation, unemployment, and racial bigotry. Along with The Jeffersons, Good Times was one of the first television sitcoms featuring a mostly black cast to appear since the controversial Amos ‘n’ Andy show had been canceled some 20 years previously.
Good Times was initially successful in that it offered solace for both blacks and whites, who could identify with the difficulties the Evans family faced. The program appeared on primetime television in a period of history that included the Watergate scandal, the atrocities of the Vietnam War, staggeringly high interest rates, and growing unemployment.
The James Evans character made clear his dissatisfaction with current government policies, and the show became a champion for the plight of the underclass. The show also highlighted the good parenting skills of James and Florida. In spite of their difficult situation, they never shirked from their responsibility to teach values and morality to their children. The younger son, Michael, was thoughtful, intelligent, and fascinated with African American history. He frequently participated in protest marches for good causes.
J.J. was an aspiring artist who dreams of lifting his family from the clutches of poverty. In one episode, the family’s last valuable possession, the television set, was stolen from J.J. on his way to the pawn shop to obtain a loan that would pay the month’s rent. Somehow the Evans family prevailed, and they did so with a smile. Their ability to remain stalwart in the face of difficult odds was an underlying theme of the show.
Portrait of the cast of the television show ‘Good Times,’ Los Angeles, California, August 3, 1978. Pictured from left, all in formal wedding attire, are American actors Ralph Carter, Janet Jackson, Esther Rolle (1920 – 1998), BernNadette Stanis (in wedding dress), Ben Powers, Ja’net DuBois, and Jimmie Walker. (Photo by CBS Photo Archive/Getty Images)
Good Times is also significant for many layers of controversy and criticism that haunted its production. Both stars, Rolle and Amos, walked away and returned as they became embroiled in various disputes surrounding the program’s direction.
A major point of disagreement was the J.J. character, who metamorphosed into a “coon” stereotype reminiscent of early American film. His undignified antics raised the ire of the black community. With his toothy grin, ridiculous strut, and bug-eyed buffoonery, J.J. became a featured character with his trademark exclamation, “DY-NOMITE!”
J.J. lied, stole, and was barely literate. More and more episodes were centered around his exploits. Forgotten were Michael‘s scholastic success, James‘s search for a job, or anything resembling family values.
Both Rolle and Amos objected to the highlighting of the J.J. character. When both stars eventually left the program in protest, abortive attempts were made to soften the J.J. character and continue the program without James and Florida. “We felt we had to do something drastic,” Rolle said later in the Los Angeles Times, “we had lost the essence of the show.”
Promotional portrait of American actors John Amos and Esther Rolle (1920 – 1998) of the television show ‘Good Times,’ Los Angeles, California, 1975. (Photo by CBS Photo Archive/Getty Images)
Even with a newly fashioned (employed and mature-acting) J.J. character, ratings for Good Times plummeted. With some concessions, Rolle rejoined the cast in 1978, but the program failed and the series was canceled.
The program has went on to enjoy major success in syndication.
Good Times, with its success and its critics, remains an important program in television history. It stretched the boundaries of television comedy, while breaking the unspoken ban on television shows with mostly black casts.
From left, American actors Ralph Carter, Esther Rolle (1920 – 1998), John Amos, Jimmie Walker, and BernNadette Stanis gather in the kitchen in a scene from the television show ‘Good Times,’ Los Angeles, California, 1975. (Photo by CBS Photo Archive/Getty Images)
The Cast of “Good Times”
Florida Evans | Esther Rolle
James Evans | John Amos
James Evans, Jr. (J.J.) | Jimmie Walker
Willona Woods | Ja’net DuBois
Michael Evans | Ralph Carter
Thelma Evans | BernNadette Stanis
Carl Dixon | Moses Gunn
Nathan Bookman | Johnny Brown
Lynnetta Gordon | Chip Fields
Penny Gordon Woods | Janet Jackson
Keith Anderson | Ben Powers
Sweet Daddy | Theodore Wilson
Ned the Wino | Raymond Allen
Alderman Fred C. Davis | Albert Reed Jr.
Wanda Williams | Helen Martin
LOS ANGELES – JANUARY 1: Portrait of the cast of the television show GOOD TIMES, Los Angeles, California, January 1, 1978. Pictured are, front row seated from left, BernNadette Stanis (as Thelma Evans), Ben Powers (as Keith Anderson), Esther Rolle (as Florida Evans), Jimmie Walker (as James ‘J.J.’ Evans, Jr.), Ralph Carter (as Michael Evans). Back row standing from left, Johnny Brown (as Nathan Bookman), Ja’net DuBois (as Willona Woods), Janet Jackson (as Millicent ‘Penny’ Woods). (Photo by CBS via Getty Images)
Over the seasons many stars of today made appearances on “Good Times,” including Debbie Allen, Louis Gossett Jr., T. K. Carter, Kim Fields, Jay Leno, Paul Mooney, Debbi Morgan, Sheryl Lee Ralph, and late greats John Witherspoon and Carl Weathers.
Esther Rolle and Jimmie Walker were nominated for Golden Globe Awards, Jimmy was nominated twice for Best Supporting Actor – Television.
In 2006 the TV Land Awards, presented the cast with the Impact Award.
The series was produced by Norman Lear, Allan Mannings, Austin Kalish, Irma Kalish, Norman Paul, Gordon Mitchell, Lloyd Turner, Sid Dorfman, George Sunga, Bernie West, Dohn Nicholl, Viva Knight
