Good Times
What was the premise of Good Times?
Why did Esther Rolle insist on having a father figure in Good Times?
What were the main conflicts during the production of Good Times?
Good Times, American television sitcom that aired on CBS for 133 episodes over six seasons from 1974 to 1979. The show focused on a Black family living in a Chicago public housing apartment and was the first major sitcom to feature a two-parent African American family. Good Times was a spin-off of the CBS show Maude (1972–78), itself a spin-off of All in the Family (1971–79). Good Times dealt with issues such as racial discrimination, eviction, mugging, sexually transmitted diseases, child abuse, poverty, and chronic unemployment, told through the experiences of the quarreling but tightly knit Evans family.
Background and development
Legendary TV writer, director, and producer Norman Lear, who had earlier created All in the Family and Maude, asked a pair of Black writers, Mike Evans and Eric Monte, to write a script for Good Times; Mike Evans had previously played Lionel Jefferson in All in the Family and would return to the character in another spin-off, The Jeffersons (1975–85). The original idea was to have Maude’s maid, Florida Evans (Esther Rolle), star as a single mother of three kids. But Rolle was concerned about reinforcing a stereotype of Black fatherless families and insisted the new show include a dad. “I looked at the first script, I said, ‘Well, where is these children’s father? Where’s my husband?’ ” she recalled in Color Adjustment, a 1992 documentary about Black television. She told producers that she would not do the show without a husband. Lear agreed to cast John Amos, who had already played Florida’s husband in a previous season of Maude. Lear also scrapped the original script by Evans and Monte and hired a crew of mostly white writers, although Evans and Monte were still credited as the show’s cocreators.
Good Times debuted in February 1974 and immediately tackled the issue of racial discrimination when James fails to land a job he had been seeking. “When you’re white, you’re a mechanic; when you’re Black, you’re a handyman,” he says with a laugh in the inaugural episode. A New York Times review called that first episode “slightly thin” but said that it made up for it with “genuine warmth and decency.”
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Characters and story
The main cast members of Good Times are:
- Florida Evans (Esther Rolle) is the matriarch of the Evans family.
- James Evans, Sr., (John Amos) is the patriarch of the Evans family.
- James (“J.J.”) Evans, Jr., (Jimmie [“J.J.”] Walker) is Florida and James’s eldest son.
- Thelma Evans (BernNadette Stanis) is Florida and James’s second child and only daughter. She marries in season five and takes the last name Anderson.
- Michael Evans (Ralph Carter) is Florida and James’s younger son.
- Willona Woods (Ja’net DuBois) plays the Evanses’ neighbor.
- Nathan Bookman (Johnny Brown) is the building superintendent.
- Millicent (“Penny”) Gordon (Janet Jackson) plays an abused child who is later adopted by Willona, taking the last name Woods.
The show focuses on the Evans family, a poor Black family living in a high-rise building in Chicago, and the episodes showcase their efforts to get by and improve their lives. Many of their efforts end up falling short, but the show maintains a positive note. Although the character of James was portrayed as a firefighter on Maude (and was named Henry), he was cast as alternating between being unemployed and working multiple odd jobs to support his family on Good Times.
Conflicts and creative differences
As Good Times progressed, the tall, skinny Walker began to take over the show with his portrayal of J.J., an aspiring artist. He infused the character with exaggerated comical facial expressions, a distinctive swagger, and a larger-than-life personality. Walker had been a stand-up comedian, and his trademark Good Times line “Dy-no-mite!” quickly became a pop culture saying. Before debuting the phrase, Walker had used it once during rehearsal and director John Rich immediately seized on it, calling on the young actor to use it in every show.
As Walker recalled in an interview with the Television Academy Foundation years later, “Our cast really wanted to do stories.…I came in as a comedy kamikaze.” Rolle and Amos took particular exception to the buffoonery of J.J. and his being made the centerpiece of the show. By 1975 Rolle was not speaking to Walker. She told Ebony magazine that “[negative images] have been quietly slipped in on us through the character of the oldest child. I resent the imagery that says to Black kids that you can make it by standing on the corner saying ‘Dy-no-mite!’ ”
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Amos had his own creative differences with the show’s top brass. He thought a lack of diversity on the writing staff led to an inaccurate depiction of Black families, and he wanted the show to focus not just on J.J. but also the other children and their career ambitions—the middle child, Thelma, was hardworking and aspired to be a doctor, and the younger son, Michael, spoke up for social justice. After three seasons, Amos’s character was written off the show—James was killed in a car crash at the beginning of season four. Amos said that he was told that he had become a “disruptive element.”
For her part, Rolle refused to say some written lines, reportedly once telling Lear, “I’ve been Black longer than you have.” (Lear was white.) She left after the fourth season but returned for the sixth and final season, which aired from 1978 to 1979. By that time, however, Good Times had lost much of its audience.
“Good Times, while it was rarely out of the top twenty and spent a lot of time in the top ten, became an agony to produce,” Lear wrote in his memoir, Even This I Get to Experience (2014). “J.J.’s popularity with the largely Black audiences that came to the tapings was a friendly, joyful distraction to the company, but a great annoyance to our stars. Frankly, they hated it.”
Reception and legacy
Good Times received three Golden Globe nominations: Walker was nominated twice for best supporting actor (television) in 1975 and 1976, and Rolle was nominated for best TV actress in a comedy or musical in 1975. The show is remembered for its positive portrayal of a Black family with strong morals and values.
A British adaptation called The Fosters aired for 27 episodes over two seasons from 1976 to 1977, starring Norman Beaton and Isabelle Lucas as the parents of a Black family living in South London. It was the first British sitcom to feature an all-Black cast.
A revival animated series, also titled Good Times, was released on Netflix in 2024. After a single season of 10 episodes that was poorly received, the show, which included Stephen Curry and Seth MacFarlane as executive producers, was canceled.