TVFactFan
06-27-2005, 01:00 AM
This show is a remarkable combination of both-part sitcom, part satcom. One thing is certain, Good Times is the best of the new second-season shows and it has a first-rate cast. Miss Rolle plays the mother not only as if she knows what one is, but as if she enjoys it. As a result, we do too. "What a Day!" she says in one scene. "James Jr.'s hassling me to go out and do something illegal. James senior is out hustling pool, which is immoral. You're trying to drag me off to the Welfare, which is embarassing. And do you know what my horoscope said this morning? "Let a smile be your umbrella."
John Amos is no slouch as her husband. He is forceful and forthright, and Florida describes him best. "Don't all magazines say that our woman are head of the house?" she asks her friend. "They sure do" her friend says. "Well says Florida, somebody better tell James." After all these years of nambys for mothers and pambys for fathers, this couple is something else.
The Children too are formidable. The scene stealer is perhaps the youngest, Michael, who is played by Ralph Carter but don't overlook the eldest, "J.J"(Jimmie Walker). He's at his best when he's tormenting his sister, Thelma, "Look who got back from her honeymoon with the bathroom mirror." But Thelma can return the compliment. "If you was born in Detroit, "she tells him, you'd have to be recalled for being dangerously ugly". Finally, there's their divorced neighbor, Willona, who is excellently played by Janet Dubios. "Don't you ever come in without making a joke?" Florida asks her. "No ", she replies, "but last night I went ot with one."
All the performers are fine, and they often do whole vignettes with one another-little shows within the main story. But, besides the acting, the major virtue here is the fine dialouge. They're a bit strong on the toilet jokes, but satire is not neglected. The white EStablishment gets it's lumps-from Mayor Daley ("what did you do, James" Willona asks in one show, when he's got a fistful of money, "go partners with the Chicago Police?") At the end of one episode, Michael declares he would like, for a change , to see an all-black show. "Where you gonna find one? "asks James. "Here's one," replies Michael. "The Los Angeles Lakers against the Milwaukee Bucks." "We've got a feeling he'd like watching this show too. He should.
Cleveland Amory, April 6, 1974
John Amos is no slouch as her husband. He is forceful and forthright, and Florida describes him best. "Don't all magazines say that our woman are head of the house?" she asks her friend. "They sure do" her friend says. "Well says Florida, somebody better tell James." After all these years of nambys for mothers and pambys for fathers, this couple is something else.
The Children too are formidable. The scene stealer is perhaps the youngest, Michael, who is played by Ralph Carter but don't overlook the eldest, "J.J"(Jimmie Walker). He's at his best when he's tormenting his sister, Thelma, "Look who got back from her honeymoon with the bathroom mirror." But Thelma can return the compliment. "If you was born in Detroit, "she tells him, you'd have to be recalled for being dangerously ugly". Finally, there's their divorced neighbor, Willona, who is excellently played by Janet Dubios. "Don't you ever come in without making a joke?" Florida asks her. "No ", she replies, "but last night I went ot with one."
All the performers are fine, and they often do whole vignettes with one another-little shows within the main story. But, besides the acting, the major virtue here is the fine dialouge. They're a bit strong on the toilet jokes, but satire is not neglected. The white EStablishment gets it's lumps-from Mayor Daley ("what did you do, James" Willona asks in one show, when he's got a fistful of money, "go partners with the Chicago Police?") At the end of one episode, Michael declares he would like, for a change , to see an all-black show. "Where you gonna find one? "asks James. "Here's one," replies Michael. "The Los Angeles Lakers against the Milwaukee Bucks." "We've got a feeling he'd like watching this show too. He should.
Cleveland Amory, April 6, 1974