As one can see the "Goodtimes spinoff Maude controversy" is still going on on this site. So I thought if we look at it at different angel it might help to shed more light on this subject.

Norman Lear said in his book and I quote:"I got the idea for this show two and a half years ago before there was a Maude from Mike Evans" Lear Told reporters in 1974. And he continue:"We never seen a black family on TV before and it sounded like a good idea. Its taken two years to develop it and went through 30 drafts of the story for the first episode. The idea for Good Times undergone many script changes before Florida ever arrived in Tuckahoe."

I think the above statement from Lear says alot. He was working on Goodtimes even before Maude existed. So it beg the question as would Norman Lear would have launched Goodtimes if Maude TV show never existed?

And my answer is definitely yes since he was working on it for two year. He choose Florida and James as the lead for Goodtimes since they already have national TV exposure thru Maude. And what a better way to promote a new TV show by saying that it is spinoff-although neither show got anything to do with each other or related.

If Maude did not exist, Lear would have found some other way to launch GoodTimes. Or use two different black lead actors.

So my conclusion is that Goodtimes is not spin off Maude by above reasoning :D

As one can see the "Goodtimes spinoff Maude controversy" is still going on on this site. So I thought if we look at it at different angel it might help to shed more light on this subject.

Norman Lear said in his book and I quote:"I got the idea for this show two and a half years ago before there was a Maude from Mike Evans" Lear Told reporters in 1974. And he continue:"We never seen a black family on TV before and it sounded like a good idea. Its taken two years to develop it and went through 30 drafts of the story for the first episode. The idea for Good Times undergone many script changes before Florida ever arrived in Tuckahoe."

I think the above statement from Lear says alot. He was working on Goodtimes even before Maude existed. So it beg the question as would Norman Lear would have launched Goodtimes if Maude TV show never existed?

And my answer is definitely yes since he was working on it for two year. He choose Florida and James as the lead for Goodtimes since they already have national TV exposure thru Maude. And what a better way to promote a new TV show by saying that it is spinoff-although neither show got anything to do with each other or related.

If Maude did not exist, Lear would have found some other way to launch GoodTimes. Or use two different black lead actors.

So my conclusion is that Goodtimes is not spin off Maude by above reasoning :D
The thing is it already existed; Eric Monte’s original Black Family scripts. A WOULD’VE doesn’t make any confirmation, especially since it never happened. There is a possibility that the original Good Times would’ve existed without Maude, but it would’ve been a whole lot different than what we got.

There is a possibility that the original Good Times would’ve existed without Maude, but it would’ve been a whole lot different than what we got.

In what way do you think it would have been different?

I mean the sitcom was going to be a struggling family living in the project in Chicago dealing with poverty, violence and racism. The two lead actors might have been different, but premises would have been the same.

If Goodtimes was set in NY city (or they move to Chicago) with wife as a maid and husband as a firefighter, then I would agree that Goodtimes would have been different without Maude :)

As one can see the "Goodtimes spinoff Maude controversy" is still going on on this site. So I thought if we look at it at different angel it might help to shed more light on this subject.

Norman Lear said in his book and I quote:"I got the idea for this show two and a half years ago before there was a Maude from Mike Evans" Lear Told reporters in 1974. And he continue:"We never seen a black family on TV before and it sounded like a good idea. Its taken two years to develop it and went through 30 drafts of the story for the first episode. The idea for Good Times undergone many script changes before Florida ever arrived in Tuckahoe."

I think the above statement from Lear says alot. He was working on Goodtimes even before Maude existed. So it beg the question as would Norman Lear would have launched Goodtimes if Maude TV show never existed?

And my answer is definitely yes since he was working on it for two year. He choose Florida and James as the lead for Goodtimes since they already have national TV exposure thru Maude. And what a better way to promote a new TV show by saying that it is spinoff-although neither show got anything to do with each other or related.

If Maude did not exist, Lear would have found some other way to launch GoodTimes. Or use two different black lead actors.

So my conclusion is that Goodtimes is not spin off Maude by above reasoning :D

Yes it was a separate situation

Poor Black Family living in a Chicago Ghetto

Yes it was a separate situation

Poor Black Family living in a Chicago Ghetto

The only connection between two shows is the name Florida. I guess that make it a spinoff :D

In episode 18 season 1 of Maude we meet Florida's husband and its played by none other than John Amos. He comes over to Maude's house because he is tired of Florida working for white people. He is tired of Florida being a maid.

Hint hint.........the spin off was born .....laying the groundwork

The only connection between two shows is the name Florida. I guess that make it a spinoff :D
FALSE. It was not the name. It was the character Florida.

In episode 18 season 1 of Maude we meet Florida's husband and its played by none other than John Amos. He comes over to Maude's house because he is tired of Florida working for white people. He is tired of Florida being a maid.

Hint hint.........the spin off was born .....laying the groundwork


Not really since it wasnt based in Harlem

Not really since it wasnt based in Harlem
So you think it's a coincidence with the writing that the character Florida is leaving Maude and Florida's husband shows up frustrated his wife is a maid and working for white people and wants her to quit. The location or setting of the spinoff is not relevant. When a popular character of a sitcom is removed and given their own show, what do you call it?

So you think it's a coincidence with the writing that the character Florida is leaving Maude and Florida's husband shows up frustrated his wife is a maid and working for white people and wants her to quit. The location or setting of the spinoff is not relevant. When a popular character of a sitcom is removed and given their own show, what do you call it?

It is relevant because poor people cant move out of state

It is relevant because poor people cant move out of state
Huh? Poor people probably move way more than rich people. There is an actual episode of Good Times when James was going to take a job in Alaska and move the family there. In the world of sitcoms, anything can happen and often does :)

Huh? Poor people probably move way more than rich people. There is an actual episode of Good Times when James was going to take a job in Alaska and move the family there. In the world of sitcoms, anything can happen and often does :)

You can move to Chicago to be poor when you had a promotion in NY. No one relocates to be in a worst situation