TMC
06-14-2023, 09:46 PM
https://thewritelife61.com/2023/05/29/good-times-doesnt-always-mean-good-show/
One of my favorite things about the show was the use of nicknames, maybe because my family is fond of nicknames as well. James called Thelma “Baby Girl” and referred to Michael as the “Militant Midget” for his activism. Willona’s name for Michael was “Gramps,” while JJ called him “Miguel.” The other residents also got their own monikers including Willona as “The Rona Barrett of the Projects” and Wanda as “Weeping Wanda.”
Good Times was created as a show that focused on Rolle and Amos. Both stars expected the show to deal with serious topics even though it was a comedy. They also wanted the characters to be positive role models.
JJ began to be featured in more of the episodes. “Dynomite” became his catchphrase and he said it at least once in every episode. As the writers focused more on his character and the way he behaved, important topics were put on the back burner sometimes.
Both Rolle and Amos felt that the character of JJ and the way he was being developed as more of a foolish and unintelligent person was creating a negative role model. Both stars became disillusioned with the direction of the show and voiced their criticism, Amos more often. They thought the uneducated, slacker type of behavior that JJ expressed was harmful to young viewers. Lear finally fired Amos at the end of the third season because of his negative opinions. The cast had no idea that he had been fired until they read the script where he passed away. Rolle quit at the end of season four.
Walker didn’t see it the same way. He said in an interview that he does not remember saying one word to Amos or Rolle that was not part of the script. He defended his character saying that he didn’t commit overly criminal acts on the show and compared his character to the Fonz on Happy Days. He does have a point. He was deeply hurt that Amos and Rolle, along with many black community members, considered his character a “perpetuation of negative stereotypes.”
Perhaps part of the controversy came from Walker’s own personality. He considered himself a comedian, not an actor. He said he was never comfortable with the dramatic storylines. Lear wanted Jimmie to take acting classes but he refused. Rolle, Amos, and Carter were dramatic actors and took their roles more seriously. When Rolle died in 1998, Walker was the only cast member who did not attend her funeral.
In season five, Janet Jackson joined the cast as Penny, an abused girl abandoned by her mother, adopted by Willona. Ratings began to decline. With Rolle’s absence, the essence of the show was gone.
Producers asked Rolle to come back even as a guest role. Rolle rejoined the cast for season six after she was promised higher-quality scripts. She also wanted the character of Carl Dixon written out of the show. She felt Florida would not have remarried so quickly, but that was how writers depicted her absence from the show when she left.
However, it was too late and the show continued to decline in ratings. The continual moving of the show on the schedule also didn’t help things. The show began on Friday nights for season one; moved to Tuesdays for seasons two and three; had two different time slots on Wednesdays for seasons four and five; and ended up moving three different times for season six: Saturday at 8 for episode one, Saturday at 8:30 for episodes 2-10, and Wednesdays at 8:30 for episodes 11-22.
The series finale in 1979 gave each character a happy-ever-after. JJ becomes a comic book artist. Michael begins college and moves into the dorms. Thelma and her husband move to the Gold Coast when he gets an offer from the Chicago Bears. Thelma is pregnant and they ask Florida to move with them to help care for the baby. Coincidentally, Willona becomes head buyer for her boutique and moves into the same luxury apartments with Penny.
Unfortunately, the show is remembered now more for its controversy than anything else. Amos talked about his “early departure from the show, I felt that with two younger children—one of whom aspired to become a Supreme Court Justice . . . and the other a surgeon . . . there was too much emphasis being put on J.J. and his chicken hat saying ‘Dynomite!” every third page when just as much emphasis and mileage could have been gotten out of my other two children and the concomitant jokes and humor that could have come out of that.” He later said in an interview with VladTV that the scripts on the show led to “an inaccurate portrayal of African-Americans. Their perception or their idea of what a Black family would be and what a Black father would be was totally different from mine, and mine was steeped in reality.”
He did have good things to say about Rolle and her character: “Florida was the glue that kept the family together. It showed a Black family that had the same trials and tribulations as the rest of America, especially those who were financially challenged . . . it told the story of who we were on a comedic basis. And I’ve always contended, as some of my mentors taught me, the best way to get a message across to people is through humor.”
Rolle concurred as she told Ebony in 1975 about JJ: “He’s eighteen and he doesn’t work. . . He can’t read or write. He doesn’t think. The show didn’t start out to be that. Michael’s role of a bright, thinking child has been reduced.”
Walker was interviewed at age 70 by Rebeka Knott and still disagrees with his costars. In that interview, he said that his co-stars, “killed the goose that laid the golden egg. These people, anytime you said anything, they get crazy, they get upset. They don’t get it man.”
So, what are we to make of the show and its success or failure? It still remains an important program in television history. It featured a black cast and focused on a family that struggles with many issues both white and black low-income families could identify with. If Michael had appeared in a reality show as an adult, perhaps it would have been The Cosby Show. A lot of families, black and white, could identify with the issues of that show as well. And, hopefully, they understood where the success of that second generation came from–parents who worked hard and taught their children important values and emphasized hard work and goals that allowed the next generation to have more success than the previous one.
It’s actually what any good television show does. Regardless of the setting and the characters, it teaches us about how other people live and provides plots many of us can identify with or teaches us about other characters whom we can appreciate and learn more about their individual struggles and journeys whether they follow the same path we do or take a different fork in the road.
One of my favorite things about the show was the use of nicknames, maybe because my family is fond of nicknames as well. James called Thelma “Baby Girl” and referred to Michael as the “Militant Midget” for his activism. Willona’s name for Michael was “Gramps,” while JJ called him “Miguel.” The other residents also got their own monikers including Willona as “The Rona Barrett of the Projects” and Wanda as “Weeping Wanda.”
Good Times was created as a show that focused on Rolle and Amos. Both stars expected the show to deal with serious topics even though it was a comedy. They also wanted the characters to be positive role models.
JJ began to be featured in more of the episodes. “Dynomite” became his catchphrase and he said it at least once in every episode. As the writers focused more on his character and the way he behaved, important topics were put on the back burner sometimes.
Both Rolle and Amos felt that the character of JJ and the way he was being developed as more of a foolish and unintelligent person was creating a negative role model. Both stars became disillusioned with the direction of the show and voiced their criticism, Amos more often. They thought the uneducated, slacker type of behavior that JJ expressed was harmful to young viewers. Lear finally fired Amos at the end of the third season because of his negative opinions. The cast had no idea that he had been fired until they read the script where he passed away. Rolle quit at the end of season four.
Walker didn’t see it the same way. He said in an interview that he does not remember saying one word to Amos or Rolle that was not part of the script. He defended his character saying that he didn’t commit overly criminal acts on the show and compared his character to the Fonz on Happy Days. He does have a point. He was deeply hurt that Amos and Rolle, along with many black community members, considered his character a “perpetuation of negative stereotypes.”
Perhaps part of the controversy came from Walker’s own personality. He considered himself a comedian, not an actor. He said he was never comfortable with the dramatic storylines. Lear wanted Jimmie to take acting classes but he refused. Rolle, Amos, and Carter were dramatic actors and took their roles more seriously. When Rolle died in 1998, Walker was the only cast member who did not attend her funeral.
In season five, Janet Jackson joined the cast as Penny, an abused girl abandoned by her mother, adopted by Willona. Ratings began to decline. With Rolle’s absence, the essence of the show was gone.
Producers asked Rolle to come back even as a guest role. Rolle rejoined the cast for season six after she was promised higher-quality scripts. She also wanted the character of Carl Dixon written out of the show. She felt Florida would not have remarried so quickly, but that was how writers depicted her absence from the show when she left.
However, it was too late and the show continued to decline in ratings. The continual moving of the show on the schedule also didn’t help things. The show began on Friday nights for season one; moved to Tuesdays for seasons two and three; had two different time slots on Wednesdays for seasons four and five; and ended up moving three different times for season six: Saturday at 8 for episode one, Saturday at 8:30 for episodes 2-10, and Wednesdays at 8:30 for episodes 11-22.
The series finale in 1979 gave each character a happy-ever-after. JJ becomes a comic book artist. Michael begins college and moves into the dorms. Thelma and her husband move to the Gold Coast when he gets an offer from the Chicago Bears. Thelma is pregnant and they ask Florida to move with them to help care for the baby. Coincidentally, Willona becomes head buyer for her boutique and moves into the same luxury apartments with Penny.
Unfortunately, the show is remembered now more for its controversy than anything else. Amos talked about his “early departure from the show, I felt that with two younger children—one of whom aspired to become a Supreme Court Justice . . . and the other a surgeon . . . there was too much emphasis being put on J.J. and his chicken hat saying ‘Dynomite!” every third page when just as much emphasis and mileage could have been gotten out of my other two children and the concomitant jokes and humor that could have come out of that.” He later said in an interview with VladTV that the scripts on the show led to “an inaccurate portrayal of African-Americans. Their perception or their idea of what a Black family would be and what a Black father would be was totally different from mine, and mine was steeped in reality.”
He did have good things to say about Rolle and her character: “Florida was the glue that kept the family together. It showed a Black family that had the same trials and tribulations as the rest of America, especially those who were financially challenged . . . it told the story of who we were on a comedic basis. And I’ve always contended, as some of my mentors taught me, the best way to get a message across to people is through humor.”
Rolle concurred as she told Ebony in 1975 about JJ: “He’s eighteen and he doesn’t work. . . He can’t read or write. He doesn’t think. The show didn’t start out to be that. Michael’s role of a bright, thinking child has been reduced.”
Walker was interviewed at age 70 by Rebeka Knott and still disagrees with his costars. In that interview, he said that his co-stars, “killed the goose that laid the golden egg. These people, anytime you said anything, they get crazy, they get upset. They don’t get it man.”
So, what are we to make of the show and its success or failure? It still remains an important program in television history. It featured a black cast and focused on a family that struggles with many issues both white and black low-income families could identify with. If Michael had appeared in a reality show as an adult, perhaps it would have been The Cosby Show. A lot of families, black and white, could identify with the issues of that show as well. And, hopefully, they understood where the success of that second generation came from–parents who worked hard and taught their children important values and emphasized hard work and goals that allowed the next generation to have more success than the previous one.
It’s actually what any good television show does. Regardless of the setting and the characters, it teaches us about how other people live and provides plots many of us can identify with or teaches us about other characters whom we can appreciate and learn more about their individual struggles and journeys whether they follow the same path we do or take a different fork in the road.