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Old 09-24-2022, 02:40 PM   #61
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I think it's a spinoff. They just tweaked some things, shows do this all the time. It's not unheard-of that the Evans family could have MOVED from NY to Chicago, could have had to do with cost of living, or maybe James took a job in Chicago he thought would be better, but it later fell through, I do remember they talking about when Florida and James first got married they lived in an apartment even worse than the one they're in on the show.... I THOUGHT it was even mentioned once on Good Times that Florida used to be a housekeeper, I could be wrong wrong, but I thought it was mentioned that she used to clean houses.

About James/Henry's name change.... I don't think that's enough to say it's not a spin-off..... I do know Henry is James's father's name, so perhaps Jame's full name was "Henry James"..... and over time he just started going by James, maybe it had to do with the contempt he felt toward his father
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Old 09-24-2022, 02:52 PM   #62
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I think it's a spinoff. They just tweaked some things, shows do this all the time. It's not unheard-of that the Evans family could have MOVED from NY to Chicago, could have had to do with cost of living, or maybe James took a job in Chicago he thought would be better, but it later fell through, I do remember they talking about when Florida and James first got married they lived in an apartment even worse than the one they're in on the show.... I THOUGHT it was even mentioned once on Good Times that Florida used to be a housekeeper, I could be wrong wrong, but I thought it was mentioned that she used to clean houses.

About James/Henry's name change.... I don't think that's enough to say it's not a spin-off..... I do know Henry is James's father's name, so perhaps Jame's full name was "Henry James"..... and over time he just started going by James, maybe it had to do with the contempt he felt toward his father



Its not a spinoff because the show is about Eric Monte's life in Chicago
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Old 09-26-2022, 06:21 PM   #63
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Why did someone start this up again LOL
Bea Arthur said it was a spin off
Jimmy Walker said it was a spin off in the script he got from Norman Lear
Florida became so popular on Maude they gave her a show of her own.
When a character leaves a popular show and has their own thats called a spin off. Even the creators and actors of the show say it was a spin off.
But you wont convince people that say otherwise. They hang their hat that Florida's husband had a different name and it was in another city. LOL if those details disqualify it from a spin off then there are no spin offs period

Its crazy to tell the creators of the show and the actors of the show and the producers of the show they are wrong and people that had nothing to do with the show are right. Facts are stubborn things sometimes. But YES everyone is entitled to their opinion and if you dont believe its a spin off, good for you!
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Old 09-26-2022, 06:36 PM   #64
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Why did someone start this up again LOL
This will never die. It even has its own separate board

https://www.sitcomsonline.com/boards...lay.php?f=2453
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Old 09-26-2022, 07:35 PM   #65
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Its crazy to tell the creators of the show and the actors of the show and the producers of the show they are wrong and people that had nothing to do with the show are right. Facts are stubborn things sometimes
The creators and producers don't own the word "spinoff", and they don't determine what it means. The meaning of the word is determined by how it's used in the industry, and by the culture in general. In fact, the people who are related to a production are the last ones to ask, because they have a direct financial interest in a show being perceived as a spinoff of an established successful show.
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Old 09-26-2022, 07:46 PM   #66
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Im just here to explain to new posters about why the Evans were in Chicago instead of NY


Because the idea of the show was about Eric Monte's experiences growing up in Chicago in the 1960's
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Old 01-30-2024, 08:11 PM   #67
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get. (Great Entertainment Television) called it a spinoff from Maude in their press release about their 50th Anniversary marathons. I guess that all but ends this debate.

"Good Times" aired its first episode in 1974. The series was developed and executive produced by Norman Lear, as a spinoff from “Maude,” which was itself a spinoff from “All In The Family,” and was television's first African American two-parent family sitcom.
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Old 01-30-2024, 08:13 PM   #68
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get. (Great Entertainment Television) called it a spinoff from Maude in their press release about their 50th Anniversary marathons. I guess that all but ends this debate.

"Good Times" aired its first episode in 1974. The series was developed and executive produced by Norman Lear, as a spinoff from “Maude,” which was itself a spinoff from “All In The Family,” and was television's first African American two-parent family sitcom.
Not until I can receive a detailed intelligent answer as to why the evans were poor and living in another state when they were in NY on Maude
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Old 03-17-2024, 01:49 PM   #69
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Not until I can receive a detailed intelligent answer as to why the evans were poor and living in another state when they were in NY on Maude
They changed things up to fit the premise of Good Times. Florida and James are essentially Florida and Henry from “Maude”, but Henry was renamed James and they no longer lived in New York. It’s called a retcon, but that doesn’t mean it’s not a spinoff.
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Old 03-18-2024, 12:29 PM   #70
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This debate is still raging

The 50th anniversary of Good Times called it a spin off
Jimmy Walker called it a spin off
Lorman Lear called it a spin off
Bea Arthur called it a spin off
TV Guide called it a spin off

Yet there are those who had nothing to do with the show say its not a spin off. They bring up irrelevant details about Chicago vs NYC or rich or poor. Florida was the character on Maude that became so successful and popular on the show that Norman Lear decided to give her a spin off show. Florida left Maude and got her own show. TV land is not always consistent even in their own sitcoms let alone other ones. Cousin Maude appeared on All In The Family and Normal Lear decided to give her a show. There is no debate on this.
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Old 05-07-2024, 10:11 PM   #71
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So I was playing around with ChatGPT tonight and I decided to ask it if Good Times was a spinoff of Maude. It gave me the strangest answer I would have ever imagined and it was definitely way off.

No, "Good Times" was not a spinoff of "Maude." However, both shows were created by Norman Lear and shared some thematic elements and social commentary. "Good Times" was actually a spinoff of "All in the Family," specifically from an episode titled "The Bunkers and the Swingers."

I don’t know where it got the idea it was directly from All in the Family, much less the swinger episode that has no connections to it whatsoever.
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Old 05-09-2024, 09:49 PM   #72
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I think we can all agree that Good Times is indeed a spinoff of Maude now.

Case dismissed.
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Old 05-10-2024, 08:56 PM   #73
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I think we can all agree that Good Times is indeed a spinoff of Maude now.

Case dismissed.
I know that and you know that, but the naysayers will never give up.
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Old 05-11-2024, 07:21 AM   #74
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I know that and you know that, but the naysayers will never give up.
There are only 2 people that say its not a spin off and they are on this board. They had nothing to do with the creation of the show yet they disagree with the creators of the show and think its not a spin off. Spin offs are not always perfectly transferred into the next show. Benson was a spin off of SOAP. The character Benson became a butler for the CA governor. Yet his SOAP life never mentioned again. But Benson was still the smart a** butler and character but in another show.
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Old 05-11-2024, 08:24 AM   #75
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Sure, Lear would call it a spin off, since it was probably his idea to use Esther Rolle as the star (and probably saying, hey, let's just keep her as Florida). I wonder if Eric Monte would agree, since he and Mike Evans created the show. Monte sued Lear/Tandem/CBS for stealing his idea, and eventually won some residuals.

There is nothing in Good Times which would associate it with Maude, other than what was probably Lear's idea to use Rolle as the star. And maybe one Florida line in Good Times--saying she once worked as a maid.
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