Observations based on different threads

[Aticineto]

I watched Good Times while growing up and I liked it. We had a kid in class (fifth grade at the time ) who did a great "dynomite" and he always got laughs with that. You know, that was the year our school became integrated (by way of busing), and maybe a show like Good Times helped ease any tensions/uneasiness of students of both colors in this new situation.

Anyway, I had no idea at the time that there were backstage problems, and that John Amos and Esther Rolle were increasingly unhappy with the growing emphasis on the J. J. character. Many sitcoms have had un-expected breakout stars/characters. When Failly Ties started, the emphasis was on the parents, until Michael J. Fox's character took central stage. Same thing happened on Happy Days with Henry Winkler. It happens, and when it does, it changes the course of the show. But in the case of Good Times, Amos and Rolle felt that the character was becomeing more and more stereotypical. I don't know if I as a viewer agree wtih their concern. J. J. was funny, but the character ddidn't/doesn't add to my perception of black people. Good Times was a sitcom, the characters were suppposed to make us laugh. But we were entering a time of sitcoms becoming topical, be it Good Times, All In the Family, MASH, and they were now trying to teach us something as well.

On to the character of Michael - was he racist? I don't know if he was racist, but defininately millitant. Yes, he carried it to an extreme with the ice cream, but it was balanced sometimes as well on occassions when he saw a black con man and asked incredulously "how can you try to cheat a brother?" In reality, people of different races do have pre-concieved notions of each other, and it is onl when we come to know each other as people that we see the truth - the average white person and the aaverage black person are pretty much in the same boat - trying to make it from one day to the next in a less-than-perfect world. I haven't seen the entire series in years, so I don't know if Michael ever came to have any white friends, but I think if he did he may have toned down his anger a bit.

As for bill Cosby, I prefer Good Times to Cosby. As Cosby went on, he seemed to be "performing" too much during the show and it seemed to be less of a sitcom as it went on. Good Times was great - it had a lot of grit, and it definitely lost something with Amos' dismissal.

Just my oversvations!

Alfred T

[JeffRuss1972]

Very well said.