Thank you for being a friend...

[skcin]

Good Times is a great show. Dealt with real issues without being preachy & it was funny as hell.

They just gave the cast an award on the TV Land Awards a couple of weekes ago. If you happen to catch a rerun of the show, watch it - it's a hoot! Most of the original cast was there & they all looked great.

[cliffdweller]

Originally Posted by skcin

Good Times is a great show. Dealt with real issues without being preachy & it was funny as hell.

They just gave the cast an award on the TV Land Awards a couple of weekes ago. If you happen to catch a rerun of the show, watch it - it's a hoot! Most of the original cast was there & they all looked great.

Ooooh, I saw that. Thelma looked amazing! It's like she didn't age at all. I was quite impressed.

[SuzeQuze]

Originally Posted by Richard B

I read that site before. I also heard the John Amos dispute was over money and that Esther Rolle was very displeased with the direction of the show and in particular JJ's role, which is why she left after Season 4, but returned for Season 6 (the final season).

Also, after they fired John Amos, it was one of the first shows, especially a situation comedy to actually kill off a major character. The beginning of Season 4 was the announcement that he died in car accident.

I agree with you, I watch these episodes and I think the same thing. There was some serious meat in Good Times. One in particular was a 2-part episode with JJ in love and ready to marry without the approval of his parents. He and his fiance decide to elope, only to find out that she was a heroin junkie. I mean they showed it all, the rubber tube, the needle and then her withdrawl systems when it is found out that JJ grabbed Thelma's purse instead of hers. Riveting.

Not to mention other strong topics: alchoholism, gangs, guns, teen pregnancy, unwanted babies, international foreign policy (Cuba related), politics, child abuse, etc.

Yeah, teen pregnancy, remember when Penny's best friend caught "stomach mumps"?

The show broke my heart killing off the dad, that was just wrong.

[goldustsongbird]

1) Yes!!!!
2) No. I used to be that way with X-Files and M*A*S*H, but I've gone off of both shows. GG is the only one I can watch again and again and still really enjoy. Oh, along with All in the Family and Newhart. AITF isn't being showed here anymore... at least, not until Prime redoes their schedule. They switch it up every now and then. And I'm not home when the Newhart reruns are on.

[Richard B]

Originally Posted by SuzeQuze

Yeah, teen pregnancy, remember when Penny's best friend caught "stomach mumps"?

The show broke my heart killing off the dad, that was just wrong.

I don't remember that episode...I don't watch anything after Season 3. I need John Amos in my Good Times. He was a intergral part of the shows success, imo.

But they addressed teen pregnancy somewhere in Season 1-3. JJ's girl Henrietta, although JJ was not the Father.

Also there was another episode with guest star, Jay Leno, all about VD. Funny and important.

[dissention]

Good Times beyond season three is dead to me. I will not hear of it, speak of it, or view it. The entire show worked because of the tight-knit family unit that was the Evans clan; take one away and it's ruined.

I'm still horrified by the episode where Penny's mother burned her ass with a curling iron, though. Good christ.

[Richard B]

Originally Posted by dissention

Good Times beyond season three is dead to me. I will not hear of it, speak of it, or view it. The entire show worked because of the tight-knit family unit that was the Evans clan; take one away and it's ruined.

I'm still horrified by the episode where Penny's mother burned her ass with a curling iron, though. Good christ.

Wasn't it a flat iron? I'm pretty sure it was cause growing up, my idiot brother would "re-inact" the scene on me. Fuker.

We are in 100% agreement that nothing beyond Season 3 is dead.

You are of good taste.

[dissention]

Originally Posted by Richard B

Wasn't it a flat iron? I'm pretty sure it was cause growing up, my idiot brother would "re-inact" the scene on me. Fuker.

You're probably right. I don't remember exactly what was used because I don't watch those post-season three episodes willingly. lol

Originally Posted by Richard B

We are in 100% agreement that nothing beyond Season 3 is dead.

You are of good taste.

It became The JJ Show. Gag me. He was good when he had the rest of the family to bounce off of, but once they got rid of the family that everyone had grown to love, him & the show got obnoxious.

And here's a pic of some of the remaining cast members from that TV Land special. Bern'adette does look amazing.

[markolas]

Originally Posted by dissention

And here's a pic of some of the remaining cast members from that TV Land special. Bern'adette does look amazing.

I didn't know Tina Turner played Wilona.

[Jason T.]

Originally Posted by Richard B

1) It's okay. Not my favorite, but I have seen some very funny episodes though. Dorothy is certainly my favorite character.

2) Good Times. I can not get enough of this show. I have the complete seasons on DVD and watch them over and over. I only like it up to Season 3, since John Amos left the show after that and it went downhill quick.

I'm a sucker for Norman Lear productions: Good Times, All In The Family, Maude, Sandford and Son, and The Jeffersons.

I *luv* Good Times too - It's the only thing I watch on TV Land anymore...

[Jason T.]

Originally Posted by markolas

I remember my grandmother loved the show (this was during its original run)

You know what's odd: everyone on here that mentions that their gradmothers got them into the show; because that's who got me into it too. They must of been happy to get some representation on television...lol.

[SuzeQuze]

Originally Posted by dissention

You're probably right. I don't remember exactly what was used because I don't watch those post-season three episodes willingly. lol

...

It became The JJ Show. Gag me. He was good when he had the rest of the family to bounce off of, but once they got rid of the family that everyone had grown to love, him & the show got obnoxious.

And here's a pic of some of the remaining cast members from that TV Land special. Bern'adette does look amazing.

Yeah, I think it was a regular iron which is worse because they get much hotter than a curling iron!

Rolle returned in season 5 when they agreed to tone down the JJ character but it was already too late. I guess the show's creators believed the JJ hype a little too much and ruined the show by trying to pimp him out. What a shame. In hindsight they must've seen that Amos and Rolle were right. Too bad for them! That show could've had a really long run if they'd left the family in tact.

I agree that Bern'adette and the rest of the cast look great! She's gotta be fifty but she looks no more than 30-35 in that photo!

[cliffdweller]

Originally Posted by markolas

I didn't know Tina Turner played Wilona.

Pretty close! LOVED Wilona. Didn't she sing the theme song?

[Richard B]

Yes, Wilona (Ja'net DuBois) sang on the them song.

And Thelma (BernNadette Stanis) is indeed 52 years old. She looks amazing. She was always so pretty. Capricorns age so well.

[ragandbone]

I watched Golden Girls when I visited my father. I thought it was funny, but it never really grabbed me; however he thought it was the best show ever, and I think he thought the stars were all very attractive. He is from their same generation. I really love Betty White, and think she is just a great comic actress (well, actually, so are the otherstars od GG). Sue Anne in Mary Tyler Moore show is the prototype for Serial Mom, IMO. As a child I was fascinated by Betty White and Alan Ludden as a couple: they both had that shiny platinum hair.
I loved Good Times, and the episodes with Janet Jackson are burned, with a hot iron, into my memory. I preferred it with Amos as well.