What You May Not Know About Good Times The TV Show

[Music] do you see um Family programming coming back  you know after all this reality phase and all this stuff no I don't I I see where you're going  with the question I don't see it that was John Amos giving his thoughts on family programming  coming back to rule the entertainment industry and it turns out his opinion might have been  formed by his experience on the set of good times speaking of the show was some of the  contention about JJ's behavior and how goofy he was and I accept we needed

the comedy relief  but by the same token we felt it could have been dealt with a little more seriously little did Amos  know that his very simple opinion on that matter would change his life been fired off the show  collect unemployment after that for a good time but Amos wasn't even the only one fighting for  an uplifting image of the characters on the show his hey what's going on guys welcome to the  nosy ninja Network where we learn how not to be a dummy from some wellp paid dummies guys  we

got a good one today we got the wellknown the first the first black family on TV  we got good times guys this is why the TV show Good Times Really ended so we going to  go through the ins and the outs and we going to do something different we're going to relax  it's Friday we going to have a good time in guys onscreen wife also fought some battles of  her own to that effect I give a lot of that to Ester rooll because she wanted a husband  on the show they wanted to do it without a husband and s

he said no I want a husband on  the show because I was raised with a a father and a mother if you were around in the mid to  late 90s then there's a huge chance that you witnessed what many have tagged the best  days of television in history it's ironic because this was the period that TV shows and  movies just started to pick up in the industry following the regular standup shows people  went to see live however as with anything in its early days television was far from perfect  and there was n

o better depiction of this than what happened on the set of Good Times the show  which was one of the pioneer ushers of many of the biggest '90s shows also had its own set of  challenges and it seems those challenges might have been some of the factors that led to its  sinking but until those final days good times echoed greatness in its rawest form like many  of the shows that were ruling television around the same time it came out the show was majorly  premised on Comedy however a little twist

was added by the producers of the show to decided  to incorporate Family Values into it so now so they say in the beginning they wanted to add family values in it but those Family  Values started to turn into stereotypes stereotypes guys so you got to keep  that in mind but yes guys we going to get into it today we going to  talk about all of the secrets and some of the secrets you might not like  all of the secrets in Hollywood guys and it's a damn shame but remember this  is the first black F

amily TV show on TV guys filled with black comics with extensive years  of individual success to their belts coupled with them being one happy family it was almost like the  show couldn't be more perfect the fans of the show would later learn that all of the ingredients that  made up the show although more impressive than any of the others airing at the time was not enough  to keep it on top see while many people looked at the show and saw some level of perfection in  it because of how the cast

members appeared in their elements the reality of those actors was  far from the depiction we were seeing according to the accounts of many of the show's main cast  members some very much less than ideal things had been happening on the set that led to it taking  the darkest possible turn now these people who had to live through the hardship being imposed on  them by the show's executive are finally coming out to speak on it after are staying quiet for  over three decades and let's just say the

things they're revealing might ruin some of the childhood  or even adulthood memories you might have had of the show and to prove just how serious this is  several fans have been talking about what they thought happened to the show well let's just say  some of them just got the shock of their lives and aren't handling it too well normally this is the  part where I tell you to stay tuned on the show till the end but I have a feeling that it goes  without saying on this one at least for every Mill

ennial watching and that's a fact because  I was always told that that he John Amos was jealous of JJ because JJ was becoming a star and  I didn't know what I eventually found out I didn't know that this this show was just riddled with  black depression and black stereotypes because it was never meant for this show to show anything  other than that because while this show was airing we also had another black family show that came  out a little bit later but it was during the same time called The

Jeffersons and see the Jefferson  showed a whole different image of black folks you know I mean the Jefferson we had money we was  able to call white people honkies on that show you know I mean George Jefferson was the first  black man I ever heard call a honky on national TV I said goddamn so it was never gonna be they  never was going to allow us two shows that show total dominance black people in a great sense in  a great light they were never going to show two they could give one or the oth

er they can give  the option but to show two that'd be too much hope too much inspiration for us people Mis Mis  misinterpreted my objection they thought that I was jealous of him quite frankly I was not I'm  not jealous of any success comedian while there have been many top rated shows come and go over  the years most people would agree that there are certain shows that attained icon level right  from the pilot and good times just might be the leader of that category a feat that seemed  impossi

ble for a show that was expressly based on the life of a black family well at least  until the show's producers messed around and lost their touch that is although the tales of  James and Florida Evans family may be a little less zeitgeisty these days than those of Archie  and Edith Bunker it's important to know that for a generation of people black people especially but  not exclusively good times was a hugely important TV Touchstone one need look no further than the  blackish Fantasy episode t

hat imagines the Johnson family as the cast of Good Times for proof of  that people have always gambl and they always will it's the world's second oldest profession  what's the oldest you're too young to know oh boy and that was back then if you would if you  could be if you could be around and know that the old this is prostitution it ain't go nowhere  because that's normalized now it's nothing but prostitution going on now prostitution have been  normalized you would have been able to say it b

ack then if you was here now you now you can say it  back then yeah couldn't say it it was privacy it was shut your mouth oh that while it falls in  the pantheon of Norman Leer's 7s sitcom Universe through the character of Florida Evans who was  first introduced in mod it self a spin-off from All in the Family good times is more of a distant  cousin to those shows unlike its predecessors good times was not created by Norman Lear that credit  goes to Eric Monte and Michael Evans who played Lionel

Jefferson on All in the Family and The  Jeffersons Lear developed the show to incorporate Florida Mod's housekeeper on mod played by Esther  Ro hers was the only character carried over with her and keep in mind keep in mind guys mod that  show mod was the first feminist that was the first feminist and that lady was a lesbian that was the  first lesbian actor character on national TV right there that show mod and that's where she got the  spin-off from history and husband changed to fit the fram

ework of Monty and evans's show Good  Times was a phenomenally successful CBS sitcom that aired from February 8th 1974 until August  1st 1979 the show was set in Chicago with the family living in a housing project that was based  on the infamous Cabrini Green projects episodes of Good Times dealt with the character's attempts  to overcome poverty James Evans was portrayed often working at least two jobs mostly manual  labor such as dishwasher construction labor Etc often he was unemployed but th

e character is  a proud man who will not accept charity when he has to he hustles money playing pool although  Florida disapproves of this a track record like this makes you wonder why the show didn't do  more numbers than was recorded well it turns out there's actually a lot to unpack there while  everything seemed peachy from a viewer's line of sight there was a lot of friction happening on the  set particularly with the show's lead characters see while John Amos who portrayed James Evans the 

patriarch of the show was part of why it became as successful as it did certain changes were  made to it that shocked everyone much to the Chagrin of the show's supporters James Evans was  Ked during the height of Good Times popularity many for those of you that do not know no Kad  mean he was he was murdered off guys he was deleted out of the show he was deleted out of the  show and again guys after at some point they're gonna get tired of trying to force their will on  you and they'll just ge

t rid of you at some point they're gonna get tired of trying to convince you  to do what they want you to do and they just going to get rid of you and that's just Hollywood now  I mean those are the things that was discussed early this year when C Williams sat on that couch  wondered why the show's producers would make such a decision and over the years rumors surface  that they and Amos could not reach an agreement in their contractual negotiations in May of 2015  in his three and a half hour i

nterview with the archive of American television Amos shed light on  exactly why he left Good Times well that was the thing about uh working with Norman Lear he liked  to get the actors input but by the same token he couldn't relinquish control of the show to the  actors the truth of it was when the show first started we had no African-American writers on the  show and some of the attitudes they had written as per my character and frankly for some of the  other characters as well caused me to sa

y uh uh we can't do this we can't do that and they'd  say what do you mean we can't do this Amos continued they'd go on about their credits and  the rest of that and I'd look at each and every one of them and say well how long have you been  black that just doesn't happen in the Community we don't think that way we don't act that way  we don't let our children do that the industry vet admitted he didn't Express his grievances  in the most professional manner which resulted in his character being

Ked off and him getting  the boot the clashes so it sound like y'all did him he was the first Monique he was the first  Monique it sound like y'all wrote him off as being problematic and just he won't you he's hard  to work with because you can't get him to go with the stupid [ __ ] you can't get him to integrate  y' foolishness into Black Culture man yo John Amos is a hero if you ask me with the writers  more often than not affected Jon's time on the show he believed the scripts were not authe

ntic  enough to portray the Black American experience and felt he knew better about such families than  the show's white writers if you think about it it doesn't seem like too much to ask that a man  who's lived through what the life of a Suburban black family is be consulted for what that life  is actually like compared to people with degrees and no real life experience this was the basis of  what caused friction for Amos on the set according to details from the actor himself the shows behind 

the scenes team of writers in its early years was majorly made up of white people he revealed that  while these people did have the technical knoow to create great scripts their Creations had  elements of negative stere my let me Jewish white people all right Jewish white people don't  forget not all white people got power them Jewish white folks are are the enemy stereotypes about  black people in a chat with vulture he said being the first black father of a complete family  on television meant

he shouldered an immense responsibility hence he was not going to portray  something less than redeeming he noticed that the writers were losing focus on his other two  kids on the show bernardet Stannis who portrayed Thelma and Ralph Carter who played Michael John  believed the show could have gotten a great deal of mileage out of Thelma and Michael's aspirations  to become a Supreme Court Justice surgeon I felt that with two other younger children one of whom  to Aspire who aspired to become

a Supreme Court Justice that would be uh Ralph Carter or Michael  instead the writers focused more on the obvious and comedic Jimmy Walker which John was not  proud of he explained he was not jealous of Jimmy Walker but felt it was a disservice to  Thelma and Michael and young people's image I tell you all of the time they only respect the  BS that make them laugh cuz they only looking for an tainment they don't like the education  now the education is too Stern that's too hard it's too hard so

they don't like when you try to  educate them now you mean you mean if you try to educate them but if you can make them laugh they  love you they respect you they give you all their money so and they know that to say they did not  matter the differences I had with the producers of the show was that too much emphasis was being  put on J and his chicken head when asked if those feelings led to his being kicked out of the show  John said yes it was I was categorized by Norman as a disruptive elemen

t when he made the call  telling me I would no longer be with the show he said that's how I was described and assessed by  the rest of the cast and certainly the production company a disruptive element so they kid me  off that I wasn't as important as I thought I was to the show or to Norman lear's plans and  he was not about to have a disruptive factor that was me however Amos wasn't the only major  character who had a problem with the portrayal of black people even his on-screen wife Esther  R

had the exact same concerns Ro took issue with the way her TV son's character evolved she told  Ebony magazine he's 18 and he doesn't work he can't read and write he doesn't think the show  didn't start out to be that they have made him more stupid and enlarg the role she and now she  was being more direct with it there go there go mama she called it she hit the nail on the head  why do we got to run with the dummy why we got to make him look like a dummy then Amos had  it we got a we got a kid

that's going to be the um whatever the title was you know I ain't  good with these damn titles but that would that sounded very professional and that sounded very  prominent I mean why not put some angle more more episodes into that focus on that showing black  men black young black men in a good light in a better light know I mean we got a lot of people  watch watching and tuned into our show let's show him continued to vent her frustration pointing  out a descent into stereotypes negative ima

ges have been quietly slipped in on us through the  character of the oldest child I resent the imagery that says to black kids that you can make it by  standing on the corner saying Dino might even fans agreed with their point of view one person  wrote John Amos may have lost the battle but he deaf won the war his role on Good Times was a  catalyst for shows like the Cosby What if I told you and we got our first Super Chat of the night  thank you thank you thank you yo guys if you guys want me t

o do more videos like this talking about  sitcoms you know what I mean from our era let me know you know I mean let me know put it in the  chat and I'll definitely do more because I got a lot of them loaded up guys I got a lot of them  loaded up you know we got sanord and sun we got different world different strok we got we got a  lot of them all right and salute to you tax ring he said great content can you do different world  living single definitely my guy I got you I got you show which gave

us a different world chain  reaction for the culture salute to Esther for standing her ground well just the way they didn't  take amos's view too kindly was the same way they didn't take roles only difference was that hers  was slightly less intense in am's case the Evans family was prepared to move to the south at the  beginning of the fourth season after James secured a better job out of state but while he was away  he is Ked in a car accident leaving the family stuck in Chicago without their

patriarch R stayed  on for the duration of that season but eventually had enough herself her character was written  off much more gently than her screen husband however the writers Bid Farewell to Florida by  having her remarry and move off to Arizona with the Evans children left to fend for themselves  in Chicago the show took a bit of a different direction the ratings began to slip considerably  during the fifth season prompting producers to appeal to R to reemerge as Florida on the show  R ag

reed that the six season would be the series last R continued to act after the finale of Good  Times along with multiple television appearances Ro acted in many films until her 1998 death among  her postgood times movie credits are Parts in the 1988 screen hit Driving Miss Daisy while season  five in which the remaining Evans children live alone included one of the show's most talked  about storylines with Janet Jackson as abused child Penny it did little to stop a drastic  fall in ratings the p

erson who really keeps it together is out there clawing and scratching  for jobs that's your daddy before the taping of season 6 began CBS and the show's producers  decided that they had to do something drastic to increase viewership according to Steve Mills  the then vice president of CBS programming we had lost the essence of the show without Parental  Guidance the show slipped everything told us that our mail our phone calls our research we felt  we had to go Back to Basics R agreed to return

under certain conditions namely more money and  better storylines in the season six Premiere episode Florida's homecoming part one Florida  returns from Arizona to attend Thelma's upcoming wedding to professional football player Keith  Anderson ultimately R's return wasn't enough and CBS canel the show during the 1978 to 1979  season in the series finale the end of the now I ain't even going to hold you this episode right  is when I stopped watching it that's when I knew I'm I was little I had

to been about eight n and  I knew like something wrong with this [ __ ] like why every time we get to the it's like every time  we climb the ladder and we grab the ring in this in this particular sitcom we some crazy [ __ ]  happened like we could never totally really win in this sitcom like this [ __ ] was different  like this [ __ ] always brought me back to some prent rainbow each character finally gets a  happy ending JJ gets his big break as an artist for a comic book company with his newly

created  character dinoman which is based on Thelma much to her surprise and delight and is moving into  an apartment with some lady friends I'm glad y all gathered here for this news cuz I want you  all to know that now you are looking at a famous working cartoon artist all Michael attends college  and moved into an oncampus dorm Keith's bad knee healed due to his exercise and own Physical  Therapy leading to the Chicago Bears offering him a contract to play football while good times  coming t

o an end was shocking to fans all over the world at the time it also made people more  interested in each of their personal lives it has been nearly 50 years since good times first  aired bringing Fame to its cast members careers although most of them continued to act after  the show ended some have pursued different paths While others have already passed away let's  start with Esther R before before the show Ro was famous for starring in the 1972 sitcom mod she was  a stage actress before being

cast in a supporting role in the show which viewers immediately  fell in love with and wanted to see more of dam after the show ended she continued her  acting career with small parts here and there in movies like Driving Miss Daisy and my fellow  Americans she had a big part in a couple of other shows and won several incredible Awards one of  which came in the 1970s specifically in 1978 R won an Emmy Award for outstanding supporting  actress in a limited series for special for her performance

in the television film Summer  Of My German Soldier sadly role passed away on leaving all toxic and negative energy Love and  Hip Hop it's sad that a lot of these a lot of these people is passing now or have passed and  they they are Staples of our childhood absolute Staples of our childhood guys y'all hit that  like button guys November 17th 1998 a few days after she turned 78 due to complications from  diabetes the actress left behind her divorced husband Oscar Robinson whom she married in  19

55 and separated from in 1975 without any children while she ushered in a new age for women  of color at the time by making a name for herself with good times her onscreen husband had a vastly  different reality James Evans known in the real world as John Amos was already a known name in  the entertainment industry before he landed a role in Good Times uh under no circumstances  must you stop eating and drinking please the ladies over at the refreshment bar told me  that they're not busy enough

before becoming an on-screen actor Amos took the stage by storm  and even founded his own Theater Company he also became a television star with a role on the Mary  Tyler show before landing Good Times however he left left the show after 3 years of reported  creative disputes with the show's developer if you know what I mean anyway in 1977 Amos  St in the miniseries Roots and earned an Emmy nomination for his impeccable performance Amos  continued his career and appeared in the movies a couple of

other projects including Coming to  America alongside Eddie Murphy although he is still active in the industry today Amos is also  a proud father of six children whom he had with three different women these days however Amos  basks in his residence in two B Township New Jersey although he's been in the news for other  things in recent times involving his family there hasn't been much on him getting back in front of  the cameras but the case for others was largely different one of whom was Janet

te du now I know  amamos a play he'll play a mean OJ in a OJ Simpson movie that boy John Amos to player mean OJ in  a OJ Simpson movie go ahead who played Willona Woods neighbor to the Evans Family I'm wona fly  me slly me straight to the kitchen P me a cup of coffee and make it like I like my man hot black  and strong dubua was a multi-talented performer known for being an actress dancer singer and  songwriter like many Hollywood stars dubua made her acting debut in theater and only joined  tel

evision after gaining experience on stage although she appeared as a series regular in Love  Of Life deoy made her name known when she received a Peabody Award for the CBS film JT in 1969 she  went on to star in I'm going to get you sucka and Charlie's Angelus Full Throttle and received  two Emmy Awards for her voiceover work Beyond her career dubua founded the Pan African film  and amp Arts Festival which focused on talents from people of African descent she also has an  empowering youth projec

t through the dubua Care Foundation sadly she passed away due to cardiac  arrest after dealing with a lot of lows in her life on February 17th 2020 unlike dubua who was  all already walking the path to becoming a star from her theater days Jimmy Walker who played  James JJ Walker on the show didn't think Hollywood would be his career path here's a free sample for  little sister afro glow face cream for the look of beauty I didn't know they could borrow Miracles  before becoming an actor his inte

rest was in basketball which did not seem to work well  early on after working a few jobs he decided to try comedy performance and debuted as  the opening act for the Poetry group the last poets Walker played the oldest son on Good  Times he was a 27-year-old when he was tasked with the role and it catapulted him into the  stratosphere while fulfilling his role as JJ Walker also appeared on Fantasy Island and let's  do it again among other shows his Fame however skyrocketed after the show and he

had more film  credits but once the show ended he struggled to keep the TV momentum going fortunately Walker  was a standup comic before his role on TV and that's the the vocation he returned to after it  ended Walker tours the country doing standup an average of 25 30 weeks a year according to IMDb  Walker wasn't the only child of the Evans Family who made a name for themselves specifically with  their role on the show as that was also the case for burn nadet Stannis burn nadet Stannis Stannis

  is most recognized for her role as Thelma Anderson in Good Times the show that launched her career  throughout the 70s Stannis displayed Grace and charm which captured the viewer's heart although  she did not make acting her main stay he gave me this diamond engagement ring it's a beautiful ring  Thelma I see the ring but where's the diamond the actress was 18 when she landed the role of Thelma  on the show over the years she has talked about how it felt to be picked for such a role and  the s

tory behind her going for the audition it was all thanks to her mother who had been by her  side pushing her to perform in a pageant she had been preparing for she had been fighting stage  fright and trying to avoid the whole Affair by figing an asthma attack but her mother did not  have it after Good Times ended Stannis kept on acting appearing in some other movies and plays  with one of the latest being her role in 36-hour layover which was released in 2016 according to  reports that was stann

is's last onscreen credit however she did pursue a career as an author and  even penned five books some of which earned her even more respect in the creative Community  since then she's prioritized family Above All Else as she remarried Terren red and together they  welcomed a daughter named Dior Ravel currently she is reportedly married to Kevin Fontana with whom  she shares her daughter Britney she takes her job as a mother very seriously and has done a pretty  good job of bringing up wonderfu

l girls who love her just as much as she does them Stannis has  come very far from the girl who played Thelma on Good Times but the world will never forget the  impact she has made both on the set and off it another iconic figure of the show is Ralph Carter  right now it's been more than four decades since Carter became an icon of African-American  television playing the role of Michael the youngest son of the Evans Family on Good Times  Pride of the projects Michael Evans who needs you anyway I

wouldn't play with you again if you  was the last kid in the project back then Ralph was still a teenager but Norman Lear the producer  of the [Music] show guys y'all coming in hit the like button as you come in we talking about the  first black TV family show on television today guys saw something so unique in him that he gave  him the chance to share the screen with Esther R and John Amos and even though good times was  Ralph's debut on television he was no stranger to acting and being under

the spotlight at 9 years  old he made his Broadway debut in the musical The me nobody knows during his time on the series  Carter became interested in music and released the album when you're young and in love in 1975 he  also released two singles around the same time and even appeared on Soul Train to promote the album  before taking a long break away from the spotlight in 2016 he joined John Amos bernardet Stannis  and Jimmy Walker to celebrate good times and its longevity after 40 years they

did some press  rounds including Extra TV and Steve Harvey's show on the other hand Carter is now the face of the OD  Delco short for audience development committee Inc an organization created in the 70s by actress  Vivian Robinson that honors black theater in the tri-state area Carter is the vice president  and he believes that it's important for people to support local and black theater not only for  the actors but for the village it takes to get a play running every year OD Delco hosts the vi

  Awards to recognize the work of dozens of people in the theater they also offer seminars lectures  forums and other theater activities focused on the young generation one thing that has been  consistent about the cast of Good Times so far is that they've all had multiple layers of their  talents and Johnny Brown was also no exception to this pattern known for his portrayal of Nathan  Bookman the building superintendent for the Evans Family on the popular 1970s sitcom Good Times  Johnny Brown c

ame with a lot of surprises when he broke into the industry Brown like most of his  black contemporaries would prove himself to be far more than just an actor something essential for  African-American actors as they first began to receive opportunities in roles other than as Maids  or Butlers in the 60s and 70s he also displayed his prowess as a singer and could easily swing  into the role of an accomplished impersonator mimicking the voices and mannerisms of such  luminaries as Louis Armstrong

and John Wayne fans of good times will recall him often swaggering  like the dup and sounding almost identical to the white actor and Western film superstar John Wayne  Brown's ability to tackle the roles of Everyday People along with his humor Charisma and portly  appearance served him well both on stage and on the screen this was proven by his track record of  Landing roles on shows including the Jeffersons Family Matters and Martin however disaster struck  on March 22nd last year when his dau

ghter actress Sharon Katherine Brown confirmed news about his  passing on Instagram our family is devastated devastated devastated Beyond heartbroken barely  able to breathe we respectfully ask for privacy at this time because we need a minute to process  the unthinkable she expressed shortly after the news came out bernardet Stannis and Janet Jackson  paid tribute to their co-star following his D at 84 That's the Way Love Goes singer Jackson who  played abused child Penny Gordon Woods in season

5 also shared her condolences via Twitter  such loving memories of our time together you were full of laughter and forever smiling  always so sweet and so kind to me I love you and will miss you she wrote speaking of co-stars  Janet Jackson is another Unforgettable star from Good Times who needs very little introduction  Jackson made her first appearance on the sitcom during its Fifth Season as the daughter of an  irresponsible mother in one memorable and at the time shocking scene Penny's biol

ogical mom  approached her with a hot iron as Penny begged her mother not to burn her is Helia I don't know  his name but he's tall skinny and beautiful hold on now tall and skinny we got but beautiful on  the show Penny ended up getting adopted by the Evans neighbor wona wood and developed a puppy  crush on Thelma's brother JJ at the time Jackson who would go on to land other co-starring roles  on the TV series Different Strokes and fame was best known as the baby sister of Michael Jackson  and

his brothers the guys had already racked up a string of hits beginning in 1969 as the Jackson  5 and later as the Jacksons while the singer come actress has been on a couple of shows over  the years her music has taken the front seat in recent times in fact the singer even had a tour  early this year called together again so far it's clear that everyone from the the show has come  a long way moving through various parts of the industry and leaving their individual marks this  is why fans will n

ever stop talking about them regardless of whether they're here or not as their  legacy has become Eternal that's it for this video Goodbye Oh man and that's the end of our show  for today guys so y'all take it to the chat and y'all let me know how old was y'all  when y'all was watching this show right here and what's some of your best memories  of the show let's take it to the chat guys appreciate y'all y'all wrap up strap up drink  responsibly do not play with your life [Music] guys ladies fro

m har New York push your cigarettes  out and pull your panties out push your hands together [Music] good