Good Times
Dy-No-Mite!
Good Times (1974-1979)
Seasons: 6,
episodes: 133
Episode runtime: 30 min
Average rating:
7.4/10
9 284
Status
Ended
Country
Network
CBS
Production
Genre
Creators
Eric Monte, Mike Evans
Actors
Ja'net DuBois, Esther Rolle, Jimmie Walker, John Amos, Ralph Carter, Bern Nadette Stanis, Johnny Brown, Janet Jackson, Ben Powers, William Christopher
All actors and roles (10)
All actors and roles (10)
Scenario
Mike Evans, John Baskin
Producer
Norman Lear, Allan Manings
Camera operator
Composer
Editing
Short description
Good Times is an American sitcom that originally aired from February 8, 1974, until August 1, 1979, on the CBS television network. It was created by Eric Monte and Mike Evans, and developed by Norman Lear, the series' primary executive producer. Good Times is a spin-off of Maude, which is itself a spin-off of All in the Family along with The Jeffersons.
The series is set in Chicago. The first two seasons were taped at CBS Television City in Hollywood. In the fall of 1975, the show moved to Metromedia Square, where Norman Lear's own production company was housed.
Seasons
| Season | Episodes | Release date | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|
| 13 | 1974-02-08 | — | |
| 24 | 1974-09-10 | 10 | |
| 24 | 1975-09-09 | 1.3 | |
| 24 | 1976-09-22 | — | |
| 24 | 1977-09-21 | — | |
| 24 | 1978-09-16 | 10 |
What's left behind the scenes
- Esther Rolle left the project after the 4th season, believing that J.J., the character played by Jimmy Walker, set a bad example for young African Americans, but she returned at the beginning of the 6th and final season when the creators promised her they would change J.J. and make him more positive.
- According to the original script, Esther Rolle's (1920-1998) character was supposed to raise the children alone, but the actress stated that children need a father, which led to the creation of the character James. Due to constant quarrels between screenwriter Norman Lear and actor John Amos, who played James, it was decided to "kill off" the character in the third season, leaving Rolle's character as a single mother after all.
- The paintings shown in the film are the work of American artist Ernie Barnes (1938-2009), who was commissioned by one of the screenwriters, Norman Lear. Barnes' paintings are known for their unique elongated figures of African Americans engaged in everyday activities. The original of one of the paintings (The Sugar Shack) is owned by Eddie Murphy.
- The plotline was handled exclusively by the screenwriters, while the characters' lines were mostly developed together with the actors.
- On one occasion, Norman Lear was confronted by activists from the Black Panthers (an American left-wing radical organization of Black people) who raised objections regarding why the series' characters lived in slums, why they lived in poverty surrounded by crime, and why the characters were portrayed so stereotypically. Ultimately, this incident led to the creation of the series "The Jeffersons" (1975-1985), where a Black family is depicted in a more positive light.
- This project is a spin-off of the series "Maude" (1972-1978), but there are no references to that series or its characters in the project (as if it were a sequel where only the character names are shared with the original source). In "Maude," Florida was a domestic worker for Maude Findlay in a suburb of New York, and her husband Henry worked as a firefighter. In this series, Florida and her husband James live in Chicago; not a word is mentioned about their previous occupations, nor is Henry's name or their former residence in New York ever mentioned. Moreover, Florida and her neighbor, played by Janet Dubois (1945-2020), are long-time friends and have apparently lived in Chicago for several years. Although, in one instance, Florida does mention that she was once a domestic servant.
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