“I Bet You Wouldn’t Be Sticking It To Him If He Was White!” Season Two, Episode Three: J.J. Becomes a Man, Part 2 (September 24, 1974)

Posted on July 3, 2025 by Karen Hannsberry

This episode is the second half of the series’ first two-parter; in Part 1, the family celebrated J.J.’s 18th birthday, which included his announcement of his new job as a courier, and his quickly masked disappointment when he learned his parents had been unable (due to a computer error) to buy the fancy art supplies he’d been expecting. And the episode ended when the family learned that J.J. had been arrested for trying to rob a liquor store.

As the second part begins, the family and Willona are arriving at the police station with hopes of securing J.J.’s release. They soon learn, however, that his bail has been set at $5,000 – which means a bond of $500 would be needed to get him out. Meanwhile, J.J. not only faces a “good cop, bad cop” interrogation session, but he’s then put into a cell with a brutish criminal characterized by his ability to bend a spoon with one hand and his penchant for appropriating J.J.’s meals.

Just as Florida and James consider borrowing the bond money from a loan shark (at 20 percent – per WEEK), they’re told that the real culprit has been found and that J.J. is being set free. But the family’s celebration is short-lived – after visiting J.J.’s new boss to offer an excuse for his absence, Thelma learned that the manager already knew about the arrest and that J.J. has lost his job. And in a final twist of irony, the Evans family gets a glimpse of the real robber of the liquor store – a short, rotund youth with a large, unruly afro. “I can see how you made a mistake,” Florida facetiously tells the arresting officer. “They’re practically twins.”

As I stated in my previous post, I didn’t find Part 1 of this two-parter to be a laugh-riot, but Part 2 more than made up for it; this episode is practically overflowing with humorous lines and exchanges. The first comes just a minute or so after the episode begins, when Florida keeps interrupting James to talk to the desk sergeant, despite James’s insistence on handling the situation. And then, when Thelma speaks up as well, Florida commands her to be quiet, adding, “Let your daddy do the talking!” There are laugh-out-loud moments throughout, but the episode still manages to sneak in several somber situations, using humor to highlight the reality of false arrest and the increasing encroachment of computers on the lives of law-abiding citizens.

Pop Culture Connections

Certs

When J.J. is asked by the cops why he was in the liquor store, he tells them he had a date and stopped in to buy some Certs. He then adds, “You know – click, click?” and makes a gesture with his two index fingers. Certs was a popular breath mint that debuted in 1956 and was one of the first breath mint to be marketed nationwide. A small disc with green flecks, Certs was advertised as “two mints in one,” because it was both a breath mint and a “candy” mint. Interestingly, it didn’t contain oil from a mint plant but, instead, was made with a substance known as “retsyn,” which was a mixture of partially hydrogenated cottonseed oil, copper gluconate, and flavoring. The mint’s green flecks were a result of the copper gluconate.

Certs was discontinued in 2018, reportedly due to the product’s use of the hydrogenated oil; this substance is no longer allowed in foods sold in the U.S. because of its connection with heart disease. However, the product has been revamped and made a reappearance at the Sweets and Snacks Expo, held in Indianapolis, Indiana, in May 2025.

J.J.’s gesture with his fingers and his comment, “click, click,” refers to the advertising for Certs and its “two mints in one” concept. You can see what I mean in the commercial below.

Mrs. Olson

Willona brings Florida and James a thermos of coffee that she made, but it’s so distasteful that James quips that it could help secure J.J.’s release – a few drops could burn a hole in the jail. Willona responds that she “never said that [she] was Mrs. Olson.” Mrs. Olson was the name of the pitchwoman for Folgers Coffee, played by actress Virginia Christine. More on Mrs. Olson and Virginia Christine can be found in my post on Episode 11 from Season 1.

Supp-Hose

When J.J. is being questioned by the two detectives, one of them mentions that the liquor store robber had a nylon stocking over his face. J.J. responds that this proves his innocence: “Where would I get a nylon stocking from?” he asks. “My sister wears panty hose and my mother wears Supp-hose!” Supp-hose was a line of support stockings developed in 1956 by the Kayser-Roth company. They were designed to improve blood circulation and reduce swelling in the legs, but Supp-hose strived to be more glamorous and less utilitarian; the advertisements for the product claimed that they were the sheerest support hose on the market and showed them being worn by a stylish model in a fur coat.

Guest Stars:

This episode had more guest stars with speaking parts than any to date!

James Greene (Desk sergeant)

*James Greene was in the first scene as the desk sergeant.*

Born James Thomas Nolan in Lawrence, Massachusetts in 1926, Greene made his Broadway debut in the chorus of the 1951 production of Romeo and Juliet, starring Olivia de Havilland. He went on to appear in 22 Broadway plays and 29 off-Broadway productions; these included The Iceman Cometh in 1985, where he co-starred with Jason Robards. After appearing in his first feature film in 1961, he had roles in pictures including Ghost Story (1981), which featured classic film stars Fred Astaire, Melvyn Douglas, and Douglas Fairbanks, Jr., and The Road to Perdition (2002), a Depression-era thriller starring Tom Hanks. He was most prolific on the small screen, however, with guest spots on a variety of shows and recurring parts on the Days and Nights of Molly Dodd, where he played the elevator operator, and Parks and Recreation, where he was seen as a city councilman. Greene continued working until the year he died, 2018, at the age of 91; his final appearance was on the TV series Break a Hip, starring Christina Pickles (who won an Emmy for her performance).

Mel Stewart (Davis)

Stewart was born in Cleveland, Ohio, and started acting with a community theater there when he was a teenager. He later moved to New York, appearing in such Broadway productions as Simply Heavenly, written by Langston Hughes, and Purlie Victorious, where he was the understudy for characters played by Ossie Davis and Godfrey Cambridge. Stewart was also an accomplished musician, playing the tenor saxophone with such greats as John Coltrane and Charlie Parker; he was proficient on the piano and the flute as well.

*Mel Stewart is perhaps best known for his role on All in the Family.*

After moving to California in the 1960s, Stewart joined an improv group and eventually caught the attention of Hollywood; in one of his earliest feature film appearances, he played an elevator operator in Odds Against Tomorrow (1959), a gritty noir produced by Harry Belafonte. Some of his other films included Nothing But a Man (1964), starring Ivan Dixon, and The Landlord (1970), directed by Hal Ashby. On the small screen, he was seen in recurring roles in several shows including Car 54, Where Are You?, Roll Out, Tabitha, and Scarecrow and Mrs. King. He also played Henry Jefferson, the brother of Sherman Hemsley’s George, on All in the Family.

Stewart’s talents included work behind the camera – he directed two episodes of the series Get Christie Love, starring Teresa Graves, as well as plays at the Black Repertory Theater in Berkeley, California, and San Francisco’s Center for African and African-American Art and Culture. He also served as an acting teacher at San Francisco State University, where one of his students was Danny Glover, and while at the university, Stewart established a theater group called Black Actors Now Through Unity (BANTU). And apart from acting, Stewart held a third-degree black belt in aikido and operated a martial arts school for inner-city young people in San Francisco.

After appearing in the film Made in America in 1993, Stewart retired from acting, reportedly stating that there were “too many black bald actors in Hollywood.” He died of Alzheimer’s disease in 2002 at the age of 72.

Ron Masak (Sloane)

Chicago native Ron Masak was born in 1936; his mother, a merchandise buyer, was of Irish descent and his father, a salesmen and musician, was of Czech Bohemian descent – and his first cousins are Michael Gross from TV’s Family Ties and Mary Gross from Saturday Night Live. Masak grew up on the city’s south side and was a graduate of Chicago’s Kelly High School. According to the actor, he turned down a contract from the Chicago White Sox; instead, he made his acting debut in Stalag 17, produced by Chicago’s Drama Guild in 1954, and studied theater at Chicago City College. He also served as a military policeman in the U.S. Army and toured the world doing vocal impressions in an Army production called Rolling Along.

*Ron Masak with Angela Lansbury on Murder, She Wrote.*

One of Masak’s first TV appearances was on The Twilight Zone in 1960, when he played the “Harmonica Man” in Season 1, Episode 19, “The Purple Testament.” His feature film debut came near the end of the decade, in Ice Station Zebra (1968), where he joined a cast that included Rock Hudson, Ernest Borgnine, and Lloyd Nolan. During the next several decades, Masak appeared on nearly 100 television series, but he’s probably best remembered as Cabot Cove Sheriff Mort Metzger on the popular Angela Lansbury series, Murder, She Wrote, which he played for the final eight years of the show.

Masak was also a frequent guest on numerous game shows, including Match Game and Password, served for eight years as the Los Angeles host for the Jerry Lewis Telethon, and for 15 years was the pitchman for Vlasic pickles, voicing the animated stork who sounded like Groucho Marx. He also did ads for numerous other products including Rice-a-Roni, Glad sandwich bags, Spray and Wash, and Ford automobiles, and was once dubbed “King of the Commercials.” Masak died of natural causes in 2022, at the age of 86.

Stan Haze (Prisoner)

Haze was born Stanley Hazlip in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in 1938. His career started, according to the actor, by accident. He was living in Chicago in the early 1970s and took his son to a swimming class at a local community center. A play was being performed at the center, the production was in need of a soldier, and Haze was asked to step in. “I told them I had never acted before and they said, ‘Don’t worry – all you have to do is shoot this lady with a machine gun,’” Haze said in an interview with the Los Angeles Times. “It was my first live performance. The reviews panned the show, the lead actor quit, and the production was going to shut down. I had memorized all his lines and asked the producer to give me a shot. I ended up playing the lead.”

Haze went on to take three years of classical training and in 1973, he made his TV debut playing a mugger in the made-for-TV movie, The Blue Knight. He appeared on Good Times the following year and later guested on numerous TV series, including The Odd Couple, Sanford and Son, Hill Street Blues, and Amen, as well as the blockbuster mini-series, Roots. He was also in feature films like From Noon Till Three (1976), a western starring Charles Bronson and his wife, Jill Ireland, and the hit 1990 comedy, House Party.

*Stan Haze’s appearance on Good Times was one of his first TV gigs.*

In addition to his film and TV appearances, Haze had an affinity for Shakespeare; in 1977, he was seen at L.A.’s Gryphon Theater in an updated version of Macbeth, and in 1980, he produced, directed, and starred in Othello at the 5th Street Theater in Los Angeles. Some of his other stage work included Porgy and Bess, The Great White Hope, and Carousel. In 1981, he teamed with San Diego developer John Bancroft to lease and remodel a clothing store in Glendale, California, and transform it in the Glendale Academy of Performing Arts. Haze and Bancroft planned to provide classes in dance and acting, produce plays, offer a showcase where aspiring actors could perform in front of industry representatives, and videotape productions for sale to cable television. (I regret that I’ve been unable to find out what happened with this project.)

By the 1990s, Haze’s TV career was behind him, but he did appear in a few films and continued his stage work as well, including a 1995 production of Othello and Desdemona at the Globe Playhouse in West Hollywood that he adapted, directed, and starred in. Sadly, in 1999, at the age of 60, Haze died of lung cancer.

Cal Wilson (Loan Shark)

Unfortunately, I haven’t yet been able to find a lot of information on Cal Wilson that I could confirm; I found some anonymously submitted information on the Internet Movie Database, but until or unless it can be corroborated, I simply don’t feel comfortable sharing it here.

I did, however, find two newspaper articles from the early 1970s about a couple of TV specials that listed Cal Wilson as a member of the cast: “Changing Scene,” a musical variety special on ABC in 1971, and The Jerry Reed When You’re Hot, You’re Hot Hour from 1972. That’s about it – but I’m determined to unearth more about this talented actor, and I’ll update this page when I do!

Connie Sawyer (Personnel Woman)

Born Rosie Cohen in Colorado in 1912, Sawyer began her career as a stand-up comedian in vaudeville and later earned the nickname, “The Clown Princess of Comedy.” She debuted on Broadway in a 1948 musical review called Hilarities, but it closed after only 14 performances. She didn’t get her big break until nearly a decade later, when she was a standout in the Broadway production of A Hole in the Head in 1957. Frank Sinatra later bought the film rights, and two years later, Sawyer made her big screen debut in the feature film, reprising her role from the play.

Sawyer went on to appear in a variety of movies and TV shows over the next six decades. Her films included True Grit (1969), Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice (1969), Oh, God! (1977), Dumb and Dumber (1994), and Out of Sight (1998). And on the small screen, she was seen on more than 100 shows, from Armstrong Circle Theater in the 1950s to Ray Donovan, where she made her final appearance in 2014. Sawyer published her memoir in 2017, called I Never Wanted to Be a Star – And I Wasn’t; the following year, she died at the age of 105.

Other Stuff:

The $500 bond that the family would have had to cough up in order to get J.J. out of jail would be worth approximately $3,200 today.

Incidentally, in 2023, Illinois became the first U.S. state to abolish the system of putting up money in exchange for release after an arrest. The release of arrested individuals now focuses on the seriousness of the charges against them, and on whether they’re considered to be a flight risk or a danger to the public.

This episode gives us James’s first use of the word “nigga.” He utters it to the loan shark after learning his interest rate for a loan, asking, “Nigga, is you sick?” It’s always startling to hear, because by no stretch of the imagination would this ever be used in a TV sitcom today.

This episode also gives us yet another reference to J.J.’s habit of petty thievery that had been introduced (and, mercifully, dropped) in the first season. Here, Florida tells James that she hopes J.J.’s experience with the arrest will teach him “not to make a joke out of finding things.”

One of these days, I’m going to find out why this two-parter was filmed under the name “J.J. Gets Arrested,” but is now called “J.J. Becomes a Man.”

The next episode: Crosstown Buses Run All Day, Doodah, Doodah . . .

“Today is The Proudest Moment of My Life – When I Officially Pass From Boyhood Into Adultery!” Season Two, Episode Two: J.J. Becomes a Man, Part 1 (September 17, 1974)

Posted on March 21, 2025 by Karen Hannsberry

*J.J. tells Thelma that his new job is “really, really big!”*

This episode – Part 1 of the first two-parter on the series – centers on J.J.’s 18th birthday. We learn early on that James and Florida are looking forward to presenting their gift to him: a monogrammed genuine leather case filled with new paints and brushes. And it’s no wonder they were so excited to see J.J.’s reaction – the gift cost $75, which would amount to more than $500 in 2025 dollars. As it turns out, though, James’s credit is turned down at the department store where he attempted to buy the case. When he protests, he’s told that he wouldn’t be able to get credit from any store, as his financial status has been broadcast to computers throughout the country.

Meanwhile, J.J. – who’s notorious for snooping and finding his presents (he’d already found and exchanged one of his gifts) – is expecting to receive the art supplies, and when he learns that he’s been given a sweater instead, he begins frantically searching the apartment, looking in closets and atop the kitchen cabinets for the more expensive gift. Once he realizes he’s not going to receive the supplies, he tamps down his disappointment and abruptly announces that he is going out for a date. A short time later, the episode ends on a cliff-hanger when the family learns that J.J. has been taken away in a police car.

The biggest laugh in the episode came when J.J. appeared in this get-up.

This episode doesn’t rank among my favorites – maybe because there’s a lot of dialog that I just don’t find funny, like James’s predictions for J.J.’s wedding, Florida’s description of J.J.’s birth, James’s recollections of first seeing J.J. in the nursery, and Florida’s reminiscences of her wedding day. I concede that the latter was a necessary set-up for the episode’s final exchange, where James and Florida sing the first dance song from their wedding reception, “It Had to Be You.” This part is actually quite sweet, as the two start out with a leisurely sway and then break into a dance known as the bop, before returning to the slow dance again. They’re interrupted, though, when Thelma answers a knock at the door and is given news from a family friend that knocks the family for a loop – J.J. has been arrested him for robbing a liquor store. “Could J.J. have wanted the art supplies that much?” Thelma asks at the end of the scene, as Florida, in disbelief, calls out to God. It’s a very sobering and real-feeling conclusion.

Pop Culture Connections

The Waltons
After J.J. leaves for his date, Willona announces that she’s going to return home and watch her favorite television show, The Waltons. This popular show aired on CBS-TV from 1972 to 1981 and focused on the large family of the title, which lived a hardscrabble life in the Appalachian Mountains of Western Virginia. Referring to the day-to-day problems that often plagued the family, Willona joked about the episode that would be airing that night: “It starts off where they can’t pay the mortgage, the horse dies, the mule gets a migrane and the drugstore’s closed,” she explains, adding, “and then it gets sad.”

Avon Lady
When J.J. describes his new job to the family, he tells them that it’s “really, really big – I’m gonna be ringing doorbells all over Chicago.” To this, Florida responds, “Don’t tell me you’re going to be an Avon Lady!” Avon is an international company selling cosmetics, perfume, and personal care products; its founder, David H. McConnell, initially sold books door-to-door in New York, and decided in 1886 to switch to perfumes. Also in 1886, he hired a 50-year-old woman, Mrs. P.F.E. Albee, who became the first woman to sell the products door-to-door and is considered to be the first Avon Lady. The company is still in business today (although Avon Products, Inc., the non-U.S. brand, filed for bankruptcy in August 2024, primarily due to lawsuits related to alleged cancer-causing agents in the company’s talc products. The North American brand was unaffected by the bankruptcy filing.) Below is a vintage Avon TV commercial focusing on the “Avon calling” slogan:

Telly Savalas as Kojak, with his ever-present trademark lollipop.

Kojak
After J.J. reveals that he aleady knows what’s inside the gift box from Willona, she calls him an “ebony Kojak.” Airing from 1973 to 1978, Kojak was another popular CBS-TV series. This one was a cop show starring bald Greek-American actor Telly Savalas as the New York City detective of the title. The pilot for the series was a made-for-TV movie, The Marcus-Nelson Murders, which was based on a real-life case from the early 1960s, the Wylie-Hoffert murders. That cse involved the murder of two young professional women in Manhattan; by illegally obtaining a confession, the police pinned the crime on a Black man – George Whitmore, Jr. – who had been arrested on a different charge of assault. Later, a different team of detectives investigated the case, exonerated Whitmore, and captured the real killer. Telly Savalas starred in The Marcus-Nelson Murders – in that production, his character’s name was spelled “Kojack” and he was a composite of several people who worked on the real-life case.

Guest Star:

Monty: Stymie Beard

Beard was the family friend who informed Thelma about J.J.’s arrest. He didn’t have any lines; he just appeared on screen for a few seconds. You can read more about Beard in the post on the first episode of the series.

Other Stuff:
Unless I’m mistaken, this is the episode that knocked J.J.’s use of the word “dynomite” into the pop culture stratosphere, when he began inserting the word into rhymes. This one takes place when he first enters the Evans apartment and announces, “Here I am! Eighteen today, happy, bright – now a man and pure dynomite!” (Up to this point in the series, I didn’t have a problem with the use of the catchphrase, but when the writers turned J.J. into a dynomite poet, it was really too much.)

I’m not sure if I overlooked it in previous episodes (one of these days, I’ll review them to see), but this one seemed to be overflowing with slang from the day. Here are all the different terms you can hear in this episode:

Later for you
Groovy
Jive turkey
Outta sight
Right on
Pad

*For my money, Michael had the episode’s best line.*

My favorite laugh in the episode comes when J.J. receives his gifts and, without tearing the wrapping paper, he knows that Michael gave him a book on Black oppression. “Remember? Me and you sleep together,” J.J. explains, “and you’re the little guy who talks in his sleep.” Offended, Michael retorts, “So what? You used to wet the bed.” The way Ralph Carter delivers this line, and the insulted look on his face, cracks me up every time I hear it.

As the episode ends, the words, “TO BE CONTINUED NEXT WEEK” appear on the screen and John Amos’s voice informs us, “You have just seen Part One of ‘J.J. Gets Arrested.’ Be sure to see the conclusion next week.” Interestingly, that is not what the episode is called now – it’s now called “J.J. Becomes a Man,” for some reason.

The next episode: J.J. Becomes a Man (or J.J. Gets Arrested – take your pick), Part II . . .

“The Kitchen and the Bedroom, Florida – The Kitchen and the Bedoom!” Season Two, Episode One: Florida Flips (September 10, 1974)

Posted on January 5, 2025 by Karen Hannsberry

Michael – who J.J. once informed us “does most of the reading in the family” – opens the first episode of Season Two by asking Thelma, “Why do they call it ‘MEN-O-PAUSE’?” He’s certain that, because of the way his mother has been “yelling, screaming, and acting up the last few days,” she must have it. Although Thelma assures him that Florida is not experiencing menopause, she certainly has been in a fury lately – and Florida herself gives a demonstration when she slams the door to her bedroom, shouts at the children, and gets into an argument with James.

*“Sleeping with Florida is like being in a phone booth with Joe Frazier.”*

Encountering Florida in the hallway, Willona observes that her friend is “not satisfied with herself all of a sudden” and that her day-to-day life is an “empty existence” where she tries to stretch two hours of housework into one “great, big nothing of a day.” Willona suggests that Florida accompany her to what was known in the 1970s as a “consciousness-raising group,” where participants opened up to share thoughts and feelings they might not otherwise discuss in their daily lives. But Florida is reluctant to join in, and becomes offended when the women get a little too close to the truth: “My family depends on me,” she insists, “and I don’t need a bunch of cackling hens, with nothing else to do, except try to say what is bothering me, ‘cause nothing is bothering me. Nothing is bothering me!

*James is delighted at Florida’s return. At first.*

Relieved to return home to the comfort of her family, Florida is welcomed by her gratified children and husband, who’d been wondering where she was. James is kind and conciliatory – until he learns that she’s been to one of those “crazy ladies meetings.” After first insisting that she sit down and relax, he does an about-face, demanding that she start dinner and sharing a long-held family belief: “I’m going to tell you something my Uncle Ed used to say, and maybe he was right. There’s only two places a woman belongs – the kitchen and the bedroom, Florida, the kitchen and the bedroom!”

James’s outburst shows Florida that despite her unwillingness to admit it, Willona and the women from the group were “right on” about what has been keeping her so upset. There’s nothing wrong with being a wife and a mother, she explains, but she has nothing to talk about except her husband and her children. “There’s a whole world out there, and I’m not a part of it. I want to be somebody, too!” James and Florida reach an understanding about what she truly needs and wants for her life, and the episode concludes with Florida leafing through a catalog of courses for night school.

*Washing clothes and making oatmeal is not as fulfilling as Florida would like it to be.*

This episode is really quite astonishing, given its candid look at the very real issues faced by wives and mothers – not just Florida’s experience of feeling unfulfilled as a stay-at-home mom, but the problems of women from other walks of life as well. In the support group, for instance, one of the women complains that her husband “has his nose out of joint” because she has a higher salary than he does, and another openly discusses spousal abuse (it’s handled with humor, but it’s addressed nonetheless).

We also again get a glimpse of James’s inclination toward male chauvinism, obstinacy, and insensitivity. In talking with Willona, he insists that the “only trouble with [Florida] is she’s spoiled . . . I’m gonna put that lady in her place.” And during an argument with Florida, he is overly forceful, bordering on violent, as he tells her she should be counting her blessings instead of complaining: “Ain’t you got nice kids and an understanding husband? Damn right, so I don’t want to hear no more of your lip or I’ll button it, you hear?” But as we so often see with James, no matter how extreme his views, he’s never so far gone that he can’t listen to reason and modify his stance. And we see that in this episode as well, where, beneath the bluster, he shows his own vulnerability and uncertainties, and is more than willing to grow alongside his wife.

Pop Culture Connections

Joe Frazier

Near the episode’s opening, James complains that lately, sleeping with Florida is like “being in a phone booth with Joe Frazier.” Frazier was a heavyweight boxer whose most famous bouts were against Muhammad Ali. The two fought in three matches: The Fight of the Century in 1971, Super Fight II in January 1974 (about nine months before this episode first aired), and The Thrilla in Manila in October 1975. Frazier won the first fight, and Ali was victorious in the next two. Frazier only fought a few more times after his defeat in Manila and he later became a boxing trainer. He died of liver cancer in November 2011 at the age of 67, just a few months after he was diagnosed with the disease. After Frazier’s death, Ali said he would always remember him with respect and admiration, adding: “The world has lost a great champion.”

The Proud Bird With the Slow Tail

While talking to Willona in the hallway, Florida repeatedly presses the button for the elevator. When the door opens at last, she remarks, “Well, whaddya know? The proud bird with the slow tail finally rolled in.” This line is a reference to an advertising slogan by Continental Airlines which, in the 1960s, painted the tails of its airplanes gold and adapted the tagline, “The Proud Bird with the Golden Tail.” One of the company’s commercials be seen below, with employees singing the catchy jingle, “We really move our tails for you.”

“Mighty White of You”

Willona contends that Florida is upset and on edge because she doesn’t have enough to do. In response, James says that Florida has plenty to occupy her time, adding that he lets Florida do all the washing, cleaning, shopping, sewing, and so on, because he’s not “the kind of man that interferes with a woman’s pleasure.” To this, Willona rejoins, “That’s mighty white of you” – which, incidentally, elicits a rather shocked response from the studio audience. This phrase was historically used to indicate that a person was behaving in a manner that was especially generous, honorable, or compassionate. At its root, however, it espouses the racial stereotype that being “white” denotes something positive or virtuous. Willona’s use of the phrase to James was clearly meant in a facetious manner.

Guest Stars:

Cora: Rosanna Carter

The leader of the women’s support group is played by Rosanna Carter, who happens to be the older sister of Esther Rolle. She was born in the Bahamas on September 30, 1918, one of 18 children of Bahamian immigrants Jonathan Rolle, a vegetable farmer, and his homemaker wife, Elizabeth. Like her sister, she displayed a talent for acting and was a member of The Lafayette Players, a dramatic stock company comprised solely of Black performers. The members of the company included Charles Gilpin, who originated the title role of The Emperor Jones on Broadway, and Dooley Wilson, who would later gain fame as Humprhey Bogart’s piano-playing right-hand in Casablanca (1942). She was also a member of the Negro Ensemble Company and was seen in several Broadway productions.

Carter’s role as Cora on Good Times was one of her first appearances on television. That same year, she was injured when her automobile was hit from behind by a police car at an intersection and she, in turn, hit a parked bus. Seven years after the accident, she was awarded $1 million for the injuries she sustained, as well as for lost wages, medical expenses, and impairment of earning capacity. (“I suffered a great deal,” Carter said after the award was announced. “I’m just so appreciative of the support from my colleagues which helped to keep my spirits up.”) She would go to appear in television programs including I’ll Fly Away, for which she landed an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Guest Series in a Drama (she lost to Elaine Stritch), and in such films as Night of the Juggler (1980), The Brother From Another Planet (1984), and She-Devil (1989).

Carter died on December 30, 2016 (my birthday), in Pompano Beach, Florida. She was 96 years old.

Wanda: Helen Martin

*Martin started her career on the stage.*

Born on July 23, 1909, Helen Martin was a native of St. Louis but was raised in Nashville; her parents hoped she’d become a concert pianist and she attended Fisk University (my mother’s alma mater!) for two years, but she left the school to pursue her own interests in acting. “Some people want to be doctors or psychiatrists,” she told Ebony magazine in 1988. “All I knew is that I wanted to be in show business. Always did.” Martin had a variety of experiences on the stage – she performed with troupes including the Rose McClendon Players and the American Negro Theater, and made her Broadway debut in 1937 in Orchids Preferred. A few years later, she appeared in Native Son, produced by Orson Welles and John Houseman; she portrayed the sister of the main character, Bigger Thomas, played by Canada Lee. She was also in the Broadway productions of Raisin, in a cast that also included Good Times’ Ralph Carter, and both Purlie Victorious, written by Ossie Davis, and its musical adaptation, Purlie.

Martin made her big screen debut in 1955 in Phenix City Story, a hard-hitting film noir about the real-life Alabama town that was known as Sin City, U.S.A. and was notorious for its proliferation of gambling, prostitution, and organized crime. She was also in a few more films, like Cotton Comes to Harlem (1970), before beginning her prolific television career. Her many credits included the popular 1977 mini-series Roots; Maude, on which Esther Rolle originated her role as Florida Evans; Baby, I’m Back, a short-lived sitcom starring Demond Wilson; and 227, where Martin had a recurring role as Pearl Shay. During the 1980s and 1990s, she could be seen in such films as Hollywood Shuffle (1987), where she played the grandmother of Robert Townsend, the writer, director, producer, and star of the film; Don’t Be a Menace to South Central While Drinking Your Juice in the Hood (1996), a spoof of the “hood” films of the 1990s; and Bulworth (1998), which starred Warren Beatty and Halle Berry.

Martin continued to work up until the end of her life; she died on March 25, 2000, at the age of 90. Her final screen appearance was in a TV movie called Something to Sing About, which aired a few months after her death.

Sylvia Ann Soares: Bernadine

Soares plays Bernadine, a member of the women’s support group (she’s the one with the soft afro who complains that her husband “has his nose out of joint” because she has a higher salary than he does).mThe second generation of Cape Verdean immigrants, Soares was born on November 23, 1941, in Cranston, Rhode Island, and graduated from Hope High School in Providence (the same high school attended by Ben Powers, who would later join the Good Times cast as Thelma’s husband, Keith). For two years, she attended Lincoln University, an Historically Black College and University (HBCU) located in Jefferson City, Missouri.

After leaving Lincoln, Soares became one of the first members of the newly formed Trinity Repertory Company and went on to perform with a variety of regional theater companies. She played the Madame in Ed Bullins’s The Gentleman Caller, a one-act play in Woodie King, Jr.’s anthology, A Black Quartet; performed in the Negro Ensemble Company’s Works in Prorgress that included playing in Sonia Sanchez’s Sister Sonji; appeared in Richard Wesley’s Black Terror at the Public Theatre; and was featured as Lady Capulet in Romeo and Juliet at the L.A. Shakespeare Festival. National tours included the first Black Pulitzer Prize play, No Place to Be Somebody, and the first tour of NEC’s Tony Award-winning play, The River Niger. Her small screen debut was her appearance on the CBS-TV series, Kojak, followed by Good Times and guest spots on numerous other series, including Baretta, Police Story, and The Rookies.

A favorite role of Soares’s came on the 1985 American Playhouse historical drama, Three Sovereigns for Sarah, about three sisters who went on trial for witchcraft in Salem, Massachusetts. Soares played Tituba, the real-life Caribbean Indian slave who was one of the first to be accused of being a witch. Soares later earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in Theater Studies from Brown University in 1995.

In recent years, Soares has performed in a variety of productions in Rhode Island, where she resides, including an oral history on the Local ILA #1329 Longshoremen, of which her father served as president for 16 years. She also wrote, directed, and starred in Plantation Complex: A Harvesting of Souls, a play about slavery in Rhode Island; wrote A Coupla Miles of Hell, about racism and injustice in an 1950s Providence, Rhode Island, neighborhood not far from her present home; and presented RI Ambassador of Jazz — Deacon of Dixie, the story of her paternal uncle Eddie Soares, a 1920s jazz pianist. In addition, after extensive research, she performed numerous one-woman shows on Nancy Elizabeth Prophet, an African American Narragansett-Pequot sculptor who, in 1918, became the first graduate of color from the Rhode Island School of Design. A clip from one of her performances as Nancy Elizabeth Prophet can be found below:

As of this writing, the 83-year-old activist-artist continues to share her varied and multiple talents. Quoting the diary of Nancy Elizabeth Prophet, she says, “I stop only when I drop,” adding that her journey “is a testimony that neither ethnicity, gender, nor age are barriers to accomplishing artistic feats.”

Other Stuff:

One of my favorite laughs in the episode comes when Florida is squabbling with James, insisting that she’s “happy, very happy” as she aggressively sets the breakfast table. J.J. observes, “If she gets any happier, she’s gonna break every dish in the house.” Another line that’s good for a guaranteed laugh is served up by Wanda during the women’s support group session. It’s almost spoken as an aside, and I always wonder if it was part of the script. It comes after Wanda asks Florida how often she has “relations.” Florida responds that it’s none of her business, adding a second later, “And plenty!” Beneath the laughs of the studio audience, you can hear Wanda say, “Uppity, ain’t she?” Gets me every time.

This episode marked the first time Helen Martin appeared as Wanda; she would go on to make six more appearances on the show as this character. In this episode, she played one of the women in the support group visited by Willona and Florida.

Speaking of Wanda, she offers a stance during the women’s group scene that would be considered politically incorrect and would never appear on a television show today. With a laugh, she tells the other women, “If my husband didn’t beat me up on Friday, I wouldn’t know the next day was Saturday.” Yikes.

The next episode: J.J. Becomes a Man, Part I . . .

“I Love You for Your Skin’s Pure Sheen, For Your Two Sweet Lips, With Teeth In Between.” Season One, Episode Thirteen: My Son, the Lover (May 10, 1974)

Posted on August 22, 2024 by Karen Hannsberry

The plot for this episode kicks off when J.J. delightedly informs his family that “Marcy Jones is crazy about [him],” and shares that she has asked him to paint her portrait. We learn that Marcy, a fellow student at J.J.’s high school, won the class beauty contest that year, and is the most popular girl in school – leading Thelma to question why she would be interested in J.J. “Simple,” J.J. explains. “When you’re on the top of the heap, all you notice is the top of the other heap.”

Despite his typical bravado, J.J. is bowled over when Marcy arrives at his apartment; he initially stares at her in stunned silence with his mouth literally hanging open, stammers over his words, and offers an inane introduction to his parents (“This one’s my mother, and this one’s my father”). He even absent-mindedly tries to follow Marcy into Thelma’s bedroom when she goes to change her clothes for the portrait.

As for Marcy, she’s uber-flattering to James, and claims to “talk in school all the time” to Thelma (when Thelma has already told her parents that Marcy never even speaks to her). James is impressed by Marcy’s “sweet, well-behaved, and respectful” nature, but both Florida and Thelma are spotting some very colorful red flags. It turns out that the women were correct to be suspicious; after J.J. finishes the portrait of Marcy, recites a poem he’s written especially for her, and prepares to ask her to go steady, Marcy reveals that she has a boyfriend and that the painting is intended as a graduation present for him. J.J. is understandably crushed, and vows that he’s “finished with women.” Seconds later, though, he gets a telephone call from another girl and before you know it, he’s reciting the poem he wrote “especially for her.”

This episode underscores the accuracy of Florida’s wisdom and intuition, demonstrating how easily the Evans men could be swayed by sweet talk and fawning. Marcy calls J.J. charming and compliments his “mighty sharp” outfit, and tells James that he looks too young to be J.J.’s father – and they’re both grinning like a couple of Cheshire cats, ready to hand her the world just for the asking. But Florida has Marcy’s number from the get-go.

We also get to see a rare glimpse of sisterly support from Thelma. When J.J. learns that Marcy has a boyfriend, Thelma looks at her brother with sympathy, telling him “it’s not the end of the world.” She even gives him a loving – if brief – pat on the shoulder. It’s nice to see.

By the way, the episode also contains a couple of those (many) Good Times moments that make me laugh no matter how many times I see them. One is when J.J. wants his parents to leave the apartment so he can enjoy some “privacy” with Marcy. James is all for the idea, until he remembers the outcome of such a request when he and Florida were dating. John Amos’s comedic response is priceless. Another moment comes when J.J. recites his “How Do I Love Thee” poem to Marcy, as James, Florida, and Thelma listen from the kitchen table nearby. When J.J. reads the line that serves as the title for this post, about the “two sweet lips with teeth in between,” James is so overcome with mirth that he gets up from the table and collapses in laughter at the kitchen sink. It’s a hoot, and gets me every time.

Pop Culture Connections

The Flip Wilson Show

*Flip Wilson with one of his show’s countless superstar guests, Lena Horne.*

At the start of the episode, Thelma is certain that J.J. has taken her missing face cream, but she learns that the culprit was her father. James confesses that he ran out of plumber’s grease, so he used her face cream to connect two pipes under the kitchen sink. “Don’t worry, baby,” James assures her. “First thing in the morning, I’ll go down to the store and buy you a nice, big jar of plumber’s grease.” When Thelma questions her father’s statement, Florida tells her that James has recently heard that “Flip Wilson won’t be back next year, so he’s bucking for the job.”

Florida is referring to The Flip Wilson Show, a popular variety show headed by Black stand-up comedian and actor Flip Wilson. The show first aired on NBC-TV in September 1970 and was cancelled near the end of the 1973-74 season (reportedly due to a decline in ratings for variety shows, and because Wilson’s frequent requests for pay hikes caused the show to exceed its budget). The last episode of the series was in June 1974, about a month after this Good Times episode aired.

Let’s Get It On

Willona pays a visit to the family and asks what is happening with J.J. – she shares that she spoke to him in the hallway, but J.J. just walked by her singing, “Let’s Get It On.” Willona is referencing the song by singer Marvin Gaye, which was released as a single in June 1973, and was the title track on the album of the same name that was released in August 1973. The sexually suggestive tune was one of Gaye’s most successful singles, reaching number one on the Billboard Pop Singles chart three months after its release.

“Thanks, I Needed That!”

In preparation for Diane’s arrival, J.J. shaves and puts on after-shave lotion, which he’s seen patting on his face as he emerges from the bathroom. He then briskly slaps his own cheek and says, “Thanks, I needed that!” This is a reference to a series of well-known commercials advertising Skin Bracer after-shave by Mennen which, according to the advertisements, “wakes you up like a cold slap in the face.” One of the commercials is below. (Incidentally, the narrator of the commercial is actor Adolph Caesar, who you might know from his Oscar-nominated performance in the 1984 film A Soldier’s Story.)

Wrigley Field

J.J. wants his family to vacate the apartment so he can be alone with Marcy; when they refuse, he gripes that he “might as well pop the question at Wrigley Field.” Wrigley Field is the baseball stadium on the north side of Chicago that is the home of the Chicago Cubs. It was opened on April 23, 1914.

Guest Star:

Marcy: Ta-Tanisha

Born Shirley Cummings in the Bronx, New York, on January 15, 1953, Ta-Tanisha later moved with her family to Detroit, Michigan, and then to Los Angeles. In 1969, she made her television debut on an episode of The Mod Squad, and the following year, she appeared as a high school student in her first film, Halls of Anger, starring Calvin Lockhart. In the early 1970s, Ta-Tanisha studied theater at the Performing Arts Society of Los Angeles and performed in several plays, including A Raisin in the Sun. She also began appearing in a variety of television series, including Mission: Impossible (which earned her a nomination for an NAACP Image Award), Mannix, and The Partridge Family; had a small role in the popular 1973 film, The Sting; and was a cast member for two years on the television series Room 222. She continued to work steadily throughout the 1970s and 1980s, mostly guest spots on TV series or in made-for-TV movies.

Ta-Tanisha has been married since the early 1970s to actor Lee Weaver, who has appeared in a wide variety of television shows, from I Spy to Grace and Frankie, and in such films as Heaven Can Wait (1978) and The 40-Year-Old Virgin (2005).

Other Stuff:

This episode contains the first reference to the fact that James grew up on a farm in Mississippi.

*Ja’Net Dubois in the Broadway production of Golden Boy, with Stammy Davis, Jr., and Johnny Brown.*

In the scene where Willona tells Florida that J.J. walked by her singing the Marvin Gaye song, Ja’Net Dubois actually sings the song’s title, revealing that she had a lovely singing voice. Dubois began her career on the stage and appeared from 1964 to 1966 in the Broadway musical Golden Boy, starring Sammy Davis, Jr., and Lola Falana (as well as Johnny Brown, who would join the Good Times cast as Nathan Bookman in the second season of the series). Also, she released several albums, including Queen of the Highway in 1980, and she co-wrote and sang the theme song for the long-running sitcom The Jeffersons.

Another mention regarding the ages of the main characters comes up in this episode. In Episode Five, Michael Gets Suspended, it’s implied that Willona and Florida are not the same age, because Willona jokingly threatens to reveal Florida’s age to her children. But in this episode, Willona reminisces about a boyfriend Florida had when she and Florida were 17 years old. The age question will be completely blown apart in an early second-season episode, so stay tuned for that.

This episode marked the first of three appearances that Ta-Tanisha would make on the show.

*I don’t know who painted this, but I don’t think it was Ernie Barnes. Anybody out there have a clue?*

I wasn’t able to find out the name of the real-life artist who painted the portrait of Marcy, but it’s not likely that it was the painter of most of the artwork by J.J. on the series, Ernie Barnes.

Florida has a line where she tells Willona that J.J. is “gussying up” for Marcy. This term always stands out to me because who says – or has ever said – “gussying up” in the Black community???

The next episode: Florida Flips . . .

“I Ain’t Sick, I Ain’t Nervous, and I Ain’t Upset!” Season One, Episode Twelve: The Checkup (May 3, 1974)

Posted on March 19, 2024 by Karen Hannsberry

*A moment of calm. Enjoy it while you can.*

When the Evans children become concerned about their father’s short temper and frequent headaches, Thelma and Michael do a little research and decide that James is suffering from hypertension (or, according to Florida, “as we plain folks say, ‘high blood pressure.’”). After James breaks a kitchen chair during his latest rant, Florida and the children convince him to see a doctor for a checkup – his first one in 20 years. As it turns out, James doesn’t have hypertension, but is suffering from elevated cholesterol which, the doctor tells him, can be addressed through diet and relaxation. (“Oh, good – we’ll go down to Acapulco for a few weeks,” Florida cracks.)

*“I think we should stay here and protect the furniture.”*

Perhaps because James’s outbursts were so severe (bordering on scary, to be honest), and the possible cause was so consequential, the laughs in this episode didn’t seem to be as abundant as usual – John Amos yelled so loudly and so often, I was practically concerned for HIS health! Also, this episode marked the first of many that infused the plot with what I think of as public service announcements – in this case, the script had Thelma and Michael explaining to their mother that high blood pressure causes heart attacks, stroke, and kidney malfunction, and can only be diagnosed through a physical examination. The children also state that hypertension is caused by the “stress and frustration of ghetto life,” as well as the grease and salt prevalent in soul food, and that the black male is the “number one victim.” And later in the episode, James’s doctor cautions him to “cut down on the grease and the fat, and fried foods whenever possible.”

Pop Culture Connections

Chicken Delight

Florida has purchased some of James’s favorite foods – including chitterlings, collard greens and pork chops – in an effort to boost her husband’s mood. J.J. jokes that the last time they had meat in their household, “Chicken Delight made a wrong delivery.” Founded in Illinois in 1952, Chicken Delight saw its highest popularity during the 1960s, when the chain expanded to more than 1,000 locations nationwide, attracting customers with a catchy jingle, “Don’t cook tonight – call Chicken Delight.” The company was bought in 1964 by Consolidated Foods (now the Sara Lee Corporation), but the business declined due to legal battles and strong competition from Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC). In 1979, the remaining Chicken Delight operations were purchased by Otto Koch, owner of the Chicken Delight Canada, Ltd., and as of this writing, fewer than 10 Chicken Delight locations can be found in the United States.

Marcus Welby, M.D.

Michael arrives with a stack of magazines and declares that his father has all the signs of hypertension, agreeing with Thelma that James needs to have a physical check-up right away. “Look, Dr. Welby,” Florida says, “What makes you think your father has hypertension?” Florida was referring to a popular one-hour television drama, Marcus Welby, M.D., which starred Robert Young in the title role of the wise and kindly doctor who had a private practice in Santa Monica, California. The series aired from September 1969 until May 1976. Young, incidentally, had a successful career in movies, which began in the late 1920s, and was also the star of the long-running television series Father Knows Best, which aired from 1954 to 1960.

Hank Aaron

Aware that James has been out of sorts lately, Willona assumes that his issues are sex-related and brings Florida a bag of items including candles, wine, and a bottle of perfume – if Florida puts two drops of the fragrance behind each ear, Willona promises, James will “try to hit more home runs than Hank Aaron.” About a month before this episode aired, baseball great Hank Aaron, of the Atlanta Braves, hit a home run that gave him 715 for his career and topped Babe Ruth’s record of 714 homers. Aaron’s record remained intact for more than 30 years, until Barry Bonds broke it in 2007.

Nixon’s Tax Bill

Florida tells Willona that James has been laid off for a few days and that she has to tell him when he wakes up. “That’s like having to tell Nixon they’re adding another $100,000 to his tax bill.” This referred to an investigation by the Joint Committee on Internal Revenue Taxation (JCIRT), which reported in April 1974 – about a month before this episode aired – that President Richard Nixon owed the government $476,431 in unpaid taxes and accrued interest from his tax returns from 1970, 1971, and 1972. The tax scandal was front-page news.

Guest Star:

*Santoro guested on numerous TV series during his career.*

Doctor: Dean Santoro

Born Floyd Edward Santoro on January 30, 1938, in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, Santoro’s appearance on Good Times marked his television debut. He went on to appear in guest spots on several popular television shows during the 1970s and 1980s, including Cannon, Barnaby Jones, Kojak, Barney Miller, and Charlie’s Angels. In the mid-1980s, Santoro landed a recurring role on the nighttime soaper Dallas, appearing in six episodes. Santoro’s last role was as a professor on Newhart in 1985; he died of AIDS two years later, on June 10, 1987. He was 49 years old.

Other Stuff:

*Florida and Henry — not James — on Maude.*

This episode refers to the fact that Florida previously worked as a maid. Although Good Times is unquestionably a spinoff of Esther Rolle’s character of Florida on Maude, several differences exist between the two women – Maude’s Florida lived in New York and had a husband named Henry (played by John Amos), who worked as a firefighter, while Good Times’s Florida, of course, lives in Chicago and is married to James. Still, there’s little doubt that both Floridas are one and the same person, even though there are only a few mentions throughout the series of her working as a maid, and there’s never any reference to Maude Finlay and her family.

The next episode: My Son, The Lover . . .

“I Ain’t Felt Like This Since I Stopped Drinking!” – Season One, Episode Eleven: The TV Commercial (April 26, 1974)

Posted on January 1, 2024 by Karen Hannsberry

The action in this episode revolves around Florida who, while shopping at her local supermarket, is approached by a man who suggests she might be ideal for his television commercial. When the call from the advertising agency comes, Florida learns that she’s being offered the job and could earn as much as $5,000, promoting a new health tonic called “Vita Brite.”

When a messenger shows up with Florida’s script and a six-pack of the tonic, Florida nervously rehearses her lines but balks at the sections that claim she’s been using the tonic for three months and that it was recommended by her family doctor. “What family doctor? All we got is a bottle of iodine and three bandages,” she protests. “James, they got me telling lies! They hired me for an honest face and I ain’t gonna give it a crooked mouth!” The family tries to convince Florida that she wouldn’t be lying – only acting – and emphasizes the benefits to be gained from the money she would earn. (“This is a dog-eat-dog world out there,” James says, “and I’m tired of being inside of the dog looking out.”) When James urges Florida to sample the tonic, she, James, J.J. and Thelma sit at the kitchen table for a taste test – and promptly discover that the tonic is 18 percent alcohol. Meanwhile, Michael, alone in the living room, breaks out with a rousing rendition of “Tie a Yellow Ribbon ‘Round the Old Oak Tree” and the family realizes that he has guzzled nearly a whole bottle of the tonic. After seeing the effect on Michael, Florida declares that she’s not going to do the commercial and James agrees: “Your mother ain’t selling nothing that’s going to put 11-year-olds on Skid Row.” The closing of the episode shows that the government prohibited Vita Brite from being advertised on television.

*This was one of the funniest parts of the episode to me, where J.J. and James pretend to do a commercial.*

Florida’s tendency toward what some might term her “goody two shoe-ism” is on full display in this episode. Although I agree with her final decision to steer clear of the commercial because of its high alcohol content, it’s a little hard to get behind her earlier objection. Her family made perfect sense when they explained that people on commercials don’t necessarily use the products they are promoting – maybe Florida thought that because she was a “real” person and not a professional actor, she shouldn’t offer claims that were untrue, but that’s a stretch. Surely the positive impact of $5,000 (which, incidentally, is more than $30,000 in 2023 dollars) should have been sufficient to overcome Florida’s concerns. Still, I certainly don’t blame her for putting her foot down after seeing Michael’s in his inebriated condition. (And, of course, the point was moot anyway after the government put ITS foot down.)

Pop Culture References:

The Cost of Stamps

As the episode begins, James is going over the family’s bills, separating them into stacks to either pay, stall, or argue about – and then there’s one that he jokes that he’ll “put in the funny papers.” Michael suggests that all of the poor people band together and send letters of protest to Washington about the high cost of living, but James responds that “they stopped us from doing that by raising the price of stamps.” In 1971, the price of a first-class U.S. stamp increased from six cents to eight cents, and in March 1974, about a month before the airing of this episode, the price increased to 10 cents. (As of this writing, a first-class stamp costs a whopping 66 cents.)

Toll Calls

As James reviews his phone bill, he notes that there is a charge for a “toll call” to Oak Park, a suburb of Chicago. First referenced around 1912, a toll call is a long-distance telephone call which has charges that are above the local rate. The term is seldom, if ever, used anymore. Incidentally, “toll-free” – or 1-800 – numbers were introduced in 1967, which allowed users to make long-distance calls without being charged.

Mrs. Olson

When time passes and Florida hasn’t yet received the call offering her the commercial spot, she muses, “I guess I won’t become the Mrs. Olson of the projects.” Mrs. Olson was the name of the TV and print spokesperson for Folgers Coffee; she was played by actress Virginia Christine for 21 years, beginning in 1965. In commercials, Mrs. Olson had a faint Swedish accent and could frequently be seen advising young housewives on how to improve their lives by using Folgers “Mountain-Grown” coffee. Christine’s career began on the big screen in the early 1940s – she would go on to appear in numerous film classics, including The Killers (1946), High Noon (1952), Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956), and Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner (1967), as well as such television series as The Twilight Zone, Mr. Ed, Perry Mason, and Bonanza. She made her final commercial as Mrs. Olson in 1986.

Grauman’s Chinese Theatre

James jokes that Florida’s commercial appearance could lead to such fame and fortune that she would be asked to place her hand and footprints in the cement at Grauman’s Chinese Theatre. Grauman’s was a movie theater that opened in 1927 on Hollywood Boulevard in Los Angeles and is styled in the design of a giant Chinese pagoda. The theater’s most famous feature is the Forecourt of the Stars, which displays the hand and footprints (or in some cases, legs and noses) of more than 200 celebrities, from classic stars including Humphrey Bogart, Bette Davis, Clark Gable, and Marilyn Monroe, to more modern luminaries, such as Billy Crystal, Tom Hanks, and Cicely Tyson. The theater was purchased in 1973 by Ted Mann and renamed Mann’s Chinese Theater. It reverted to the original name in 2001, but the naming rights were purchased in 2013 by a Chinese electronics manufacturer called TCL Corporation (also known as “The Creative Life.”). The theater is now known as the TCL Chinese Theatre and still shows first-run movies.

Tie a Yellow Ribbon ‘Round the Ole Oak Tree

This was the name of a hugely popular song by a group known as Tony Orlando and Dawn, which consisted of the lead singer (Orlando) and his backup singers, Telma Hopkins and Joyce Vincent Wilson.Born Anthony Orlando Cassavitis, Orlando began his singing career in the 1960s, but he didn’t hit pay dirt until Hopkins and Wilson joined him as “Dawn.” The group had a number of hits, but their best-known single was this 1973 release, which told the story of a soldier returning home from a war after three years and writing a letter to his girlfriend, asking that she tie the ribbon of the song’s title if she’d waited for him. (Incidentally, Telma Hopkins went on to have a successful career in television sitcoms, with recurring roles in the casts of Bosom Buddies, Gimme A Break, Family Matters, and Half and Half.)

Joe Namath, Mark Spitz, and the Ty-D-Bol Man

In trying to illustrate the difference to Florida between “lying” and “acting” in a commercial, Florida’s family members offer several examples. J.J. says, “Joe Namath is doing those pantyhose commercials now. You think he really wears them?” This refers to a 30-second commercial for Beautymist pantyhose that began airing in 1974, featuring famed New York Jets quarterback Joe Namath. As the spot begins, the voiceover narrator promises that the commercial will prove Beautymist panty hose can “make any leg look like a million dollars.” The camera then shows Namath’s pantyhose-covered legs and he tells the viewers why they should choose Beautymist. You can see the commercial for yourself below:

In another example, Thelma queries, “How do we know Mark Spitz drinks milk to build strong teeth?” Spitz was a swimmer who captured the attention and adulation of the nation after winning seven gold medals at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, Germany. Spitz went on to endorse several products; his most popular commercial was for the California Milk Advisory Board, in which he claimed to drink milk on a daily basis.

And James tells Florida that everything seen on television isn’t real, referencing the “guy in the little boat that goes sailing around in the toilet,” and adding, “I ain’t never seen no yachtsman in our john.” He’s talking about the commercials from the 1960s and 1970s for Ty-D-Bol, a toilet cleaner that was known for its oxidizing agent that turned toilet water blue. The spokesman for the product was a man dressed in nautical gear who sailed in the toilet tank in a boat. One of the commercials is below:

Guest Stars:

Ernest Morrison (The Messenger)

When the messenger delivers the Vita Brite script and sample six-pack, Florida asks him if he uses the product and the man responds, “Day and night!” The messenger was played by Ernest Frederick Morrison, Jr., born on December 20, 1912, in New Orleans, Louisiana. His father was also an actor, as were his sisters Florence, who appeared in the 1922 film Penrod, and Dorothy, who was featured in the Our Gang series and in the 1929 musical Hearts of Dixie. Ernie’s first appearance on film was an infant; he took the place of another child who would not stop crying. When young Ernie proved to be perfect on set, the crew nicknamed him “Sunshine” – his father added the “Sammy” and in subsequent films, he would be credited with a variety of names, including Sunshine Sammy, Sambo, and Little Sambo. He made his official film debut in The Soul of A Man in 1916, and the following year, he began appearing in a series of silent films produced by actor Harold Lloyd and co-starring Baby Marie Osborne. A clip from one of their films is below:

In 1919, Morrison reportedly became the first African-American to ink a long-term film contract when he signed with Hal Roach. He would go on to appear in 28 Our Gang/Little Rascals film shorts, and would later recall: “The picture business was great. Our Gang? We all got along. No problems. And when we weren’t working, we were playing, and when we were working, we were playing. Hal Roach, Harold Lloyd, Bob McGowan – they didn’t make it a job, they made it fun. It was a beautiful childhood.” He left Hollywood to spend several years in vaudeville, but he was back on screen in the early 1950s, cast as Scruno in the East Side Kids film series. He also appeared in such films as In This Our Life (1943), starring Bette Davis, and Greenwich Village (1944), where he displayed his dancing talent with a group known as The Four Stepbrothers. His number from the latter movie can be seen below. Ernie is the shortest of the group.

After serving in World War II, Ernie was asked to appear in the Bowery Boys film series, but he declined, saying he “didn’t like the setup.” Instead, he left the entertainment world behind, and worked for numerous years as a quality control inspector for an aerospace company in Compton, California, retiring in 1972. In the 1980s, he was briefly seen in two documentaries, Passion and Memory (1986) which focused on Black performers from the Golden Age of Hollywood, and Harold Lloyd: The Third Genius (1989). Both of these can be found on YouTube.

Morrison died of cancer in 1989 at the age of 76. He is buried at the Inglewood Memorial Cemetery in Inglewood, California.

Other Stuff:

I found this to be curious. The man from the advertising agency called Florida around 4:15 pm to offer her the job, and I’d estimate that an hour passed between the time she got the call and when she decided not to do the commercial. In the final scene, Florida comments on a commercial she sees on television, and Thelma says that could have been Florida. “No way,” Florida responds. “Mr. Moore said the government wouldn’t let them advertise Vita Brite on television.” This exchange makes it seem that at least a few days – and probably more – had passed since Florida decided against appearing in the TV spot. But all of the characters have on the same clothes that they’ve worn throughout the episode. So what happened here? When did the agency inform Florida that the government shut down the commercial? How did “the government” find out about the commercial? When did the “government” reach out to the advertising agency? And who or what is THE GOVERNMENT?? So many questions . . .

~ ~ ~

The next episode: The Checkup . . .

“His Name is Engraved in the Ripple Hall of Fame” — Season One, Episode Ten: Springtime in the Ghetto (April 19, 1974)

Posted on August 30, 2023 by Karen Hannsberry

As the episode opens, Florida is at her sewing machine, working on a new slipcover for the living room sofa. The whole household is abuzz as the family prepares their home for entry in a contest for the most beautiful apartment in the building: James is building a stand for Florida’s plants, Thelma is cleaning her room (including wiping her lipstick prints from her autographed picture of Stevie Wonder), and Willona adds to the ambience with the gift of a bowl of goldfish. Although Florida is confident that she will win, James cautions her about getting her hopes up, telling her, “It ain’t what you do, but who you know.”

Willona makes a brief appearance to deliver a gift of goldfish.

Florida’s chances for winning the coveted top prize are rocked when Michael comes home with local drunk Ned the Wino, asking if the “tired, hungry brother [with] no place to go” could stay with the family for a few days. Florida eventually relents and James, J.J., and Michael go to work making Ned presentable (including feeding him, bathing him, and dressing him in James’s clothes). By the time the three-person committee arrives, a grinning, practically catatonic Ned is propped up on the sofa and passed off as James’s cousin. Following the committee’s inspection of the apartment, the chairperson, Mrs. Vinson, declares that the Evans apartment is the winner. Minutes later, Mrs. Vincent returns to disclose that the family won primarily because of “the way you cleaned up Ned,” and announces that Ned is her husband. The episode ends with Florida quipping, “Now, I not only got pull in the projects but, thanks to Ned, I also got connections in the gutter.”

There are a lot of laughs in this episode, with a sense of gravity provided by Michael’s “Good Samaritan” act of bringing Ned in the family home in an effort to help him get sober. Michael’s belief that Ned’s life can be turned around after staying a few days with his family is a sweet and touching notion, and his way of thinking is a testament to his character and the way he was raised: “All he needs is someone to help him,” Michael says. “If we don’t help him out, who will?” It’s also interesting that Florida’s initial, knee-jerk reaction is focused solely on trying to win the contest and the possibility that Ned will jeopardize her chances. It’s not long, though, before she’s convinced by Michael’s heartfelt pleas and her own Christian beliefs to reverse her stance.

Ironically, James’s declaration about only getting ahead because of “who you know” proves to be a self-fulfilling prophecy, as Florida actually doesn’t win the contest on her merit. Instead, she wins because the family cleaned up Ned to the point where his wife was willing to allow him back in their home. It seems a little curious then, that Florida is so proud of her first-place victory, since, if not for Ned, she might not have won.

Pop Culture References:

The Secret Life of Plants

Much is made of Florida’s plants, including her insistence that plants are sensitive and will enjoy having their “own little home” on the stand that James built, and that plants understand communication from humans. She said she got this information from “a plant book,” which was likely The Secret Life of Plants, a best-selling book published in 1973 that focused on the physical, emotional, and spiritual relations between plants and man. After its release, it became popular for people to talk to their plants to keep them happy and help them grow.

Montgomery Ward

Discussing her competition in the contest, Florida remarks that one of the entrants has a “genuine antique umbrella stand” from Montgomery Ward. Founded in Chicago in 1872 by Aaron Montgomery Ward, the store was the first successful mail order retail company. Ward originally worked for the store that would later become Marshall Field & Co.; he left that company to open his mail order business, selling everything from clothes to steam engines. The company also invented the promise of “satisfaction guaranteed or your money back.” In 1926, the company began opening retail stores (following the lead of its main competitor, Sears, Roebuck & Co.), and five years later, there were more than 500 Montgomery Ward stores nationwide. (Incidentally, in 1939, an advertising writer for the company wrote “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” as an illustrated poem for distribution to children who visited the company’s Santa Claus.) The store had more than 70,000 employees across the country by the early 1940s, but it grew more slowly in the second half of the century, and in 1974 – the year that this episode first aired – the company was purchased by the Mobil Oil Corp. In 2000, it was announced that the company was closing all of its stores and the last Montgomery Ward store closed the following year.

Ozzie and Harriet

The goldfish that Willona gives to Florida were named Ozzie and Harriet, after the stars of the popular long-running radio and television series. More about the series can be found in the post on Season One, Episode Three: Too Old Blues.

Streaking

As James and his sons prepare to bathe Ned, J.J. jokes that they could just remove all of his clothes and run him through the car wash. “Nobody will notice,” he adds. “They’ll just think he’s streaking.” Streaking – or running naked through a public place – first became a phenomenon in the U.S. around 1973. It began on college campuses; in June 1973, a streaking trend was reported at Michigan State University, and in December of that year, Time magazine called streaking a “growing Los Angeles-area fad” that was increasing among college students as well as other groups. In February 1974, the phenomenon was labeled a “streaking epidemic” in the press, and on April 2, 1974 – just a few weeks before the airing of this Good Times episode – one of the best-known incidents took place on live television during the Academy Awards ceremony. Actor David Niven was in the process of presenting an award when a naked, mustachioed man ran across the stage and flashed a peace sign. “Well, ladies and gentlemen, that was almost bound to happen,” Niven quipped. “But isn’t it fascinating to think that probably the only laugh that man will get will ever get in his life is by stripping off his clothes and showing off his shortcomings?” (A clip of the streaking incident at the Oscars can be viewed below.)

Guest Stars:

Raymond Allen (Ned the Wino)

After references to his character in a few previous episodes, Ned the Wino finally makes his debut here. Played by Raymond Allen, he would go on to appear in six other episodes in the series during seasons one through four. Allen was born in Kansas City, Missouri, on March 5, 1929, one of 12 siblings. In addition to guest spots on a number of television series, Allen had recurring roles on Sanford and Son, where he played Aunt Esther’s long-suffering husband Woody, and Starsky and Hutch, where he was mechanic Merle the Earl. He also reprised his role as Woody on the Sanford and Son spinoff series, The Sanford Arms. He retired from acting in the mid-1980s due to health issues; his last acting performance was in a 1985 made-for-TV movie called Gus Brown and the Midnight Brewster, co-written by Scoey Mitchell and starring John Schneider and Ron Glass. Allen had three children, one of which – Ta-Ronce Allen – played Michael’s girlfriend Yvonne on two episodes of Good Times. Allen died of respiratory issues in August 2020 at the age of 91.

Committee Members: Robin Braxton (Mrs. Vinson), Simeon Holloway (Mr. Johnson), Betty Cole (Mrs. Hines)

Robin Braxton can be seen in several TV series including Police Woman and The Jeffersons, and films including Blue Thunder (1983), starring Roy Scheider. Gary, Indiana, native Simeon Holloway played a watchman in the 1972 film Trouble Man, directed by Ivan Dixon, and TV series including 227, Little House on the Prairie, and What’s Happening! Betty Cole’s credits include Room 222, Sanford and Son, and The White Shadow, as well as the 1981 film The Postman Always Rings Twice.

Other Stuff:

The comments about Florida’s weight continue. James remarks that instead of making the slipcover for the sofa, Florida could have made herself a new dress. Florida responds that she saved money making the cover, and adds, “The sofa takes less material than I do!” And James piles on. Although he initially tells Florida not to put herself down, he does so himself with his back-handed appreciation: “I like you just the way you are,” he says, “with plenty to hug, plenty to squeeze . . . and I know there’s always enough left over for next time.” Later, as James gets ready for Ned’s clean-up effort, he gives Florida a kiss, and when she asks what it was for, he explains, “That’s for being a whole lot o’ woman. And I don’t mean weight, neither.” (Wink, wink.)

This episode marks the first appearance of Ned the Wino; previously he was only referred to on the show.

This is the first of two episodes to have a character with the last name of “Vinson.” The second character would be Gertie Vinson, in the Season 2, Episode 19, episode entitled “The Dinner Party.” Are these two women related?

~ ~ ~

The next episode: The TV Commercial . . .

“Get Your Esquire Off That Chair” — Season One, Episode Nine: The Visitor (April 5, 1974)

Posted on July 1, 2023 by Karen Hannsberry

Michael doesn’t need money for stamps to mail his letters. J.J. paints them on.

The family is fed up with what Florida terms “the worse run building in this whole project” – the elevator is out of order (causing the family to walk the 17 flights of stairs to their apartment), the refrigerator is on the fritz, the water isn’t running, and the heat isn’t on (it’s so cold that J.J.’s chattering teeth “sound like a crap game.”) When a letter written by Michael about the project’s conditions appears in the local newspaper, a bigwig from the Housing Department, William Stonehurst, pays a visit to the Evans home. He’s forced to stay in the apartment when his taxi flees the area following a gang fight; his initial annoyance over the negative publicity generated by the letter transforms into understanding and compassion when he gets his first-hand experience with a family living in the projects. The Evanses are excited when Stonehurst promises that he will address all of their issues, but their hopes are dashed when they’re informed that it will take “13-14 months, tops!” Still, in typical Good Times fashion, the episode ends on a high note when Florida discovers that the water is working and James jokes that he can now “take a bath in [his] overcoat!”

Even Willona makes fun of Stonehurst, telling him that “Bob Hope will come and entertain the troops” if the gang fight goes on long enough.

This episode is fascinating in its honest depiction of the racial and cultural chasm between the Evans family and the white administrator, beginning with Stonehurst’s astonishment at the difficulty he had finding a taxi that would take him to the projects: “Every time I told them where I was going, they turned on the ‘Off Duty’ sign and slammed the door in my face!” There are numerous inadvertent verbal gaffes on the part of Stonehurst, as when Florida deduces that he hasn’t been around many black families and Stonehurst shares that he does have a “colored – er – Neg – BLACK maid.” And there’s a rather poignant moment when James offers Stonehurst a glass of Muscatel to wash down his aspirin and Stonehurst surreptitiously (he thinks) wipes off the rim of the glass before taking a drink. James notices this microaggressive insult, and without saying a word, conveys a world of meaning. But despite Stonehurst’s position of power, the family manages to exact satisfaction by ridiculing him without his even being aware of it. When he first enters the Evans apartment, Stonehurst realizes that he forgot to introduce himself, adding “I don’t live here.” And without missing a beat, Florida sweetly replies, “Oh, I would have never known that.” It’s an episode that serves up a combination of grim reality and smart humor and, for my money, it’s one of the best of the series.

Pop Culture References:

Arab Oil Embargo

As the episode begins, J.J. is painting a picture of Thelma, but she soon becomes frustrated and threatens to stop serving as his model. If she quits, J.J. tells her, she will forfeit the concert tickets that J.J. promised in exchange for her services. When Thelma balks at J.J.’s extortion techniques, her brother responds that “it’s me and the Arabs running the world.” This is another reference to the country’s gas problem, previously discussed in the pop culture section in my post on Season 1, Episode 3.

Gas Rationing

Later in the episode, when the family discovers that the water isn’t running, J.J. jokes that they will have to start using the restroom at the gas station: “We’re only going to be able to go on odd-numbered days.” He is referring to the gas rationing that resulted from the oil embargo, which included an odd-even system based on license plate numbers; if the last digit on your license plate was an odd number, you could only get gas on odd-numbered days.

Wilt Chamberlain

After Thelma sees J.J.’s painting of her, she objects to the depiction, complaining that in the portrait, she’s seven feet tall and “looks like Wilt Chamberlain.” Chamberlain was a seven-foot, one-inch basketball star who joined the National Basketball Association (NBA) in 1959, when he signed on with the Philadelphia Warriors (which later relocated to California to become the San Francisco Warriors). During his career, he would also play for the Philadelphia 76ers and the Los Angeles Lakers and would play on two NBA championship teams. Chamberlain retired from basketball in 1973.

Marvin Gaye

The tickets that J.J. promises Thelma are for a Marvin Gaye concert. A singer and songwriter, Gaye exploded onto the pop music scene in the 1960s with solo hits like How Sweet it Is (To Be Loved By You). He also formed a popular duo with singer Tammi Terrell, topping the charts with such tunes as Ain’t No Mountain High Enough and You’re All I Need to Get By. Gaye made several concert appearances in 1974, his first since 1969.

Hi-Fi

When Thelma is posing for J.J.’s picture, she suddenly starts dancing, explaining that she’s moving to “the music in my head.” J.J. jokes, “There is room for a hi-fi up there.” Hi-fi is short for “High Fidelity,” and technically refers to a higher reproduction of sound. But in the 1950s through the 1970s, a “hi-fi” commonly referred to a rectangle-shaped piece of furniture that contained a record player and radio inside, with four legs and speakers on the front. The top of the hi-fi lifted up to provide access to the record player and radio, and the furniture was made out of wood, like walnut or maple. They were also known as stereo consoles. (My family had one in our living room when I was growing up. I don’t know what happened to it, but I sure wish I had it today!)

Answering Machines

When Florida decides to call the project manager to report the plethora of problems in their apartment, Thelma cautions that she will simply reach a recording that says, “Leave your message after the sound of the beep.” Thelma is referring to an answering machine, a device that supplied a recorded answer to a phone call and could record a message from the caller, generally after the sound of a beep tone. While answering machines were available in 1974, they were still somewhat of a novelty at that time and did not become common in U.S. homes until 10 years later. (Although they’re all but obsolete today, I still have one!)

Mayor Richard J. Daley and Muhammad Ali

Florida does, indeed, reach an answering machine, prompting J.J. to take the phone and issue the following threat: “Either you get this project into A-1 condition, or I shall see to it personally that you are out of a job . . . this message is signed Mayor Daley or Muhammad Ali – whichever scares you the most!” At the time that this episode aired, Chicago’s mayor was Richard J. Daley, who had served in the city’s top office since 1955 (and would remain mayor until he died in office in 1976). Once described as “the most powerful local politician America has ever produced,” Daley wielded his power statewide and on the national level as well. Former heavyweight boxing champion Muhammad Ali was a resident of Chicago until the mid-1970s; in January 1974, he defeated Joe Frazier, against whom he’d suffered his first professional defeat three years earlier. In fall 1974, in the famed “Rumble in the Jungle,” Ali would fight the current heavyweight champion, George Foreman, and regain his crown.

Acrilan

Willona enters the episode after climbing 17 flights from the building’s laundry room with her basket of clothes. She complains that only one of the dryers was working. “You wanna see how it was working? Look at it,” she says, holding up a shredded sweater. “Ten percent Acrilan, ninety percent confetti.” Acrilan was the brand name for a synthetic acrylic fabric, characterized primarily by softness, strength, and wrinkle-resistant properties used for clothes commonly known as “wash and wear.” In fact, Florida responds to her friend with a play of words on this popular type of garment: “I know the machine you got. It’s the one with that special cycle: wash and TEAR.”

Chicago Defender

Michael arrives home to excitedly announce that the Chicago Defender has printed a letter he submitted, in which he complains about the conditions in the projects. (“They are becoming a slum,” he says in part.) The Chicago Defender is a newspaper targeted toward the black community, founded in 1905 by Robert Abbott in the kitchen of his landlord’s apartment. After just five years, the paper began to attract a national audience, waging a campaign against Jim Crow racism, promoting anti-lynching legislation and integrated sports, and encouraging the country’s Southerners to move to the North. Over the years, such luminaries as Langston Hughes, Gwendolyn Brooks, and Ida B. Wells wrote for the paper. Since 2019, it has been an online-only publication.

Guest Stars:

Richard B. Shull (William Stonehurst)

*Holmes and Yoyo aired for 13 episodes on ABC* in the 1976-77 season.

Popular character actor Richard Bruce Shull was born in Evanston, Illinois – a suburb of Chicago – on February 24, 1929. He got his first big break in 1970 when he was cast in the Broadway production of Minnie’s Boys, a musical about the Marx Brothers starring Shelley Winters. He went on to guest on a variety of popular television series, including Love, American Style, Ironside, and The Rockford Files, and he co-starred with John Schuck in Holmes and Yoyo. He was also in such films as Klute (1971), Garbo Talks (1984), HouseSitter (1992), and Private Parts (1997), and was nominated for a Tony Award and a Drama Desk Award for his performance in Broadway’s Good Time Charlie. Shull was appearing on Broadway in 1999 in Epic Proportions when he suffered a fatal heart attack. He was 70 years old.

Other Stuff:

When Michael tells his family about his letter being printed, James asks, “You puttin’ us on, boy?” This gives Michael the opportunity to once again offer up the catchphrase that he originated in the first episode, when he tells his father that “’boy’ is a white racist word.” He says it again later in the episode when Stonehurst refers to him as a boy – at least, he says part of it before Thelma claps her hand over his mouth. For whatever reason, the audience wouldn’t hear this phrase for much longer.

*James is glad he has an ample woman to sleep with. Sigh.*

Another brief reference to Florida’s weight finds its way into the series when James gives his wife a hug and tells her, “I sure am glad I got me an ample woman to sleep with tonight.”

When Florida shares what the family is having for dinner – “soul food,” as Stonehurst identifies it – Michael pipes up that their diet has “too much starch, and not enough vitamins and proteins.” This is the start of the series’ tendency to include factual socio-economic information in the episodes. More on this later.

One of my favorite laughs comes when Michael stands on a chair to proudly read his letter to the family, which concludes, “Signed, Michael Evans, Esquire.” James gives him a look of disdain and says, “You better get your Esquire off that chair.” Gets me every time.

~ ~ ~

The next episode: Springtime in the Ghetto . . .

“Now From The Sublime to the Ridiculous” — Season One, Episode Eight: Junior the Senior (March 29, 1974)

Posted on June 3, 2023 by Karen Hannsberry

As this episode opens, we learn that it’s report card pick-up day for high school. In a subplot, we also discover that James is being considered for a foreman position at his job. Michael has already received his report card and earned all A’s. Thelma expects mostly top marks and makes a bet with J.J. that he won’t earn the grades necessary for promotion into the 12th grade. To everyone’s surprise, when J.J. comes home with his report card, it shows that he did, indeed, pass all of his courses. But when J.J. is unable to answer History and Algebra questions that Florida asks him, Florida and James seek clarification from J.J.’s principal (“I’m readin’ Cs, but I’m hearin’ Fs,” James says.). In a nutshell, they are told that the school gives passing grades in order to continue receiving funding – whether the students deserve the grades or not. Florida and James want J.J. to voluntarily repeat the 11th grade, so that he can obtain the instruction that he obviously missed, but J.J. refuses to stay behind. Later, we follow up on the subplot and find out that James did not receive the foreman position because his own limited schooling impacted his ability to fill out the application. This provides a real-world lesson to J.J. about the value of a good education, and he vows to put forth more effort during his senior year.

*“They just gave you those grades to get rid of you.”*

The “Junior the Senior” episode offers some very real truths regarding the public education system in this country, particularly in inner city schools, where administrators were sometimes more interested in posting high graduation rates than ensuring that their students were obtaining a quality education. By spotlighting James’s scholastic limitations, the episode offers a poignant reminder of the long-term effects that education can have.

Pop Culture References:

Cesar Romero

Near the end of the episode, J.J. tells his mother that he may be selected to give his graduation speech, which he would end with “these two Latin words: Cesar Romero.” Cesar Romero was a film and television actor whose big-screen career began in the 1930s with films like The Thin Man (1934) and in a series of features as The Cisco Kid. In the 1960s, he gained a new audience as The Joker on the Batman TV series and in several Disney comedies.

Guest Stars

Frank Campanella (Mr. Kirkman)

Frank Campanella had more than 100 film and TV credits.

Born in New York City on March 12, 1919, Frank Campanella was the son of Sicilian immigrants (and the older brother of actor Joseph Campanella) and spoke mostly Italian when he was growing up. He put his bilingual skills to use during World War II as a civilian translator for the U.S. government, deciphering Italian and Sicilian dialects. The six-foot-five Campanella studied drama at Manhattan College and made his television debut in the 1949 science fiction series Captain Video and His Video Rangers (which, incidentally, was the favorite TV show of the character Ed Norton on The Honeymooners).

*Frank’s younger brother was actor Joseph Campanella.*

Campanella’s first big-screen role was in the 1956 Paul Newman starrer, Somebody Up There Likes Me (1956). He would go on to appear in such films as The Producers (1967), The Gang That Couldn’t Shoot Straight (1971), Heaven Can Wait (1978), Pretty Woman (1990), and Dick Tracy (1990), and television series from Car 54, Where Are You? to Hunter. In addition, he was noted for helping Robert De Niro learn Sicilian for his role in The Godfather, Part II (1974). Campanella also appeared in several Broadway productions, including Guys and Dolls in 1965.

Campenella died on December 30, 2006 (my 44th birthday!), of complications from Crohn’s Disease. He was 87 years old.

Other stuff:

Michael has a callback to the catchphrase he introduced in the first episode, informing his mother that “’boy’ is a white racist word” when Florida tries to awaken her sons by calling out, “Rise and shine, boys!”

There’s yet another reference in this episode to J.J.’s penchant for thievery. When Willona enters the Evans apartment, she remarks that she smells meat. “What happened?” she asks. “Junior mug a cow?”

After J.J. and Thelma make their bet, they link their pinky fingers and then push their thumbs together. Years later, whenever I’d see this action between characters on various television shows, they called it a “pinky swear” or “pinky promise,” and they were using it to indicate that a promise had been made. In my personal experience, though, this gesture was used just as J.J. and Thelma did – for a bet. Maybe it’s a Chicago thing.

~ ~ ~

The next episode: The Visitor . . .

“Leroy Jackson, Get The Hell Outta My House” — Season One, Episode Seven: Junior Gets a Patron (March 22, 1974)

Posted on March 16, 2023 by Karen Hannsberry

*“As long as you’re living under my roof, you’re not going to do but one thing, and that’s OBEY.”*

The action in this week’s episode kicks off when J.J. reveals to his parents that he has a patron who is helping him purchase art supplies and is providing a space where J.J. can paint. The patron is local businessman and boutique owner Leroy Jackson, who just happens to be a former friend of James’s. Twenty years earlier, before James and Florida got married, James and Jackson had planned to go into business together; James gave Jackson $250, but Jackson gambled and lost the money at the races. When Jackson shows up at the Evans home, James refuses to listen to anything that he has to say and throws him out of the apartment. J.J.’s angry response to his father’s action leads to an argument and J.J. winds up leaving home, moving into the storage room above Jackson’s boutique. James stubbornly maintains his viewpoint, even as Thelma and Michael express how much they miss their brother, and despite Florida’s pleas for J.J. to be allowed to return. After a few days, Florida – under the guise of going to church – secretly goes to visit J.J. While she’s there, James shows up as well, claiming that he’s looking for a missing shirt. While they’re there, Leroy Jackson enters and insists on saying to James what he wanted to tell him 20 years earlier: that he’s sorry. Ultimately, the apology is accepted, Jackson vows to continue helping J.J. with his painting endeavors, and James tells J.J. he can come back home.

*James Evans. Unreasonable again, naturally.*

I’m beginning to see a pattern that, as much as I’ve watched this show over the decades, I never really noticed until I started analyzing each episode for this blog. James is consistently depicted as obstinate, illogical, quick-tempered, and unreasonable, while Florida is even-tempered, rational, patient, and sensible. This episode is no different. Don’t get me wrong – James’s stubbornness has always been an unmistakable character trait; I suppose I just didn’t realize how frequently it played into the plots of the various episodes.

*J.J. winds up in the storage room over a boutique because his father can’t get over a 20-year grudge.*

Here, James places a 20-year-old feud above the well-being and potential success of his oldest son (not to mention the child who is most in need of a leg up), while not only Florida but both of the younger children try in vain to point out the error of his ways. Florida, in fact, literally tells her husband, “You did the wrong thing.” The episode even features a scene with James interacting with God – and coming out with egg on his face. After Florida insists that the Lord will punish him for his disrespect, James gives God 10 seconds to show him a sign. Before the time is up, James’s watch stops working!

Although James continues to maintain his stance against J.J. returning home, the admonitions of his family obviously get through to him, as evidenced by his showing up at J.J.’s temporary home with a flimsy excuse. It’s clear that James is concerned about his son and wants him back, but it’s not until after Jackson apologizes and shakes James’s hand that he pushes his pride aside and relents.

Pop Culture References:

Miss Black America and Moms Mabley

*Cheryl Browne Hollingsworth was the first black woman to participate in the Miss America pageant.*

The episode opens with J.J. sleeping on the couch. His face first indicates that he’s enjoying his dream, but his expression then changes to one of distaste. When he awakens, he explains to Florida that he was dreaming that he’d been commissioned to paint the winner of “Miss Black America” in the nude – but the winner was Moms Mabley!

Miss Black America was a beauty pageant created in 1968 as the answer to the Miss America pageant; at that time, there had never been a black Miss America contestant. In the early years of the Miss America pageant, one of the rules stated that contestants “must be of good health and of the white race.” Even though this rule was abandoned in the 1940s, there wouldn’t be a black contestant until 1971, when Cheryl Browne Hollingsworth represented the state of Iowa in the pageant. The Miss Black America pageant was produced by Philadelphia businessman J. Morris Anderson; the first pageant was held in Atlantic City on the same day as the Miss America event. The Miss Black America pageant was held every year until 1996. It started again in 2010, and was held sporadically in the years since, with the last pageant, as of this writing, taking place in 2018.

*J.J. dreamed about painting*
*Moms Mabley in the nude.*

Moms Mabley was a popular black comedian born Loretta Mary Aiken in 1894. She began her career in vaudeville, gaining popularity as “Jackie Mabley” on the Chitlin’ Circuit, a collection of venues that catered to black performers and audiences. She adopted the name “Moms” in the 1950s and took on the persona of a toothless older woman, performing in a bucket hat, housecoat, and colorful knee socks. She went on to play such venues as Carnegie Hall and on television shows like The Smothers Brothers, The Ed Sullivan Show, and The Pearl Bailey Show. She died of heart failure in 1975.

The “Ugly” Green Giant

When Thelma almost uses a tube of J.J.’s green paint as her shampoo, he jokes that if she were shorter, she would have been the first black leprechaun. Thelma counters by telling J.J. that if she spilled some paint on him, he would be known as the “ugly Green Giant,” and adds, “Ho, ho, ho.” This is a reference to the Green Giant frozen vegetable products, which had a series of popular commercials featuring the company’s brand mascot, the Jolly Green Giant. The giant never spoke, except to say, “Ho, ho, ho.”

Guest Stars

Edmund Cambridge (Leroy Jackson)

*Cambridge was a talented, award-winning director, actor, and instructor.*

A native of Harlem, New York, Edmund James Cambridge, Jr., was born on September 18, 1920, and, according to legend, got his first taste of show business by sneaking out of his house at the age of 15 to perform at Smalls Paradise nightclub. In Los Angeles during the early 1960s, Cambridge founded the Cambridge Players, a performing troupe whose membership included Juanita Moore, Helen Martin, Esther Rolle, Isabel Sanford, and Beah Richards. The troupe produced the James Baldwin play The Amen Corner, which premiered on Broadway in 1965.

A few years later, Cambridge became a founding member of the Negro Ensemble Company; one of the group’s first plays, Ceremonies in Dark Old Men, was directed by Cambridge and landed him a Drama Desk Award. He also co-founded the Kilpatrick-Cambridge Theater Arts School in Los Angeles in 1971. Around this time, he made his television debut on the short-lived drama series Bracken’s World, and during the next few decades, he would go on to appear on such television series as Kojak, Adam-12, Family Matters, The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, and The Bernie Mac Show. He was also seen in big screen features like Friday Foster (1971) and Bill & Ted’s Bogus Journey (1991). Between appearances in front of the camera, Cambridge (who was a cousin of stand-up comedian and actor Godfrey Cambridge) continued his stage work; in 1984, he directed the original production of 227, a play by Christine Houston that later became the popular NBC television show of the same name starring Marla Gibbs.

*The Jeffersons was one of the many series on which Cambridge appeared.*

A longtime resident of Los Angeles, Cambridge died in 2001 of complications from a fall he suffered while visiting relatives in Harlem. He was 80 years old. The eulogy for his funeral service was conducted by actress Della Reese; Cambridge had been a member of Della Reese’s church, Understanding Principles for Better Living.

Other stuff:

In this episode, we see the brief revival of the show’s early depiction of J.J. as a thief. It comes up when Florida shares with James her concern about how J.J. has been getting new art supplies. (“I hope he hasn’t been finding things again,” she says.)

I’ve been wondering . . . did James ever get his money back from Leroy Jackson? He certainly should have received more than Jackson’s heartfelt apology. Given Jackson’s suit and coat, his sharp shoes, and that rock on his finger, he’s obviously not hurting for money. While he was handing out “I’m sorrys,” maybe he should have also been passing out some Benjamins.

*As soon as James heard the last name “Jackson,” he immediately thought it was his ex-friend. Hmmm.*

I always found it funny that James merely had to hear that the last name of J.J.’s patron was Jackson, and he immediately jumped to the (correct) conclusion that it was Leroy Jackson, his ex-pal. I could understand his suspicions being aroused if the man’s last name were, say, Boykin or McCullough or Underwood. But Jackson? That was quite a leap.

This episode contains the first time that we see some real sibling support between J.J. and Thelma – the two are usually at each other’s throats, trading insults like they were baseball cards. When James tells Leroy Jackson to leave, Thelma implores, “Daddy, don’t throw him out – he wants to help J.J.’s career!” And later, after Jackson departs, Thelma chastises her father, telling him that this was a big chance for J.J.: “The people could have discovered his talent! (Even J.J. is shocked, asking, “Do my ears deceive my face?”)

Incidentally, the business that James and Leroy Jackson planned to go into is never named.

~ ~ ~

The next episode: Junior the Senior . . .

Ain't We Lucky We Got 'Em?

The Good Times Blog

Category Archives: Episodes

“I Bet You Wouldn’t Be Sticking It To Him If He Was White!” Season Two, Episode Three: J.J. Becomes a Man, Part 2 (September 24, 1974)

“Today is The Proudest Moment of My Life – When I Officially Pass From Boyhood Into Adultery!” Season Two, Episode Two: J.J. Becomes a Man, Part 1 (September 17, 1974)

“The Kitchen and the Bedroom, Florida – The Kitchen and the Bedoom!” Season Two, Episode One: Florida Flips (September 10, 1974)

“I Love You for Your Skin’s Pure Sheen, For Your Two Sweet Lips, With Teeth In Between.” Season One, Episode Thirteen: My Son, the Lover (May 10, 1974)

“I Ain’t Sick, I Ain’t Nervous, and I Ain’t Upset!” Season One, Episode Twelve: The Checkup (May 3, 1974)

“I Ain’t Felt Like This Since I Stopped Drinking!” – Season One, Episode Eleven: The TV Commercial (April 26, 1974)

“His Name is Engraved in the Ripple Hall of Fame” — Season One, Episode Ten: Springtime in the Ghetto (April 19, 1974)

“Get Your Esquire Off That Chair” — Season One, Episode Nine: The Visitor (April 5, 1974)

“Now From The Sublime to the Ridiculous” — Season One, Episode Eight: Junior the Senior (March 29, 1974)

“Leroy Jackson, Get The Hell Outta My House” — Season One, Episode Seven: Junior Gets a Patron (March 22, 1974)