The first season’s second episode opens with J.J. painting a picture of a street hustler, Sweet Daddy Williams. When Michael finds a painting in the closet that J.J. calls “Black Jesus,” he suggests that J.J. enter it in a local art show, but J.J. insists on entering the Sweet Daddy painting. Undaunted, and thrilled to have unearthed something that “the brothers need,” Michael replaces his mother’s portrait of the more traditional depiction of Jesus. Florida wants to take the painting down when she learns that J.J. used the neighborhood wino as his model, but the family suddenly experiences a streak of good luck, which James attributes to the presence of Black Jesus. When J.J. returns from the art show with the news that eight other artists had also painted Sweet Daddy Williams, Michael again stresses that he should submit Black Jesus as his entry. James strenuously objects, citing the luck he has received because of the painting, but he reverses his stance after ribbing from Thelma causes J.J. to doubt his talent. Instead, James removes the painting from the wall and, despite his own reluctance, insists that J.J. enter it in the show.
“B.J. is on a roll!”
With this, only the show’s second episode, Good Times turned out a well-rounded installment that managed to be both funny and heartwarming. An especially amusing run comes when James arrives home after receiving an unexpected refund from the Internal Revenue Service. Florida grows more and more frustrated as one person after another enters the apartment with sudden good news, from Thelma excitedly sharing the news that “THE” Larry Williams has invited her to an Issac Hayes concert, to a local numbers runner showing up to tell James that his number hit. Even Willona bursts in because she’s just learned that her annoying date from the previous night owns a gas station. (“Now I can say those three little words,” she gloats. “Fill ‘er up!”) Later, when Thelma belittles J.J. for his lack of ability, Michael defends him at every turn – his hero worship for his big brother is touching and sweet.
Pop Culture Connections
Black History Week
Carter G. Woodson: The Father of Black History Month.
Michael reminds J.J. about the beginning of Black History Week. This event was first created in 1926 by historian Carter G. Woodson and the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History, designated for the second week of February. At that time, it was called “Negro History Week.” Nearly 50 years later, Black educators and the Black United Students organization at Kent State University proposed that the event be expanded to the entire month of February; the first Black History Month celebration took place at Kent State in 1970. In 1976, President Gerald Ford recognized Black History Month during the commemoration of the U.S. Bicentennial. At the time that this episode was filmed, in 1974, the celebration was still Black History Week.
Space Lab
When Florida sees that Michael has replaced her portrait of Jesus with J.J.’s Black Jesus painting, she tells him, “I hope the space lab is out of the way, because I am just about to go into orbit!” She was likely referring to Skylab, the first U.S. space station, which was launched into orbit in May 1973 and returned to Earth in February 1974.
Muhammad Speaks
As part of his campaign to keep Black Jesus on display, Michael tells his mother that Jesus was Black, and that he read about it in Muhammad Speaks. Founded in 1960, Muhammad Speaks was the official publication of the Nation of Islam and contained both current events and news of interest to the Black community. The publication was renamed after Elijah Muhammad’s death in 1975.
Fly Me
When Willona makes her entrance in the episode, she flings open the Evans’s front door and exclaims, “I’m Willona – fly me!” This is a reference to the popular Fly Me ad campaign by National Airlines, started in 1972. In TV spots and magazine ads, smiling, scantily clad stewardesses (as flight attendants were called back then) named Linda or Judy or Donna targeted their male travelers, inviting them to “fly them.” (Click here to check out one of the TV spots.) Although the campaign was hugely successful for the now-defunct airlines, it led to protests by stewardesses that eventually resulted in an improvement in workplace conditions.
Jet Magazine Centerfold
J.J. jokes that there were so many paintings of Sweet Daddy Williams at the art show that the hustler must be “this month’s Jet Magazine centerfold.” Jet was a weekly magazine published by Chicago’s John H. Johnson Publishing Company that focused on news, entertainment, sports, and politics related to the Black community. Billed as the “Weekly Negro News Magazine” and distinguished by its small 5 x 8 inch size, the magazine was also known for featuring a full-page feature known as “Beauty of the Week.” Also called the “Jet Centerfold,” this page featured a Black woman clad in a swimsuit, along with her name, profession, and interests. Jet has been published in a digital format only since 2014.
Guest Stars
Numbers Runner: Eric Monte
This episode featured only one guest star – the show’s co-creator Eric Monte. More about Monte in an upcoming post . . .
Other stuff:
When the episode opens, J.J. is not wearing his trademark blue demin hat. The hat doesn’t make its appearance until about halfway through the episode, when J.J. dons it to take his painting to the art show.
Eric Monte as the numbers runner.
Early in the episode, J.J. is looking for a tube of gold paint and blames Thelma for the missing item. Every time it’s missing, he tells her, she comes up with “a new pair of psychedelic dungarees.” I’m always struck by this line, because . . . who says “dungarees?” Unless you’re Tom Sawyer.
This episode contains the first references to Sweet Daddy Williams, a neighborhood loan shark, and Ned the Wino, the local drunk. These characters would both show up in the flesh later in the series, with Sweet Daddy played by Theodore Wilson and Ned the Wino played by Raymond Allen.
J.J. almost made it through the entire episode without uttering what would soon become his wildly popular trademark catchphrase – almost, but not quite. At the episode’s end, James tells J.J. to return his Black Jesus painting to the closet, and Florida allows it to stay on the wall: “This family can use all the help it can get,” she explains. And J.J.’s response? “Dy-no-mite!”
The first characters introduced in the series are Thelma (Bern Nadette Stanis), who is cooking breakfast in the kitchen, and Michael (Ralph Carter), who enters the apartment after playing with a friend. (Incidentally, during his first-scene argument with his never-seen pal, Michael tells him, “You make me sick sometimes.” This struck me as such an authentic line – it’s something that I used to say as a child.)
With Thelma and Michael’s first few lines, the show sets up two long-running character traits: Thelma is not exactly a culinary whiz, and Michael is a pro-black, anti-establishment militant. In fact, the show economically illustrates these two characteristics when Michael, peering into Thelma’s pot on the stove, comments, “Black is beautiful, Thelma, but not when it’s oatmeal.” And their older brother, J.J. (Jimmie Walker), before he is even seen, is established by Thelma as a loafer (“Where’s that big string-bean brother of yours? He was supposed to help me set the table, make the beds, and clean up!”). The matriarch of the family, Florida (Esther Rolle), is recovering from a recent operation to have her appendix removed, we meet her husband James (John Amos) when he comes home after working all night, and Florida’s best friend and neighbor Willona (Ja’ Net DuBois) pops in to share the news about her latest date.
J.J. offers to sell his first painting to help pay the rent.
Written by the show’s co-creator Eric Monte, and directed by Donald McKayle and Perry Rosemond, the episode’s plot centers around an eviction notice that the family received for non-payment of rent; two previous notices were received during Florida’s hospital stay, and with the movers arriving to remove the contents of the apartment, the family is desperate to raise the money they need. Each of the family members tries different means of getting the money – Florida tries to sign up for welfare benefits, the children hatch a “department store hustle,” and James (against Florida’s wishes) uses his skills in shooting pool. Ultimately, James’s method is successful, but he pretends that a friend gave him the money – and Florida pretends that she doesn’t know the truth.
“Getting Up the Rent” was the first episode taped and was the actual series pilot, but it wasn’t aired first – that distinction went to “Too Old Blues.” Instead, “Getting Up the Rent” was the third episode to be broadcast.
The pilot was full of promise, and did an admirable job of establishing the personas of each of the main characters: strong, faith-filled Florida; proud, dedicated, and no-nonsense James; streetwise, artistically gifted J.J.; family-focused but sharp-tongued Thelma; budding militant Michael; and loyal, quick-with-a-quip Willona. I was never pleased with the depiction of J.J. as a hustling, “light-fingered Louie” but, to their credit, the producers/writers pivoted from this characterization after the first few episodes.
The family that stays together.
The episode brought the Evans’s poverty into sharp focus – it can’t get much worse than getting evicted from your home, and it’s made clear that James had the choice of paying for their shelter or paying for his wife’s life-saving operation. With James working two jobs and bringing home just six dollars after working all night, and the family keeping their savings in a shoe box, there’s no question about the family’s financial situation. But the pilot also managed to showcase the close-knit nature of the Evans family and the deep love and respect that existed between Florida and James. There was James’s tender reaction to Florida apologizing for the cost of her recent operation. And the children’s willingness to chip in their meager contributions to help with the rent. And Michael vehemently refusing to allow J.J. to sell his first painting (“The only way anyone gets this painting is over my dead body!). They were small but effective touches which helped established a foundation that would last throughout the run of the series. Finally, the cast demonstrated a unique and instant chemistry – they felt like a real family and fostered a feeling of audience affection and recognition from the very start.
Pop Culture Connections
A little more than a year after Thelma was seen reading an Ebony magazine in the show’s pilot, the cast appeared on the magazine’s cover.
Ebony Magazine
As Thelma is preparing the oatmeal in the first scene, she’s reading Ebony, a monthly magazine which covers entertainment, politics, fashion, and beauty that pertain to the Black community. The magazine was founded in 1945, ceased publication of the print format in 2019, and relaunched in a digital format in 2021.
Detroit Automobile Recall
After J.J. makes a crack about Thelma’s looks, she counters by telling him, “If you were born in Detroit, you would have been recalled for being dangerously ugly.” In 1973, the year before the series started, more than 3.7 million vehicles were recalled by General Motors, which is headquartered in Detroit. The vehicles, from the Buick, Chevrolet, Oldsmobile, and Pontiac lines, were recalled because stones from unpaved or gravel roads could get caught in the engine compartment, which could affect the driver’s ability to steer. At the end of 1973, another 22,000 cars from these four lines were recalled due to safety defects that could cause the rear wheels to lock.
President Richard Nixon
The family is facing a possible eviction, but Michael tells his mother that Monty – a friend of James’s who works for the administration of the projects – has assured the family that “everything would be okay.” Florida responds, “That’s the same Monty that said Nixon was going to be poor folks’ best friend.” At the time that the episode aired, Richard Nixon was the president of the United States. In the wake of the Watergate scandal, he would resign from office later that year, on August 9, 1974.
Marshall Field’s
Downtown Chicago, at Randolph and State Streets. You can see the famed clock from Marshall Field’s on the right.
J.J. concocts a scheme for he and his siblings to get the rent money by going to Marshall Field’s; Thelma will pretend to faint from malnourishment in the hopes that passersby will donate the needed funds. Marshall Field’s was a large, upscale department retailer in Chicago whose flagship store was located in the city’s downtown area. The store was founded in the 1800s and remained a Chicago staple until 2006, when it was taken over by Macy’s and renamed.
O.J. Simpson
James arrives home (and for some reason, knocks on the door instead of using his key), and grouses about the amount of time Florida takes to let him in. “If you wanted somebody fast,” Florida responds, “you should have married O.J. Simpson.” In December 1973, Simpson, a member of the Buffalo Bills football team, became the first National Football League (NFL) player to rush more than 2,000 yards in a single season. This would be the show’s first reference to Simpson, but not the last – which is always a bit jarring, given what would happen about 20 years hence.
“Ain’t Got a Pot or a Window . . . “
Trying to help the family get the money for the rent, Willona takes Florida to the welfare office (that’s literally the sign on the door: WELFARE OFFICE), but James’s meager income is too high to qualify. Before they leave, they’re approached by a buffoon in a maroon velvet suit who tries to hit on them; Willona dismisses him by observing that he “ain’t got a pot or a window.” She’s referring to a popular saying that means a person is financially bereft; the entire expression is that the person doesn’t have “a pot to piss in or a window to throw it out of.”
Running Jokes
“I don’t take things – I FIND them . . .”
The pilot episode sets up J.J. as not only lazy, but also a thief. When Florida expresses concern about the overdue rent money, J.J. tells her that he has numerous ways of getting hold of the needed cash, and Florida insists that she doesn’t want him to steal. “I wouldn’t do that, Mama,” J.J. says. “I may just find seventy dollars.” This characterization would last only a few episodes.
“’Boy’ is a white racist word.”
“Don’t call me ‘boy.'”
The pilot also saw Michael’s first insistence that the word “boy” is a “white racist word.” He offers this nugget when Florida admonishes J.J. about stealing and adds, “I hope I’m coming through to you, boy.” Later in the episode, Michael gives the same rebuke to his father when James calls him a boy. This budding catchphrase for Michael didn’t last long, though. But there was a different catchphrase that was, well . . .
Dy-No-Mite!
J.J. used the exclamatory word in the first episode that would become his trademark and a popular catchphrase that would be forever associated with the show. He uses it to indicate his enthusiastic approval upon learning that his father plans to get the rent money by hustling pool games. J.J. would go on to use “Dy-No-Mite,” in one way or another, in every episode for the next few seasons. Every. Episode.
Guest Stars
Tom: Hal Williams
Halroy Candis Williams was born in Columbus, Ohio, on December 14, 1938, and started acting in local community theater. After working as a postal worker and a corrections officer, Williams moved to Los Angeles in the late 1960s to pursue his acting career and signed on with the California Youth Authority to pay the bills while he went on auditions. Williams was able to devote his time to acting full time in 1970, when he landed roles in three TV productions: a TV movie and two series, Dan August and That Girl. Williams went on to play Officer “Smitty” Smith on the Sanford and Son TV series, Harley Foster on The Waltons, Sgt. Ted Ross on the film Private Benjamin (1980) and the subsequent TV series based on the movie, and Lester Jenkins on 227. As of this writing, he is still performing; his most recent appearance was earlier in 2022 in the TV series The Mayor. In this episode, Williams played Tom, one of the two men who arrive at the Evans apartment to remove their belongings.
Monty: Stymie Beard
Matthew “Stymie” Beard in his first of several Good Times appearances.
Matthew “Stymie” Beard played Monty, a friend of James’s. He was born in Los Angeles on New Year’s Day 1925, one of 14 children. After playing a few uncredited bit parts in movies like Uncle Tom’s Cabin (1927) and Showboat (1929), he was signed by Hal Roach at the age of five to appear in the Our Gang Comedies. Beard’s Our Gang name was originally Hercules, but director Robert McGowan changed it because Beard was known to “stymie” him by wandering around the lot. Beard reportedly was given his trademark bowler hat by comic actor Stan Laurel, of Laurel and Hardy fame.
“Stymie” when he was in Our Gang.
He remained with Our Gang until, at age 10, he was too old, and he later appeared in small parts in such films as Captain Blood (1935), Jezebel (1938), and The Return of Frank James (1940). During his teen years, however, he developed a heroin habit and wound up spending a number of years in jail. He later got clean and sober and returned to acting in the 1970s on TV shows including Sanford and Son, Maude, and Different Strokes. Beard suffered a stroke a few days after his 56th birthday and died of pneumonia on January 8, 1981.
Eddie: Ernie Banks
Ernie Lee Banks played the other employee of the project who showed up to evict the Evans family. Banks was born in Franklin, Virginia, on April 3, 1935. His appearance on Good Times was his acting debut. Later that year, he was also seen in two blaxploitation movies from 1974: Black Godfather and Baby Needs a New Pair of Shoes. He went on to appear in such films as Bulworth (1998); TV series including The Jeffersons, NYPD Blue, and ER; and the 1978 miniseries King, where he portrayed Rev. Ralph Abernathy. Banks also released a record in 1990 called Are You Ready to Be Loved? He died in his hometown of Franklin on August 13, 2006, at the age of 71.
Other Stuff:
The Evans family lives on the 17th floor. (J.J. distributes the mail to his siblings and tells them he’s just been down 17 floors to get it.)
We learn that Michael plans to be a lawyer. He offers to give his father the two dollars he’s been saving for law school.
In order to get the money for the rent, James wins it by playing pool. He has his own pool cue, and it’s made clear that he used to “hustle” pool for money in the past. This is never referenced again in the series.
Florida talks to Jesus. (More on Jesus in the next episode. . .)
This episode contains a heavy emphasis on Florida’s spirituality, including Florida praying aloud, more than once, to her picture of Jesus on the wall.
J.J. is referred to as “James Junior” by both Thelma and Florida throughout the episode. After the pilot, he would be known only as J.J.
At the start of the episode, J.J.’s head was bare. But with about six minutes remaining, he was seen sporting the blue jean cap that would become a staple in his wardrobe over the next few seasons.
I watch Good Times every day. Every single day. I’ve done it for years. I laugh at the same jokes in the same places, I make the same mental observations, I say the same dialogue along with the characters. I’m not claiming to be the biggest Good Times fan in the world – but I’ll wager that I’m up there in the top 10. So it was almost inevitable for me to devote a blog to this unforgettable show.
A situation comedy set in my hometown of Chicago, Illinois, Good Times premiered on February 8, 1974, and ran for six years on CBS-TV. I can’t say with certainty what it is about this show that captured and kept my fascination over all these decades – there are so many reasons. It shines a light on real-life issues, from teen pregnancy to drug use to crime. It showcases a variety of up-and-coming performers, including Debbie Allen, Rosalind Cash, Lou Gossett, and Philip Michael Thomas. It incorporates the pop culture of the day. And it’s well-written and legitimately funny. Beyond these tangible features, Good Times simply feels like family; these were people I knew.
The beginning: All in the Family.
Before Good Times, there were only a handful of television shows that featured black people. The 1950s gave us The Amos and Andy Show, Beulah, and The Jack Benny Program, and in the 1960s and early 1970s, there was Room 222, Julia, I Spy, Roll Out, The Flip Wilson Show, Sanford and Son, and The Bill Cosby Show (the one from the late 1960s where he played a physical education teacher named Chet Kincaid).
In 1971, television producer Norman Lear created All in the Family. Previously, Lear (a former writer for The Martin and Lewis Show, and director of two feature films) had created only one television show – a western called The Deputy featuring Henry Fonda that ran from 1959 to 1961. All in the Family starred Carroll O’Connor as rabid bigot Archie Bunker, and Jean Stapleton as Archie’s long-suffering wife. When it aired in January as a mid-season replacement show on CBS, it took a while for it to find its audience, but by the 1971-1972 season, it was a solid hit. In September 1972, All in the Family saw its first-spinoff, Maude, starring Bea Arthur as Archie’s outspoken, liberal cousin-in-law. On Maude’s third episode, she hired a maid: Florida Evans (Esther Rolle). The popularity of this intelligent, fearless, slightly imperious, and often impertinent black character earned Rolle her own spinoff, Good Times, in 1974.
Maude hires Florida.
There were a few tweaks between Florida on Maude and Florida on Good Times. On Maude, Florida lived in New York with her husband, Henry (John Amos), who worked as a fireman, while the Evans family on Good Times lived in a housing project in Chicago, Florida’s husband’s name was James, and James often worked several jobs to make ends meet. On Florida’s first episode on Maude, there’s a reference to the two of them drinking a few martinis at lunch, but on Good Times, Florida doesn’t drink alcohol. And on Maude, Florida and Henry have been married for 24 years, but on Good Times, they celebrate their 20th anniversary.
Good Times was created by writer Eric Monte, who also wrote for such series as The Jeffersons and What’s Happening, as well as the screenplay for the film Cooley High (another production set in Chicago – Monte’s hometown), and Michael Evans, best known for portraying Lionel on All in the Family and, for several years, on another spinoff, The Jeffersons. Originally, the show was slated to be called The Black Family, with the family’s last name being Black. (Get it?) Later, the creators decided to change the last name of the family to Evans and they renamed the show Good Times.
Florida and the former Henry, now James.
The show was a hit from the start, and in its second season, it trounced its main competition, ABC’s Happy Days, knocking it out of the top 30 shows. In that season, Good Times climbed to number seven in the ratings. After the second season, though, ratings started to dip, and after Amos’s character was killed off at the end of the third season, things would never be the same.
This blog, Ain’t We Lucky We Got ‘Em’, is my love letter to Good Times. I will provide a look at each of the show’s 133 episodes, as well as delve into the pop culture of the 1970s, which is significantly interwoven throughout so many of the episodes. I’ll also periodically offer other features, including trivia quizzes, my favorite episodes, and more.
Ain't We Lucky We Got 'Em? 