[.ca] Good Times: The Complete First Season

From Amazon.com:
What first comes to mind is super-skinny Jimmie Walker proclaiming "Dyn-o-mite!" and waving his arms like a funky scarecrow in a whirlwind of 1970s jive. But while Walker's James "J.J." Evans Junior became the most famous face of Good Times, the bedrock of the sitcom were the actors playing his parents, Esther Rolle and John Amos as Florida and James Evans, two good-hearted but fallible people struggling to raise their family amid the poverty of the Chicago projects. Add to the mix boy-crazy daughter Thelma (Bernnadette Stanis), preadolescent black activist Michael (Ralph Carter), and Florida's world-wise best friend Willona (sassy Ja'net DuBois), and you've got one of the best comic ensembles of the time. Modern politically correct sensibilities may wince a bit at J.J.'s sometimes cartoonish antics, but what's far more striking about the first season of Good Times is how frank the show was willing to be about race, politics, class, religion, sexual double standards, and family conflicts--considerably more direct and daring, in fact, than just about anything you'll find on television today. The topics of shows range from the corruption of television evangelism and white-centered history classes in school (Michael gets suspended for stating that George Washington owned slaves) to more typical sitcom themes like a housekeeping contest or J.J.'s girlfriend troubles--but even the most lightweight episodes tosses out a few acerbic (and genuinely funny) comments on the difficulty of being black in America. --Bret Fetzer

family matters:
i think family matters would be a great show to have on dvd. It's nice to sit with your family and share some laughter

dynomite:
Hilarious show about sad things. Being unemployed, pinching pennies to get by, and on top of all that living in the ghetto. this family really inspires you to stick together and be thankful for what you got.

Wonderful:
Love this series. Startling movement statements as well as (then) topical events.

Great Times!:
Wow,it was three decades ago that Good Times premiered on CBS. This is a grand spin-off of ALL IN THE FAMILY. What I mean by that is it's a spinoff of MAUDE starring Beatrice Arthur. She is Edith Bunker's cousin Maude Finlay. The late Esther Rolle as Florida Evans was first seen on MAUDE. As Florida's husband James Evans Sr.,is John Amos. The most popular character is their son James Jr. or J.J.,played by Jimmie Walker. His trademark catchphrase is "Dynomite!!" Janet DuBois is J.J. sister. DuBois's vocal is heard in the Jeffersons' theme song. The Jeffersons' Mike Evans co-created the series and produced it after leaving the Jeffersons in 1976.

Good Stuff, too!:
The subject matter of these earliest episodes of Good times have already been discussed. But fans of the show may also want to know that each episode contains scenes that have not been seen since their first run in 1974. Usually the codas of these stories that have been cut for syndication in recent years and a few bits of introductory business that help with the telling. But in either case, these episodes recall Bobby Kennedy's 1967 statement that he would like for all networks to show a no-punch -pulled documentary of ghetto life to wake White America up out of it's apathy. "Good Times" was probably the closest thing to what he may have had in mind, although it's actual effect was limited. These early episodes, prior to the emergence of JJ's clowing, did more to tell the truth about ghetto life than any other of it's time, and even now for that matter. It is a credit to the writing and actors that they showed the Evans family retaining their dignity and humanity in spite of some really dehumanizing conditions.