[.ca] Good Times: The Complete Second Season

From Amazon.com:
Centered on the strong-willed but loving parents Florida and James Evans (Esther Rolle and John Amos), Good Times spun out stories of poverty and resilience that skillfully balanced comedy and politics. An episode in which James returns a found bag of money stolen from a bank doesn't trot out bland homilies about honesty, but becomes a surprisingly multilayered debate about civic virtue. In one of the second season's comic centerpieces, the Evans family avoids eating a neighbor's meatloaf because they think it's made with dog food. The scene is played as hilarious farce, but the acknowledgment of a poor old woman living on dog food gives the sequence an underlying bite. The commentary rarely feels forced; at its best, the show drew significance out of the characters' daily lives. An episode about a pregnant teen ends on an unexpectedly moving note, without any strings on the soundtrack to cue the audience's heartstrings--that's solid writing and acting. With buffoonish Jimmy "Dy-no-mite!" Walker, foxy Ja'Net Du Bois, sweet BernNadette Stanis, and militant Ralph Carter rounding out the cast, Good Times is a time capsule both for fashion (even though they lived in the projects, the Evans' fashion-plate neighbor Willona, played by Du Bois, was rarely without a glamorous get-up) and for a time in which mainstream sitcoms had the freedom to reflect the tougher side of reality. --Bret Fetzer

Nothing like Thelma's Oatmeal!:
Thank goodness....they FINALLY put out Good Times S. 2! It only took a year!!! This show has become one of the 1970s classic hits...and with good reason! It conveys the plight of the poor in a light, airy manner....coping with hard issues by using a smile and a laugh. Even though it may seem dated at times, the things that Good Times addresses are still somewhat prevalent today...and of course...that's why it is considered a classic. In this new season, the characters are more defined...and the actors seem more at ease with their roles. Of course, the highlights are Michael "the militant midget" and JJ. So, go ahead, get yourself some Good Times while you can! I sure hope the third season will come a little quicker though!!

Great DVD Set:
The Good Times Season 2 DVD box set will be a great addition to your collection. The three DVD set is nicely packaged and includes a booklet that describes each episode. I have no complaints. There are no real extras but most of these new DVD on TV box sets don't have extras. I am very pleased with this purchase and hope to complete my 70's sitcom DVD collection soon. The picture quality of the episodes is awesome considering and I have no complaints whatsover. It's a D-Y-N-O-M-T-E set and the price is just right.

Good times aplenty in this classic sit com's second season:
What an eventful and hilarious year it was as Good Times cruised through its second season. The show had settled in to its unique groove by this point, with each character and his/her place in the show well-defined. There was an evident focus on J.J. and his comedic genius, but it never came close to the extremes that we would witness in later years. Michael doesn't get quite as much screen time or lines as J.J. and Thelma, but everyone, including Willona, made their mark on the show in Season Two. Florida is the central figure who often steers the action and dialogue from point to point, but clearly James Evans is the real star of the show. When I was young, I didn't like James very much because he always seemed to be yelling, and that scared me (hey, I was very young at the time). I thought I knew all about this show, having seen so many episodes in syndication 10-15 years ago, but I have really been amazed by John Amos' performance as I revisit the Evans household today. He truly was the heart and soul of this show in its first three seasons. How eventful was Season Two? Well, to start things off, Florida flips out with the housewife blues and later decides to go back to school and get her high school diploma. Michael gets selected to attend a better school across town but refuses to go, opening a debate on the merits of busing; in the same vein, Michael later refuses to take an IQ test in what is the only weak episode of the season. Hold on, I'm getting to the big stuff. How's this? J.J. gets arrested for robbing a liquor store on his eighteenth birthday, gets forcefully recruited into a gang and winds up getting shot, starts dating a rich girl whose parents do not approve of his lack of monetary means, decides to enlist in the Army, and seriously considers getting married. Thelma wins a scholarship to a fancy school for girls, perfects the art of burning oatmeal, and brings home the biggest surprise of all - a fiancée who is old enough to be her father. Along the way, the family has to deal with an alcoholic relative as well as an old friend who turns out to be a gambler on the lam, and James and Florida get the shock of their lives when they finally get to meet J.J.'s main squeeze Henrietta. James delivers some amazing performances, especially during times of crisis when someone in the family is in danger, either physically or emotionally. He should have won an Emmy just for the second episode of J.J. Becomes a Man, but he proved himself to be the consummate actor each and every episode. Sure, James yelled a lot, but he was a good husband and father in every sense of the words and always put his family first. There are some unforgettably hilarious episodes in Season Two. The Windfall, an episode in which James becomes a celebrity after returning a bag full of stolen money (only to get the least of rewards for his noble deed) is a classic. Then there's The Nude, in which J.J. plans to paint a nude portrait of the new head-turning neighbor upstairs, and The Enlistment, featuring J.J.'s incredibly funny physical exam in preparation for his enlistment in the Army. The prize, of course, goes to The Dinner Party. In this memorable episode, an older neighbor is suffering through some hard times financially and, as the Evans family learns, has resorted to eating dog food. They invite her to eat dinner with them, only to see her show up with a special meatloaf she cooked herself. Watching the family try to avoid taking a single bite of that meatloaf makes for one of the funniest scenes in television history. Even through all the histrionics and non-stop laughter, Good Times dealt with some serious issues in a very constructive manner. This was about as reality-based a sit com as TV would ever offer. While it was not truly realistic of ghetto life in the 1970s, the characters and problems the Evans family had to deal with week in and week out were rooted in reality, and the strong bond that held this family together made them a model family whom audiences of all sorts could relate to, look up to, and enjoy bringing into their homes each and every week. You don't get any special features with the 3-DVD set, but these 24 episodes are more than enough to delight those of us who grew up with Good Times and to win the show many a new fan among those who are too young to have been exposed to this timeless sit com before. The show just gets funnier and funnier as time goes by.

Good Times:
I think That Good times is an excellent picture to look at. As black people it shows us where we come from, and it is actually a real life story. However I would really like to see all the epesodes that janet jackson was on(Penny), and would like to know when will another one hit our stores. Thank you and keep up the good pic.

Everyone's favorite Junior Black Panther:
Oh Michael, you crazy kid. Black this, black that, black power left, black power right. This kid was so in tune with black issues, I bet people used to watch this show just for the news. Of course we have a woman named Florida who gave birth to this little militant. She's a God fearing woman who does not in any way shape or form condone Black Jesus (It's Willy the Wino!!) The best feature of this show was of course the daughter. She was a funky fresh mama that was fit to be tied. She had a wild, scraggily fro and a pair of breasts that just said 'BAMM!!' I like to watch her run out of the bedroom in her tight ghetto sweaters. Good Times! Any time you make a payment!