50 Fun Facts About Good Times

Good Times was a spin-off of which sitcom, on which Florida Evans had been the housekeeper?

Maude was itself a spin-off of All in the Family, making Good Times a spin-off of a spin-off; Florida had worked for Maude Findlay in Tuckahoe, New York.

On which network did Good Times air its entire six-season run?

CBS aired all six seasons but kept moving the show, from Fridays to Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Mondays and Saturdays, before cancelling it in 1979.

Good Times was created by Eric Monte and which actor, best known as Lionel Jefferson?

Mike Evans was still playing Lionel on All in the Family when he and his friend Eric Monte pitched their producer a sitcom about a struggling Black family.

Which producer developed Good Times and served as its first executive producer?

Norman Lear disliked J.J.'s shouted catchphrase, the actor who played him recalls, but the director insisted on it in every episode and it became the show's signature.

In which city does the Evans family of Good Times live?

Chicago was home to co-creator Eric Monte, who grew up in one of its housing projects and set the family's struggles there.

Which actress played Thelma, the Evans family's only daughter, on Good Times?

Bern Nadette Stanis was 20 when she began playing 16-year-old Thelma, a part her TV father complained was neglected once the scripts turned to J.J.'s clowning.

Which real housing project appears in the opening and closing credits of Good Times?

Cabrini-Green appears in the credits but is never named on screen; the last of its high-rises was demolished in 2011.

Before Good Times renamed him James, Florida's husband had which first name, later given to James's father?

Henry was a New York firefighter in his guest spots on Florida's earlier sitcom; Good Times renamed him James, a man scraping by on odd jobs, and later introduced a Grandpa Henry.

Which future late-night host, then a joke writer for the actor who played J.J., had a small Good Times guest part?

Jay Leno played a clinic patient in 1976's "J.J. in Trouble"; the show's breakout star had hired him and David Letterman, both struggling comics, to write for his stand-up act.

James Evans, who left school after sixth grade, sometimes hustles extra money at which game?

Pool is James's side hustle: in an early episode he wins the money the family needs at a pool hall over Florida's objections, between manual jobs like dishwashing and construction.

Who played James Evans on Good Times?

John Amos clashed with the writers over the show's drift toward clowning; he later said the producers "got tired of having their lives threatened over jokes" and dropped him.

Which Good Times actor was 26 when cast as a teenager?

Jimmie Walker, a stand-up comic, was 26 when he was cast as 17-year-old J.J., which left him less than eight years younger than the actor playing his father.

What nickname does James give his youngest son Michael, because of his political activism?

"The militant midget" fits a boy who joins protest marches and keeps his family briefed on every injustice he sees.

What does Michael, the youngest of the Evans children on Good Times, dream of becoming?

A lawyer, and more: the actor who played his father recalled a boy who "aspired to become a Supreme Court justice" and complained that the writers dropped such stories for J.J.'s antics.

What is the surname of the building superintendent, nicknamed "Buffalo Butt"?

Bookman, the building's indolent superintendent, so annoys his tenants that they petition to have him fired in season five, and he has to scheme to win the job back.

Which future Diff'rent Strokes star made two guest appearances on Good Times in 1978?

Gary Coleman, then ten, turned up in a talent-show episode that April and again in October; a month later Diff'rent Strokes made him a star.

In the Good Times episode "Black Jesus", who does J.J. use as the model for his portrait of Jesus?

J.J. paints Jesus with the face of Ned the Wino, the neighborhood drunk played by Raymond Allen; the family's luck seems to improve while the painting hangs in the apartment.

Which artist painted most of the works credited to J.J. on Good Times, including The Sugar Shack?

Ernie Barnes painted most of the canvases shown as J.J.'s work; The Sugar Shack, seen in the show's credits, also became the cover of Marvin Gaye's album I Want You.

Who played Keith Anderson, the man Thelma marries on Good Times?

Ben Powers played Keith Anderson, who marries Thelma and joins the cast as a regular in the final season; an injury on the wedding day wrecks the career he had lined up.

Before Good Times, the actor who played James Evans was Gordy the weatherman on which sitcom?

The Mary Tyler Moore Show cast him after two of its producers saw him writing and performing sketches on a variety show; he played weatherman Gordy Howard on and off for its first four seasons.

Which comedian turned a famously hard-to-hear line of the Good Times theme into a quiz question on his sketch show?

Dave Chappelle's "I Know Black People" sketch quizzed contestants on a line heard as "hangin' in a chow line" or "hangin' in and jivin'"; asked in 2007, the song's two lyricists could not agree on the words either.

What did Esther Rolle insist on before she would agree to star in Good Times?

A father for the family: the producers first imagined Florida raising her children alone, and Esther Rolle refused to sign until a husband was written back in.

Ralph Carter had to be bought out of which Broadway musical to play Michael on Good Times?

Ralph Carter was appearing in the Broadway musical Raisin, based on A Raisin in the Sun, so the producers bought out his contract; early episodes credit him as appearing courtesy of that show.

Which Good Times character did guest star Chip Fields play in seasons five and six?

Penny's abusive mother, who abandons the girl in season five and schemes to win her back a year later; Fields's own daughter Kim guested on the show in 1978.

Which magazine ran Esther Rolle's 1975 interview attacking the J.J. character?

In a 1975 Ebony interview Rolle said the writers had made J.J. "more stupid" and enlarged the role; she and the actor playing James both pushed for more serious storylines.

After Good Times dropped him, the actor who played James Evans earned an Emmy nomination for which miniseries?

Roots aired the year after he was let go, three seasons in, for clashing with the sitcom's writers; he played Toby, the adult Kunta Kinte.

How was James Evans written out of Good Times?

Killed in a car accident in Mississippi, where he had gone for a promising new job; the producers chose to kill the character off instead of recasting him.

Which two-part Good Times episode opens season four with the news of James's death?

The Big Move is named for the family's plan to follow James to a new job out of state; the telegram announcing his death arrives in the middle of their going-away party.

On Good Times, which household object does Florida smash when her grief breaks through after James's funeral?

A punch bowl is what Florida hurls to the floor, crying "Damn, damn, damn!", after holding an eerily cheerful front through the gathering that followed James's funeral.

On Good Times, Florida ends season four engaged to which shop owner, played by Moses Gunn?

Carl Dixon, the shop owner played by Moses Gunn, marries Florida off screen; Esther Rolle disliked the storyline partly because Carl was an atheist and Florida a devout Christian.

On Good Times, in which state do Florida and her ailing new husband settle after marrying off screen?

Arizona's dry climate was the draw: he had just been diagnosed with lung cancer, and when Florida returns alone for the final season his fate goes unspoken.

Which future pop superstar joined Good Times in its fifth season as Penny Gordon?

Janet Jackson was eleven when she joined as Penny and stayed until the show ended, but she has since said she was unhappy there: the wardrobe staff bound her chest before each taping.

Who adopts Penny Gordon on Good Times?

Willona adopts Penny in season five; with both Evans parents gone from the show that year, Willona effectively became the lead, looking in on the Evans children living alone.

Which head of state did the shady Alderman Fred C. Davis spoof with the line "I am not a crook"?

Richard Nixon's "I am not a crook" line, from a November 1973 press session, is parroted by the crooked Alderman Fred C. Davis, who calls the Evanses his "favorite project family".

What is Sweet Daddy Williams's line of work on Good Times?

Numbers runner and pimp, and a lender too: J.J. borrows from him to pay for Thelma's wedding, and Sweet Daddy arrives with his bodyguards to collect.

Which Oscar-winning actor played Florida's brother Wilbert on Good Times?

Louis Gossett Jr., later an Oscar winner for An Officer and a Gentleman, played Florida's brother Wilbert; he had earlier appeared as Thelma's much older suitor in "Thelma's Young Man".

Which future Fame star played Diana, J.J.'s fiancee with a hidden drug problem, on Good Times?

Debbie Allen, later Fame's dance teacher Lydia Grant, played Diana in a two-part story; the couple run off to elope, and the Evanses learn of her habit from a purse she left behind.

In "Michael Gets Suspended", what does Michael tell his teacher that gets him sent home?

George Washington was a racist because he owned slaves, Michael tells his class, and he will not apologize; James is ready to punish him until he reads the boy's history book for himself.

On Good Times, which future Rocky co-star played the husband of "the Wiggler", who wants J.J. to paint her nude?

Carl Weathers, soon to be Apollo Creed in Rocky, played the model's husband; Florida cannot see why the woman has to pose in the Evans apartment or why James is so taken with her.

Which fundraising tradition do the Evanses use on Good Times to help a neighbor who has fallen behind on her bills?

A rent party collects money from the other tenants to cover a neighbor's debts; at this one Michael's turn at the microphone is a real 1975 single by the actor who plays him.

Which Good Times regular co-wrote and sang The Jeffersons theme, "Movin' On Up"?

Ja'Net DuBois told her producer she wanted to branch out, and he suggested a theme for a new show of his; she wrote it around her own dream of giving her mother a better life.

In an early Good Times episode, what threat hangs over the Evans family unless they can find $74?

Eviction looms in the pilot script: Florida goes to the welfare office and J.J. hatches a scheme of his own before James comes up with the money.

On Good Times, what is the profession of Keith Anderson, the man Thelma marries?

Professional football player Keith Anderson wrecks his knee at the wedding and loses his deal; by the finale the knee has healed and an NFL team offers him a contract.

What is the comic-book heroine J.J. creates in the Good Times finale called?

DynoWoman, the heroine J.J. creates for his big break in the finale, is modeled on Thelma, who is delighted; J.J. also moves out to his own apartment.

Which job does Florida take after returning for the final season of Good Times?

School bus driver: Florida has to compete for the job with a relative of Alderman Davis, and a later episode traps her and a busload of children in a blizzard.

The happy-ending Good Times finale is titled "The End of the" what?

"The End of the Rainbow" pays everyone off at once: J.J. sells a comic, Thelma is expecting and the whole family finally leaves the projects.

Good Times, The Jeffersons and which other Black-family sitcom made 1974–75's Nielsen top ten?

Sanford and Son ranked second that season, two decades after Amos 'n' Andy was cancelled amid protests and sitcoms with mostly Black casts became a rarity.

Which country remade Good Times in 1976 as The Fosters, with a teenage future comedy star as the eldest son?

Britain's ITV moved the family to a South London tower block for The Fosters, the earliest British sitcom with an all-Black cast; a teenage Lenny Henry played the eldest son.

Which streaming service released the animated revival Good Times: Black Again in 2024?

Netflix released the revival in April 2024 with Stephen Curry and Seth MacFarlane among its executive producers; Variety called it "dated, humorless and baffling" and NPR said it seemed calculated to offend.

Which husband-and-wife songwriting team wrote the lyrics to the Good Times theme?

Alan and Marilyn Bergman, the couple behind "The Way We Were", recall that the show had no title until their song supplied one.