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For Carletta’s Black History Month Write-Off, I decided I’d have the pleasure of giving you two entries. I didn’t make a conscious decision, of course..... I would have written about both of these works regardless of whether there was a write-off, but the hands of fate led me to this point where I could actually put a context to these reviews.

During the past week, I’ve been watching the first season of the sitcom Good Times, on DVD. Good Times was one of many comedies that Norman Lear had a hand in creating after the amazing success of All in the Family, which forever changed the sitcom format from safe, innocent, and tasteful into something that was shocking, loud, abrasive, outrageous, and, at least during the 70’s, controversial. AITF itself spun off many equally famous series -- Maude (who was Edith Bunker’s cousin) and The Jeffersons (who lived next door to the Bunkers before George became successful with his dry-cleaning chain) got shows of their own. What is unique about Good Times was that it was a spinoff of a spinoff --- Florida Evans (Esther Rolle) was Maude’s maid, and left that show a few years into its run to star in her own show, which detailed how her and the rest of the Evans family made do with the financially unfortunate circumstances of living in the projects.

Good Times was a sitcom, but, man, it could get pretty depressing. The theme song pokes us with how depressing living in poverty could be -- “Temporary layoffs/Good Times/Easy credit rip-offs/ Good Times/ scratching and surviving/Good Times/ hanging in a chow line/Good Times/ Ain’t we lucky we got ‘em?/Good Times!” But the full message of the song, and of the show, is that the family made do, and was grateful for the good stuff that they did have. They had each other, and they did their best.

James (John Amos) is a man who does all he can to support his family, even if that means working two or three jobs without getting much sleep, even if it means that he can’t get a better job due to his sixth-grade education, even if it means that the jobs that he does get don’t last for very long. Florida is a housewife, who stays at home and takes care of the kids -- Mike (Ralph Carter), a ten year old who is quite aware and militant for his age, Thelma (Bernadette Stanis), a 16 year old who, like many girls her age, is obsessed with locking herself in the bathroom for too long to make herself look beautiful, and J.J. (Jimmie Walker), a goofy, smart-alecky 17 year old with a surprising and impressive artistic streak.

Much of the content teeters on the brink between satire and melodrama. It’s satire, because it’s a sitcom, but, in pushing the satirical elements to the very edge, it threatens to (and sometimes does) go over the edge, and we realize that, hey, this is really gloomy stuff. One very intriguing episode is when the kids suspect that James is suffering from hypertension, because he seems to be more stressed and upset. When the family confronts him about it, he freaks out -- he doesn’t just yell, but smashes a chair against the wall before storming to the bedroom. He’s not mildly upset; he’s a man at the end of his rope, and who wouldn’t be if you were in his shoes? I’m only one man, who only has to support myself, and even I find it a little daunting sometimes. He has to support a whole family.

Nothing is as visually intense as that scene in the rest of the season, but the series still manages to touch on rather worrisome problems. There’s one episode where everything that could go wrong in an apartment goes wrong -- the elevator fails, the fridge breaks down, the water is stopped, the heat is off, the floor tiles split....... Mike has written a letter to the newspaper, which gets the attention of the housing department, who don’t seem to like any criticism from people who “ought” to be grateful for having a home. There’s also another episode in which Florida is hired to do a commercial for a health tonic, and discovers that this “health tonic” actually contains 18 percent alcohol (only after the shot of the youngest chugging down one entire bottle). These shows work as satire, but the topics are pretty believable. You wonder how the Evans can put up with a housing operation that doesn’t give a crap as long as they get the rent and look good in front of the right people for giving black tenants a home, and you wonder why companies would lie, and sell dubious products with high alcohol content to the black community. Well, at least I was wondering about these things.

The brilliant part of Good Times, as with the other Lear sitcoms, is the tension between the situation and the comedy. The situations are real, sometimes grim, but we get humor that works as either comic relief or something more satirical. Or sometimes, perhaps the “funny” lines are the only appropriate things to say. I know that some people get embarrassed or baffled at Lear’s willingness to be edgy, to shock, and possibly to offend, especially now, when all sitcoms are “safe” again, but I admire anything that Lear puts his name to, because at least he was willing to take the risk.

The only thing about this show that irked me slightly was Jimmie Walker’s character of J.J. Many opponents of this series point to him as a bad example, and it’s totally understandable, it seems. He seems to be a stereotype of a jive-talking sort of individual, although I must admit that I’m not up on my stereotypes. The way that he talks, and the way that he walks, as if to show off and basically look like a goofball, might make some people squirm a bit. Probably the only reason that I can’t get extremely offended by this stuff is because I’m not the one who has to put up with stereotypes of my race in national media.

J.J. actually does have many funny lines, and they’re not meant to make him look stupid. If any other comic actor had said them, in his own delivery, they’d still be funny. And even though his character doesn’t do well in school, and even t though it’s suggested that he commits very petty theft, J. J. does have one thing going for him --- he’s a painter. Most of the time, when he’s not cracking wise or acting goofy, he’s at his canvas, developing his “ebony genius”, as he puts it. Overall, I’m not sure if this is meant to be just a stereotype, or a parody of one -- he seems to have the negative qualities, but then we see that he has qualities that a writer who was really out to offend would never think of using. Or I could be wrong.

Many people may not appreciate how much Norman Lear is responsible for the state of sitcoms in the 70’s, 80’s, and even during the past ten years or so. Before All in the Family, the types of shows that were on the air were stuff like Beverly Hillbillies, Petticoat Junction, Gilligan’s Island, I Dream of Jeannie, etc, etc. These shows were phony, fantastical, expensive, and clearly contain a canned laugh track as opposed to a real audience. They were also safe, uncontroversial, and..... white. All in the Family was shocking, and not just because Archie Bunker was a racist swine (he was far worse at the start of the series than he was later on) -- virtually everything in the first few seasons of that show was untested ground for a sitcom. That show dealt with real issues that faced real people, and also showed that, yes, there were other races and cultures in the world. The fact that AITF, and it’s followers, were shot live, and on the cheap, gave the shows more added realism.

Lear is also responsible for the fact that every sitcom now is loud, abrasive, and raunchy. Even stupid shows like Three’s Company or Who’s The Boss couldn’t have existed without him (sorry, I don’t follow much current TV!). A show about a man and two women living in the same apartment, with all sorts of sexual innuendo? A show about a man who is a housekeeper, and who shares sexual tension with his female boss? Couldn’t have happened without Lear’s shows breaking all the taboos.

And, it must be said, Lear also helped break the color barrier, at least for sitcoms. Good Times and The Jeffersons showed that black people could carry a sitcom, and show at least some aspect of their lives. These shows did play on stereotypes and exaggerations, true, but that was typical of all Lear shows, regardless of race -- and, I suppose, you had to start somewhere. Years later, a show like the Cosby Show had the flipside, with a family that didn’t play stereotypes or exaggeration, but acted like a “regular” TV family.

As a piece of television history, Good Times is invaluable. And while some of the stereotypes and exaggerations probably ought to remain in the past, it would be great if these types of shows, that deal with real issues with satire, realism, and humor, could still be made, and accepted by audiences, today. Now if only someone would release Maude on DVD, as they have with All in the Family, The Jeffersons, and Good Times, then I’d be a very happy person!!!

Some peculiar facts: Janet Jackson actually appeared on this show during the last seasons. And both Jay Leno and David Letterman are credited as writers (but not from the first season) on the Internet Movie Database. I’ve heard that this show went downhill after only a few seasons --- somehow I doubt that two white standup comics/talk show hosts could write a good comedy about the projects!!!!

The rest of Lear’s famous quartet of shows, reviewed by me:

The Jeffersons: http://www.epinions.com/content_73185005188

Maude: http://www.epinions.com/content_42577268356

All in the Family: http://www.epinions.com/content_39604227716







Recommended:
Yes

Viewing Format: DVD
Video Occasion: Good for a Rainy Day