"Ain't we lucky we got 'em...Good Times!" -- Good Times Theme
Good Times: The Complete Second Season DVD Review
By Jonathan Boudreaux
After a successful run as a midseason replacement in the spring of 1974, Good Times returned to CBS for its first full season in the fall of that same year. The sitcom centers on the Evans family as they struggle with life in a Chicago high-rise project. James (John Amos), the breadwinner, continues to fight a losing battle to support his family on the meager income he earns at a car wash and doing various odd jobs. His wife Florida (Esther Rolle) is a former maid (the show is a spin-off of Maude, which in turn was a spin-off of All in the Family) who now stays home to care for her family, but who often yearns for something more. Eldest son J.J. (Jimmie Walker) is a talented painter who imagines himself a street-smart ladies man. He has a vivid imagination. Middle child Thelma (Bernnadette Stanis) still chases guys, but also manages to find time to help her mother around the house and keep her brothers in line. Youngest son Michael (Ralph Carter) is the family's "militant midget" who is constantly complaining about racial injustice. Neighbor Willona (Ja'net DuBois) is Florida's best friend and practically a member of the family.
As in the first season, Good Times is strongest when it focuses on the core characters and their relationships. All of the actors are immensely likeable, and they are generally able to create a believable portrait of a loving family. Rolle and Amos continue to ground the series with their moving depiction of a hard-working, loving couple. In the first episode of the two-part "J.J. Becomes a Man," for example, one of the most effective moments is a tender dance scene between Florida and James. The younger actors, too, continue to grow stronger in their roles as the series progresses.
One notable change in the second season is the rise in prominence of Walker's role. His J.J. proved to be popular with audiences during the show's spring run, and the writers responded by milking him for laughs whenever possible. In almost every episode, Walker bellows out his catchphrase - "Kid.Dyn-O-Mite!" - to a wildly appreciative audience. The writers just as often cash in on Walker's lanky physique by having his character parade around in a towel or in bright red long johns that make him look like a walking, talking licorice stick. (Within a few seasons, this growing emphasis on Walker would lead to a mutiny by the cast's adults, with both Amos and Rolle eventually leaving the series in protest.)
As can be expected from a show that plays off of an actor's skinniness for laughs, the writing on the series is sometimes uneven. The show attempts to deal with social issues like the unfairness of I.Q. tests to minority students and school bussing, but these episodes often come across as clumsy or forced. All in the Family is able to find funny or dramatic ways to deal with similar issues, but in Good Times, these issues are only used as a device to allow the Evans family to encounter buffoonish whites and sell-out blacks, or to expound on the issue in awkwardly worded speeches.
Sometimes, however, these stabs at social relevance do pay off. In the two-part episode "The Gang," J.J. is intimidated into joining "Satan's Knights," a violent street gang. He tries to bow out on the eve of a rumble, but is shot by the gang's leader. Part one seems padded, but part two ends with a surprisingly powerful scene in which James, out for revenge, realizes that life is much more complicated than "an eye for an eye."
Another stand-out episode is "The Dinner Party," in which the Evans family believes that the meatloaf brought over by an elderly neighbor is made out of dog food. The dilemma that this presents them is quite funny, even if its point about having to survive on little money does not totally succeed.
"The Family Business" introduces Johnny Brown as the Evans' slimy superintendent, Bookman. After a cast shakeup a few years later, Bookman would become a featured character.
The twenty-four episodes that make up the second season are divided onto three discs. The discs are housed in a digipak that slides into a cardboard sleeve. An episode guide booklet and a brochure touting other Columbia/TriStar releases are housed in a folder panel of the digipak.
While the packaging of the second season is similar to that of the first, the menu design is totally different. Gone are the cutouts of each of the characters' heads on a striped pastel background. This time around, the menus feature a giant picture of sequined platform shoes, a smaller image of the cast, and a background of deep reds, purples, and oranges. Viewers can play all episodes or choose an individual episode. The menus that list the individual episodes are equally funky - they feature afro picks as navigational devices, and the individual episodes are represented by an image from show shaped as the outline of an afro-wearing head. The episodes are divided into chapters.
The episodes are presented in production order rather than in airdate order. This will cause a problem for those viewers who choose to watch the episodes via the "Play All" feature. This is because the two parts of "J.J. Becomes a Man" were not filmed one after the other. On the discs, another episode comes between them, thus interrupting the flow of the story. Viewers who prefer to watch shows in airdate order can use a resource like epguides.com to determine the order in which view Good Times: The Complete Second Season.
