Good Times : Season 3

 

 

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By Season Three, Good Times had fully hit its amazingly entertaining stride, delivering nonstop laughs week in and week out while beginning to introduce some more serious issues into the lives of the Evans family. People always say that J.J. got the most attention, and he certainly did draw in a lion's share of the audience (especially kids like me, who placed him behind only Fonzie on our list of characters to be imitated) with his obligatory Kid Dy-No-Mite pronouncements and hilariously goofy behavior, but the heart and soul of Good Times was still James Evans. Watching all these episodes again has been a real revelation to me. When I was a kid, I didn't like James - he sort of scared me because he was yelling all the time. As an adult, though, I have a much better appreciation of the remarkable job John Amos did playing such a strong and truly heroic husband and father who worked like a dog to support his family. Amos gives his best performance ever in Season Three's episode The Family Tree, in which he meets and comes to terms with his own father, a man who walked out on his family when James was still a kid. As for all that yelling - well, it's usually hilarious and, more importantly, understandable given the family's situation.

The Evans family experienced a number of fairly momentous events in Season Three. Thelma got engaged and almost moved to California; J.J. eloped, only finding out in the nick of time that his beloved was a junkie; Florida had to have gall bladder surgery, an event which put the family in bad economic straits for awhile (J.J.'s twelve cavities didn't help much, either); Michael got the family on the FBI watch list by requesting information from the government of Cuba; Florida got herself thrown in the slammer after picketing the local meat market (bad meat market, to be exact); Florida's bank-robbing nephew showed up and threw the family in turmoil; and J.J. learned he might have VD. Jay Leno and Debbie Allen put in guest appearances, J.J. sported his chicken- and ribs-delivery hats for the first time, Bookman turned up again and actually put on quite a show at the season-ending rent party episode (which also features the memorable "Supremes" performance), and - best of all - you had the first appearance of the man, the legend, the icon - Sweet Daddy Williams.

J.J.'s catch phrases can get a little old if you watch these episodes one after another, as do the constant arguments between J.J., Thelma, and Michael, but this was probably the show's funniest season. There is even comedy to be found in the worst of the family's struggles. Perhaps my favorite line from the whole show belongs to James - lamenting the money problems he faces after Florida's operation, he complains that his tombstone will say "Here lies James Evans, back in the hole again." Good Times was still a great show in its later seasons, but it was really never the same after Season Three and John Amos' exit.

I can't imagine not having grown up watching Good Times - during its original run and then, for many years, in syndication. I came home from school to shows like Good Times, What's Happening!!, Sanford and Son, and Happy Days; all kids have nowadays are, ugh, talk shows. Good Times was family entertainment at its best. If you're a parent, do your kids a favor and let them see just how funny TV used to be.

The third season of Good Times was the peak of the series as it was the last with John Amos.
The laughs kept on coming, although JJ(Jimmie Walker) was at the time the focus of the show despite the talented Amos and Esther Rolle (who also left the show when she became fed up with the buffoonery behind Walker's character).Not an episode was broadcast without one "Dy-No-Mite".
The classic episodes of the season includes The Family Gun, Florida's Protest, Cleatus, J.J.'s Fiancee ,Sweet Daddy Williams,The Investigation, and J.J. in Trouble.
Unfortunately Amos was asked to leave the show and his character was killed off in an auto accident.The show would last three more seasons (including the fifth where Rolle left the show, only to return in the final season),but it was obvious that season three was it's peak.

I wish Columbia Star would give better restoration and DVD transfer treatment of the TV shows they're licensed to release. But that won't ever happen so I may as well clam up and be a happy mindless consumer, grateful for any scraps they charge me $30 MSRP for. :rollingeyes: What happened to giving customers quality goods that they spend their hard earned money on?

But I digress, this review is about the quality of the stories - not the quality of the medium (which should be higher, when you consider how DVD's been hyped as being a high quality medium and that other companies release even older shows that look much better...)

I digress again! I own season 1 and 2 box sets already. They are definitely worth buying. Season 1 is great stuff, if only 13 episodes. Season 2 has a lot of good moments and a few great episodes, but seems to be giving more time to what became the WORST character of the bunch, JJ. While "DYNOMITE!" was a worthy catchphrase whose delivery merely needed some polishing compared to season 1, they somehow changed the line and gave JJ a superhero status. He became "Kid DYN-O-MITE!" for some unexplained reason. This "Kid DYN-O-MITE!!!!!!!!!!!!!" stuff is excessively overplayed in many episodes, is generally anything except funny (it's hubris and pointless raving egoism), not to mention the character's personality is utterly abrasive and brainless and a pain to watch at times. I'm amazed Florida puts up with half his antics and telling her how he's going to give hickeys with every girl he speaks of, as her persona in the first two seasons is the epitome of Christianity (she's far more a true Christian than many who claim to be these days...). (Also, behind the scenes, both Esther Rolle and John Amos became increasingly frustrated with the CBS execs because of Jimmy Walker and the waste of a character known as JJ. They wanted the show to have some substance, but Jimmy Walker's (now badly dated) shtick was funny at the time so he got the glory instead, and the leads were told to lump it. No wonder they both left...)

"Good Times" had real potential. Season 1 is easily the best of the bunch, with season 2 being a worthy purchase given the strength of the stories, even if JJ is starting to become a pantomime caricature... I will reluctantly purchase season 3, but I suspect it's going to be devoid of all the qualities Norman Lear was famous for in his comedies (social commentary, and all thanks to copying a British TV show when he 'created' "All in the Family"!). Season 2 is clearly more JJ-centric, with season 3 going even more in that direction despite the first couple of stories trying to remain on solid ground (the gun episode being one of the few times the execs dared to put the show to rights, but they cowered and went back to the JJ antics...)

Back to "All in the Family", that show seems to get (less than) one season per year. For a 9+ year show, this release schedule is uacceptable. Worse, the third season of AitF was due out 6 months ago in order to have maintained at annual release schedule. Could Columbia be releasing that show for ironically political reasons? But at least it's coming out, as it's arguably the best season that show had.

(And where's "Maude"?! It's the only Norman Lear-based show that hasn't been released yet...)

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4.0 out of 5 stars "Scratching and Surviving" in Season 3 ...
The third season of "Good Times" - one of the best shows Norman Lear ever created - saw the show hitting its stride in both character and story development, in both serious... Read more

Published on Jun 6 2004 by jadedromantic

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