Good Times : Season 5

I have all the good times DVD's, but the best thing I like about the show is not the comedy or the nostalgia; it is the controversial and political subjects that the show has portrayed over all the seasons. From the subjects of drug use, gang violence, and especially the way the fourth season carried on without the patriarch of the family, and how the family struggled more but grew stronger. Season five has the best of all these seasons combined, that is, when they brought the subject of child abuse, single parenthood and adoption of children to poor people in a five part continuing story of the new girl in the neighborhood(PLayed By Janet Jackson)and her abusive mother and how Wilona (Ja'net Dubois) save her from this horrible situation. I think of all the topics of Mr. Norman Lears Television shows during the seventies, this particular story stayed with me the most. I watched it when I was a child, and it still has the same profound impact on me today as it did when I first seen it on TV. My friend who has never seen the show being from another country who watches it with me frequently, agrees that this is one of the most underrated TV shows in TV history. THese issues are as important today as they were thirty years ago.

In season five we are introduced to a little girl in a bad situation. Janet Jackson joins the cast as Esther Rolle leaves the show for a while. The Evans kids really show remarkable growth into adult hood in season five. They still tease each other and make us laugh but that's just a sibling thing.

Wilona Woods really gets her chance to shine as the new lead actress of the series. She takes Janet Jackson's character Penny under her wing as we discover Penny's home is nowhere for a child to be living.

The writers really did a good job at recapturing the mood of Good Times as it was in the first season even without the lead actors it began with.

SEASON 5 IS THE WORST SEASON OF THE SERIES I AM THE WORLD'S BIGGEST "GOOD TIMES" FAN.... SO I FEEL COMFORTABLE SAYING THAT.

IT IS SAD TO SAY BUT SONY SHOULD HAVE JUST RELEASED EPISODES 1-4

OUT OF THIS SEASON, BECAUSE THEY ARE THE BEST OUT OF THE 24 EPISODES JANET DU'BOIS AND CHIP FIELDS BOTH GIVE TOUR-DE-FORCE PERFORMANCES IN THE EPISODES TITLED "THE EVANSES GET INVOLVED"

I LOVE AND ADMIRE THE LATE GREAT ESTHER ROLLE AND RESPECT HER FOR HER STANCE ON THE DIRECTION THE SHOW WAS HEADING AND THE BAFOONERY OF JJ'S CHARACTER HE WAS WAY TOO OLD TO BE STILL SAYING "DYNOMITE" EVERY 5 MINUTES. I BELIEVE THE PRODUCERS PLAYED THE OLE "DIVIDE AND CONQUER" ROUTINE AMONGST JIMMIE WALKER AND ESTHER ROLLE. IT IS SAD THAT IT HAD TO BE THAT WAY. HOWEVER- JOHN AMOS BOWED OUT GRACEFULLY AT THE END OF SEASON THREE...WAY BEFORE THEY COULD PLACE HIM IN THIS DEBACLE. IF YOU ARE A "GOOD TIMES" FAN YOU WILL BUY THIS SET LIKE I DID. BUT IF THIS YOUR FIRST TIME BUYING A "GOOD TIMES" SET DONT START WITH THIS SEASON START WITH SEASON ONE AND WORK YOUR WAY UP SO BY THE TIME YOU GET TO SEASON FIVE YOU WILL HAVE AN UNDERSTANDING OF WHAT THE SHOW STARTED OFF LIKE. I CANT WAIT FOR SEASON SIX IT WAS ONE OF MY FAVORITE SEASONS....IT IS A MUST HAVE FOR THREE REASONS

1. THELMA AND KEITH'S WEDDING

2. THE RETURN OF PENNY'S MOTHER (EXPLOSIVE EPISODE)

3. THE EVANSES FINALLY MAKE IT OUT OF THE PROJECT'S