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Episodes Disc One: “Florida Flips”, “Crosstown Buses Run All Day, Doodah, Doodah”, “J.J. Becomes A Man, Part I (JJ Is Arrested, Part 1)”, “The Man I Most Admire”, “J.J. Becomes A Man, Part II (J.J. Is Arrested, Part II)”, “The Encyclopedia Hustle”, “The I.Q. Test”, “Thelma’s Young Man”
Episodes
Disc Two: “Florida, The Matchmaker”, “The Windfall”, “The Gang, Part
1”, “The Gang, Part II”, “Sometimes There’s No Bottom In The
Bottle”, “Florida’s Big Gig”, “Florida Goes To School”, “The
Nude”
Episodes
Disc Three: “The Family Business”, “The Debutante Ball”, “The Dinner
Party”, “The Houseguest”, “My Girl, Henrietta”, “The Enlistment”,
“Thelma’s Scholarship”, “The Lunch Money Rip-Off”
Stars: Esther Rolle, John Amos,
Jimmy Walker, BernNadette Stansis, Ralph Carter, and Ja’Net DuBois
Writers: Jack Elinson, Norman
Paul, John Donley, Kurt Taylor, Michael Morris, Bob Shayne, Eric Cohen, Jay
Moriarty, Mike Milligan, John Baskin, Roland Wolpert, Allan Manings, Eric Monte,
Norm Liebmann, Larry Markes, Bob Peete, Michael E. Coleman, Perry Grant, Barry
E. Blitzer, Alex Barris, Dick Bensfield, Robert Fisher, Phil Naples, Elon
Packard, John Fenton Murray, Art Baer, and Ben Joelson
Director: Herbert Kenwith
Created By: Eric Monte and Mike
Evans
Executive Producer: Norman Lear
Feature length: 600 minutes
Languages: English Monaural Sound
Subtitles: English Closed Captions
Packaging: Three-Disc Digipack
Gatefold Within A Glossy Cardboard Slipcase
Sound: Monaural Sound
Year of Television Broadcast:
1974-1975/DVD Release: 2004
Home Video Distributor: Columbia
TriStar Home Entertainment
MPAA Rating: Not Rated
Reviewer: Mark A. Rivera
After a successful run as
television’s first spin-off of a spin-off, (“Good Times” was a spin-off of
“Maude,” which was a spin-off of “All In The Family”), CBS ordered a
complete season of 24 episodes of “Good Times” for the series’ sophomore
season. Just like the first season of “Good Times,” the second season hits
the ground running with nearly every episode such a unique blend comedy and
drama that not only are many of the issues still sadly very relevant today, but
watching the second season of “Good Times” can truly remind a person just
how bad television has become. That is not to say that “Good Times” did not
have it’s share of clunky episodes, the later seasons without John Amos as
“James Evans, Sr.” are in my humble opinion not nearly as entertaining and
well written as the seasons where he was a part of the cast. Yet for all of
those faults in the later seasons, I can still note that as a whole “Good
Times” was a great show that came out at a time that seems to have been a
golden age for the American sitcom in the 1970s with other shows like
“M*A*S*H,” “The Jeffersons,” “All In The Family,” “Barney
Miller,” and “Taxi” to name a few gracing the airwaves with a mix of humor
and pathos rarely seen on contemporary American television since.
One can see how Jimmy Walker’s
status as the eldest Evan’s family son “J.J.” was becoming something more
than a gimmick and yet not quite a cultural phenomenon with every episode giving
Walker a chance to slip in a “Dynamite!” exclamation in the script and more
attention being given to Walker’s physical presence by having his character
wear ridiculous clothes that accentuated his tall slender body and thus made any
physical movement the character made all the more bizarre to behold. In all
fairness to Mr. Walker though, he really puts a lot of himself out here when he
performs and he makes it look easy, which means he is probably more talented
than people have given him credit for because of his signature character being
so closely associated with the actor/comedian. However he has a place in
television history that in a sense has immortalized his character portrayal and
considering how many people never get the chance to star in a sitcom, let a lone
a hit sitcom, Id say there could be worse fates so I hope he counts his
blessings. Personally I think John Amos and Esther Rolle were truly the anchors
of the series. They provided the foundation that kept J.J.’s antics from
becoming a total circus. All things considered as I look back at these shows, I
am struck by just how pretty BernNadette Stansis was in her role as
“Thelma.” I was not even ten years old when these episodes first aired on
CBS so I could not appreciate her beauty back then. However now when I see her I
think to myself, boy she had such a nice face with big beautiful eyes and a
wholesome beauty that made her still appear sexually attractive without making
her look like a tramp. Heck I realized Ja’Net DuBois (Willona) was not a bad
looking woman either as I watched these episodes and I forget where I saw her,
but if memory serves me correct she doesn’t look too different today. I mean
for an older woman, probably old enough to be my mother, she has aged well.
Notable guest stars to appear in
the second season include Ron Glass (Barney Miller & Firefly), Louis
Gossett, Jr. (An Officer And A Gentlemen), and former pro footballers Ernie
Barnes and Ernie Wheelwright. Memorable must see episodes in the set include the
two-part pair “J.J. Becomes A Man (J.J. Gets Arrested)”, and “The Gang”
as well as “The I.Q. Test”, “Thelma’s Young Man”, “The Encyclopedia
Hustle,” “The Windfall”, “The Nude”, “The Dinner Party”, “The
Houseguest”, “The Enlistment”, “Thelma’s Scholarship”, and “The
Lunch Money Rip-Off.” Johnny Brown makes his first appearance as the
Evans family building superintendent Nathan Bookman in the episode “The Family
Business” on disc three. Interesting to note as well
is how back then you could portray a father who disciplines his kids when
necessary with a belt strap. Now days if a parent is portrayed as disciplining
his child for doing something wrong like stealing with a belt or a slap on his
or her behind, the character would be regarded as being an abusive parent and
personally I think there is a big difference between discipline and abuse. I
mean if you discipline a kid today, you’re might find a team of social workers
at your doorstep ready to take the kid away and throw you in jail.
Perhaps I am too old, but while I
agree that hitting a kid for doing something wrong is not the way to solve a
problem, I also feel that if all you do is constantly talk about things, your
kid might take advantage. I mean if my father spanked me in my life for doing
something it was so rare that I can barely remember why, but I will state that
as much as I don’t like it, sometimes a belt strap is what it takes to learn
both figuratively and literally. So I found that aspect in “Good Times” as
well as a few other sitcoms from the 1970s to be oddly refreshing because pretty
much modern television needs a boot in the ass big time in my opinion.
All 24 episodes of the second
season of “Good Times” are presented in their original broadcast (1.33:1)
aspect ratio with an English two-channel Monaural Soundtrack and optional
English Closed Captions for the hearing impaired. The two channel Monaural Sound
is free of any analogue background hissing and quite clear while there has been
a bit of deterioration on the analogue video masters used for these DVDs, but
overall the picture quality looks pretty good considering these episodes are
nearly thirty years old.
There are no real extra value
features aside from a few bonus trailers. The menus are standard interactive
still frame menus that are easy to navigate. Episodes can be viewed individually
or as a whole by utilizing the “Play All” feature on each disc.
“Good Times: The Complete Second
Season” on DVD box set will debut on Tuesday, February 3, 2004 at retailers on
and offline from Columbia TriStar Home Entertainment.
© Copyright 2004 By Mark A.
Rivera
All Rights Reserved.
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