Favorite Episode

[boechsner]

What's your favorite episode(s)?

My favorites are:

The Dinner Party
The Nude
My Son the Lover
Florida the Woman
A Real Cool Job

[Left Coast]

It has been so long since I watched this show so I can't name any episode per se. When I was a kid this show was in its last seasons and it was basically the JJ the Clown show. As a kid, I liked it but as I got older I realised how stupid this show was. That being said, it should be remembered that when this show first started it was very good. It dealt with issues that never have been dealt with on TV before, and to some extent still haven't. Even the Black shows today are totally unrealistic but Good Times was ground breaking. As usual the good intentions of the show got upstaged by one actor in this case Jimmie Walker, who today is one of the most unfunny so called comedians I have ever seen.

But one episode I remember vividly is the one where Michael gets in trouble in school. His dad has to punish him, and he agonizes over this because he has to hit his child. Turns out Michael objected to what his teacher was telling the class. James learns from his kid that their was a Back sailor on Columbus' ship. His dad actually says, "You mean there was a spook on that ship?" This was classic Good Times. It had a message that is rarely talked about even today. Not just that but the end result of what James tells Michael at the end is awsome. He basically reasons with him not to be so militant in his efforts. He is proud of him for learning aspects of History on his own, but he stresses that he still has to get the basics from his teachers. Even more important is that it is Ok to disagree with teachers, but he should still respect them and not disrupt the class.

It is sad that they can't make a show like this today. Not only did it show how this family stayed together through all kinds of things, it had racial humor (which is practically illegal these days). This one episode had a strong message, racial inference, possible child abuse, and a great solution to a real problem in our society. Once the show started revolving around JJ, which caused James to leave it became a typical sit com you might see today.