Good Times

:For the Chic song "Good Times," see Good Times (song). For the virus hoax, see Goodtimes virus.

Backstage tension

Almost from the premiere episode, J.J., an aspiring artist, was the public's favorite character on the show and his frequently-invoked catch phrase "Dyn-o-mite!" became very popular. As the series progressed through its second and third year, however, Rolle and Amos, who played the Evans parents, grew more disillusioned with the direction the show was taking as J.J.'s antics and stereotypically buffoonish behavior took precedence in the storylines. Rolle was rather vocal about disliking the character of J.J. in a 1975 interview with Ebony magazine. Rolle was quoted as saying, "He's eighteen and he doesn't work. He can't read or write. He doesn't think. The show didn't start out to be that...Little by little—with the help of the artist, I suppose, because they couldn't do that to me—they have made J.J. more stupid and enlarged the role. Negative images have been slipped in on us through the character of the oldest child." http://www.tvparty.com/70good2.html

Related Topics:
Catch phrase - Ebony

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All of these ill feelings came to a head when it came time to negotiate Amos's contract in the summer of 1976, and he was dismissed from the series. Husband-and-wife team Austin and Irma Kalish were hired to oversee the day-to-day running of the show, replacing Allan Manings, who had become executive producer (he was also working on another Lear sitcom, One Day at a Time). The Kalishes and Manings, as script supervisors, threw ideas to writers Roger Shulman, John Baskin, and Bob Peete, and eventually penned an exit for Amos's character.

Related Topics:
1976 - Austin and Irma Kalish - Allan Manings - Executive producer - One Day at a Time

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At the beginning of the 1976–1977 season, the family was packing to move from the ghetto to a better life in Mississippi, where James had found a job. At the end of the first episode that season, Florida learned via a telegram (which, at first, she thought was to congratulate her on her move) that James was killed in a car accident. The show continued without a father, which was something Rolle did not want to pursue. One of the primary appeals of the project for her had been the presentation it initially offered of the strong African-American father heading his family.

Related Topics:
1976–1977 season - Mississippi - Telegram

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However, she stayed on hoping that the loss of the father's character would necessitate a shift in J.J.'s character, as J.J. would now become the man of the family. The writers did not take this approach, however; if anything, J.J.'s foolishness only increased. Wanting no further part in such depictions, by the summer of 1977, Rolle left the series. She was written out as moving to Arizona with her new love interest, Carl Dixon (Moses Gunn).

Related Topics:
1977 - Arizona - Moses Gunn

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Rolle had disliked the Carl Dixon character, as she believed Florida would have not moved on so quickly after James' death. Rolle also thought the writers had disregarded Florida's devout Christian beliefs by making her fall for Carl, who was an atheist.

Related Topics:
Christian - Atheist

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