Good Times

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

Two-parters

Good Times, like many other Norman Lear series, was known for its use of the "two-parter" to draw viewers back to the show the next week. Although these story arcs usually played out over two episodes, some stories, like Willona adopting Penny from her abusive mother, took as many as four episodes to play out.

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Here is a list of notable Good Times two-parters:

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• In the fall of 1974, J.J. celebrated his eighteenth birthday. Expecting art supplies from his father, he receives a sweater instead because the department store turned down James's credit. J.J. leaves his birthday party to go out with his girlfriend but he is implicated in a liquor store robbery instead. The first part ends with Thelma breaking the news to her parents, while the second episode is set mostly in the city jail as they try to get him out. It turns out that J.J. is innocent and police admit they confused him with the actual crook despite the fact the real criminal is a white man who looks nothing like J.J. beyond wearing the same kind of clothing..
• Later in 1974, J.J. is recruited into a gang, the Satan's Knights, against his will. He is forced to participate in a gang fight, and James finds out. While helping J.J. flee from the fight, a rival gang member shoots J.J., where the first episode ends. The next week, James waits for the hoodlum to go to trial and subsequently feels sympathy for the boy and the broken home he comes from.
• In 1976, J.J. and his girlfriend, Diana (Debbie Allen), announce plans to elope, against their parents' wishes. Unknown to J.J., Diana is a heroin addict; the only way the rest of the Evans family finds out is when Thelma finds Diana's purse and the drug paraphernalia and drugs hidden inside; what's even more shocking is who is Diana's supplier—an elementary-aged school boy. Meanwhile, J.J. (oblivious to his fianceé's secret) and Diana drive across the state line in search for a minister, leaving the Evanses and Diana's parents frantically searching for their children. By the time they reach the hotel where they plan to marry, Diana is in desperate need of a high and discovers her purse missing. She yells at J.J., blaming him for not bringing her purse along, so she goes into the bathroom. Just then, J.J. and James finally make phone contact, and James tries to tell his son that Diana is a drug addict. J.J. stubbornly refuses to believe his father, and to prove him wrong, he calls for Diana to come to the phone ... only she doesn't answer. J.J. walks into the bathroom to find Diana missing, her fate unknown.
• The fourth-season opener, in the fall of 1976, in which Florida learns that James has died in a car accident in Mississippi. The second part deals with his funeral, and Florida's unusually stoic demeanor. Part Two ends with Florida accidentally breaking a punch bowl and breaking down in her children's arms, uttering the uncharacteristically emotional lines "Damn, damn, DAMN!"
• In 1977, Thelma pickets her college with a friend of hers, a Nigerian named Ibe. Thelma and Ibe, despite initial misgivings, fall in love. When both Thelma and Ibe are suspended from school, Ibe's parents are furious and demand that he return to Nigeria. Ibe and Thelma had planned on living together, but Ibe asks Thelma to go to Nigeria with him—as his wife. Florida is against the idea, and Thelma decides against it when Ibe tells her that she wouldn't be his only wife.
• In the fourth season two-parter finale, Carl Dixon, who has been courting Florida, wants to marry her. Curiously, he rescinds his offer as quickly as he had said it. Florida is hurt and demands to know why he has decided against marriage. Carl tells Florida that he is moving to Arizona because he has lung cancer and the weather there would be good for his health. Florida goes with him.
• The fifth season premiere in 1977 was a four-parter. Janet Jackson was introduced as Penny Gordon, a little girl who followed J.J. home on her way from school. She spends some time at the Evans home, but then she leaves the area, along with her mother. It later turns out that Penny is abused by her mother (among other things, she was burned with an iron), and Willona steps in to declare Penny's mother unfit and to legally adopt Penny.
• The sixth season premiere in 1978 was also a four-parter. Thelma falls in love with a football player named Keith Anderson, and Florida returns to Chicago for her wedding. At the wedding, Keith trips over J.J. and breaks his knee. A football team who offered him a contract takes back the offer. Florida decides to live in Chicago again, with no mention of Carl Dixon.
• The final two-parter, in early 1979, revolved around Larry, a little boy who rode the bus Florida was driving. Florida was convinced that Larry was not "stupid" but rather hard of hearing, which his mother refused to believe. At the end of the first part, Larry almost fell down an elevator shaft because he couldn't hear everyone telling him that the elevator was out of service. In the second part, it was revealed that Keith pulled Larry out of harm's way, Larry's mother apologized to Florida for being stubborn, and Larry received the ear surgery he needed to hear again.