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Good Times: White writers pushed negro stereotypes
John & Esther stood up for blacks.
Blog King, Mass Appeal
CHICAGO — “DAMN, DAMN, DAMMMNNN!!!” Spill Today released the documentary of actor John Amos who had a fallout with producers of the ’70s family sitcom “Good Times” for broadcasting negative stereotypes of African Americans and for refusing to hire black writers for the show. White people wrote the scripts, and John — who played family patriarch James Evans — thought they did a despicable job of portraying the Black experience. “The truth of it was when the show first started, we had no African-American writers on the show,” John said during a 3-hour interview with Archive of American Television. “And some of the attitudes they had written, as per my character and, frankly for some of the other characters as well, caused me to say, ‘Uh… we can’t do this, we can’t do that.’ They’d go on about their credits… and I’d look at each and every one of them and say, ‘Well, how long have you been black? That just doesn’t happen in the community. We don’t think that way. We don’t act that way. We don’t let our children do that.'”
John, 84, also believed the producers placed too much cynosure on the shortcomings of big brother J.J. Evans (played by Jimmie Walker) — an illiterate artist who worked at a fried chicken joint. The scrawny nincompoop also idolized loan shark Sweet Daddy Williams. Instead of giving prominence to J.J.’s buffoonery, John felt more focus should’ve been placed on the professional ambitions of the other two kids: Michael Evans (who vowed to become a lawyer) and Thelma Evans (an aspiring surgeon).
John cussed out the producers, threatened to kill ’em, and received a pink slip. “I felt that with two other younger children, one of whom aspired to become a Supreme Court Justice… the differences I had with the producers of the show was that too much emphasis was being put on J.J. and his chicken hat,” John explained. “I was categorized by Norman [Lear] as a ‘disruptive element.’ When he made the call telling me I would no longer be with the show, he said that’s how I was described and assessed by the rest of the cast, and certainly the production company… so they kicked me off.”
Esther Rolle, who played matriarch Florida Evans, echoed a homogenous sentiment about J.J.’s dramatis personae. “He’s 18 and he doesn’t work,” she said. “He can’t read and write. He doesn’t think. The show didn’t start out to be that. They have made him more stupid and enlarged the role. Negative images have been quietly slipped in on us through the character of the oldest child. I resent the imagery that says to black kids that you can make it by standing on the corner saying, ‘DYNOMITE!'”
Esther left the show for 2 seasons before returning for the series finale.
Social media reaction was vicious.
One commenter wrote, “Can BLACK people write for Happy Days or Three’s Company or Married with Children or even Family Ties❓ Well, how in the hell can white writers do a Black show?”
Another viewer added, “White writers always had a negative stereotype about black people because they are racist.”
Are you proud of John for standing up for African Americans?
Did the writers try to make black people look stupid?
Watch the documentary.
Share your thoughts.
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Eric Monte, the real creator of Good Times
Too bad women today don’t want men like this in their house.
Ironically, he reconciled with Norman Lear and was cast in the ill fated “704 Hauser”, a show that lasted only five episodes. (It was about a Black family living in Archie Bunker’s former house).
What i didnt like about the show was that they never had good luck. Nothing positive ever happened. That show should have been titled hard times. Even the time Thelma was dating the pro football player, and guess what he had a career ending i jury, James finally got a good job and ended up passing away rite after getting the job. HARD TIMES was a more fitting title. Another Norman Lear show, Sanford and Son was the same way. Never anything good
Good Times was never right once he was gone.
Was a FAMILY show to ALL Americans.
Soooooo, we’re gonna make this another race issue??? So whenever any push-comes-to-shove issue arises, the race card has to be played!! Does anyone see the ridiculousness of whats being said here???? Hey, lets all go to work tomorrow and start telling our bosses what to do because we’re convinced that we know better!!! Yeah, makes sense!!! Dude, I’d fire your ass in a heartbeat!!!! These actors come a dime a dozen, this isn’t rocket science or Shakespeare!!!😮
The show was created by ERIC MONTE AND ERIC MONTE WAS THE ONE WHO FOUGHT FOR JAMES TO BE ON THE SHOW AND IT WAS ERIC MONTE WHO CORRECTED IT. GOOD TIMES WAS CREATED BY ERIC MONTE
Die Hard 2
John McClane : This is it? One fucking platoon?
Maj. Grant : One crisis, one platoon. Who are you?
This brother been the same age for 30 years.
@GeneralGlockasiah: Black don’t crack 💯
James Evans Sr. was a great character that, had the writers allowed it, would have been more revered than Cosby.
John Amos always looks like he could whip some ass even in his 80 ‘s. He’s really my favorite TV Dad.
You know I never knew that he quit or he was fired. I thought he left Good Times to be on Roots.
Black don’t crack.
First of all, if John Amos wanted to object and change the scripts all the time to reflect “his” perspective of how black people lived, then why didn’t HE just quit and become a writer himself instead of telling Good Times’ writers how to do the jobs they were skilled at and HIRED for? And second, he becomes a beligerant black man who threatens the writers with a “Let’s go outside” insinuation. No wonder his ass was shown the door. The rest is history.
HE GOT FIRED FROM THE SHOW BECAUSE HE HAD THE BEST LINES AND EVERYBODY WAS JEALOUS.
@Anthony Moye Jr: HE GOT FIRED BECAUSE HE SHOWED HIS NATURAL BORN BLACK BELIGERANCE TOWARDS THE PEOPLE WHO HIRED HIM BY PHYSICALLY THREATENING THEM
I am White and he reminds me so much of my Dad . James Evans didn’t play and neither did my Dad . It was his house .
John Amos, got a temporary layoff from ”Good Times”
C’mon now. You can’t tell writer’s and producers.
LET’S STEP OUTSIDE!
You will be the only one and the door may close for no entrance.
You are not home.
Norman Lear was an asshole.
I have to be honest; I used to like watching “Good Times” because of the Florida/James parental dynamic, but when the focus was mostly on JJ, that sort of soured my interest in the show and when the powers-that-be fired John Amos, the show started going downhill and even more when Esther Rolle left and didn’t return till the last season, but sadly, it was too late to save the show! 🤔
“DAMN, DAMN, DAMN”…Will go down in tv history. Not just for the emotion feeling of a character dying, but also that the writers once again killed off a meaningful message of portraying the black family more serious and realistic.
things have come a long way since good times. now 80 % of AA households are fatherless