due to the scripts' lack of authenticity in portraying the African-American experience. I think JJ was a precursor to characters such as Horshack, Screech, Urkel, Rerun, etc. Because he was always butting heads with producers, his character was killed off which came as a shock to him. John Amos left the series immediately following the third season of Good Times. I wish they would bring the show back. The parental figures in "Good Times" didn't last the duration of the series. They argued all the time, but they loved the hell out of each other. It spawned some dy-no-mite catchphrases and John Amos Says He Was Kicked Off 'Good Times' Because He Didn't Agree With The Shucking And Jiving John Amos Explains Why He Was Kicked Off 'Good Times' By Brennan Williams Jun 5, 2015, 04:44 PM EDT | Updated Jun 5, 2015 This funeral episode was excellent. What happened? She and JJ have one last hassle. Floridas Damn, damn, damn is still relevant in todays pop culture and memes. Most of the early episodes focused on the parents, James and Florida Evans, and their struggle to provide for the family. Thelma, a dancer. It was actually quite funny> All references in the show had to be "black". His departure so soon caught everyone off guard. He loved his wife. | Like The Jeffersons, Good Times was one of the those classic American sitcoms which was never aired in the UK, not to mention it came out in the 1970s- a decade where of which I wasn't born yet. The way he was written out of the show was very abrupt. He depicted a strong father figure-something likely missing in many people's lives. This is All We Know, 4 Factors That May Increase Chances of Long COVID-19, New Study Shows, COVID-19 Origin: American Scientists, Federal Health Officials Found Out Conflicting Root of the Virus, Surge of Omicron Variant Hampers Economic Recovery in the Country, 2 More $1,400 Stimulus Checks Could Be Released Anytime To Millions of Americans, Children Infected With COVID-19 Has Reached 1 Million, Wayne Brown Jr Died Read Now To Know More, $660 Monthly Stimulus Check Now Open For Application, $15,775 Can Now Be Claimed from IRS Open, $500 Million Child Care Assistance Remains Unclaim, Heres How To Apply. Amos left show after not so Good Times with writers 2020-02-11 - By Rich Heldenfels Tribune News Service Q: Why did John Amos leave Good Times? This is a good show steered by characters I like, of course, loose, fat lipped Jimmy Walker as J.J., as the strikingly brilliant artist, and too, fat maintenance man, Bookman, where Est her Rolle and John Amos, lend strong support as Mother and father team, Amos in particular, who sadly was kicked off the storm, while acting up a bit of the storm, off the set, where the quality of the show, kind of dropped, in the absence of his killed off character, as they went into the second season, where really it was up to J.J to carry it on. In 2014, Amos gave a lengthy interview with the Television Academy Foundation, during which he discussed his career and, in particular, his experiences on "Good Times" and the series of events that led to his firing. Part of the problem was that he didn't see eye to eye with the producers over the directions of the characters of his three children. He also states that he wasnt the most diplomatic guy back then and producers got tired of having their lives threatened over jokes.. Amos recalled complete silence on the set. Everyone always gave a good performance, the production design was spectacular, the costumes were well-designed, and the writing was always very strong. They were terrific actors and had great chemistry as James and Florida Evans. In the season finale, Esther Rolle returned; did he do the same? In an interview with the American Archive of Television. Looking back on both experiences, just before Black History Month comes to a close, Amos says hes proud he was a part of both small-screen offerings because their historical impacts can still be felt today. While Amos doesnt mention Walker or his character JJ, his fond recollections do include the late Esther Rolle. When and how did Janet Abelson die? Webhttps://comedyhype.com/ - In 1974 Good Times would premiere showcasing black family life like never before. Also, I really love the theme song. Will Downing on New Song Following Daughters Suicide, Advice to Parents, TikTok Food Critic Regrets Houston Hot Chicken Review | Watch, Issa Rae and Shameik Moore Would Unalive Spiders Matthew Lawrence Opens Up About Hollywood Casting Couch & More | PicVideos. To wit: The first time I saw this show was on my UPN (UPN Atlanta) and it currently airs weekdays at 11 PM. Whether or not, you live in the inner cities, ghettos, suburbs, or rural countryside, this show is still a treasure to watch and observe a family being just a family rather than a show about a poor black family. We all loved JJ's dynamite and his antics. The gospelish theme song and title sequences shown over inner-city Chicago only added to the realism. They tried to show their kids to strive for more in life, DESPITE obstacles. Are you curious as to why John Amos left Good Times? On Good Times, she appears in 109 of the 133 episodes in Seasons 1 through 4 and then returns in Season 6 after Carl died of lung cancer at the end of Season 4, in the episode "Love Has a Spot on His Lung: Part 2", the season finale. His Conclusion I hope that this phenomenon continues until we are totally in absolute control of our own imagery, the Newark, New Jersey native divulges while comparing Good Times to its television descendants. Big John, I got some good news and some bad news. John Amos, though, how about him? Returning to the thrilling Good Times, in which John Amos stars as the main character, has astounded the audience. "Movin' On Up" for The Jeffersons, of course. Who Is UAE's Astronaut Sultan Al Neyadi Wife. The little brother "Michael" was Mr. Militant black pride. Stimulus Check Proposal Could Give Americans Monthly $1,200 Checks. And the differences I had with the producers of the show I felt too much emphasis was being put on J.J. and his chicken hat and saying dy-no-mite every third page, when just as much emphasis and mileage could have been gotten out of my other two children , Amos stated. Florida was the glue that kept the family together, Amos joyfully recalls. Some folks need bracing, as my uncle used to say. From 1974 to 1976, John Amos touched millions of lives as the iconic patriarch James Evans, Sr., on Good Times until he was unceremoniously dumped from the cast midway through its run. I don't know. Rolle quit when her contract concluded. FLAMIO. There's no denying the shows impact, it still holds, after forty years. Im an Eddie Murphy fanatic. Another Norman Lear hit detailing the problems that African Americans had to go through in the turbulent 1960s and 1970s. It was then that Lear told him that they were being picked up for another season, which wasnt a surprise to Amos. Better than most of the family comedies today! What was it? This show, to me reflected on the good side of poverty. Once Amos left the show, there was definitely a missing element. It seldomly is. John Amos departure from Good Times appears to have much to do with his African-American cultural values. America and the world got to see what life could be like within a Black family on Good Times, Amos shares. Between the cooking, cleaning, laundry, and shopping, Florida often squeezes in a part-time job to help stretch the family dollar, and she even returned to school to get her high school diploma. This is America, Jack. And of course theres the scene when Florida had her breakdown in the kitchen, when she could no longer play strong in her time of mourning. Ester Rolle was handling the death all well untill the end. Having recently watched a few episodes, I was happy to see that it still holds up after all these years. Good Times was originally great, thanks to John Amos. So apparently, from Amos standpoint, there was too much shucking and jiving on the show, and he didnt want to tolerate it any more. The show ended with Season 6, and recently, people have expressed concern about John Amos departure. Why was his character abruptly killed off? They had three kids: J.J., Thelma, and Michael. Amos was a force to be reckoned with on the show, and apparently, because of his personality and the fact that he realized the show was making a coonery out of the family, he couldnt be a part of it any more. But while the show would air for an additional three years without Amos, his career would hardly stop there. | Classic episodes include the unfortunate death of James Evans and the one where Penny falls down the elevator shaft. Thank God for reruns! ),Bernadette Stanis(the teenage daughter Thelma),and Janet Jackson(who made her TV debut as Penny and also as Willona's daughter after she adopted her from a abusive stepmomvery touching episode),and Janet Dubois. I initially ad-libbed the line at a reading of the script, and when Eddie Murphy dropped the script, hollered, and released that signature laugh that he has, I knew my line had gotten the laughing approval of a master comedian.. Black News and Black Views with a Whole Lotta Attitude. We may earn a commission from links on this page. Roots, inspired by late author Alex Haleys novel of the same name, drew a record 36.4 million viewers and remains one of the most watched television events of all time. Yet why? Good Times is a spin-off of a spin-off: this spun-off of Maude and Maude spun-off of All in the Family. Humperdink! It concluded with Season 6, [] You have entered an incorrect email address! Good Times Wiki is a FANDOM TV Community. They used to live in the South Side of Chicago in a cold water flat where they had their two oldest children, James "J.J." Evans, Jr. and Thelma. We got to see them experience a few good times. As of 15 January 2018, Amos was still with us and posting on social media: While the news about Amos alleged demise originated on a disreputable web site, many viewers may have readily accepted it as true at the time due to a perceived increase in celebrity deaths during 2016. In that way, Amos observes, Good Times and Roots had more in common than him. Regarding John Amos, he has acted in many movies and TV shows, including Me Time, Maude, Shadowboxing, The Ranch, All About The Andersons, The Righteous Gemstones, and many others. They find humor and have strong family values and morals. Actor John Amos died from a heart attack on 28 December 2016. On 28 December 2016, the web site Headline NewsNetwork published an article reporting that actor John Amos, best known for his role on the 1970s TV sitcom Good Times, had passed away from a heart attack at the age of 77: There was no truth to this article. JJ has to be the unlikeliest playa in the history of television but he always had a lot of girls, which is funny to me. The acting veteran, whose credits also include Future Cop, Die Hard 2 and Two and a Half Men, says he feels relieved and proud that modern sitcoms such as black-ish, The Neighborhood and The Last O.G. We all know that happened throughout the decade, but Good Times revolved around the 70's style. When you allow other people to perpetuate your imagery, they will do so out of their own perceptions and minds, and its not always an accurate view, he continues. "Dynomite"! They struggle a lot since they reside in a low-income black Chicago area where nothing is simple. Will Downing on New Song Following Daughters Suicide, Advice Kandi Burruss Hustles Up KFC Ad Based on Scene Dr. Phil Calls Professors $350,000-Per-Person Reparations Idea an Absolute Four Tops Singer to Sue Racist Hospital: They Told Suge Knight Says Snoop Dogg and Harry-Os Death Row Barbies Racial Justice Dolls Continue Mattels Path Toward Representation Daveed Diggs Planned Twister Sequel with All-Black and Brown Laura Coates Unlikely to Host CNNs 11 p.m. Princr Humperdink! You get to learn a lot about the hardships of life. He also adds that two of his favorite comedians Eddie Murphy and Dave Chappelle are able to use humor to communicate in a way he wishes he could have at their age. On the Maude series, the Findlays up there in Tuckahoe had a maid played by Esther Rolle named Florida Evans. But the remaining Esther Role was very good, Ralph Carter too, as the younger son, Michael, who sadly, and very disappointingly, didn't pursue the acting after his stint here. The best episodes were the first few years with James Evans, the father. If you like TVLine, you'll LOVE our email news alerts! Want to know why did John Amos leave Good Times? Yes, we are referring to the sitcom and his unexpected exit. Law. They are all great shows. Q: Why did John Amos leave Good Times? John Amos Reveals How His Departure From 'Good Times' Went Although the series continued without her for the fifth season, she returned to reprise her role as Florida in the show's final season, with the explanation that the shop owner whom she wed at the end of Season 4, Rolle's most memorable moment from the show is in the episode. We may say that John did not want to leave the Good Times. Her children(who were shocked she hadn't grieved in front of others but was laughing) then ran from their rooms and comforted her with a family hug. Everybody had afros, went rollerskating, danced around a disco, and had platform shoes. The show lost something when Amos left, but the others were good enough to keep it going. And last, but not least, Thelma, the older Sister to Michael, another seasoned performer. Famous words by Jimmie Walker as JJ the breakout character and due to providing over in very bad role model for African-American teens there led both the parents on the TV show, the late Esther Rolle and John Amos to leave the show with the latter's character dying in a car wreck. ABCs Live in Front of a Studio Audience promised to be full of surprises while bringing back to life Good Times and All in the Family. I couldn't relate to everything, but sometimes they hit home with the problems they were facing. For instance: Every book report had to be about black history, every movie had to involve black people, every politition had to be black, the list went on and on. Dont Miss A Story. I liked Good Times. Damn! During the daytime so people can actually stay up to watch. This show was groundbreaking to show despair in drugs, gangs, and alcoholism. She is known to throw a good party, and doesn't hesitate to offer whatever she has to those in need. When Norman Lear who just dominated television in the 70s decided to give Rolle her own series, he took her character and moved them to the south side of Chicago where they lived in the projects. The Evans were a real family with real problems, but they also truly loved each other. John also revealed that he had shared creatively divergent ideas with the Good Times shows founders and producers. It appears to be comparable. The entertainer admits that he wasnt the most diplomatic guy back then. I certainly hope that the phrase "Kid Dynamite" will come back into common usage some day. With her stern, but loving disposition, Florida does her best to to give her often unemployed husband emotional support and be a good mother and role model for their three children. It could be more genuine, he thought. Much to the chagrin of the shows supporters, James Evans was killed during the height of Good Times popularity. Many wondered why the shows producers would make such a decision and, over the years, rumors surfaced that they and Amos could not reach an agreement in their contractual negotiations. It was great. He reportedly left the show, after 3 seasons, because he disapproved of Jimmie Walker's character. By Most importantly it had a black family that stuck together through thick and thin. Because of his offensive remarks about the brawls behind the scenes, John Amos was fired. Her husband, James fought to get his family out of the ghetto, and he almost succeeded when he left Chicago to find a better job in his home State of Mississippi, and his family was scheduled to move to Mississippi with him, but while in Mississippi, James was killed in a car accident. If you didn't like the show, fine, but some of your reasons for disliking it are totally erroneous. In an interview, Amos said that he felt the show was giving too much attention to one of his children on the show who was more interested in fooling around in a chicken hat when more emphasis could have been placed on his other two children who had ambitions of becoming a surgeon and Supreme Court Justice respectively. The Real Reason John Amos Was Fired From Good Times. It's not an overly funny show, but does has some good hearty chuckle moments. It was the sort of family white viewers had read about in their own magazines with their slanted perceptions. John Amos Says He Was Kicked Off 'Good Times' Because He Didn't Agree With The Shucking And Jiving. While he was eventually let go, he went on to bounce back with memorable roles in the original Roots miniseries, and later Coming to America. Fascinatingly enough, Good Times Season 4B premiered mere weeks before the Roots miniseries debuted in January 1977 on competing network ABC and changed television as we know it forever because of the grippingly personalized way it portrayed enslaved Black Americans. WebGood Times is an American television sitcom that aired for six seasons on CBS, from February 8, 1974, to August 1, 1979.Created by Eric Monte and Mike Evans and developed by executive producer Norman Lear, it was television's first African American two-parent family sitcom. User Ratings We watched Janet Jackson's Penny grow up a little. It was too often for Norman and the other writers to accept. Like most shows, it went on a little too long but for fans, each season has it's moments. After repeated disagreements with the production staff, Amos was fired from the show. When "Good Times" premiered in 1974, it was one the first black family sitcoms. Man, I can't remember ever seeing a white guy in that show! When many people think about the most memorable My favorite moment in the series is Thelma's wedding day. She never had the chance to finish high school, because she wanted to help support her parents and she started working minimum wage jobs. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); WHO WE AREThe news you want unfiltered.The Electronic Urban Report/EUR puts the most buzz worthy African American news at your fingertips. Speaking of theme songs, Ja'net DuBois (neighbor Willona) co-wrote and sang another truly memorable one during this time. And with Roots, I dont think any of us involved in the production, particularly the network, were aware audiences would tune in to the extent that they did.. I don't think a movie or a new show would work. I had innumerable arguments with the writers on the set in regards to my characters demeanor, or what he would say in certain given situations. Mekeisha Madden Toby / JJ is about to insult her, but he breaks down and tells her he'll miss her. Another great aspect of the show was JJ and Thelma. You know a show is going downhill when they have to resort to bringing on a cute kid character. The secret is to be happy! "); Thelma, their only daughter (BernNadette Stanis)who is a disaster in the kitchen, but who had hopes,dreams and intelligence. I first saw the reruns once our local WB affiliate took off the weekday morning reruns of Happy Days and began airing this instead. That wasnt very pleasant, as it was already said that he spoke those things in public when asked in an interview. So does JJ. What I do know is that when Janet Jackson, Bookman, and that annoying neighbor Willona; Miss Big Mouth, I'm beautiful, took over, this show was lost forever(but I did like sweet daddy). This is one of my all time favorite shows. It is a crime that John Amos never received an Emmy nomination for his role on this show. Rolle quit when her contract concluded. But Amos adds that he wants the course correction to keep going. A real true cut of reality, and it' cuts deep, which carries more weight, than many other black themed comedies, making this one especial, where the lives of the Evans, demand your attentiveness, as does the shows title song's lyrics. Sad part though: the guy who played Micheal(Ralph Carter) recently passed away.but his character was a symbol of black pride and black progress towards black success,and against racial intolerence in with he quoted that the word "boy" is a white racist word. It was a ground breaking, memorable and well acted for a sitcom. Because of his strong beliefs, John Amos was fired from Good Times. Many other stars have faced similar situations with producers who simply want to be blindly obeyed, but with actors and actresses getting a stronger voice these days, we can only hope that the same fate that befell the character of Mr. James Evans, does not happen to some of our current unproblematic and beloved TV stars. Michael, involved in legal/justice. However, once John Amos left, the show was not the same and suffered as a result. As a stay-at-home mother, she's the super-glue that keeps the family together. Claim: Actor John Amos died from a heart attack on 28 December 2016. They are really what made Good Times GoodTimes. All guests were black people. Unexpectedly, Florida Evans, John Amos on-screen spouse, left the show after Good Times Season 4. Ive had a blessed career, and I attribute that to my faith in God and the fact that I was raised right. To receive additional updates, you can follow John on Instagram. You probably had no idea that John Amos, who portrayed Glenn Johnson in King of the Hill, also amassed enormous popularity. Especially without the original cast. Well, John Amos played the character of Not only is Florida the superwoman of the Evans household, but for many - including her good friend and neighbor, Willona - she's the superhero of her housing project on the North Side of Chicago. "Good Times" was one of the first African American family sitcoms to air. The end of James Evans Sr. Yet why? A disruptive factor Yes, we are talking about the sitcom and his sudden departure. John Amos Says He Was Kicked Off Good Times Because He Didnt Agree With the Shucking and Jiving Black News and Black Views with a Whole Lotta Attitude Send us a I was very sadden when James Evans was killed in an auto accident,and that was the show's very best episode and an emotional one as well in what the family was going through without a father figure for the children,but they continued on with J.J. stepping from a kid into manhood and the fatherly role after John Amos' character left the show. Roots? Issa Rae and Shameik Moore Would Unalive Spiders Matthew Lawrence Shaquille ONeal Releasing New Hip-Hop Track to Celebrate NBA Playoffs, Elon Musk Announces Charging Option for Publishers on Twitter. After three seasons of fighting with executive producer Norman Lear and the CBS sitcoms white writers about the stereotypical Black portrayals and dialogue the show perpetuated, particularly when it came to star Jimmie Walker, Amos contract to play patriarch James Evans wasnt renewed at the end of Season 3 in 1976 and his character was killed off. He took no bull from any of the kids. 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Headed by two parents who realized there own shortcomings (lack of education, money), but didn't they try to lead by example by teaching their kids values, strong work ethic and didn't they try to IMPROVE the lives of THEIR children? Good Times focuses on Florida and Jamess efforts to raise their three children in the best possible ways. J.J. was the skirt-chasing but well-meaning teenage son who made up for his lack of subtlety with artistic talent. However, there was one little pesky problem that always seemed to bother me. Christine Paduch, a teacher, is detained on suspicion of abusing a student with special needs. Id want to send John Amos my warmest wishes for the remainder of his days. His departure so soon caught everyone off guard. It made history as the first African American show with two parents and gathered a following of avid fans countrywide, so if Good Times had such a good reputation and following, why did one of the lead actors, John Amos, famous for playing James Evans Sr suddenly stop doing the show?
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