Good Times is an American sitcom that originally aired from February 8, 1974, until August 1, 1979, on CBS. It was created by Eric Monte and Mike Evans, and developed by Norman Lear, the series' primary executive producer. Good Times is a spin-off of Maude, which is itself a spin-off of All in the Family along with The Jeffersons.
The series stars Esther Rolle as Florida Evans and John Amos as her husband, James Evans, Sr. The characters originated on the sitcom Maude as Florida and Henry Evans, with Florida employed as Maude Findlay's housekeeper in Tuckahoe, New York and Henry employed as a firefighter. When producers decided to feature the Florida character in her own show, they applied retroactive changes to the characters' history. Henry's name became James, there is no mention of Maude, and the couple now live in Chicago.[1][2]
Florida and James Evans and their three children live in a rented project apartment, 17C, at 963 N. Gilbert Ave., in a housing project (implicitly the infamous Cabrini–Green projects, shown in the opening and closing credits but never mentioned by name on the show)[3][4] in a poor, black neighborhood in inner-city Chicago. Florida's and James's children are James, Jr., also known as "J.J." (Jimmie Walker), Thelma (Bern Nadette Stanis), and Michael (Ralph Carter). When the series begins, J.J. and Thelma are seventeen and sixteen years old, respectively, and Michael, called "the militant midget" by his father due to his passionate activism, is eleven years old. Their exuberant neighbor, and Florida's best friend, is Willona Woods (played by Ja'net Dubois), a recent divorcée who works at a boutique. Their building superintendent is Nathan Bookman (Johnny Brown), to whom James, Willona and later J.J. refer as "Buffalo Butt", or, even more derisively, "Booger".
Episodes of Good Times deal with the characters' attempts to survive in a high rise project building in Chicago, despite their poverty. When he is not unemployed, James Evans is a man of pride who often stated he would not accept charity. He usually works at least two jobs simultaneously, from a wide variety such as dishwasher, construction laborer, etc. When he has to, he plays pool in order to hustle money, though Florida disapproves of this.
Created by Eric Monte
Michael Evans
Developed by Norman Lear
Directed by Gerren Keith
Herbert Kenwith
Bob LaHendro
Donald McKayle
Perry Rosemond
Starring Esther Rolle (seasons 1–4, 6)
John Amos (seasons 1–3)
Jimmie Walker
Ja'net Dubois
Bern Nadette Stanis
Ralph Carter
Johnny Brown (seasons 2–6)
Ben Powers
Janet Jackson
Theme music composer Dave Grusin
Alan Bergman
Marilyn Bergman
Opening theme "Good Times" performed by Jim Gilstrap and Blinky Williams
Ending theme "Good Times"
Composer(s) Dave Grusin
Alan & Marilyn Bergman
Country of origin United States
Original language(s) English
No. of seasons 6
No. of episodes 133 (List of episodes)
Original channel CBS
Original run February 8, 1974 – August 1, 1979
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