Binge-O-Mite!

 


Thank you Peacock for having the entire Good Times TV series available for me to binge stream. I just started earlier this week and I'm up to the 12th episode in the first season. This show is just as fun as I remember it watching as a pre-teen in the mid-seventies. At the height of the show's popularity, my sister ended up getting this doll as a Christmas gift:

When the series began in 1974, my family lived the white folks version of the Evans family. Poor, living in the ghetto/projects, oldest son the smart-ass, jive-talkin' one interested in art, middle-born daughter prone to histrionics and youngest son bold and in-your-face. Overweight housewife and gruff blue-collar husband...oh yeah, this was us.

I've recently read that Jimmie Walker who played J.J. didn't get along too well with his on-screen parent actors John Amos and Esther Rolle since they became increasingly frustrated with the popularity Jimmie was getting as the series went on. They thought his buffoonery and catchphrase "Dyn-O-Mite!" was playing into negative stereotypes and detracting from the social commentary the more classically trained actors felt should anchor the show. For me and my siblings though, J.J. was the star and we loved his silly moves, over-the-top personality, goofy faces and yes, his ever-present catchphrase. 

Re-watching as an adult and again living in times like the 70s with out-of-control inflation, decaying social fiber and rampant discrimination, the then-topical issue plaguing the Evans family are all too real today as well. Now though I'm no longer J.J., I'm the worrying Florida. But I won't be praying to Black Jesus for my salvation.