GOOD TIMES [TV SHOW] - DVD review

Though "Good Times" went downhill after John Amos and Esther Rolle left the series, the fifth season still provided some laughs,—and now, a huge amount of retro-interest for fans of American pop culture—because it introduced a very young Janet Jackson to the cast.

Jackson plays Penny, a little streetwise-but-innocent girl who follows J.J. home one day because she thinks he's cute and ends up being adopted by the Evans' neighbor, the feisty and outspoken Willona Woods (Ja'net DuBois). While many sitcoms have introduced small children to try to revive the screenwriters, no show needed it more than this one after Rolle left the series without a legitimate matriarch or reason for the children to stay on at the familiar Evans apartment.

"Good Times" is set in the projects of Chicago, where the Evans family children try to survive after their father (Amos) died and their mother (Rolle) went on honeymoon to Arizona with her second husband, Carl (Moses Gunn) and decided to stay for his health. Much depended on the audience buying that the three nearly-grown-but-not-quite children wouldn't follow their mother to the Southwest. But when stringbean comedian Jimmie Walker started in with his cockwalk and goofy talk, things seemed almost normal. J.J.'s libido and ego were as big as his eyes and his trademark booming expression, "DY-NO-MITE!" But Thelma (BernNadette Stanis) was always ready and even eager to take her brother down a few pegs and engage him in bouts of trash-talking. And no one was more relieved this season than Michael (Ralph Carter), the "baby" of the family who finally gets to be older after the introduction of the cute and wholesome Miss Jackson. Rounding out the cast of regulars was comedian Johnny Brown, who played the building super, Nathan Bookman.

This season's guest stars are Alice Ghostley ("Bewitched"), Gordon Jump ("WKRP in Cincinnati"), Robert Guillaume ("Benson"), and little wide-eyed Gary Coleman ("Different Strokes").

Here's the rundown on the 24 episodes, which are contained on three discs:

1) "The Evans Get Involved, Part 1"—A little girl named Penny follows J.J. home because she has a crush on him, but Willona begins to suspect that Penny has a troubled home life.

2) "The Evans Get Involved, Part 2"—After Penny starts spending more time at the Evans' apartment, everyone worries when she disappears, along with her abusive mother.

3) "The Evans Get Involved, Part 3"—When Penny's mother abandons her daughter, Willona decides to adopt her.

4) "The Evans Get Involved, Part 4"—As the Evans' children consider moving to Arizona to be with their mother, Bookman steps in and tells a social worker that he's Willona's husband in order to help her chances of adoption.

5) "Thelma Moves Out"—Fed up with the crowded Evans' apartment, Thelma moves in with three other students, which ends up being a huge mistake, times three.

6) "Willona, the Fuzz"—After Willona catches a shoplifter at work, she's promoted to store detective, a job that makes her feel like a Fuzz with a capital "F."

7) "Wheels"—A lemon tale, this time involving Bookman's old car that J.J. goes in on with three of his friends.

8) "Breaker, Breaker"—Long before online chat rooms, Michael forges a relationship with a sexy-sounding girl he's been talking to over Bookman's CB radio, but is shocked to learn she's a paraplegic.

9) "Bye, Bye Bookman"—When Bookman slacks off on the job, the residents petition to have him ousted by the city.

10) "Thelma's Brief Encounter"—Thelma's dating a mysterious man whom J. J. learns is an ex-con who was convicted of bigamy.

11) "Requiem for a Wino"—Fishbone's wallet is stolen, and when the thief gets killed everyone think's Fish is dead, so they hold a wake for him . . . which he attends.

12) "Penny's Christmas"—Penny gets arrested for shoplifting right before Christmas, and right before her adoption was to be finalized.

13) "No More Mr. Nice Guy"—J.J. turns disciplinarian after the delinquent Penny and Michael are caught driving a stolen vehicle.

14) "Willona's Mr. Right"—Willona's old boyfriend asks her to marry him and wants to travel, but now she's got Penny to think about, and a big decision.

15) "J. J. and the Boss's Daughter"—J.J. dates his new assistant, who unfortunately turns out to be the boss's daughter . . . and hell hath no fury.

16) "Where There's Smoke"—When the sofa catches fire, Willona hears three different stories, but Penny sets the record straight.

17) "I Had a Dream"—If you hate dream episodes, you won't like this one about J.J.'s "Watermelon Man" dream.

18) "The Boarder"—Looking to take in some extra money, J.J. opens the door to trouble instead when he rents a room to a man who's been targeted for a hit.

19) "J.J.'s Condition"—It's ulcer time when J.J. starts seeing a married woman who has no intention of getting divorced.

20) "Willona, the Other Woman"—Bookman's wife suspects the super of having an affair with Willona, and gives him the boot.

21) "Something Old, Something New"—The Evans children try to marry off grandpa, but he's more interested in selling his invention.

22) "Willona's New Job"—After a big promotion, Willona's boyfriend turns up, wanting her to marry him and quit her job.

23) "Write On, Thelma"—Thelma writes a play that's produced by a community theater group, but she's not real happy about changes the director wants to make.

24) "That's Entertainment, Evans Style"—Extravaganza time, as Willona and the Evans put on a benefit to raise money for a new day-care center.

Season five had Jackson, but the rest of the cast clearly missed playing off of the spirited Rolle. Everything rang just a little hollow as the actors tried to carry on without her, and by the fifth season the writers were running out of relevant topics. There were a few good shows, still—as when J.J. dates a married woman and frets himself half to death thinking about his own possible demise at the hands of her husband—and Jackson is interesting to watch before her "Nasty" days. But most of the episodes still feel like everyone is going through the motions. There's no zip, no energy, and, surprisingly, after four years of togetherness, not much in the way of cast chemistry.

Video: The video quality (1.33:1 ratio) won't win any prizes. It's fuzzy and grainy and on widescreen there's plenty of distortion on both sides where the picture has been stretched.

Audio: Same thing here. There's a scratchy quality to the audio, which also seems heavy on the treble.

Extras: There are no extras. What did you expect? A commentary by Janet Jackson?

Bottom Line: The first three seasons were the show's best, with socially relevant topics and character portrayals that made you believe these people were a family. By the fifth season, the trash-talk has gotten annoyingly silly and the characters seem to have gotten shallower—perhaps because the show is caught in an uncomfortable limbo between social relevance and over-the-top caricature. The result is that we're all the more aware of them as a group of actors saying their lines.