GOOD TIMES [TV SHOW] - DVD review

Any history of African-Americans on American television has to prominently feature Norman Lear. Without Lear, the white producer most famous for introducing the world to the bigoted Archie Bunker on "All in the Family," the Seventies would have been devoid of sitcoms featuring black families. With "What's Happening!!" the only other black-cast entry in the decade, Lear was a one-man Hollywood Civil Rights Movement, giving audiences "Sanford and Son" (1972-77), "Good Times" (1974-79), and "The Jeffersons" (1975-85).

Admittedly, it was a white man's view of black culture played for laughs, but it was better than no view at all. The history of blacks on television B.L. (before Lear) is eye-blink brief. First came "Beulah" (1950-53), about a black maid whose relationship to her white employers was revealed by such Stepin Fetchit responses as "Somebody bawl fo' Beulah?" Then came the TV adaptation of a popular radio show, "Amos 'n' Andy" (1951-53), where the main character said things like, "Holy mackerel dere, Sapphire!" and drew complaints from the NAACP about racial stereotypes. Hard as it is to believe now, that show ran in syndication until 1966, just two years before Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated. From 1965-68, Bill Cosby teamed with Robert Culp in the seriocomic "I Spy," while singer Diahann Carroll became the first African-American to land a starring role in a sitcom, playing a nurse in "Julia" (1968-71). But both of those characters lived in largely white worlds. Even Lear's "Sanford and Son" was more comic than realistic, because it gave viewers characters far removed from the average family--a cantankerous junkyard dealer and his adult son. It wasn't until "Good Times" when Americans finally got a TV glimpse of an entire, normal, loving black family. And as he did with "All in the Family," Lear used many episodes of "Good Times" to set up a debate concerning an issue involving class, race, gender, sex, religion, or values.

"Good Times" was the third-generation progeny of Lear's flagship show, "All in the Family." Edith Bunker's liberal-talking Cousin Maude got her own show in 1972, though it was more than uncomfortable for liberal thinkers that this progressive talker, herself a rich white woman, nonetheless employed a black maid. But fans took to the quick-witted Florida, and "Good Times" was born. Instead of New Jersey, where Maude and her husband lived, Florida was transplanted (without explanation) to the low-income high-rise projects on Chicago's north side. Though the controversial Cabrini-Green Housing Projects are shown in the film's opening sequence, they're never mentioned by name, but these projects were a national symbol of the low-income housing crisis and the crime, drugs, gangs, and urban squalor that were a part of daily life.

In "Good Times," Florida Evans (Esther Rolle) was the loving but no-nonsense matriarch who kept the family in line. Her husband, James (John Amos), was a strong role model for African-Americans, a strict disciplinarian and hard worker who had a fondness for quips and a boundless love for his family. Closer to the stereotypical vein there was James Junior, or J.J. for short, played by the spindly comedian Jimmie Walker (whose comedy was based on black stereotypes), and his slightly younger sister Thelma (BernNadette Stanis), who squared off against her brother in an endless battle of insults. Rounding out the core cast was the "baby" of the family, Michael (Ralph Carter), and neighbor Willona Woods (Ja'net DuBois), who was constantly dropping by for a cup of something or other and was more than ready to jump into the debate of the day with a fresh, outside-the-family perspective. Over the years, others would be added, most notably Moses Gunn as Carl Dixon, owner of a small appliance store and the new man in Florida's life after James was written out of the series, killed in a car accident.

Rolle left the series too, for a time, upset with the image that the cavalier, self-absorbed and posturing J.J. was projecting for young blacks. J.J.'s catch-phrase, "Dy-no-MITE!" became a national catch-phrase and tilted the shows away from serious issues and more toward J.J.'s goofiness. But when Rolle was assured that the writers would get things back on track again, she returned a season later. Rounding out the cast, a very young Janet Jackson played Penny Gordon Woods, Willona's adopted daughter, Ben Powers plays Keith Anderson (a football star that Thelma marries), and Theodore Wilson plays Sweet Daddy, a loan shark who surfaces for the series last two seasons.

All 133 episodes from the show's six seasons are included in this compact, bargain-priced set ($59.95). As with previous "Complete Series" packages from Sony, this one features a single box with flap that has the episodes listed on it and houses a thin plastic spindle insert, upon which the discs are stacked--the way that DVD-Rs are stacked when you buy them in bulk.

Video:
"Good Times" is presented in 1.33:1 "full screen," but even remastered in High Definition as this series is, the Norman Lear comedies were shot on the cheap and have always looked a little rougher than some of the other sitcoms. The colors are a bit faded (especially in the earlier seasons) and even when the colors pop out at you there's a slight graininess and subtle blurring around the edges of objects and figures. None of this is so bad that it detracts from the viewing experience, and again I want to emphasize that these are the exact same discs that were previously issued in six separate season collections. The quality varies from season to season, but overall I'd have to say the video is in the 5-6 range.

Audio:
The audio is a Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo, but because this show (like all the Lear comedies) has a highly staged quality and so much of it is talk and laugh-track, everything is so centered near the front that it feels more like Mono. It's nothing special, in other words. Another 6 overall, though some seasons are crisper than others.

Extras:
Sorry. No bonus features.

Bottom Line:
When I first reviewed one of these complete sets, I wasn't sure about them. But on October 28 Sony is releasing three more: "Newsradio," "Sanford and Son," and this series. When you look at all three next to each other on the shelf, in their black cartons with a square color photo at the top, you realize that these are library issues. People probably aren't going to be watching these shows over and over, but collectors and fans with that "gotta have it" impulse who want to get the whole series will appreciate that it really does take up far less space than all six individually packaged seasons. The discs are exactly the same ones from the individual packages, too. The downside is that so-stacked, the discs are a little tougher to handle and there's more of a chance of bobbling or dropping them. But if these are archival collectibles that are there on the shelf for rainy-day or nostalgic watching, it now strikes me as a perfect format. A cardboard "donut" holds the 17 single-sided discs tightly in place. They're perfect for collectors who'll be watching the shows occasionally rather than repeatedly.

"Good Times" was an important milestone insomuch as it gave us a black family sitcom with an all-black cast that tackled socially relevant issues like gun control, gang problems, minimum wage, birth control, sexual attitudes, abortion, and, of course, racism. If "All in the Family" was Lear comedy at its best, "Good Times" was a decent second-tier series. The first three seasons kicked butt, but the last three got a little too "aren't we cute" for my taste. You went from believing this family to watching actors deliver their lines to way-too-thunderous applause.