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The Program
Good
Times was yet another successful
spin-off from the All In The Family genetic line (it actually was
a direct spin-off from Maude), and indeed proved that Norman Lear was -
other than the future anti-Christ to many self-righteous Americans - a
mighty force to be reckoned with when it came to socially-relevant situation
comedies of the 1970s. Think about it: with one fell swoop, Fell created the
aforementioned All In The Family, a milestone in the history of
television sitcoms. From there, Lear developed and/or spun-off Sanford and
Son, Maude, Good Times, One Day at a Time, and
the madly brilliant Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman. The man simply had the
Midas Touch when it came to cranking out the
hits.
Good Times, which ran from 1974 to 1979, featured
Esther Rolle as Florida Evans, the strong-willed matriarch of the Evans family,
John Amos as the hard-working father James Evans, their three smart-ass kids:
J.J. (Jimmie Walker, in his signature role), Thelma (Bernadette Stains), and
Michael (Ralph Carter), and their wacky, sassy neighbor Willona (Ja'net DuBois).
The struggling family lived in the Chicago projects, and despite their lack
of money and constant struggle, they consistently maintained their pride and
sense of humor.
I might as well get it out the way right now: I've never
been a fan of Good Times. In fact, I outright dislike the show. It has
nothing to do with the writing, the acting, the cast, the storylines, the
setting, or anything like that. Ever since I was a kid, I just simply couldn't
watch the show without running away screaming. I had the same reaction to
M.A.S.H. and Barney Miller (although I did like the Fish
spin-off, for whatever reason). My dislike of Good Times was
simply some kind of genetic anomaly. Watching the various episodes of
Good Times: The Complete Second Season did little to assuage my
feelings on the matter. Objectively speaking, I can say that fans of the show
will generally be satisfied, while casual viewers definitely might want to
screen it first.
The following twenty-four episodes are included on this
three-disc set:
Disc One:
-
Florida Flips
-
Crosstown Buses Run All Day, Doodah,
Doodah
-
J.J. Becomes a Man, Part I (J.J. Is Arrested,
Part I)
-
The Man I Most Admire
-
J.J. Becomes a Man, Part II (J.J. Is Arrested
Part II)
-
The Encyclopedia
Hustle
-
The I.Q. Test
-
Thelma's Young Man
Disc Two:
-
Florida, The
Matchmaker
-
The
Windfall
-
The Gang, Part
I
-
The Gang, Part
II
-
Sometimes There's No Bottom in the
Bottle
-
Florida's Big
Gig
-
Florida Goes To
School
-
The
Nude
Disc
Three:
-
The Family
Business
The Debutante
Ball
The Dinner
Party
The
Houseguest
My Girl,
Henrietta
The
Enlistment
Thelma's
Scholarship
The Lunch Money
Rip-Off
The
DVD
Video:
Good Times: The Complete Second Season is
presented in its original fullframe aspect ratio of 1.33:1. The quality of the
video is seriously flawed, which can be somewhat understood by the age of the
source material. The picture is consistently soft and fuzzy, generally
lacking sharpness and definition. Contrasts are shallow and flat. Color levels
are inconsistent: often they look faded and drab, while flesh tones are
reasonably reproduced. Other times I noticed a subdued but pleasant chromatic
presentation. While the video is certainly watchable and looks no worse than
what you might see on cable television, the overall weakness of the picture is
slightly disappointing.
Audio:
The audio presentation of Good Times: The Complete Second Season is
workable if unremarkable. This is a mono presentation, firmly rooted in the
front of the sound stage. Dialog is adequately reproduced, with satisfactory
clarity although there are noticeable levels of clipping and distortion. While
the overall audio is nothing to write home about, the presentation is definitely
serviceable and does not detract from the experience.
Extras:
The only extras on this set are trailers for other Columbia
Tristar Home Entertainment releases of television on DVD, including Sanford
and Son, The Jeffersons, Soap, What's Happening, Good
Times, Barney Miller, All in the Family, The King of
Queens, The Steve Harvey Show, Dawson's Creek,
Designing Women, Married With Children, My Big Fat Greek
Life, Mad About You, The Larry Sanders Show, The
Critic, The Tick, and Dilbert.
Final Thoughts
Good Times benefits from the greatest theme song in theme song
history. It whips butt on The Jeffersons, utterly demolishes and
destroys Gilligan's Island, and obliterates from existence Hello
Larry. Let's be real: for whatever you think of the series, the minute you
hear the opening bar to Good Times's theme song, you drop everything to
sing every last verse. Every last verse. You gotta respect
that.
Now, back to the DVD. The quality is unfortunately limited.
Shoving 8 episodes onto each of the three discs results in an excessive amount
of compression and a hampered presentation of the source material. As I've said
in this space many times before, this doesn't necessarily make the show look
worse than you've ever seen it before. In fact, the presentation is just as good
as you've seen it on TV zillions of times before. The problem is, it should be
better.
I'm not a Good Times fan, but fans of the show
will be pleased this DVD anyhow. Extras are non-existent, and the presentation
of the material is definitely hampered, but if you are a big fan of Good
Times you are getting an exceptional value for your money. For the more
casual viewer/fan, definitely procure this as a rental
first.
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