TV GUIDE: Good Times (Florida and James)

12x8 oil on panel, black floater frame

Good Times was a spinoff of Maude (another favorite of mine) which was in turn a spin-off of All in the Family. [Because Norman Lear was a genius].

I'm sure the show runners probably expected J.J. to be the most popular character on this show. But, for me, his catchphrase "Dyno-mite" got old quick, and his Casanova-complex (I mean … any guy who thinks he's a Casanova … gag me with a spoon, right? It made J.J. feel more like a cartoon character who was half a block away from crazytown, than a seducer of women). I did, however, thoroughly enjoy him trading insults with his sister, Thelma.

But my favorite character on the show was surely the mom, Florida, played by Esther Rolle. She was both sweeter than sugar and tougher than a two-dollar steak. If Florida says, "What did you just say?" She isn't asking you to repeat it. She's asking if you're good with Jesus, 'cause you're about to meet Him.

(That was originally a meme about women in the south, and it makes me think I missed my calling as a Southern Bell).