RIP. I said recently in another thread (that I don't remember) that Good Times might actually be my all-time favorite sitcom. It went down after James was killed off, but those first 3 seasons are GOLD and still relevant today. A lot of interesting trivia surrounding this show: was originally supposed to be a vehicle for Esther Rolle (Florida) no one on the set liked Jimmie Walker and they all resented all of his catch-phrases most of the writers were.....white Jay Leno and David Letterman were briefly writers and both wrote several episodes James was killed off because he criticized the writers for making JJ into what he thought was a black stereotype Amos 'n' Andy-like character
Sidenote: I feel like John Amos should be about 134 years old -- dude doesn't age -- he'll be back for the new Coming 2 America movie this year.
Good Times and Sanford & Son are two of my favorite shows of all time. I still watch the re-runs during the week. Just to add some random stuff to your list : Jay Leno was actually in an episode (V.D. anybody?) There was a period before Thelma's wedding where Florida (Esther Rolle) left the show for the same reason as John Amos did - JJ was too much of a clown character. He could wreck a serious situation with a dumb joke or just to insert his catch phrase, "Dy-no-mite!". Some of it had to do with the fact JJ was a stand-up comic while people like Rolle, Amos, and Ralph Carter were trying to be or were "real" actors. Wasn't it weird Thelma had a New York accent when the entire family lived in Chicago? lol. Michael Evans was named after Michael Evans the co-creator of the show who also was the first Lionel on the Jeffersons. The other co-creator of the show, Eric Monte wrote the movie Cooley High, which I believe is what What's Happening! was based off of. Monte went to the actual "Cooley High" and he based the movie on the Cabrini Green projects which also was where the Evans on Good Times lived. He went bankrupt and became a drug addict. I think he did eventually get his life together, though. John Amos, who played James Evans, Sr. was something like 15-20 years younger than Esther Rolle and only like 5-10 years older than Jimmie Walker. He was a running back in college and tried out for NFL teams. His acting career was kick-started by Hank Stram when he told him that he didn't have what it took to be an NFL running back. lol. I always thought the funny thing about that show at the end was they tried to show off Michael's singing when the eventual superstar was usually standing next to him in Penny/Janet Jackson.
In that recent Good Times live episode where they re-did an original episode with modern actors, he played the role of Alderman Davis. You can tell old age had hit him. It was kind of sad but nice at the same time to see him again. My favorite moment at the end was when he and Norman Lear hugged. By the way, I had no idea it was Jamie Foxx's daughter playing Thelma in the episode - damn, that girl is FINE!
