TV ONE EXCLUSIVE: Thelma and Michael talk "Matter of Mothers"

[TheVee909]

Micheal never sold himself out, thats what happen to him. He is a very smart person & is really all about his people being educated with the real truth.

[CanvassBlack]

I respect Norman Lear the producer but the the episode about the neighbor who was so poor she ate dog food was offensive to me. I was a middle class Black kid but I was still offended.

[kordarrodavis99]

Michael (Ralph) look like he may have done drugs

[ChoonkyMonkey]

DY-NO-MYTE!!!! SON

[Emily41162]

Does anyone know anything about Ralph's background, such as his childhood, mother, father,etc.?

[happymundo]

I see that Good Times is on the new channel "Antenna Tv"

[toyotas2006]

He's almost 50

She's almost 60

[cuttock]

I would love to fuck Bern'Adette Stanis' hot asshole.

[Mobbin4theArt]

Young Janet played this scene so great,because I think she could relate to the topic of abuse,cause remeber Joe was still puttin foots up they ass's around this time..

[TAFFIEBARB]

@Mobbin4theArt  damn lol the way u wrote that lol

[horns2112]

I love how they try to make this episode out be some profound statement on child abuse that changed American television when in fact it was a very ill-conceived, poorly-written, amatuer attempt that had no place in a sitcom, and was made because the show had long since run out of laughs and had already 'jumped the shark' with the introduction of Penny in the first place.

[hotgritz4sho]

@horns2112 stop the hateration. the intro of the young, battered neighbor penny gordon helped explore a less depicted yet darker dimension of the American family. child abuse does exist. GOOD TIMES was brave enough to go there unlike other shows of its era. remember, GOOD TIMES like other norman lear sitcoms such as ALL IN THE FAMILY & even MAUDE, which GOOD TIMES was spun off from, often dealt w/ socio-economic issues of the modern day such as abortion, racism & gun violence and infidelity.

[horns2112]

@hotgritz4sho It is absurdly pretentious to think that Good Times was in any way "brave" to explore these subject lines when the fact of the matter is that it was a painfully deperate move that was made when the producers and writers of the show had long since run out of any ideas that even remotely resembled comedy. Child abuse and abortion have no place in a sitcom. If they did, then every sitcom would be writing these themes into their shows.

[snoops71]

@horns2112 So, instead of bringing Penny in, they should have canceled it?

[horns2112]

@hotgritz4sho What Good Times attempted to do was poorly-conceived, horrendously-written, and atrociously-acted. And it certainly didn't do anything for the ratings, let alone prolong the series....which is the ultimate litmus test for success with these so-called "brave explorations of undepicted darker dimensions." To call it that is patently absurd.

[hotgritz4sho]

@horns2112 actually what is absurd is your incredible narrow -minded ranting and inability to see the contributions this show made to pop culture. gimmie a break with all this hate you're spewing. sitcoms should be allowed to delve into darker tones of life period. there's humor in everything. even your rigid comments. if you didn't like this series, why did you watch it in the first place?

[horns2112]

@hotgritz4sho I never said the show didn't contribute to pop culture, nor have I said that I hate(d) the show. Those are your words, not mine. I thought the show was hilarious in the early years. What I said is that when it ran out of comedy ideas it jumped the shark by bringing in the Penny character and making lame attemps at 'dark' social commentary which lacked any semblence of place in a sitcom, never mind anything insightful which bent America's moral compass in a new direction.

[hotgritz4sho]

@horns2112 good. glad you cleared that up. now maybe you can focus on the current era and stop venting about the '70s. good times left it's mark. period. 'nuff said.

[Mongo76]

@horns2112 I'm not following your logic here. You say that the laughs had stopped so they brought in the penny character and child abuse plot. If this is so, wouldn't they bring in a character to bring the laughs back? If they had lost comedic relevance, they wouldn't replace it with a dramatic issue like child abuse. Also, just about every Good Times fan agrees that the show jumped the shark when James Died. It went straight downhill. It became the JJ shuffle,coon,shuck and jive show.

[snoops71]

@Mongo76 JJ was already exhibiting this kind of behavior, which caused John Amos and Esther Rolle to get so dissatisfied with the show, ultimately leading to James dying.

[Mongo76]

@snoops71 Yes. It's the same reason Florida left with Carl until they met her demands to change scripts. John and Esther were the stars of the show and with ppl trying to make JJ a breakout character it changed the dynamic of the show. at first ppl could take pride in the positive portrayal of a poor but morally sound black family with a strong paternal head of the family and strong parental unit. I'm not sure if we are disagreeing on something.Looks like we're saying the same thing.lol

[snoops71]

@Mongo76 No, I think we're on the same page, too :) I like the first season of "Good Times" best of all. J.J. was funny, but it wasn't overblown. Florida and James were still the heads of the show, and all of the characters were more on equal footing. Of all the tv dads I've seen, James Evans is my all-time favorite. He was stern, but loving, and his family respected him. They also saw him vulnerable, which was really a first. Most tv dads were always strong, never breaking before their family.

[ilikesexyness1000]

michael talk too much he won't let thelma ket a word in

[loMJveable]

wow they still look the same

[sodeserving]

Micheals nose looks like a prop nose... is that thing real? Sheesh.

[Mongo76]

Yep he has ALWAYS had that Big Bell pepper ass nose ... It it HUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUGE!!!!!!

[narcovice]

wow shes so beautiful love her shiny long nails. what ever happened to the old man that died in the chair on new years they dont have it

[sydney1520]

i would of liked to meet the jacksons! even though i wasnt in the 70's i still want to meet them!

[CourtneyandMaggie]

good times is still the best show<3

[SuperCrazychick13]

What episode is that in the beginning

[BreakingGlass77]

It's when Penny's mother tries to make Willona look like an unfit mother so she can take Penny back but her plan backfired.

[MrJP75]

@BreakingGlass77 I've seen this show probably over 1000 times!!! Also, one of the cops who comes to Wilona's house to bust up the party was played by: John Witherspoon!!! (incedently, he, and Ja'Net Dubois both co-starred on "The Wayans Bros".

[kimmy1984]

That episode always tears me up!! Janet did that!!!

[mkeym]

Ralph Carter is extremely well-spoken.

[Belburg]

@mkeym Ralph in intelligent and extremely well-spoken, however, he is what he is.

[Voluptuous77]

I think ralph looks good, I love his accent

[Deepakfury]

what the hell happen to Michael(Ralph)

[libb41sings2]

i'll always love goodtimes

[Generalisimo27]

Man, Thelma's still fine