BernNadette Stanis Movies
A Jewish-American/African-American couple gives their respective families the shock of their lives when they announce their engagement and preparations begin for the big day. David and Mia are a racially-mixed couple who have found true love in looking beyond the shade of their skin. But just because these two young lovers can overlook their obvious differences doesn't mean that their respective families will be able to do the same, and when David's parents throw him a surprise engagement party the cat is finally out of the bag. The divide grows when David's family demands a traditional Jewish wedding despite the fact that Mia's parents had their hearts set on a Baptist ceremony. On the day of the wedding the tensions continue to rise, leaving some guests to wonder whether the union will implode before the bride and groom can even exchange vows. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- BernNadette Stanis, Clifton Davis, (more)
- 1991
Tired of playing pinochle with their wives, Cliff Huxtable (Bill Cosby) and his friend Jim Harmon (Sullivan Walker) partner up for tournament. When Clair Huxtable (Phylicia Rashad) and Nichole (Michelle Shay) team up for the same tournament, their husbands mock them--but no one is laughing when, after defeating the defending champions, the ladies square off against Cliff Jim in a grudge match. Meanwhile, in keeping with the episode's title, Rudy (Keshia Knight Pulliam) insists that she is old enough to babysit for her stepsister Olivia (Raven-Symone)--leading to a "scare" situation and a booby-trapped house reminiscent of star Bill Cosby's classic monologue "Chicken Heart." ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Assured that the character played by her co-star Jimmie Walker, brash, budding inner-city artist J.J. Evans, had become more mature and responsible during her year-long absence, actress Esther Rolle agreed to return to the role of J.J.'s mom, Florida Evans, as Good Times launched its sixth season. Conspicuous by his absence was Moses Gunn as Florida's second husband, Carl Dixon, whom she ostensibly married at the end of season four -- and with whom she'd been living in Arizona while "missing in action" throughout season five. When Florida made her comeback to the Evanses' tiny Chicago apartment, it was minus Carl, with no explanation given as to what had happened to him; indeed, it was if Carl had never existed. The series' scripters contrived to bring Florida back into the Evans fold by having her invited to the wedding of her daughter, Thelma (BernNadette Stanis), and up-and-coming, award-winning football flash Keith Anderson, played by new Good Times regular Ben Powers. It was hoped that Keith's impending contract with the Chicago Bears would enable the Evanses to at last leave the Projects and move into more attractive surroundings. Alas, no sooner had Thelma and Keith said "I do," than Keith tripped and broke his knee, thereby effectively squashing any hopes he had for a pro football career. Thus did Keith move into the increasingly crowded Evans apartment, contributing to the family's meager finances by working as a cab driver. Since Keith could only work a few hours a day, and J.J. had just been fired by the ad agency where he worked, former maid Florida had to go job-hunting, landing a part-time position as a school bus driver. J.J.'s efforts to make ends meet caused him to cross paths more than once with brutish neighborhood loan shark "Sweet Daddy" Williams, played by Theodore Wilson, a formerly recurring character who graduated that season to semi-regular status.
As for the other cast members, younger brother Michael Evans (Ralph Carter) continued to seek out his niche in the world; neighbor Willona (Ja'net Dubois) was relatively content in her new role as single adoptive mother to the precocious Penny (Janet Jackson); and usurious landlord Bookman (Johnny Brown) continued to pinch as many pennies as possible in maintaining the Evans apartment. Beginning the season in a "death" time slot opposite NBC's Saturday-night league leader, CHiPs, Good Times continued to lose viewers at an alarming rate. Having already gone on a brief hiatus in November 1978, the series left the air entirely in December, resurfacing in May 1979, only so that the remaining episode could be played off, thereby avoiding a total loss of CBS' investment. In a Wednesday-night time slot that was no more beneficial than its previous Saturday berth, the series died a quiet death on August 1, 1979, with one of the most outrageously unrealistic "happy" endings in TV series history: To make a long story short, everything turned out all right. Only 21 of the 24 episodes filmed for the 1978-1979 season were telecast by CBS; the three "orphaned" episodes would not be seen until Good Times entered local syndication in the fall of 1979. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
As for the other cast members, younger brother Michael Evans (Ralph Carter) continued to seek out his niche in the world; neighbor Willona (Ja'net Dubois) was relatively content in her new role as single adoptive mother to the precocious Penny (Janet Jackson); and usurious landlord Bookman (Johnny Brown) continued to pinch as many pennies as possible in maintaining the Evans apartment. Beginning the season in a "death" time slot opposite NBC's Saturday-night league leader, CHiPs, Good Times continued to lose viewers at an alarming rate. Having already gone on a brief hiatus in November 1978, the series left the air entirely in December, resurfacing in May 1979, only so that the remaining episode could be played off, thereby avoiding a total loss of CBS' investment. In a Wednesday-night time slot that was no more beneficial than its previous Saturday berth, the series died a quiet death on August 1, 1979, with one of the most outrageously unrealistic "happy" endings in TV series history: To make a long story short, everything turned out all right. Only 21 of the 24 episodes filmed for the 1978-1979 season were telecast by CBS; the three "orphaned" episodes would not be seen until Good Times entered local syndication in the fall of 1979. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Just as season four of Good Times was marked by the defection of actor John Amos as James Evans, so too was the series' fifth season distinguished by the conspicuous absence of another leading character. Having already gone on record over the dissatisfaction with the direction in which the series had gone -- that is, from a positive depiction of a closely knit inner-city family headed by a strong male parental figure to a somewhat stereotypical portrait of a fatherless ghetto clan dominated by the buffoonish behavior of the family's oldest son -- Esther Rolle (aka Florida Evans) decided to follow Amos' lead. Citing "illness," Rolle was off the Good Times cast list as of September 1977. Her character's sudden disappearance was neatly compensated for by explaining that, after a whirlwind courtship, Florida had married the irascible but lovable Carl Dixon (Moses Gunn), and had moved with her new husband to Arizona. The three Evans children -- J.J. (Jimmie Walker), Thelma (BernNadette Stanis), and Michael (Ralph Carter) -- had stayed behind in the family's tiny Chicago apartment, with the tacit understanding that Florida's longtime friend and neighbor Willona Woods (Ja'net DuBois) would drop in from time to time to make sure the kids were doing well. While J.J. was still the prankish "Dy-no-mite Kid," his sudden ascension to head of the Evans household had thrust maturity and responsibility upon him; he even landed a semi-steady job as an ad agency artist. In other words, J.J. began behaving less like a sitcom clown and more like a genuine human being -- precisely what Esther Rolle had been demanding for years. It was this metamorphosis as much as anything else that persuaded Rolle to return to the series at the outset of season six. To counteract the depletion of the basic Good Times ensemble, the producers contrived to add a brand new character and to build up an older one. A very young Janet Jackson was added to the cast as 13-year-old Penny Gordon, the product of an abusive home. Taking pity on Penny, the childless (and husbandless) Willona adopted the girl, thereby opening up a whole new realm of plot possibilities. In addition, the Evans' penny-pinching landlord Nathan Bookman (played by Johnny Brown) was promoted from recurring character to full regular. Theoretically, the time-honored ritual of cast additions and deletions is supposed to breathe new life into old sitcoms (look what that ritual did for M*A*S*H). Unfortunately, Good Times showed few signs of resuscitation. Although the series still had a loyal coterie of fans, it continued to plummet in the ratings, losing out to ABC's Eight is Enough on Wednesday nights, then to NBC's Little House on the Prairie when Good Times moved to Mondays in mid-season. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Season four of Good Times marked the first of the series' significant cast changes -- or, to be more precise, cast deletions. Long disenchanted with the way in which the series had devolved from the weekly saga of a poor but indomitable ghetto family into a vehicle for the brash buffoonery of Jimmie Walker (aka J.J. Evans), actor John Amos, who had played Evans family patriarch James from the outset of the show in January 1974, quit the series outright. Amos' abrupt departure prompted the series' producers to exhume a script that had initially been written for another Norman Lear TV sitcom, All in the Family. Originally conceived to compensate for the possible defection of series star Carroll O'Connor, the script, as written, showed the members of Bunker household -- mother Edith, daughter Gloria, and son-in-law Mike -- coping with the accidental death of bumptious bigot Archie Bunker. As it happened, O'Connor remained with All in the Family, and thus this pivotal script went unfilmed -- until John Amos quit Good Times. Undergoing a hasty rewrite, the script emerged as the two-part opener for Good Times' fourth season; it was thus James Evans, and not Archie Bunker, who was killed in a traffic accident while on an out-of-town trip. Esther Rolle, who played James's wife, Florida, was not altogether pleased with Amos' departure, but she could understand his motivation. She, too, regarded the character of J.J. as a poor role model for African-American youths, and she hoped that J.J.'s sudden ascension to "man of the house" status would force the character to grow and mature. At the same time, one of the reasons that Rolle signed on to Good Times was because of the series' depiction of an closely knit inner-city family with a strong and positive father figure at the head. With Amos gone, Rolle was herself less than anxious to continue with her participation in the series. And this, coupled with the producers' insistence upon retaining the "zany" qualities that had endeared J.J. to millions of viewers, prompted her to consider leaving the series as well -- which indeed she did, at the end of season four. Before this happened, however, the series' writers contrived to pair off Florida Evans with a new sweetheart in the form of Carl Dixon (Moses Gunn), the employer of Florida's youngest son, Michael (Ralph Carter). Although Carl was obstreperous, profane, and something of an atheist, Florida managed to bring out the best in the man, and with the blessings of her children -- including daughter Thelma (BernNadette Stanis) -- Florida and Carl had decided to wed by the time the last fourth-season episode had rolled around. The many changes in Good Times' basic premise, combined with its move to a suicidal Wednesday-night time slot opposite ABC's surprise hit The Bionic Woman, had an injurious effect on the program's ratings. Having already dropped from seventh to 24th place during season three, the series failed to even crack the Top 25 during season four. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
By the time Good Times had begun its third season on CBS, the program had pretty much given up being a realistic (albeit basically humorous) depiction of life in the urban ghetto, and had evolved -- or, as some would claim, devolved -- into a vehicle for brash African-American standup comedian Jimmie Walker. As the cocksure J.J. Evans, Walker had transformed the exclamation "Dy-no-mite!" into not only a national but an international catch phrase. And even Good Times' occasional forays into serious social comment -- notably those episodes which touched upon such hot-button issues as gun control, drug addiction, and venereal disease -- did not detract from the perception of certain audience members that J.J. was a "typical" inner-city projects dweller, rather than a sitcom exaggeration. The series' nominal stars, Esther Rolle and John Amos, respectively, cast as J.J.'s parents, Florida and James Evans, had both registered protests against what they regarded as a negative image of a black teenager, but to no avail; J.J. was clearly the most popular character on the series, and the producers had no intention of shifting the focus away from his antics. Indeed, the addition of the recurring character "Sweet Daddy" Williams (Theodore Wilson), a neighborhood numbers runner with whom J.J. was destined to have several nervously funny run-ins, only led to the inevitable conclusion that Jimmie Walker's screen time would continue to increase at the detriment of the other actors. It finally reached the point that John Amos could stand no more; at the end of season three, the actor left the series cold, forcing the writers to rethink their strategies for season four (and, incidentally, prompting Esther Rolle to entertain the notion of leaving the program herself, citing the fact that she had originally signed on because of Good Times' positive depiction of a poor but proud ghetto family led by a strong and faithful father figure). The imminent departure of John Amos at the end of Good Times' third season was but one of the headaches plaguing the series' producers. Now that it was going head-to-head with ABC's surprise hit Happy Days on Tuesday evenings, the CBS series had dropped precipitously in the ratings, plummeting from seventh to 24th place. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Esther Rolle, John Amos, (more)
Like so many other Norman Lear-produced efforts, Good Times made its network bow as a mid-season replacement, taking over the Friday-night time slot previously occupied by the failed wartime sitcom Roll Out. Although only Florida Evans (Esther Rolle) was familiar to audiences by virtue of her appearances on Maude, the rest of the Good Times characters were so fully rounded that the laborious first-episode practice of introducing them one by one was unnecessary. True to the intentions of its creator, Eric Monte, the series' first season stressed the solidarity and indomitability of the modern African-American family, even when surrounded by poverty and deprivation. The plot lines were evenly divided among the five main characters -- Florida (Esther Rolle), her husband, James (John Amos), oldest son J.J. (Jimmie Walker), daughter Thelma (BernNadette Stanis), and youngest son Michael (Ralph Carter) -- with next-door neighbor Willona (Ja'net DuBois) providing comic punctuation. While Jimmie Walker had been a successful standup comedian, and as such, arguably had more laugh-making "equipment" than his co-stars, the series had not yet evolved (or devolved) into "The J.J. Show." Still, laughs were served up in full measure, even though the first 13 episodes were more issue-oriented than later entries, touching upon such contemporary topics as age discrimination, fraudulent evangelists, "social" promotion in the public schools, the paucity of African-American representation in school history courses, and poor housing conditions. None of this, however, was done with a heavy hand. Good Times ended its first season with a 21.4 rating, tying with CBS's Barnaby Jones as the 17th most-watched TV series in America. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Having posted good, if not spectacular, ratings during its freshman year on CBS, Good Times was moved from Fridays to a more desirable Tuesday-night time slot as it entered its second season. Beyond an added emphasis on the minor character of usurious inner-city landlord Nathan Bookman (Johnny Brown), no significant changes were made amongst the cast members, though it was impossible not to notice that Jimmie Walker, aka J.J. Evans, was emerging as the star of the proceedings despite the actor's third-billed status. J.J.'s weekly exclamation "Dy-no-mite!" had already become a national catch phrase, repeated ad nauseam in classrooms, playgrounds, and AM radio stations from sea to shining sea. And during the filming of the second-season episode "The Gang," actor John Amos (James Evans) broke the tension of a scene in which J.J. was shot down in the street by ad-libbing, "This'll kill us in the ratings if he dies!" Everybody laughed, but everybody also knew that Amos was kidding on the square. While Good Times upheld its delicate balance between raucous humor and trenchant social comment throughout season two (in addition to the two-part episode on street gangs, the scripts tackled head-on such risky topics as alcoholism, teen pregnancy, school busing, and racially biased IQ tests), its unofficial designation as "The J.J. Show" tended to obscure its original intent: to demonstrate how a tightly knit black family could survive and endure despite grinding poverty and deprivation, so long as everyone -- and not just J.J. -- maintained their sense of humor. Also, John Amos and Esther Rolle (Florida Evans) were beginning to lodge complaints that the series' overemphasis on J.J.'s antics was not only diminishing their roles as the Evans kids' parents, but also led some impressionable viewers to believe that no inner-city family was complete without a wisecracking buffoon in attendance. Amos, in particular, was displeased because his character was nominally the head of the Evans household, a status that continued to erode the longer J.J. remained in the spotlight. Be that as it may, Good Times closed out its second season as the seventh highest-rated series in America. Translation: Since J.J. brought in the viewers and the sponsors, the "Dy-no-mites" would continue unabated. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Esther Rolle, John Amos, (more)
