Let the ‘Good Times’ Roll with Our Quiz

Norman Lear recruited actor Ralph Carter to play the Evans’ youngest child, Michael, when he was just 12 years old. At the time, Carter was starring in the Broadway musical Raisin. Although Janet Jackson went on to become Good Times’ most musical alumnus, Carter was the first to release a hit single: In 1976, he released a disco album titled Young and in Love. The album’s two singles, “When You’re Young and in Love” and “Extra, Extra (Read All About It)” reached No. 10 and 12 on the Billboard R&B music charts, respectively.

In addition to acting, DuBois was a talented songwriter and musician: She cowrote and performed “Movin’ on Up,” the beloved theme song for The Jeffersons, which aired on CBS from 1975 to 1985.

The gospel-style theme song for Good Times was composed by Dave Grusin and performed by singers Jim Gilstrap and Blinky Williams, with lyrics by husband-and-wife songwriters Alan and Marilyn Bergman. For decades, fans have wondered about one hard-to-decipher line from the song. While some insist it’s “hangin’ in a chow line,” others hear it as “hangin’ in and jivin’.” In a social media post in 2023, cast member BernNadette Stanis set the record straight: “hangin’ in and jivin’” is correct.

After Jimmie Walker became the breakout star of Good Times as the Evans’ eldest child, J.J., producers began focusing on the character at the expense of other storylines. John Amos, who played James Evans, became so vocal with his objections that he was fired after the show’s third season. In Season 4, it’s revealed that James died in a car accident while pursuing a new business opportunity that would have moved his family out of the projects.

In April 2024, Netflix released a reboot of Good Times in the form of an adult-oriented cartoon. Coproduced by Ranada Shepard, basketball player Stephen Curry, Seth MacFarlane of Family Guy fame and Norman Lear — the show’s original executive producer, who died in December 2023 at age 101 — it features the same premise as the original Good Times, but with a new generation of Evans-family characters. Netflix calls the animated series an “edgy, irreverent reimagining of the TV classic.”