John Amos Says He Was Kicked Off Good Times Because He Didn’t Agree With the Shucking and Jiving

[KamaAina]

http://www.theroot.com/blogs/the_grapevine/2015/06/john_amos_says_he_was_kicked_off_good_times_because_he_didn_t_agree_with.html

What many don’t realize is that John Amos was just about as shocked as Florida when he learned that he was no longer on the show. Back then, Amos was vocal about his issues with the show, and it seemed to have rubbed the show’s creator, Norman Lear, the wrong way.

In an interview with the American Archive of Television, Amos discussed why he received the boot from the show: “I felt that with two other younger children, one of whom aspired to become a Supreme Court justice—that would be Ralph Carter, or Michael—and the other, BernNadette Stanis ... she aspired to become a surgeon. And the differences I had with the producers of the show ... I felt too much emphasis was being put on J.J. and his chicken hat and saying ‘dy-no-mite’ every third page, when just as much emphasis and mileage could have been gotten out of my other two children ... ,” Amos stated.

So apparently, from Amos’ standpoint, there was too much shucking and jiving on the show, and he didn’t want to tolerate it any more. He also states that he “wasn’t the most diplomatic guy” back then and producers got tired of having their “lives threatened over jokes.”

Just as Florida shockingly received notice that her husband had died, so, too, Amos received a call out of the blue that his character was no longer needed. Amos stated that during the show’s hiatus, Lear called him.

[BeyondGeography]

1. He and Esther Rolle were one of the best sitcom couples ever

They were both so real and their characters complimented each other perfectly.

He's right about JJ's character in relation to the other kids, too.

[MuseRider]

2. I loved those two actors.

They were good.

[Baitball Blogger]

13. "I FOUND IT."

Yeah, that actor had a lot of great comic timing and the writers wasted it on stereotyping.

[Skittles]

23. Florida will forever be my favorite TV mom

loved her

[seveneyes]

3. The good son

[Liberal_in_LA]

4. I wondered why he was killed off. saw the esp where Florida mourned him just last year

[CBGLuthier]

5. I thought this was already a known thing.

That Jimmy Walker's character took over just like the Fonz on Happy Days and the show became a parody of what it could have been.

Another disgusting thing is that the original character as created on Maude had a job as a fireman but when it came time to do a show about a black family he had to be chronically unemployed. I guess the learaverse only had room for one successful black family.

[KamaAina]

6. The original character was created on Maude?

Did they ever explain how the Evanses got from Tuckahoe, N.Y. to the projects in Chicago?!

[Solly Mack]

7. Yes, as Florida and Henry Evans.

No, they never explained the changes.

[AngryOldDem]

9. Yes. She was Maude's housekeeper

And no, I'm not quite sure how they explained the move. Lear apparently wanted a spinoff with all the achingly, politically correct overtones of the '70s, so he transplanted the Evanses to inner-city Chicago. Which to me, even as a kid, made absolutely no sense. Deux ex machina, suspend your disbelief, I suppose.

Contrast that with the way "The Jeffersons" was spun off from "All in the Family". Much more plausible.

As I said, "Good Times" is not one of Lear's better efforts, at least from where I sit.

EDIT: "Housekeeper" is more accurate.

[KamaAina]

16. The projects in NYC weren't good enough?!

[AngryOldDem]

17. Well, that's another mystery.

I don't think it was ever explained where, exactly, Florida lived when she was under Maude's employ.

But I'm guessing it wasn't Westchester or wherever Maude lived (city escapes me right now).

[Miles Archer]

14. The Walker character started out as more of a one-note solo than Winkler's...

...but I'm not sure if Winker ended up on top or not. By the time the whole Pinky / Leather Tuscadero, Chachi and Spike stuff started happening, I'd grown pretty sick of the Fonz.

I hated that "Dy-no-MIIIIIIITE" nonsense from the beginning. I thought the parents were much more interesting characters, but pretty quickly it degraded into the "Dynomite Show."

[nomorenomore08]

33. "Jimmy Walker's character took over just like the Fonz on Happy Days."

Great way of putting it. And a shame in either case.

[AngryOldDem]

8. That show is just excruciating to watch.

JJ devolved into a very bad stereotype and took over the show. I'm amazed that Esther Rolle stayed with it as long as she did.

Norman Lear had a good chance to look into poverty and how it affected minorities -- which he did, early on, and from time to time later on -- but the character of JJ was just poisonous. Like Amos, I cringe when I see the chicken hat from JJ's job at the fast food place, and hear "DYNOMIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIITE!"

Please. Lear could have -- and should have -- done better than this. "Good Times" will not go down as one of his better shows. It was insulting -- Amos was right to complain, and lost nothing when he was told to go. Sometimes commitment to your art and your own self-respect are worth more than a 30-minute sitcom.

[Wolf Frankula]

10. JJ is an Example of the 'Fonz' Factor

One character taking over the show, and the writers writing up that character. Why? Enough people watch the show to give it good ratings. And writing up one character is easy.

Fonzie (to me) is as excruciating to watch as JJ.

Wolf

[AngryOldDem]

11. It's also like Alex P. Keaton in "Family Ties".

The premise of that show -- '60s parents raising '80s kids -- got lost pretty early with Alex P. Keaton taking over. Although overall that show is holding up better than "Good Times," I think a lot of opportunities storywise were lost with the constant focus on that character.

And I was one of the few kids who hated "Happy Days," and NEVER understood its popularity. I remember the pilot from "Love, American Style," which was about the Cunninghams being the first in their neighborhood to get a TV. A GREAT chance to explore life in the 1950s going forward. But no. One character caught fire and the writers decided to be lazy. Hence, a decade or more of the Fonz, which again devolved into a lot of silliness. (But we did get "jump the shark" from it, so all I guess was not lost.)

(And let me amend my post above. "Housekeeper" is a more accurate description of Florida in "Maude" than "maid".)

[Snobblevitch]

22. So what happened to Chuck?

He went off to college and was never heard from again.

[Dr. Strange]

29. He hooked up with Judy Winslow from Family Matters.

They had a kid together: Seven from Married with Children.

[Skittles]

25. I am with you on Happy Days

I thought it was just plain stupid

[Miles Archer]

12. I remember him saying that at the time...

...he had some particularly strong words for Jimmie Walker. I always imagined Lear to be a "my way or the highway" kind of guy, no dissension in the ranks.

[Orrex]

15. But he kicked ass in Beastmaster.

[Brother Buzz]

18. He also kicked ass in Bad Asses on the Bayou

Interesting trio: Danny Glover, John Amos, and Danny Trejo

[Orrex]

19. It's in my queueueue on NetFlix!

Just saw it arrive the other day.

[Brother Buzz]

20. I streamed it on Netflix, I wouldn't know what queueueue was if it bit me in the butt

John Amos starts off kinda slow in the beginning, but becomes a full fledged bad ass by the end.

[Orrex]

21. It's like a queue, but with 40% more awesome.

I'm old-school NetFlix, from back before they started calling it "My List."

[GOLGO 13]

24. Sounds like sour grapes to me

JJ became a runaway character and everybody else was relegated/shifted to 2nd banana/filling in the background. Sitcom TV is there for entertainment 1st, 2nd, 3rd reasons. Amos forgot to check his ego & got shown the door. Show didn't skip a beat afterwards.

So yeah, shit on Norma Lear who even after that mess, still gave him a 2nd chance with THE starring role in 704 Hauser sitcom.

[valerief]

26. No, they stupified the show with JJ. As they stupified Happy Days with Fonzie.

Stupid, stupid, stupid. And not funny, just plain stupid. Fare for a five-year-old.

[AngryOldDem]

27. The stereotypes in the character of JJ are appalling.

Even by '70s standards. Amos was exactly right to call it "shuck and jive" and insist on something better. I don't think ego had anything to do with it.

[AngryOldDem]

28. As it happens, that two-part "Good Times" was on Antenna TV last weekend.

Still kind of bugs that Florida found out about James's death through a telegram.

Esther Rolle was terrific in both episodes.

[irisblue]

30. I liked his Percy Fitzwallace in West Wing

and I was sorry when the character was killed.

[Wolf Frankula]

31. I Remember also Hearing a Rumor

He wanted more money than they were willing to pay. In Hollywood, when they say it isn't about the money, it's about the money.

Wolf

[romanic]

32. I agree about the "jiving" J.J. and the dynomite crap

but honestly that two-parter where James passed on was so powerful and quite real when it comes to death in the inner-city. I felt like the show could have used that as an opportunity to have the J.J. character mature more and spread out character development for the entire cast.

Oh well, at least Good Times ended on a high note with all the characters finally moving out of the projects; most sitcoms rarely wrap things up so tightly.