ANNOUNCER: From Television City in Hollywood:
♪ Good Times
♪ Anytime You meet a payment ♪
♪ Good Times
♪ Anytime You meet a friend ♪
♪ Good Times
♪ Anytime you're Out from under ♪
♪ Not getting hassled Not getting hustled ♪
♪ Keeping your head Above water ♪
♪ Making a wave When you can ♪
♪ Temporary layoffs
♪ Good Times
♪ Easy credit Rip-offs ♪
♪ Good Times
♪ Scratching And surviving ♪
♪ Good Times
♪ Hanging in A chow line ♪
♪ Good Times
♪ Ain't we lucky We got 'em ♪
♪ Good Times
BOY 1: You can be it next time.
BOY 2: I don't want to be it next time.
You make me sick sometimes.
BOY 1: Well, that's not fair.
Who needs you anyway?
I wouldn't play with you again
if you was the last kid in the projects.
Who was you yelling at in the hallway?
Eric. Me and him was playing "cops and militants."
So?
He kept making me the cop.
It's a good thing you're back.
James Jr.'s disappeared,
and I need some help with this breakfast.
You sure do.
Black is beautiful, Thelma, but not when it's oatmeal.
Don't give me no lip, Michael.
I'm only doing this
so Mama can rest up from her operation.
And where's that big string-bean brother of yours?
He was supposed to help me set the table,
make the beds and clean up.
There you are.
Something's burning.
Ah... it's only the breakfast again.
Don't try shining me on with that smile, James Jr.
You look like an eel with the teeth of a shark.
Cool it, Thelma.
I just been down 17 floors for the mail.
I got some dispensing here to do.
Here's something for Michael...
bulletins from the NAACP, CORE, SNCC...
And the Pan-African Council.
Thank you kindly, sir.
And, ah, here's a free sample for little sister.
"Afro-Glo Face Cream, for the look of beauty."
I didn't know they could bottle miracles.
Look who's talking.
If you were born in Detroit,
you'd have been recalled for being dangerously ugly.
Thelma, you shouldn't talk to JJ like that.
JJ, give her the face cream.
Not till she shuts her mouth.
If her BB brain falls out,
we ain't going to be able to find it.
You hear the way he talks to me?
She called me the ugliest thing!
You are! All right, hold it.
I said hold it.
Hold it!
Well, it's comforting to know
there is still some respect for Black Power around here.
Sorry, Mama.
Mama, you should be resting.
You're supposed to be weak.
They only took out my appendix, not my mouth nor my fist.
Now, what's going on?
She called me ugly.
That could reduce a less beautiful person
to tears.
I think they're both beautiful.
Don't you, Mama?
I mean, they're different.
Thelma, she's got
that real beautiful beauty,
and JJ... well, he's got...
Mama...
Mama, was they both beget the same way?
Michael, where do you come off asking me a question like that?
This is a Christian house.
I put it as biblical as I could.
Michael may have a point there, Mama.
Maybe he and Thelma look the way they do...
You know, all that nice quiet beauty...
Because they was born out of an act of love.
And maybe I got all this wild, restless kind of beauty
because I was born out of an act of passion.
Settle down, James Jr.,
or you're going to have me believing
you was born out of an act of madness.
Let me see the rest of the mail you got there.
Oh, ain't nothing, Mama.
Just bills, bills and... Uh-oh.
You want to see the bills, huh, Mama?
That's right,
and I want a little peek at that "uh-oh."
This is an eviction notice.
Ain't nothing to worry about, Mama.
What are you talking about?
They say they're going to throw us out today.
Didn't we get any warnings?
We got a couple of notices when you were in the hospital,
but Daddy didn't want to worry you.
He said it'd be okay anyway.
See, Mom, he's got this friend named Monty
who works in the projects,
and he told Daddy everything was going to be okay.
That's the same Monty
that said Nixon was going to be poor folks' best friend.
Come on, Ma, let's have breakfast.
I can't eat on no evicted stomach.
How much money we got in that shoebox?
About $32.
That's about some $72 short.
I got 100 ways I can get $70.
And I got 100 ways to warm your butt if you do.
I don't want you stealing, James Jr.
I wouldn't do that, Mama.
I may just find$70.
Yeah, but I don't want you findingit
before it gets lost.
I hope I'm coming through to you, boy.
Mama, "boy" is a white, racist word.
Michael, this ain't no time to be black.
Mama, racial freedom demands vigilance...
And your Mama demands silence.
JJ, say grace.
Oh, Lord, just help us through all this oatmeal,
and we promise we'll never ask for anything else again.
Amen.
James Jr., that is blasphemous.
He's no good, Mama.
[KNOCKING]
I'm coming.
Will you open the door? It's cold out here!
I'm coming! Quiet, kids!
Whoo-ee!
Was that the fastest you can open a door?
I'm froze numb.
If you wanted somebody fast,
you should have married O.J. Simpson.
Good morning, kids.
Good morning, Daddy.
Sit down, James,
and get some hot oatmeal into your stomach...
and in between,
you could tell me what we're going to do
about this little piece of mail that James Jr.
got from the mailbox this morning.
What is it? Another eviction notice?
Well, it ain't no Valentine card.
Oh, baby, we got two of those while you was in the hospital,
but my friend, Monty, who works down at the projects,
he said don't worry about it,
'cause they know I'm a hard-working man.
They'll extend me.
Yeah, they'll extend you... right out into the street.
Your friend Monty don't know shellac from Shinola.
Mama!
Now, Florida, you want to worry your head about nothing,
go on and do it,
but we got $32 in the shoebox,
and I got another $6.00 right here in my pocket.
You worked all night
and all they paid you was $6.00?
They paid me a lot more,
but after they got finished taking out federal withholding,
the state withholding,
the unemployment compensation,
the state disability insurance,
then this extra goody
they slipped on me at the last minute,
a $2.00 charge
for getting my dishwashing uniform cleaned...
You know something, baby,
if I'd worked for them a few more hours,
I'd end up owing them 10 bucks.
Well, anyhow, all we need now is $70.
Which we had
before I went to the hospital.
Oh, James, I'm so sorry.
For what, baby?
For needing your appendix out?
But it took every cent we had.
Now you work all day
and then you take an extra job
working all night... Oh, James, I'm sorry.
Baby, you say you're sorry one more time,
I'll give you something to be sorry about, hear?
I'm telling you, we going to be just fine.
But we still have this piece of paper.
And Monty told me don't worry about it.
Anybody home?
Whoo-ee, the hawk is really biting
out there this morning.
It's so cold in that hallway,
I rubbed my face
and cut my finger on my eyelashes.
I can get a warmer welcome at a Klan meeting.
Florida, what's the problem today?
An eviction notice that says "final."
Oh, Lord, an eviction notice.
Which don't mean a thing.
Let's talk about something else.
How was that date you had last night, Willona?
Yeah, that's what I want to tell you.
Six-foot-two, shoulders out to here,
and a smile that lit up the night...
and he mugged me.
I tell you, the way my luck is running,
I'm thinking of joining a monastery.
A convent, Willona. Only men go to monasteries.
Quiet, Thelma.
Willona knows what she's saying.
Okay, Eddie, you clear off that desk over there.
Oh, hi, folks.
We thought you might have been gone already.
Gone? What the hell do you think you're doing here?
And take your hats off in my house.
We are here to remove
the contents of this apartment
due to nonpayment of rent
and pursuant to article five of the lease agreement
between the family named Evans and the projects.
Well, unless y'all are out of here in six seconds,
the only thing you're going to be removing
is some knuckles from your face,
which is pursuant to the end of my fist.
Well, why don't you call your friend Monty?
He said he'll take care of it, didn't he?
Aw, Florida... Monty is a wino, James,
and nobody knows that better than you.
What was I going to do, baby?
I took two jobs to try and pull the money together.
That didn't work out.
I had to have something to hang my hopes on.
Damn.
You jive dude.
You got some job for a brother,
putting other brothers out on the street.
Well, I know it ain't as classy as secretary of state,
but that job was already took.
Hey, I'll bet folks are always telling you
how much you look
like that fine Billy Dee Williams.
Oh, yeah, that happens,
but usually only at eviction time.
Do they also tell you
you look like Sidney Poitier?
Oh, yeah. Yeah, They do.
Folks lie to you a lot, don't they?
Look, folks, I got 16 bucks
I've been saving for a rainy day.
It's yours.
Thanks, Willona, but I ain't taking money from friends.
Then make her an enemy, then. A buck's a buck.
Hey, Daddy, I got $4.00
that I was saving to get my 'fro together,
but you can have it.
And Old Man Sweeney
says he'll give me $10 for this painting.
You can have this.
And I'll give the $2.00 I been saving for law school,
but you can't let JJ
give away the first painting he ever painted.
It's okay, Michael. I'll paint another one.
Michael, you give that back!
No. The only way anybody gets this painting
is over my dead body.
I appreciate y'all offering to help like that,
but Thelma, you keep saving for the 'fro, hear?
And JJ, you put the painting back, son,
and boy, I believe you can skip "lawyer"
and go right on to president.
Thank you, Daddy,
but "boy" is a white, racist word.
Michael... I'm sorry, folks,
but we have to move your stuff on out of here.
Come on. Give me a little play.
All I need is some time.
Well, what if we was to juggle
and move two of our afternoon evictions
up to the morning?
Now, that way, you'd have until 5:00.
Thanks. That's all the time I need, man. Thank you.
5:00.
Well, thanks, brother. Thank you.
Well, baby, I got till 5:00 to get us $72.
I don't know but one way to get it.
James, don't you dare go into that closet.
What's he going to do, Mama?
He's getting his pool cue.
Dy-no-mite!
It's been years since I've used this,
but I still shoot a pretty good stick.
James, I don't want you hustling no pool.
You promised.
I also promised to take care of my family.
Now, if anybody here knows another way
I can raise the rent by 5:00,
I'll lay this up.
If Thelma can follow a couple of simple moves,
I got this department store hustle we can run.
We can have the money like that!
You talk about pulling a hustle one more time, James Jr.,
and I'm going to tie a knot in your tongue.
I know they got emergency funds down at the welfare, Florida.
No good, Willona.
I ain't taking no handouts.
James, the Lord don't want you hustling no pool.
Yeah, well, I'm going to have to work out
an understanding with the Lord
some other time, Florida.
Now, move.
Damn, that man always could move me.
Willona, don't all the magazines say
that our women are supposed to be heads of the house?
They sure do.
Well, somebody ought to tell James.
I tell you, Mama, give me and Thelma three hours.
One stop down at Marshall Fields
and one stop down at...
Tie a knot in that child's tongue,
and he's still got two yards left over
for flapping.
Now, you're not to leave the apartment,
and that's that.
You come on.
I'm going to take you down to the welfare.
Come on.
What a day.
James Jr. hassling me
to go out and do something illegal,
James Sr. Out hustling pool, which is immoral,
you trying to drag me off to the Welfare office,
which is embarrassing...
You know what my horoscope said this morning?
What?
"Let a smile be your umbrella."
Suppose Daddy don't get the money at the pool hall
and Mama don't get the money at welfare?
I tell you, we've got to do something.
I don't want to have nothing to do
with none of your lame hustles.
I'm too fine for that.
Look, stupid, we've got to do something
before they throw you out on the sidewalk,
where you're going to freeze your fine right off.
Now, I done told y'all the plan.
All we got to do
is eke out a little sympathy from some strangers,
and while we're eking out the sympathy,
the sympathy will be eking out the money.
You see, Thelma, it's not stealing,
it's eking.
Come on, Thelma, let's try it.
Yeah, try it, Thelma.
I'll show y'all how easy the hustle is.
Here we are at Marshall Field's department store,
going through the revolving doors.
Michael, you go over there. You play the floor manager.
I'll pretend like I'm a shopper.
Thelma, do your thing.
Do it to it, Thelma.
Oh, my, I think I'm going to faint.
Oh...
Holy cow, a poor little girl has fainted
here in Marshall Field's department store.
All right, folks. Let me through here.
I'm Michael, the floor manager
of Marshall Field's department store,
so... step aside!
A poor little girl has fainted.
Looks like she hasn't had a meal in weeks.
Look, floor manager,
this is the first time you ever seen her,
so you don't know she ain't had a meal.
Stop padding your part.
Okay.
All right, folks.
Step back, give the little lady some air.
Sock it to 'em, Thelma.
I have fainted... We know that.
I have not had a thing to eat in three weeks.
My younger brother is in the hospital...
Cool it, Cicely Tyson.
Just tell 'em you starving.
I'll handle the rest.
We have to do something about this poor child.
I'll start the ball rolling.
Here, young woman, take this dollar.
Where did you get a real dollar, Michael?
I'm the floor manager.
I'm white.
I always got a dollar.
I'm sorry, Florida.
Don't be. You tried.
Imagine being turned down
'cause James made $100 too much last year.
I didn't know $4200 was the limit
for a family with three kids.
Now, I've got a great idea.
If you just had one more kid...
Thanks a lot, Willona,
but I'll need at least nine months notice.
You know, if we were rich
and needed some emergency funds,
we'd get it just like that.
But rich folks don't take welfare, do they?
No, they call it subsidy.
I'll be right back.
Hey there, foxy mama.
Come to pick up some of that long green, huh?
Yeah, but they didn't give me none of that long green,
so maybe you'd better get lost, long black.
That's cold, mama.
That's cold.
You might as well stop wasting your breath,
which, from the size of your chest,
looks like it's in short supply anyway.
I'm a married woman.
That don't change nothing but your name.
Ain't you got nothing better to do
than hang around bothering poor, innocent women?
Nope.
Hey there, foxy mama.
My name is Wes.
You messing with Wes, you messing with the best.
Yeah? Well, if you're the best,
I pity the rest.
Jive ain't got a pot or a window.
Stop taking me through changes, JJ.
I'm just not interested in any of your schemes.
If you ain't the most hard-headed woman
I done ever seen.
Whoever marries you is going to forget about the better
and settle for the worse.
Why don't you two stop fussing?
Can't we have a little unity around here?
[KEY SCRATCHING IN LOCK]
Hey, man, you guys said 5:00.
It ain't but a little bit after 4:00.
I'm sorry, but two families came up with the rent
and messed up our whole day.
Come on, Eddie, let's move it.
Hey, hold it, man.
Give my father a chance to get here.
Come on, you guys. Don't do that.
You're upsetting my sister.
Thelma, please, don't faint.
Thelma going to faint?
Talk about BB brains...
Thelma, don't faint.
Oh, my!
I do feel weak.
The blood is rushing from my head.
Oh...
Step back! Step back! Give her some air!
The poor child ain't had nothing to eat
in two weeks but some bad oatmeal.
Thelma! Thelma!
Michael, I think she's going fast.
Where am I?
Marshall Field's.
Yeah... Marshall Field's!
You hear that? The poor child's delirious.
She thinks she's in Marshall Field's.
[HUMMING "SWING LOW SWEET CHARIOT"]
If your daddy don't come home with all the money,
I got $8.00 I was saving for a new watch.
And I got $4.60
I was just holding onto for my retirement.
Thank you, brothers.
On behalf of my sick sister and us,
we'd like to say thank you for your kindness
and generosity.
What's going on here?
What you two got Thelma laid out like that for?
She fainted from lack of food.
The hell you say.
If that girl weighed like she eat,
it'd take six of you to lift her.
JJ, what kind of hustle you got going on here?
Ain't no hustle, Mama. Thelma said so herself.
All the blood rushed right out of her head.
Yeah, and all the sense
is rushing right out of yours.
Get up from there.
Did you get that money from them?
He sure did.
I never seen three more jive kids in my life.
Dishonorable, disrespectful, unlawful...
Hold on there, buster.
Nobody puts my kids down around here but me.
Tell the Lord you're sorry, kids.
Sorry, Lord.
Now, if that's good enough for him,
it'd better be good enough for you.
Come on, Eddie.
Don't you touch a thing.
You waited this long, you can wait a minute longer.
You going to make 'em wait for Daddy, Mama?
Not the father you're thinking about.
Lord, I know it ain't right to ask for selfish things,
but we need help bad, and we need it fast.
I know you don't want
to see this family out in the street.
Lord, you've got to help us.
I'm asking for my children...
Dad! I knew you'd do it. You got the money.
You'd better believe I got the money.
We don't need the shoebox.
How did you do it, Daddy?
Son, I just made the greatest three-cushion shot
in the history of Elmo's Pool Emporium.
But Mama ain't going to like the rent money
coming from the pool room, Daddy.
And I got that all figured out.
What your mama don't know won't hurt her, huh?
Go on back over there.
Monty, you ready?
All right, here you go.
Well, kids, I'm home.
Mama, Daddy's home. Out of sight!
Hello, James. How did it go?
Well, not so good, baby.
I guess the Lord didn't intend for me
to come by the money that way.
We'd better get on with what we're here for.
Wait a minute, man.
Do I hear a knock at the door?
I said, do I hear a knock at the door?
[KNOCKING]
Yeah, I thought so.
Hey, Monty. Come on in, man. What you doing here?
I failed you once, James,
when I told you I could stop the eviction,
but couldn't fail you twice,
so I come with the full amount of your rent money.
All right. $104.50.
Well, Monty, that's wonderful!
Did you hear that, Florida?
My friend Monty has saved the day.
Yeah, Monty!
Here you go, man.
There ain't going to be no eviction here today.
Take it easy, brother.
Monty, you're all right, man.
See, Florida?
I told you it was going to be all right.
It's like a miracle, James.
Well, baby, you always did say
the Lord moves in mysterious ways.
Well, gang. What a day.
You all should have been there...
Thank you, Lord.
Thank you that we still got a roof over our heads.
Thank you that the children
didn't have to do nothing illegal,
and thank you that we didn't have to go on welfare.
And Lord...
I thank you too, for that great three-cushion shot.
It sure is nice
having all the family together like this.
Yeah, it's even nicer that we're indoors
instead of out in the streets.
And I want to watch a real good flick tonight.
I want to watch an all-black show for a change.
Where are you going to find one?
Here's one.
The Los Angeles Lakers against the Milwaukee Bucks.
♪ Mmm...
♪ Just looking Out of the window ♪
♪ Watching the Asphalt grow ♪
♪ Thinking how It all looks hand-me-down ♪
♪ Good Times Good Times ♪
♪ Keeping your head Above water ♪
♪ Making a wave When you can ♪
♪ Temporary layoffs
♪ Good Times
NARRATOR: Good Times is recorded on tape
before a live audience.
♪ Ain't we lucky We got 'em ♪
♪ Good Times