♪ Good Times
♪ Anytime You meet a payment ♪
♪ Good Times
♪ Anytime You feel free ♪
♪ 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
FLORIDA: Michael?
Michael, open the door!
I'm coming.
Michael, what are you doing?
I'm coming.
Have mercy.
Michael, what took you so long? Take these packages.
What you doing all this time?
Ooh, child!
[SIGHS]
Ooh, Lord.
Honey, I am wasted.
I am pooped!
Girl, that bus was so packed,
it was packed tighter than a chitlin bucket.
What a hassle.
I know what you mean.
I stood up so long,
my support hose got cramps.
[TELEPHONE RINGS]
I got it!
Hello?
Oh, well, she's not here right now.
Who?
Oh. Okay, Don.
It was some cat for Thelma.
I thought it might be somebody else.
We figured that.
You ran for that telephone
like it was the last pork chop
on the plate.
Michael, is something wrong?
No, Ma, I'm all right.
Um, I'll put up the groceries.
Well... I better get on home.
Ooh, Lord, my feet hurt.
Don't mention them.
No, my feet feel like they've been mugged.
I'll bring you the punch bowl after I soak these numbers.
Okay.
Don't be long, now.
I won't.
Ma... why is Willona
bringing you her punch bowl?
Are we having company?
No, just the Concerned Parents
are having a meeting here today.
Meeting?
Mm-hmm.
Uh, are you gonna use the oven?
Oh, not unless we run out of chairs.
Oh.
Hey, y'all.
I got the food for the meeting, Ma.
Oh, good.
This is the Roundup Roast Beef special,
barbecued beef pizza!
Mm!
It's got a extra-special
hot chili sauce on it.
You know it's hot when your breath disappears
as your eyes fill with tears.
Thanks, J.J.
Yeah, I tell you,
me and old Rawhide had a tough day today.
We got bushwhacked by a bunch of ghetto rustlers.
What do you mean?
While I was making a delivery,
the Junior Satan Knights came in here,
ripped off my truck,
took 14 boxes of spareribs and a spare tire.
Man, I was mad!
J.J., you didn't fight them, did you?
I said I was mad, not insane.
I tell you, the kids in these gangs today
just ain't civilized!
Well, the Junior Satan Knights
look like altar boys
compared to the War Lords.
The War Lords got another way
of ripping off ribs.
What's that?
They rip 'em out your chest.
[THUD]
Well, I'm just glad you didn't get hurt.
Yeah.
[TELEPHONE RINGS]
I got it! I got it!
[LAUGHS]
It knew it was for me anyway.
Hello, this is your sweet sugar daddy of love,
with a thin candy coating for your heart
high in polyunsaturated love.
What'd you say?
Look here, man,
next time you got a message for Thelma,
call Western Union.
You know, Ma, this has gone too far.
Every time the phone rings, it's for that girl.
Pretty soon,
we ought to get her her own area code.
You and Thelma
are just gonna have to work something out.
Yeah, we're gonna have to work something out, all right,
because this is just getting to be too much,
and I'm getting to be... Well!
Look who's here.
Well, girl,
we gotta straighten this phone business out,
once and for all!
Have any time for your foolishness today.
You see all these books?
I have homework in Biology,
Psychology, Mythology...
Oh, those subjects explain you perfectly.
"Biology" explains your body,
"psychology" explains your head,
and "mythology" explains your face.
J.J., if you were in college,
you would be a one-man fraternity,
Sigma Delta Dummy.
Oh yeah?
Well, we'll see how dumb I am
when I stop taking your phone messages.
Phone messages?
Who called? Who?
Don.
Yeah, and Bob and Bill and Terry and Jerry.
You know, these weird dudes must think you're Miss Fine.
Yeah, you know, what can I say?
Hi, Thelma.
Hi, Ma.
Oh, you had some phone calls today.
Let me see... Harold, Johnny,
and, um... Maurice.
What you doing,
writing your number down on phone booth walls?
[KNOCKING ON DOOR]
I got it!
Something's going on.
Hi, Michael. How are you?
Hi. I'll take your coat.
Oh, Clara, Mr. Parker,
come on in and take seats.
Hello, Mrs. Evans.
Oh, Clara, that's a nice sweater.
Thank you.
Well, how is everybody?
Well, Nettie's at her sister's,
and Mr. Turner and Mrs. Mitchell
aren't coming.
He's having labor trouble...
and she's having labor pains.
[LAUGHS]
You know, this'll be her ninth.
[LAUGHS]
That woman has more deliveries than Chicken Delight.
Ladies, ladies...
I didn't come here to yak about no babies.
I'm here to talk
about the gang problem in our school.
Well, that's why we're all here, Mr. Parker.
Then why ain't we doing it?
I think we should wait for Nettie.
Nettie's being here ain't important.
The Junior War Lords are what's important.
They're getting straight As in violence,
vandalizing the schools,
threatening teachers, beating up students.
The question is, what do we do about it?
What do you suggest we do about it, Mr. Parker?
My solution's simple, Mrs. Evans.
You see these peanuts here?
They're the Junior War Lords...
and this, this is us.
[CHUCKLES]
I get it.
Make 'em into peanut butter.
[KNOCKING ON DOOR]
Excuse me.
Hi, Nettie, come on in.
I'm so sorry I'm late...
Oh, that's all right.
But I was feeding my sister's kids
while she's at the hospital.
Hosp... Hospital? What's wrong?
Well, Tommy, her son,
got beat up today by the Junior War Lords.
FLORIDA: Tommy?
Mm-hmm.
That's Michael's best friend.
Michael, did you know that Tommy had been hurt?
No, Ma.
Oh, Nettie, you gotta tell us about it.
What happened?
Yeah, is he hurt bad?
The last word I got, they were still running tests.
Ladies, what we gotta do is break up that gang,
and the only way to break up a gang is to...
is to break up each member.
Mr. Parker, you belong in a shell
with the rest of those nuts.
Now, I've got...
I've got two daughters going to that school,
and I wanna make damn sure
those hoodlums don't attack them.
Mr. Parker, I've seen your daughters.
You ain't got a thing to worry about.
[TELEPHONE RINGS]
Hello.
Oh, hi, Brenda.
Yeah, Nettie's here.
Nettie, it's Brenda.
Thanks.
Hey, Brenda, how's Tommy?
Oh, no.
Oh, well, thanks for calling, and, hey, try not to worry?
Tommy's got a fractured skull.
Oh, my Lord.
All right.
The Junior War Lords hang out
in that boarded-up building
across the street.
I say we catch them one by one
and even up the score... with a baseball bat!
Mr. Parker, we are concerned parents,
not vigilantes.
We should be both!
I mean, somebody's got to do something about those kids.
I mean, the schools...
the schools can't, and the law won't.
Well, the school and the law shouldn't have to.
Controlling those kids is up to the parents.
Now, we wouldn't have any gangs
if parents took responsibility for their own kids.
Hi, here's the punch...
Ooh, party's already started, huh?
Mm-hmm, you're just in time.
I think we all can use some refreshments.
Oh, yeah.
Why don't you fill Willona in on what's been happening.
Would you do that, Mr. Peanut?
Ma, I put up all the groceries.
Oh, good.
Now you can help me with the punch.
Go get the sugar.
Oh, all right.
Hey, Ma, need any help?
Well, you can warm up the oven for the pizza.
All right.
Hey, J.J., I'll warm up the oven.
Don't worry, Michael, I can warm it up.
Michael, I asked J.J. to do it.
But, Ma, I can do it.
Hey, Michael, take it easy.
I'm the Prince of Mozzarella.
I can handle this.
Now, just back off, Jack.
All right.
Don't worry, Michael, this oven heats up quick.
I'll have that oven all heated up
quicker than you can say, "Pasta Fazool!"
Michael, get the ginger ale
and the lemons out of the refrigerator.
Michael... the ginger ale and the lem...
Michael, are you all right?
Yeah, Ma.
I'll get it for you, Ma.
Okay, honey.
Ahh.
[SNIFFING]
Thank you.
Hmm.
Hey, Ma... Hmm?
I could...
I could swear I smell something burning.
I do too!
Hey, Ma, the oven's smoking.
[TALKING INDISTINCTLY]
Be cool.
It's just a little harmless smoke.
Don't panic. Don't panic. It's harmless.
The smoke might be harmless, but the fire ain't.
Aah!
[INDISTINCT DIALOGUE]
Everybody be cool.
Don't get upset.
It's something big, but I think I got it.
I got it. I got it.
He's got it! He's got...
Look, look. He got it!
This ought to do it.
[COUGHING]
Wha...
See, like I said, just a little harmless smoke.
J.J., what is that thing?
It seems to be a jacket.
What is a jacket doing in the oven?
I don't know.
Beats me.
First we were picking cotton,
and now we're cooking it.
Yeah, well, whose jacket is it?
Well, according to the back of this,
it belongs to the Junior War Lords.
The Junior War Lords?
Well, don't look at me.
I ain't no "Junior."
Michael?
Michael, whose jacket is this?
Michael, I asked you a question.
Whose jacket is this?
It ain't mine.
I need to hear one more "It ain't mine."
Well, it ain't mine.
That's not the bell I meant to buzz.
Michael?
Yeah, Ma, it's my jacket.
Oh, my God.
Well...
Mrs. Evans says parents should control their kids,
but she can't seem to control her own.
Cure the fever
in your own home, Mrs. Evans,
before you start writing prescriptions
for everyone else...
and in case you're interested, my medicine works.
Come on, Nettie, we better be going.
Yes, we'd better.
Oh, Nettie.
Hmm?
I don't know what to say.
We'll call you later.
I'm sorry. Poor Tommy.
That's all right.
I know how you feel.
Goodbye. Bye-bye.
Kids nowadays.
Now, take care. I will.
Talk to you.
All right, Michael, what's with the jacket?
Flo, owning that jacket
doesn't mean Michael's a War Lord
any more than owning a sled means he's an Eskimo.
Right, Gramps?
Wrong, he's an Eskimo.
I thought you were too smart to get hung up in a gang.
Thelma, it's not a gang.
It's a social club.
They got a great way of socializing.
They got coming-out parties for your teeth.
Michael, will you please tell me what you're doing
hanging around with the War Lords?
Well, Ma, we got a lot in common.
They're black and tough,
and I'm black and tough.
I'll buy the "black,"
but the "tough," you're not.
Well, not around here, but at school,
I'm known as the Mayor of Knuckle City.
My fists bring urban renewal
to dudes' heads.
Is that what happened to Tommy?
I don't want to talk about it.
Why not? You're tough.
Michael.Thelma... Stay out of it, honey.
Now I know
why you were running to the phone.
You thought it was Tommy's mother
calling about you.
Ma, please.
Michael, I want to know
why you were with that gang.
Because I'm tough.
The real reason, Michael, the real reason!
Well, Ma...
they asked Philip Smith to join the gang,
and he said, "No," so they broke his jaw.
Then they asked Ernest Williams to join the gang,
and he said "No," so they broke his arm...
and then when they asked me...
they were looking at my neck.
Ma, you were right.
I only joined the gang because I was afraid.
[DOOR OPENS, SLAMS]
Hey, Ma, take it easy.
I'll go in there and talk to him.
I think I know where he's coming from.
Thanks, J.J., but go easy on him.
J.J., get outta here, man.
Hey, Michael, take it easy.
I mean, me being man of the house now,
I gotta do exactly what Dad would've done.
J.J., you hit me with a belt, and I'll bust your lip.
Sit down, Michael. Sit down.
Just come in to rap for a little while.
Now, I didn't say nothing out there
because I knew exactly
where you was coming from,
'cause when I was in high school,
the same thing happened to me,
and I did exactly what you did...
because my bronze, beautiful body
is allergic to pain.
J.J., what you're saying is
I joined a bunch of turkeys 'cause I'm a chicken, huh?
No, Michael,
it ain't nothing to be ashamed of.
I mean, when I was in high school,
I majored in fear.
Look, Michael,
I know where these War Lords are at,
and when they offered you a piece of the rock,
I know they was talking
about going upside your head.
Did you help them get Tommy?
I was there, but I didn't do anything.
Michael, you didn't warn him
of the impending disaster?
I mean, even in Jaws,
they yell, "Here come the teeth."
J.J., it all happened too fast.
When I was supposed to be hitting Tommy,
I was just punching the air.
Then he went down.
I couldn't stand it any longer, man.
That's why I ran home.
J.J., I don't belong in that gang.
I gotta get out.
Don't worry, Michael.
We'll get you outta there somehow.
I guess I better go to the hospital
to see how Tommy's doing, huh?
No, Michael, you've had a long day out.
I'll go do that for you.
J.J.?
Yeah, Michael.
Thanks, man.
Hey, what do you think big brothers are for?
Hey, Ma,
the kid and I put our heads together,
and now his head's together,
just like mine.
Poor Michael.
He wanted to go to the hospital to see Tommy,
but I told him I'd go do it for him.
Oh, J.J., that's nice.
Yeah, okay. Well... Sayonara.
Bye-bye. See you.
Oh, how I wish James was here.
There'd be no way in the world.
Michael would be in a gang.
Ma... I've been thinking.
My being in a gang has hurt you.
I apologize... Oh, Michael.
But I'm gonna make it up to you...
and the first thing I'm gonna do
is throw this jacket in the incinerator.
That's where it should have been
in the first place.Yeah.
I got but three words
to say about that jacket...
What? Burn, baby, burn!
Amen to that.
I know you was worried, baby.
It's all over now.
I tell you.
Wait a minute, Ma. Wait a minute.
What is it?
You know, something's wrong.
What?
I don't think Michael's putting that jacket
in the incinerator.
Why do you say that?
Well, Ma, he took his coat,
and you don't need your coat to go to the incinerator.
It's right down the hall.
He's not there, Flo.
Well, where's he going?
He's probably taking that jacket back to the Junior War Lords
and telling them where they can put it.
Oh, no.
Then I've gotta stop him.
Ma, you can't go barging in on a gang.
It's too dangerous!
Thelma, I can't stay here
knowing he might get hurt.
Well, Flo, I'll go with you.
Man... broad held on to this purse so tight
she almost got her fingers plucked.
You ain't lying.
How much we get, Ratbone?
Seven measly cents!
Oh, wow, man, at that rate,
we gotta snatch more than 30 purses
to earn the minimum wage.
Man, people in this neighborhood are so poor,
you almost hate to rob 'em.
[ALL LAUGH]
Then maybe we should just...
punch out their lights.
Yeah, we should.
[KNOCKING ON DOOR]
[SNAPS FINGERS]
RATBONE: Wonder who that is.
Well, if it ain't old Fleetfoot Evans.
Ran out on the action today, huh, bro?
I didn't run out, Ratbone.
I just left early.
He didn't run out, Ratbone. He just left early.
A left hook to your head,
and your hair'll leave early.
Okay, be cool, Tank.
He's one of us now.
We don't haveto hurt him.
Ratbone... I wanna get out of the club.
What?
You insane. You're tripping, man.
You're crazy.
You know what I think, fellows?
I think we should do to him
what we did to Tommy.
Right on. That was all right.
I punched that sucker's head in.
Why you wanna get out the club?
Blood, you just joined.
Yeah, what's the matter, Evans?
You don't like us no more?
I hope he don't like me.
Then I won't feel guilty
when I drive on him!
Right on.
Evans, nobody leaves the club.
Yeah, we're like a farm team
for major league crime.
Our graduates have made more hits
than the Chicago White Sox.
Well, y'all can have all that,
because I've got too many other dreams.
Dreams? Evans' got dreams.
Ain't that a blip.
Do you have dreams, Earl?
Do I?
I have dreams like you ain't never had dreams.
Even my dreams have dreams.
What about you, Ratbone?
You ought to see my dreams.
They're in wide-screen, Technicolor, and 3-D.
Right on, yeah.
Daring, distinctive, and destructive.
Yeah.
Evans, you're the star.
I don't mean those kind of dreams, Ratbone.
He don't mean those dreams.
What dreams do you mean, jellybean?
I mean dreams of being something or somebody.
We don't have those kind of dreams,
'cause they never come true.
Well, mine are gonna come true.
Yeah, we'll see... because you're gonna be
a member of this club forever.
Right on.
[KNOCKING ON DOOR]
[SNAPS FINGERS]
Yeah, lady, what do you want?
My son.
I'm Michael Evans' mother.
Well, what can we do for you, mother?
Ma, what are you doing here?
I came to get you.
Come on, Michael.
Yeah, Michael, she came to get you.
See if you go.
Yeah.
Lady, we're taking care of business here.
We'll send Michael home when we're through.
I said, "now." Come on, Michael.
Lady, he can't go,
so why don't you just beat it!
Hey, man, watch out how you talk to my mother!
Hey, blood, your mother shouldn't
have came here in the first place.
Yeah, she must be a mighty bad lady.
Maybe she's a Wonder Woman with soul.
Will you...
Hey, man, don't touch my mother!
Hey, I haven't touched your mother... yet.
Hey.
Get your hands off me!
This lady's got a wedding ring.
Yeah.
We gotta snatch a hundred purses
to get what that costs.
Hey, Ratbone, don't touch that ring.
My father gave that to her, so leave my mother alone!
Shut up, chump!
Lady, I want that ring.
I told you to leave my mother alone!
Back off!
I'll break every bone in your body.
Crazy.
Man, the whole family's crazy.
I heard that!
Am I out of the club, Ratbone?
Am I out?
You out.
You out, blood.
All right, Michael.
Come on, it's all right.
It's all right, baby.
It's all right.
We can go home now.
♪ Mmm...
♪ Just looking Out of the window ♪
♪ Watching the asphalt grow
♪ Thinking how It all lookshand-me-down ♪
♪ Good Times ♪ Yeah, yeah
♪ Good Times
♪ Keeping your head Above water ♪
♪ Making a wave when you can
♪ Temporary layoffs
♪ Good Times
♪ Easy credit Rip-offs ♪
♪ Good Times
ANNOUNCER: Good Times is videotaped in front of a studio audience.
♪ Good Times