♪ 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 ♪
Well, my room is all straightened up,
and we're ready for the party.
Hey, you're supposed to be cleaning up out here.
Cleaning up.
Michael, you call this clean?
Now, Ma's only been gone one day,
and you turned a 17th-floor apartment
into a pig pen with a view.
Well, Thelma, to tell you the truth, I like it.
It's got that lived-in look.
Look, if you don't clean up this mess,
you're going to have that stomped-on look.
Thelma, don't get overheated.
Your face'll melt.
Michael, look.
Now, we all agreed to share the work
while Ma is out on Jessie's, right?
Now, I did my part.
Oh, yeah? What have you done?
Who do you think cooked dinner around here?
I don't know,
but I'm sure the health department
would give plenty to know that.
Michael, don't get smart with me.
Now, get up and clean this place like you promised.
Hold on, I cleaned this room up yesterday.
All right, well, look at it.
It needs cleaning today.
Spread the news. There's a party tonight.
All the chicks can boogie down with Kid Dy-no-mite.
Well, you better put that stuff away, because if Willona
finds out about the party,
we're not going to have one.
Yeah, you're right.
And I got a big surprise.
What one thing could guarantee
making this party a huge and utter success?
You're not coming!
I will be there, but so will Robert Simpson.
Hey, Superstar Simpson.
Out of sight, man.
He was my hero,
the best basketball player our high school ever had.
All City, All State.
All the chicks that he could handle.
You know, he took me out once.
Mm. Nobody's perfect.
Yeah, but then he got a scholarship to college.
What's he doing back?
I don't know. You know how these big superstars are.
You know, they come in and out of town.
Anyway, I saw him in the street,
I asked him to come, and he said he will.
I tell you, everybody will be knocked out when they see him.
You know, J.J.,
you're taking this thing really good.
You hated him in high school,
because he was your main competition,
and he always won.
Yeah.
He got all the fine foxes,
and you got all the leftovers.
Hey, Michael.
Ain't nothing wrong with leftovers
if you know how to reheat them.
How about the time
when you both ran for senior prom chairman?
He won that one, too.
Yeah, but it was a close election.
Real close. 120 to 1.
Hey, Thelma. That was my fault.
I forgot, when you go to a ghetto school,
you got to win the black vote.
Okay, but if you two do not clean up this place,
there's not going to be a party.
Remember, Ma put me in charge around here.
Oh, no, she didn't.
Ma said, specifically, before she left,
"J.J., you are in charge, because you are the oldest,
the smartest, and the prettiest."
Ma never said that.
How do you know?
Because she doesn't drink.
She must be doing something weird.
She had you.
Oh!
That's right.
I'm the one in charge!
You ain't in charge!
Hey, hey, hey, hey.
Cool it.
As I was saying, Willona is still the most beautiful woman
in the project.
Save it, J.J.
If I need any of that, I'll buy a bag full of it
and spread it over top of the lawn.
Listen, your mother told me to keep my eye on you this weekend.
You promised me individually and collectively
there would be no arguing.
No fighting.Yeah.
We're sorry, Willona. All right.
Yeah, Willona, from now on, we're going to be so good,
we going to look like the Brady Bunch with tans.
Well, don't strain yourself.
I hope we get through this weekend
without having to call the SWAT team out here.
I was going to go to the Blue Frog tonight,
but I better stay and keep my eye on you three.
Oh, no, Willona, you can't do that.
Why not?
Well, because, um...
Thelma's going to tell you why. Tell her.
Oh, yeah, yeah. Well, you know, we won't to be here, Willona.
We're going to the movies.
Oh, good. That'll keep you out of trouble.
What are you going to go see?
We're going to see the gay version of King Kong,
called Queen Kong.
He's just jiving, Willona.
We're going to see that double feature at the Colony.
Oh.Yeah, you know, Willona,
deep down in your heart that you can trust us.
Have a nice time at the movie. I'll see you all later.
Okay. All right, Willona. Bye.
Well, we pulled that one off.
The party is on.
Yeah, all right! Let's boogie down.
[STEVIE WONDER'S "SIR DUKE" PLAYING]
All right.
That Stevie's too bad, ain't he?
He's just too bad.
Hey, great party, huh, J.J.?
Yeah, Thelma, this is out of sight.
It's even going to get better
when Robert "Superstar" Simpson gets here.
Hey, yeah. You know, this is the first time
the three of us gave a party together.
Hey, Thelma, you know, that's great.
I don't mind partying with your friends,
but when Michael's friends come in here,
the party turns from Soul Trainto Sesame Street.
Oh, yeah?
Well, I'm going to have to start
checking out Sesame Streetsome more.
Here I am, J.J.,
ready to spend the whole evening together.
Well, well, well.
And so we will.
And so we will, my little African Violet.
First I want you to meet my sister.
Thelma, this is Marcia.
Marcia, this is Thelma.
How you doing? Hi, how you doing?
Hang on to this, gal.
I want you to meet my brother over here, Michael.
As you can tell, we are brothers.
Same lip technique.
Uh, Michael, there ain't nobody here
from the Guinness Book of Records.
Y'all can break this up.
Hey, J.J., man, don't be stepping in on my action.
I can't help it if you ain't getting any.
Come on.
I have created a monster.
[KNOCKING AT DOOR]
Well, look here, my little buttercup.
I will talk to you later on in the evening.
I'm just going to pick up the door.
Me and you going to be totally... Aha-ha! Superstar!
Hey, J.J. How you doing?
All right, man. Oh, wow, man.
I didn't know that many people was going to be here.
Look, I wanted to talk to you.
Come on in, man.
Hey, everybody. Look who's here.
You don't have to do all that.
Robert "Superstar" Simpson.
[GUESTS MURMUR GREETINGS]
So glad you could make it.
How you doing?
All right. Let's boogie down.
Hit me with that music.
[FUNKY MUSIC PLAYING]
There goes the feet, out of control.
J.J.: There goes the hands.
Nothing can stop me now.
Get in here. Get in here.
Get in here. Willona.
Short movie, huh?
What, all this? There's a good explanation for all this.
I want to hear it.
Well, see, what happened, Willona,
is that these 15 people bust in here,
and forced us to party with them.
The truth, J.J.
All right, Willona, the truth.
All these people are Thelma's friends
and they held me here hostage.
The truth?
The truth is, well, Willona, we were afraid to tell you,
because we thought you'd say no.
Oh, honey, I don't care if you have a party,
but if you do, you got to have a chaperone.
Willona, we don't hardly need no chaperone.
Oh, no?
Michael don't need a chaperone.
He needs a score card.
Oh... Excuse me. Excuse me.
Excuse me, isn't it time to come up for some fresh air?
Willona. What are you doing here?
Never mind what I'm doing here.
You stop doing what you doing here.
Hey.
What's going on over here, man?
Robert, what's happening?
I mean a superstar's supposed to be mingling.
J.J., knock off the superstar jive, okay?
Hey, what's wrong, man?
I mean, doggone it, I know you, man.
It ain't that same old...
[IMITATES ENGINE REVVING]
Is there something wrong?
Yeah, man. Everything is wrong.
Hey, what could be wrong
for the old basketball hero?
J.J.
I am not a basketball hero anymore.
Last week, man, I...
I got cut from the team, all right?
Cut from the team?
You?
But you the greatest, man.
Yeah, in high school,
and so was everyone else who plays college ball,
but someone's gotta wash out, right?
And I was spending so much time
trying to stay on the team
until I was flunking out anyway, so...
Hey, man,
I'm sorry to hear that. That's awful.
But look here, man, basketball ain't everything.
Hey, man, for me it is.
"Superstar," remember?
J.J., that's all I've ever dreamed of being.
I mean, haven't you ever wanted anything that bad?
Yeah, but she moved to Cleveland.
Basketball is my whole life, man.
Without it, I am nothing.
Yeah, Yvonne, this is him.
"Superstar" Simpson.
Hi, I'm Michael, J.J.'s brother.
Man, I'm your number one fan.
I've seen every game you played.
I even kept a scrapbook on you.
Michael, not now. I'm not finished, J.J.
Remember that game you played against Hyde Park,
and you scored 42 points? Man, you are too hot.
Michael, why don't you and Yvonne
go over here and wait for Ma to come home?
But she won't be home for another two days.
I know that. Go ahead.
I'm sorry about that, Robert.
It's all right.
Want me to buy you a cup of Kool-Aid?
Look, J.J.,
I don't want to put a damper on the party,
so let's keep this between us, okay?
Solid, brother.
Hey, Robert, have a good game.
We're all rooting for you.
Yeah.
Time for a little air.
Oh, my dear.
Hey, oh. I'm sorry, ma'am.
That's all right, honey.
You better be careful.
A person your age
could get hurt on the dance floor.
A person my age?
Turn that music up, honey.
[CHEERING]
You got to be careful, honey.
A person your age
could get hurt on the dance floor.
Have you told Ellen yet?
No.
Have you told your folks?
I can't.
My father's a grade school coach, you know,
and he always wanted me to be a big star.
Hey, Ellen, Levi.
How you all doing?
What's happening?
I'm glad you could come.
Ellen, what are you doing here with Levi?
Robert's here.
I've been going with Levi for a month.
No, no. Robert is here now.
Well, look,
he was going to have to find out sometime,
so I guess it's just going to have to be tonight.
Look, Robert.
There's Ellen over there.
Now, I know you said you couldn't face her,
but now's as good a time as any
to tell her you got cut from the team. Head over.
I'm sure she'll understand, man,
and you'll feel a whole lot better.
Yeah, maybe you're right.
Go ahead. I know I am.
Ellen, baby. How are you?
Hey, look, I got to talk to you.
Hi, Robert.
Listen, you remember Levi Walker, don't you?
Oh.
Oh, yeah, yeah.
Yeah, how you doing?
Hey, Robert, I'm sorry.
Robert.
Hey, Robert. How you doing?
Having good fun?
Oh, no. You're not getting away this time, J.J.
You just love squeezing these bones,
don't you, Mama?
Who wouldn't?
I mean, it's like dancing with a double order of ribs.
Glad you came.
Whoo-wee.
Hey, Thelma, I forgot something.
Your chapeau.
Yeah, thanks, Rhonda.
Good night, cool dude.
Yourself.
Ooh, girl, am I tired.
What's going on in this closet?
Uh, nothing, Willona.
See for yourself.
Willona, they can't be getting too romantic
both smelling like moth balls.
Well, isn't it time for the little moth
to fly away from the flame?
Well, I guess it is time for me to be leaving.
Good night, Yvonne. Good night, Michael.
Your coat.
Willona, I just want to kiss her good night.
What do you think you was doing for the past three hours, honey?
Practicing.
Well, the practice is over.
Good night, darling.
Good night.
Night. Good night.
Whoo, child.
Wasn't that a great party, Michael?
Yes. Oh, yeah, it was great.
I got enough strength to go to the Blue Frog and have my own...
[STOMPS FEET] Partini.
Hey, Willona, if you're lucky,
you can chaperone our next party.
Call me.
If I'm crazy, I'll do it.
And look, clean this house up... Later.
MICHAEL: All right, Willona.
She's right.
Just look at this place. Oh.
Mm. Yeah, Thelma, you got a lot of work ahead of you.
Hey, J.J., this door's locked. I can't get it open.
What are you talking about?
You must be crazy.
Let me check this thing out, here.
What's going on, here?
All right.
[GRUNTING]
Hey, man. This thing is stuck.
That's weird.
Yeah, must be locked.
Hey, is somebody in there?
MAN: Go away.
Come on, who is that?
MAN: Who cares?
I care. It's the only bathroom we got.
Hey, Robert, is that you?
ROBERT: Yeah, it's me.
Oh, Robert. Come on, now.
What are you doing in there?
I'm waiting to die.
I just took a whole bottle of pills.
Robert.
Waiting to die.
Now, the only kind of pills
we have in there are Vitamin C.
The worst thing that can happen
is that he comes out looking like an orange.
Wait a minute, you all.
I think he may have brought his own pills.
J.J., what are you talking about?
Well, Robert was really down tonight.
He just flunked out of school,
and got cut from the basketball team.
Oh, no.
And on top of all that, his girlfriend quit him.
He's trying to kill himself.
Ma!
No, Robert, now, look.
Don't do this.
There's a million reasons to live.
Name one.
Lola Falana.
Go away.
Oh, no. What are we going to do now?
I got an idea.
Well, I guess I'm just going to have to
knock the door down.
And how are you going to do that?
Brute strength, young lady.
Brute strength.
Robert, come on out, now.
Back off, young lady.
You never know which way
these splinters is going to fly.
Here we go.
[IMITATES A MARTIAL ARTIST]
Jeez.
I got this.
Hey, Robert.
If you come out, we could talk about it, you know.
Robert.
Oh, no. You think he's still alive in there?
Hey, I got it.
Hey, get out of here.
MICHAEL: Robert, man.
J.J.: Come on, man. What you doing?
Hey.
Hey, man. You look okay to me.
Okay, now, we still got time.
Hold on, I'll get the home medical advisor.
Why don't you just leave me alone.
I wasn't hurting you.
Hey, well, we're not going to sit around here
and let you hurt yourself.
Hey, it says here,
in case of an overdose of pills,
you have to try to make the patient throw up.
How are we going to do that?
No problem.
Thelma, cook something.
J.J., you're wasting your time.
This man took a whole bottle of sleeping pills.
All right, come on, Robert, man.
Now, lay down, brother.
Hey, wait, J.J. No, no, hold on.
It says here you got to keep the patient awake at all times.
Ooh, get up, Robert.
And call the ambulance at the fire department.
Oh, yeah.Quick.
We should have done that in the first place.
Well, Michael,
what do you think of your big hero now?
Hey, Robert, man, don't worry about it.
You're still number one on my list.
Don't jive me, Michael.
I don't have it anymore, baby,
and nobody likes a loser.
Hey, Robert, man, that's not true.
J.J. has millions of friends.
I'm just trying to cheer him up.
Okay, we'll be there in a minute.
Okay, now, the rescue squad's on the way.
They said to do the same as the book, to keep him up.
Okay, I got to wait outside so they won't miss the place.
All right, Michael, you go with Thelma.
I'll keep him up.
Don't let him fall asleep, man.
I shouldn't have come here.
I should have just driven off a bridge.
Don't say that, Robert.
Wouldn't have worked anyway, though.
With my luck,
I'd have gotten mugged on the way to the car.
For a guy that's dying,
you really got a negative attitude.
J.J. I got to lay down. I feel so groggy.
No, bro.
I think you better keep on moving, here,
and we better go for a little walk, man.
I mean, how could anybody want to kill himself?
You know, when I wake up in the morning,
I don't know whether it's going to be a good day or a bad day
till I look in the mirror.
Then I know one thing for sure.
There is a god.
J.J., you don't know how bad things can really get.
Hey, man, how bad could things be?
So you're not a basketball hero anymore.
You know, when I was in high school,
I wanted to be a football star,
but the coach told me,
"Unless you're going out for the goal post,
we don't need you."
Hey, man, get some of this coffee down in you. Come on.
J.J, I got to sit down. I'm tired.
Come on, man.
Don't... No, man. Get up, man.
Come on. Come on, man.
Just keep walking.
Where's that rescue squad at, man?
Hey, Robert, you want to see
some of my latest paintings, man?
Hey, come on, you can look
a little more enthused than that, brother.
I know it ain't Picasso, but look here.
Yeah.
This is three of my high school English teachers.
I call it "Blood, Sweat & Tears."
You know, I owe this whole thing to Michael.
That's right, Michael, man.
When he was four years old,
it was him who gave me the idea to move on to watercolors,
because he ate up all my finger-paints.
Come on, man. Wake up, man.
Don't fall asleep, man.
Come on. We got to keep moving, man.
Come on, now.
Let's go, here, man.
You know, Robert, when you get right down to it,
painting is really the only thing
that I can do well...
That you get paid for.
Hey, Robert, you better sit down, brother.
You getting heavy here.
Hey, man.
Hey, come on there, Robert.
Wake up, man. Wake up.
Let's get it together.
Come on, now. Come on.
Hey, Robert. You know...
You know, when you talk about painting, man...
Come on, Robert. Wake up, man.
When you talk about painting, man, like,
that's really the only thing that I can do well, man,
but if I don't make it in the art world, man,
I am not going to give up, man.
I'm going to keep on going
and I'm going to pick myself up and just dust myself off
and try something else, man.
That's all it is.
J.J., I'm scared.
Man. Hey, Robert, don't talk, man.
Don't talk.
Just try to stay loose, man. Let me do all the talking here.
Maybe you ought to give a shot to go back to school again, man.
That's what you ought to do.
You know, a lot of people flunk out of school, man.
If you can remember, I wasn't
the most brilliant student in the world, myself, brother.
Matter of fact, one semester
my mother promised to pay me five dollars
if I could raise my grades up to an F.
Hey, come... Come on, Robert.
I used to get those weird grades in school too, man.
Like, one semester, I got two Ms and a K minus.
Try to explain that to your folks, man.
Come on, now, Robert.
Man, let's get it together, here.
You know how I spent my senior year?
As a junior.
I guess I joke around a lot, don't I?
Well, Robert, I had to,
because that made me the class clown
instead of the class fool, man,
but now all that's changed, man.
Now I'm in art school, man, getting straight As, man.
It's just finding your niche in life, Robert.
That's all it is, man.
Finding your niche, brother.
No doubt about it.
You know what you got to do, man.
You got to find yourself a good woman.
That's it, Robert.
Got to find yourself a good woman, man.
You know, Robert, matter of fact,
a good woman, that's what I need.
Robert, you know where we can find a good woman, man?
Come on, Robert. Wake up, man.
I remember my first date, man.
Laura Lee Henderson.
You remember her, don't you, brother?
She wasn't the brightest girl in the world, man, but, man,
if she didn't have a nose on her face,
she wouldn't have nothing between her ears.
Come on, Robert, man.
That's funny, man. Laugh it up, man.
That's your problem, man.
You don't laugh anymore, brother.
You got to laugh, man, laugh.
Boogie, boogie, boogie, boo.
Come on, man.
Get it together.
Hey, man, why'd you take those pills here anyway, man?
It's almost like you wanted us to catch you, man.
Gee whiz.
Come on, Robert.
Don't die, man. Get on up here.
Wow. Now, where was I at?
Chicks.
Yeah. Where I'm always at.
You know, Robert, I can remember my first date.
That's right, man.
My first date.
I feel like Edgar Bergen here.
I remember it, man.
I can remember my first date.
My first kiss.
My first hug, brother.
Matter of fact,
I can remember the first time, well...
Well, let me put it to you this way.
I can remember the night the legend was born.
Robert.
Robert, man. I got to admit something to you.
I lied, brother.
That's right. I lied, man.
Laura Lee Henderson...
Get up here, man. Come on, brother.
Let's get up.
[GROANS]
Laura Lee Henderson wasn't my first date, man.
She was the first chick I asked to go out.
I asked her to go out.
She said no, man.
Five times.
Which goes to prove to you, brother,
the best of us get turned down, man.
The best of us.
That's right.
All it takes, man, is a little confidence.
You know?
I learned that from my father, man.
That's right.
My father.
You know, I really miss him, man.
That's right, I do, man.
I really miss him.
Yeah. You know, you can't talk to your father
about your problems now, man,
but I just wish, man,
that for five minutes I could talk to my father.
Hey, Robert.
Come on, man. Wake up.
Look here, man.
There's a whole damn world out there to live for, man,
and not a damn thing to die for, man.
Robert, don't die, man.
A lot of people care, man.
I care. Come on, man.
He's in here.
Thank God.
He looks bad, all right.
Okay, I'll get his legs.
Hey, wait a minute!
Wait a minute!
Get him on the table.
These are the pills he took.
Thank you.
Hey, man, can you save him?
Yeah, we can get these out of him easy,
but the rest is up to him.
Hey.
Hey, thanks, man.
All of you.
Hey, man, we'll be around.
RESCUE WORKER: Okay, make sure...
Got the door?
All right.
Let's get him out. All right.
You're all right.
Hey, J.J.
Man, did you see that?
He smiled.
Yeah.
I taught him that.
♪ Mmm...
♪ Just looking Out of the window ♪
♪ Watching the asphalt grow
♪ Thinking how It all looks hand-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 ♪