It's Good Moving Up

As a pop-culture historian, I am a little embarrassed to say that I never really paid attention to the similarities between The Jeffersons and Good Times until now. It was the passing of Jeannette Dubois, affectionately known by many as Willona Woods, that I began to put two and two together. For those that weren’t aware, Mrs. Dubois co-wrote and sang the theme song for The Jeffersons. But that is just the beginning of The Jeffersons/Good Times connections and similarities.

Did you know that Mike Evans who played the original Lionel Jefferson was one of the creators and writers of Good Times? Did you know that both Good Times and The Jeffersons debuted on CBS? Did you know that both shows were spinoffs of other sitcoms? The Jeffersons were a spinoff of All in the Family. Good Times was the spinoff of the T.V show Maude that starred the Golden Girls, Bea Arthur. Did you know that both shows made T.V history?

Good Times premiered in 1974. When the show aired James Evans, became the first African American man on television to portray a husband and father. Although the family was of lower economic means, the dynamic was not based in shame or inferiority. Good Times was the first television show that had a black teen who was politically aware and articulate. But for me the most endearing thing about the show was, none of the main characters were criminals or derelicts.

When The Jeffersons debuted in January 1975, it made history by breaking several stereotypes. To start George Jefferson was the first self-autonomous Black man on television. He did not have a boss, he had a maid, his home was beautiful, and his wife was dark skin. To add to the historical element his neighbors were an interracial couple. If you understand the history of Broadcast rules, laws literally had to be changed for The Jeffersons to be made.

You must understand the landscape of America in 1975. We are not a decade pass Martin Luther King Jr.’s assassination in 1968. Loving v Virginia, the Supreme Court decision that made interracial marriage legal, had only been decided nine years earlier. I watched a documentary once about the making of The Jeffersons and the shows creators felt it was time to force the change of stereotypes in media.

Good Times and The Jeffersons were both produced by Norman Lear. I think he and the men who greenlighted the sitcoms wanted Americans to face their prejudices. With Good Times people were able to see that minority and poor did not automatically equate to criminal. With the Jeffersons they saw a wealthy black man that made his money legally.

In honor of Black History month I had to share how Good Times and The Jefferson were connected. I view both sitcoms as social studies lessons. They gave main stream America a different view of Black Americans which up until then had been grossly misrepresented. Good Times and The Jeffersons were shows about Americans. James Evans represented a sector of society that had limited means but kept trying to provide for his family and never abandoned them. George Jefferson showed that with a dream, and plan you can change your circumstance. Both men showed the importance of love and support when you want to accomplish anything in life. Those core American values are the reason why people have good times and move up in life.