Revolution Televised.pdf

Respect Yourself! 141
The episodes of the final season do indicate an attempt to engage
in the issues and situations of the early series. “Where Have
All the Doctors Gone?” (February 15, 1979) interrogates the flight
of the professional class from inner-city communities. Everyone in
the family is sick and particularly concerned about Penny. Florida
tries to find a doctor to take care of her. The show describes internalized
racism, as Dr. Kelley, a black woman, continually refers to
the Evanses as “you people.” She also blames them for their health
problems and suggests that all they have to do is not purchase “fat
back and pigs feet” and instead buy “lean meat, fresh fruit, and
vegetables.” Florida, of course, challenges her assumptions, points
out to her that the items she recommends are too expensive, and
gets her to realize how she has distanced herself from inner-city
African Americans.
Unfortunately, it was too late for Good Times to recuperate in
the ratings. Even the aforementioned “Blood Will Tell” appeared
after Rolle had returned to the show, and the series was canceled in
1979. In the final episode all of the loose ends are tied up. Thelma’s
husband, Keith, who had quit football because of an injury and
was informed that if he played again he could be crippled, accepts
a sixty thousand dollar offer to play for the Chicago Bears. J.J. sells
his cartoon, Dy-no-woman, and goes to college. Florida is invited
to live with Thelma and Keith, and Willona gets the apartment in
their new house.
African American cultural critic Henry Louis Gates once described
Good Times as the television show that represented the
greatest potential and yet was the greatest failure. 38 The unproblematic
conclusion to the series is perhaps the clearest indication of
the collapse of a show that had started off with such great promise.
More significant, however, is the trace evidence of resistance that
both Good Times and Julia leave behind—that of the strength of
black women to challenge the white mainstream television venue
using whatever means or resources at their disposal.
It is also clear how uplift ideology, in its contemporary form,
informed the battle over the images of black televisual families. The
emphasis was placed on the need for images of the patriarchal black
family, and these women displayed an urgency regarding how their
image was constructed and received by viewers, black and white.
The women’s interviews in major magazines targeted to black