\n<\/p>\n
Cast members believed the performance portrayed Black Americans in a stereotypical lens. Despite these concerns, the show\u2019s writers transformed J.J. from a minor character into one of the show\u2019s central figures.<\/p>\n
\u201cI thought too much emphasis was being put on J.J. and his chicken hat and saying \u2018dy-no-mite\u2019 every third page,\u201d Amos said in a 2014 interview<\/a> with the Television Academy. He added that producers resolved the conflict by getting rid of Amos\u2019s character. \u201cSo they said, \u2018Tell you what? Why don\u2019t we kill him off and we\u2019ll all get on with our lives?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n In addition to Amos\u2019s firing, Rolle also left the show for a season before returning.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen we found out that John wouldn\u2019t be back, we read the script and I thought it was mistaken identity,\u201d Stanis said, adding that when Rolle, who died in 1998<\/a>, briefly left, \u201cI don\u2019t think that she was very happy with having to leave the show the way it was designed.\u201d<\/p>\n In his 2014 autobiography, \u201cEven This I Get to Experience,\u201d<\/a> Lear wrote that members of the Black Panthers came to his office to complain<\/a> that \u201cGood Times\u201d perpetuated stereotypes about Black poverty. Lear responded with \u201cThe Jeffersons,\u201d which debuted on CBS in 1975. The show featured Sherman Hemsley as George Jefferson, a Black man with a successful dry-cleaning business and a luxury apartment in Manhattan, and Isabel Sanford as his beleaguered wife, Louise.<\/p>\n Gibbs broke out as Florence before going on to a long career that included roles on series like \u201c227\u201d and \u201cThe Hughleys.\u201d When she received her star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2021, Lear accompanied her to the ceremony. She remembered him saying that laughter adds years to one\u2019s life and thanked her for adding years to his.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019d say without Norman, people would not know my name,\u201d said Gibbs, 92. \u201cHe hired me and because of the affiliation, everybody knows Marla Gibbs and they know Florence, so I\u2019d say he definitely added years to my life.\u201d<\/p>\n Susan Beachy contributed research.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n