Common Sense Media Review
By Joyce Slaton
,
based on child development research. How do we rate?
Animated reboot is inexplicably humorless and vulgar.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 15+?
Any Positive Content?
Where to Watch
Videos and Photos
Good Times
What's the Story?
Based on the 1970s series of the same name, this animated version of GOOD TIMES centers on a mom (voiced by Yvette Nicole Brown) and dad (J.B. Smoove) who live in the projects in Chicago with their three kids: Junior (Jay Pharoah), Grey (Marsai Martin), and baby Dalvin (Gerald "Slink" Johnson). The Evans family doesn't have a lot of money, but Junior has his art, Grey is interested in social causes, and Dalvin, well, Dalvin's taken to life on the streets while their hapless parents just try to keep everyone fed and out of trouble.
Is It Any Good?
Simultaneously offensive and tedious, this animated series scores high for representation but low for actual laughs. Like the family from the 1970s Norman Lear sitcom where Good Times gets its DNA, the Evanses are a Black family in inner-city Chicago, making things work in public housing. Unlike the earlier, better Evans family, this family has a drug-dealing baby….sigh. The four other family members who are wisecrack-spitting plot devices rather than characters you care about, despite the wealth of voice talent on the job.
Seth MacFarlane is one of Good Times' producers (along with, posthumously, Norman Lear), and his influence is clear, right down to the preternaturally mature baby. But his schtick has worn thin, and the writing isn't as sharp as it was in Family Guy's salad days, such as they were. And the sitcom-classic plots meld weirdly with his junior-high sense of humor: there's a heat wave, Grey gets her period, the Evans celebrate a romance-oriented holiday together. There's a world in which Good Times, the reboot, would be an amusing throwback or ironic commentary on the societal stagnation that has one family still stuck in a cycle of poverty after generations. But this is neither, and it's not good.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about how this version of Good Times is different from the original, which was noted for its sensitive political and social commentary and representation of Black points of view at a time when there weren't many Black voices on TV. Is this animated version as thoughtful and groundbreaking?
Reboots of TV shows are common on streaming services. Which ones have worked? Which ones haven't? How does Good Times stack up?
Are we supposed to like the Evans family? Why or why not? How can you tell?
TV Details
- Premiere date : April 17, 2024
- Cast : Jay Pharoah , Marsai Martin , Yvette Nicole Brown , J.B. Smoove
- Network : Netflix
- Genre : Comedy
- TV rating :
- Last updated : September 26, 2024
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