Original subtitles

Good times. Good times.

Good times. Good

times.

baby shower, and we ain't nearly ready. Now, come on. Let's get a move on it.

Michael, you set the table here. Come on, JJ.

Come on, you finish wrapping the presents.

And, Ma?

Yeah, JJ?

Uh, you're doing a great job. Keep it up.

That's when you start giving orders around here.

Well, Dad's out of town working for a few days, right?

Well, when James Evans Sr. ain't here, it's up to James Evans Jr.

to fill his shoes.

his shoes. You look like his shoes.

You're built like a pair of laces and your tongue is always flattened.

You're out.

You're disinherited. You ain't getting nothing out of my will. You ain't

nothing. What will?

The only thing you own is a few little clothes and you're going to have to

that to a scarecrow.

Oh, be quiet, prune face.

Look here, Michael. Good news.

You are getting the bulk of my...

If I have to wear your clothes, man, I plan on dying before you do.

Come on, is she not picking on me here?

Well, if you're going to strut around like a peacock, you've got to expect

of your feathers to get stomped on.

I guess I have to write something on this cake.

It's Loretta's third child.

What would be nice?

How about congratulations?

Congratulations on the birth of your third child.

Yeah. May this one bring you as much happiness and joy as your first girl and

your first boy.

And if it happens to be a boy, it might be a strong... Hey, hey.

You expect me to get all that on this cake?

Well, try, Ma. The more icing, the better I like it.

I'll just make it nice and simple to a lovely baby.

And it will be.

Too bad Loretta's husband won't be around to see it.

It's hard to believe Mr. Simpson passed away just a few months ago.

Mama, when's the baby due?

Well, Loretta says in four or five weeks.

But the only one who really knows is the baby. They have a built -in timer.

Were we on time, Mama? You and Thelma were.

But as usual, J .J. was late.

Well, could I help it if my watch stopped?

What did you get for the baby? Oh, girl, it wasn't easy deciding.

They got some way -out toys in them stores now.

They got a doll that cries real tears. They got a doll that grows hair. And

even got a doll that has babies.

Babies? That's right.

And she keeps on having them until you buy these little toy...

I took one of my friends down there last week, you know, and there was this

chick sitting behind the desk with this nasal congestion, and she said, Madam,

aren't you aware that we have given you a 10 % increase in your welfare

benefits?

And my friend said, Don't do you much good when the cost of living is going up

20%. Then the chick said, Well, Madam, if you feel you've been mistreated, mail

a letter of complaint to the government.

The government already figured out a way to stop those complaints.

lettuce. They're raising the price of stamps so high you can't afford to

Hey, is Cora and Alice going to get here? Yep, they should be here in a

now. I hope they get here before Loretta does. After all, this whole thing was

supposed to be a surprise.

Mm -hmm.

You know, Flo, this is the first baby shower I've been to since your kids was

born. J .J., did you know I got you your first rattle? No, you didn't, Walona. J

.J.'s first rattle was the one in his hat.

Well, at least I was born.

Ma and Dad found you on a doorstep with a note saying you'd take her. She's too

ugly for us.

Signed, Dr. and Mrs.

Frankenstein.

By the way, Rolona, you never did tell us what you got for the baby. Oh, well,

didn't like any of those plastic toys, so I got her one of those old -fashioned

cuddly teddy bears. Oh.

those things, whatever happened to it? Like everything else, J .J. It was

on to Thelma and then passed on to Michael.

Yeah, but by the time it was passed on to me, it was bald.

Get the door ready. Okay, Ma.

Thelma, how about the coffee?

Hi there, Michael.

Hi.

Oh,

that's all right. Loretta will be here any minute, so I want you two to sit

and make yourself comfortable. I love...

baby showers especially when they ain't for me what you talking about you

already have seven beautiful children yourself yeah and they like to warm me

i carried seven kids for nine months each and all my husband carried was a

handful of cigars i was pregnant so much i didn't see my feet for the first

seven years of our marriage

That must be Loretta. Come on. Be quiet.

Surprise!

Well,

what's going on? What's going on? A baby shower, that's what.

A baby shower? Yeah. Come on, sit down and take it easy. You and that little, I

mean, big...

You look tired. Those dudes down at the welfare gave you a hard time today,

didn't they? Not really.

What bothered me mostly was when Fred was alive, we never even went within

smelling distance of the welfare.

Oh, honey, you're going to just have to get used to it. I stand in line at the

welfare office. I stand in line to use my food stamps.

I stand in line at the unemployment office. You know, sometimes I get the

feeling that when my time comes, they're going to bury me standing up.

Can we give Loretta our gifts now? Oh, that's a great idea, Michael.

Florida, please, I, uh, I can't accept any gifts.

But these gifts are for you, they're for the baby.

And as soon as he gets old enough to say, no, thank you, we'll take

back.

And I'll start things off with a personal I .O .U. for my painting of

when it's six months old and all the wrinkles are gone.

And this is for Michael and me. Yeah. It's a blanket for bringing the baby

the hospital. Yeah, it's really pretty. I hope you like it. Thank you, children.

And my gift goes right along with the blanket. It's a diaper pail full of

pampers. I call it the Florida Evans Storm Warning Kit. And I have got you

prettiest little... What's the matter? Oh, look, honey.

It's just all the things we know you're gonna need.

Come on.

But, Florida, that's what I've been trying to tell you.

I'm not going to need it.

What?

keeping the baby.

Loretta, Loretta, honey, you don't mean that. Oh, yes, I do. No.

The baby's already put up for an adoption and a good agency is making the

arrangement. But Loretta, honey, why?

Because I don't need it and it don't need me.

I can't give this baby nothing.

I've got two kids I can't take care of now. Don't you understand, Florida? No.

I'm trying to give this baby a chance it don't have with no father and a mother

who's on welfare.

I don't need it.

Loretta, your life can change. You got to hang in there. You got to keep on

keeping on, no matter what happens. Sure. Me and Eddie was going to quit

five kids, but then he got a good temporary job, and there I was doing the

cake walk again.

Girl, meet a nice man and get married. Then you'll want your baby back. Right.

You're all talking about the future, and I don't have one. But this baby can

have a future once its name is changed.

Loretta, if you keep the baby, our baby sits free whenever you want.

Yeah, and I can do all your shopping when I come home from school.

And if it's a temporary father you need, I'll feed the baby whenever you say.

I'll start it off with milk and pablum, and after it gets its first tooth,

Nothing but Big Macs.

Oh, Loretta, we'll always be there. We always will.

I know you would, but it's just not enough. Oh. I'm giving the baby up. No,

Loretta, you say that now.

But once you hold that baby in your arms and look down in his little face,

there's no way in the world you're going to give it up. That's the truth.

You're right, Florida.

And that's why I made a ring. for the people at the hospital to take the baby

away from me the minute it's born.

I'll never even see it.

And what you don't see, you don't miss.

Loretta.

I'm so sorry. I guess I better be going.

Thank you all anyway, but I can't accept any of these beautiful gifts.

Yeah, but we want you to keep them. Sure, in case you change your mind.

Loretta, sometimes adoption is the thing to do.

But you've been under so much strain lately. Maybe you should think about it.

Alice, I have thought it over. And I know what I'm doing.

We'll see you tomorrow. I'll see you tomorrow.

Thanks for coming by.

You all right?

This is one baby that you can kick.

That's another reason to keep the baby, Loretta. It can always become a famous

field goal kicker for Chicago Bay.

Oh, I think I better go.

Florida, I know you meant well, and I'm sorry.

Loretta, you're not going anywhere. You're going to stay and have dinner

us, right?

Oh, I can't. Listen, honey, you wouldn't let us give you a shower. At least stay

and eat.

But I'm not very hungry.

But you're just the party of the first part.

Now, the party of the second part needs all the nourishment it can get from the

party of the first part, right?

Good.

So I'm going to get you a coat.

We got things to get at the market. Well, I'm going to go with you because I

want to stock up while I got a special on hamburger.

What special?

Well, if you find any meat between the fat and the gristle, they give you one

free. Oh.

Okay.

JJ, I want you and Michael to make her comfortable until we get back, huh?

Mama. Don't be long, sweetheart.

Oh, is there anything we can do for you, Loretta?

No, no, J .J., I'm fine. Please don't mind me. You boys do what you always do.

Well, okay, everybody. If you'll excuse me, I got some homework to finish up. Of

course, Michael. You go ahead.

Okay.

J .J., what about you?

I think I'll paint a picture of this beautiful chick I met last night.

Without a model?

I got a memory that won't quit.

Oh.

Oh, J .J.

Oh, that little dude in that field going kicking again?

JJ, not this time.

JJ, promise you won't get excited if I tell you something.

Me? Get excited?

school this year? Yeah.

Well, I hope you run ahead, because we are getting ready to take the final

now. Oh, no.

Oh, yeah.

Michael, what are we going to do?

What do you mean, what are we going to do? You said you was the man of the

house. And my first decision as the man of the house is to make you the man of

the house.

JJ, that's because you're the chicken of the house.

The pains are coming about every five minutes.

Well, Michael, just go stand there.

For what?

I don't know. Just go boil some water.

J .J., you better call the clinic and get a hold of a doctor.

225 -3599.

Right.

Hey, Loretta, is there anything I can do for you? All I need from you, Michael,

is a nice, relaxed smile. Everything's gone.

See you at the clinic, check.

Just do what?

Are you sure you a baby doctor?

Oh, I dialed the wrong number.

I got the pet hospital.

JJ, are you sure?

It must have been. He told me to put Loretta in a cardboard box and let

take its course.

I wish Mama was here. Hey, you just said the magic words. Mama, look here. You

go out to the store and you find Mama. Good idea. I'll stay here and I'll watch

Loretta. Hey, but what store did Mama go to? I don't know.

Yeah. Oh, no, we're just right over here in the project and... Hello?

Hello?

They're afraid to come into this neighborhood.

No wonder they call their cabs yellow.

Yeah, my name is J .J. Evans.

Anyway, yeah, she's about to have these pains that come in every three minutes.

And, huh?

Yeah, the J .J. stands for James Jr.

Look here, man. Yeah, I'm trying to explain to you the nature of this call.

you're here, Ma.

Loretta's pains are coming every three minutes, and mine are coming every two.

Easy, easy, easy.

Breathe nice and easy, Loretta.

Nice and easy.

There we go.

Thelma, wet a towel and some cold water for her head. Okay, Ma.

You better make that two towels. She only needs one, Milona. I know.

The other one's for me.

that we're going to one, honey. Then where's Loretta going to have the baby?

Right here, I guess.

Here? Here.

Here? Here.

Well,

she can't go there.

Michael, run across the street and get Miss Mitchell. She's a midwife. Okay,

Mama.

Tell them to make sure there are a lot of fresh towels in the room. Okay, Mama.

Well, Lana, come and get her in the room.

Can you walk, honey? Come on, baby.

Easy, easy now.

Hey, Mama, I got some water blowing here just like they got in the movies. What

do you want me to do with it?

Drop some eggs in it. I think they're going to miss dinner.

Right.

I always thought it had something to do with the baby.

You don't look very good.

It's a lot better than the way I feel.

Loretta's time has come, all right. Oh, Lord, Florida. Listen, are you

absolutely sure?

Right now, we are in the middle of a baby countdown, and that bedroom is the

launching pad.

The clinic ain't that far away. We can call a cab.

I already called a cab, Your Honor. They ain't coming in this neighborhood

without combat pay.

Listen, Loretta's pains are coming much too fast for that.

up and down man you're making me nervous i can't help it it's my first baby what

do you think it'll be a boy or a girl well i was always kind of hoping for a

son you know i always dreamed to have somebody that i could name after me i

could just imagine it jj and his little j

is going to give it away anyway.

We'll probably never even know its name.

Wow. And all the excitement.

I forgot about that.

Michael, get me Loretta's purse.

The adoption agency's number is in there.

Come on, Michael.

Ma, do we have to make that call right now?

Believe me, JJ, I don't want to do this anymore than you do.

But Loretta made me promise that I would.

It was the first thing she said after the baby got here.

Yeah, Thelma was holding the baby and Loretta turned away because she couldn't

see it. It's a shame.

I ain't even seen the little fella.

You miss him?

Yeah, me too.

Hello?

I'd like to talk to the one in charge of Loretta Simpson's adoption case.

Yes, I'll hold on.

Mom! What?

What is it?

Oh, Mom, don't call.

What?

Loretta saw the baby, and now she's not so sure she wants to give him away.

You mean she's going to keep it?

I don't know if she's going to keep it or not, but she sure is thinking about

it.

No matter which way she decides, it ain't going to be easy for her.

Amen to that.

Wait a minute.

Tell me there's something I don't understand.

You were holding the baby, and Loretta was doing everything she could not to

the baby.

How did Loretta get to see the baby?

It was an accident, Ma. You know, just one old thing.

Really now, how did this accident happen?

Oh, well, Ma, I was home. the baby on one side of the room and Loretta had a

back turn to us.

And the baby started to cry.

And since I didn't know whether Loretta was sleeping or not, I had to go over

and check because I didn't want the baby to wake up.

Of course you didn't. Of course she didn't.

And on my way over there, I kind of lost my balance.

I need a soft place to lay the baby down.

And I found it.

It just happened to be right next to Loretta.

And Loretta just... happened to end up holding the baby, right?

Yeah.

I told you it was an accident.

Oh, Thelma.

Oh, hello.

Are you the person handling Loretta Simpson's adoption?

You are?

Sorry, wrong number.

Looking out of the window, watching the asphalt road,

thinking how it all looks when we die.

Good times, good times, keeping your head above water,

making a wave when you can.

Temporary layoffs, good times.

Good Times is recorded on tape before a live audience.