Original subtitles

Good time, anytime you need a payment. Good time, anytime you need a friend.

Good time, anytime you're out for Monday.

Not getting hassled, not getting hustled. Keeping your head above water.

Breaking away when you can.

Temporary layoffs. Good time, easy credit ripples.

Good time, scratching ass.

After I had the hysterectomy and the nosebleed, that's when I found out about

Stephanie and that Fred had paid for her abortion and tonsillectomy.

Doctor, with Father dead, my marriage on the rocks, and me with these

ugly warts, you had the unmitigated gall to come to my hospital room and tell me

that my symptoms are psychosomatic and I really can walk?

At least your feet don't hurt.

Oh, you're talking to the TV set?

Would you like to say a few words to the chair?

No, but I got a few choice words for that sink.

You know, Bookman ain't fixed that sink yet? No.

Let me go over here and see what old Faithful's doing today.

of water.

That's the way it is, my girl. Well, it's not fair, Thelma. You can't have it

both ways. You're always hollering about equal rights for women, but as soon as

Earth, Wind, and Fire come to town, you look around for some poor sucker who

works his butt off all week to pay for your ticket.

Well, that's the way, uh -huh, uh -huh, I like it, yeah.

I wish I had it that easy. I took Judy out last week, and I spent $3 .85 on

Do you know what she did?

She went off with some Jive Cat on some high -speed plastic skateboard.

I'll get it, Ma.

These women, I... Hey.

Hi, folks.

Well, well, well.

Bookman, it must be nearer Christmas than I thought.

Oh, come on, Mr. Evans. You make fun of me, but I'm really a man of substance.

Yeah, about 300 pounds of it.

You know, I'd like to chit -chat with you, but Mrs. Bookman is holding dinner

for me.

Now, where's that window that needs fixing?

Oh, the...

Michael fixed that six weeks ago with a penknife and a bar of soap.

Well, if you're going to bring in technical equipment.

Well, anyhow, the window's taken care of. Bye.

Hey, wait a minute, man. What about our sink?

Something wrong with your sink? Well, I put it on the list.

But we're already on the list. You're on my window list. Now I've got to put you

on my sink list.

Don't worry.

We got you on our list, too.

Kids, what would you like for dinner?

Oh, Ma, don't worry about cooking anything for me. Jerry took me to a

before the concert.

Okay, dinner for three.

Uh, not exactly, Ma.

Uh, I got a date with a certain young lady who's fixing me some, uh, ribs a la

JJ.

Which means they're hot, spicy, and, uh, stay with you for days.

Okay, dinner for two.

Coach said we can't have anything before practice. I'll pick up a sandwich

afterwards. Oh, I left my sneakers in your room.

Okay, Florida.

What would you like for dinner?

Oh, I don't know.

What would you like?

Oh, I don't know.

What have you got?

Now, listen, if you're going to argue about it, you can just fix your own

dinner. You are talking to yourself.

talking to the TV set.

Girl, what a day I had. Yeah? There is nothing worse than our annual going out

of business thing.

Honey, every bargain hunter on the south side of Chicago came out today. You

know, Mammoth Minnie Farrell. The one that owns the reducing salon? Oh, yes.

Would you believe I spent my whole lunch hour plus two coffee breaks trying to

push that 300 pounds of flab into a pair of size 12 hip huggers? Oh, no.

Can you imagine?

Hip huggers on that hippo.

You're going to draw a tub of water, load it with bubble bath, relax,

jump into bed, and zonk out for the rest of the night. Wrong.

I'm going to get myself together, throw on some clothes, and then it's rapping,

clapping, and finger snapping.

My neighbor Lola is going to party this evening.

Lola, why don't you come and go with me? Oh.

I bet some.

Flo, why don't you come with me? What do you say? Oh, thanks for the invitation,

honey, but all of the kids are going out tonight.

And while you are out rapping, clapping, and snapping, I'll be home napping.

Flo, as hard as you work, you owe it to yourself to go out once in a while. You

know, if you don't go out to this house once in a while, you're going to forget

how to have a good time. No, Willow, and I'll just spoil your night out.

Flo, there's got to be something happening here. Something that was

Chicago, honey.

Let's see now.

Here's the under 35 dance.

Under 35.

Sure, all it says here is $3 admission. Don't say nothing about honesty.

And I even got a couple of church socials going.

Now, that's not more like my speed, but I think I'll pass.

You sure you want to stay home?

Well, mother knows best, I guess.

Well, if you know, if you change your mind, you know where to find me. Okay,

thank you. I'll see you later.

Hey, JJ, what's going on?

I'll tell you what's going on. As senior male member of this household, I got

something to announce.

I don't think y 'all realize how lonely Ma has been.

Thelma, Michael, you're going to have to give up your plans for this evening.

What? Uh, Michael, I think he's right. You know, we should spend more time with

Ma. Well, I'm glad this is all settled.

Wish I could join y 'all. Hey, hold on, JJ. Hold on there, buddy. Do you really

think I'm going to give up the con... while you go out with one of your weird

old chicks?

Yeah, JJ, we stay home, you stay home. That's right.

Wait a minute. I had Charlotte cooking ribs all day, so she squeezed my ribs

night.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. You can rattle all you want to. All I know is we all staying

home with Mama tonight.

Yeah, JJ, what do you say?

Well, I guess Ma should have one bright, mature, intelligent adult.

To stay with her tonight.

Well, I'll see you.

Oh, my.

Jerry's here.

Well, how have you been, Mrs. Evans? Oh, just fine.

Oh, hey, hey. Good looking.

Hi, Jerry. How you doing?

All right. You ready to go?

Well, look, Jerry.

Come here. I have something to talk to you about, okay? Yeah, sure.

What's happening?

Well, I'm sorry, but I can't go tonight.

What? You can't go tonight?

Did you say something, Jerry?

Yeah, she said that there's no show tonight.

The concert's been canceled. Canceled. Come on, Jerry, please. Now, um, if

just be quiet, I can explain this whole thing, you know what I mean? All right,

explain. Hello there, sweet mama.

Yeah, look here. This is the man when you think of love.

I am the only one you can think of.

No, this ain't Harold.

I got to cancel them.

No, I don't have Harold's telephone number.

Hello?

Hello?

Chick's in a state of shock.

Well, Michael, aren't you going to your basketball practice?

No, Ma, it's a mistake to overtrain.

Now, do you have any idea how much these tickets set me back, huh? What did you

say, Jerry? I'm trying to tell her that she... He said that...

myself in this cozy.

Just a minute.

Every one of you had something to do tonight.

Now, all of a sudden, everything has changed.

I don't know where you got the idea from, but you kids seem to think I need

babysitter.

Well, you old folks can sit at home and twiddle your thumbs if you want to.

But I'm going out tonight.

You didn't tell me the meeting place was a saloon.

I don't think I caught your face back there. No, will you stop worrying?

No, I wouldn't take it. It wasn't perfectly respectable.

This is a friendly, honest place where you get to meet people.

Look on it as an adventure.

As new for me as it is for you.

Wilona! Hey, girl!

You want the usual table, honey?

New for you as it is for me, huh?

How you doing, ma?

I think they got me confused with another Wilona.

All you're going to meet back there is a busboy.

He's 87 years old, got arthritis, and does a lousy hustle.

Oh, Flo, ain't no crime to be alone, but it is dumb to be lonely.

Okay, so I tricked you into coming.

But now that you're here, why don't you relax and have a drink?

I'll be sitting right by your side all evening.

Have a ball, girl. You owe it to yourself.

Okay, well, Luna, I guess you're right. Good, good, good.

Hey,

ladies. Two cats at the bar just want to buy you a drink. Oh, no, thank you. No,

my mom and Tito, honey.

Which cat?

Then the cat.

Oh, have mercy.

I wouldn't let those two turkeys buy me cranberry sauce.

I'm sure glad you turned them down.

In a place like this, you got to pick and choose, you know.

Because a drink is more than just a drink. It's a calling card.

You know, it's a nice, friendly way to say hello.

Like, for instance, if you were in a restaurant, a gentleman might send you

a fancy dessert. And if you were in a florist, he might send you over a dozen

roses. I'm glad we're not in a stable.

Your usual alone.

Seven and seven, miss.

Well, what are you going to have?

What's seven and seven?

Fourteen.

What you drinking?

In the world is a Rodney Allen Riffey.

That's a Shirley Temple with a black olive.

I'll take it.

You know, this domestic ripple, it don't taste as good as the imported stuff.

You know, that voice sounds so familiar. I know I've heard it somewhere before.

You ought to.

You know everybody here.

I do not know.

Now either he works in a hardware store or he just rolled Isaac Hayes.

Hello, foxy mamas.

The name is Lenny.

You may have had many, but till you've tried sweet Lenny, you ain't had any.

you a little bit rough on him. Rough on him? Honey, he was a complete nut. Here

we go, lady.

Here we go. Here's your usual, Alona. Oh, well, thank you, darling.

And, honey, this should truly set you free.

Ruffalo, let's make a toast.

To your first night out, have a natural guest.

Thank you, Alona.

Hmm.

Not bad.

Hey, listen.

What? If you feel like taking off with somebody, don't let me hold you back.

you kidding? We in this together. You are my best friend. There's no way I'm

going to leave you by yourself.

And then after I got my engineering degree from MIT, that's the Michigan

Institute of Toolology.

You know, and I was only 16. I went right into private industry.

You know, Alona, you're right. That voice does sound familiar.

Don't you? I know.

It's you.

I spotted you clear across the room the minute you walked in.

You're the only woman in the world for me.

Negro, please.

It's you.

I spotted you clear across the room the minute I walked in. You're the only

woman in the world for me.

This room must have an echo.

It's you. I spotted you clear across the room.

You know,

I'm beginning to have a lot of fun.

Kind of glad you tricked me into coming. Oh, I'm glad too, Flo, and the fun has

just begun.

Stick with me.

If you stick with me... It would take a wild horse to drag me from this table.

The rest of the men in this place must be crazy.

Let a beautiful woman like you go to waste.

Dance with me.

Arrivederci, Flo.

gorgeous as in you. Oh, do you mean it? Of course I do.

And that's the gospel truth, honey. Or my name ain't Barry Belafonte.

Are you in any relation to Harry Belafonte?

Listen to this.

If

you're

through climbing the walls,

Would you care to dance? Oh, no, thank you.

Well, maybe I could buy you a drink? Nope.

Sure, why not?

A drink is like a calling card.

That's a nice thought.

My name is Ben Foster.

I'm Florida Evans.

Got lucky, huh?

What you drinking?

Another round, please.

Uh -huh.

Make mine a small one.

You know,

this is the first time I've been to the meeting place.

Have you ever been here before?

I used to come in here often with my wife, but I haven't been here since she

passed away.

Oh, I'm sorry.

I lost my husband recently.

Rough, isn't it?

First step.

Get him back into the world?

Sure is.

You know, if my friend hadn't tricked me into coming here tonight, I'll still be

home being mother hen to my children.

Okay, here we go.

Whoa.

Here's your Rodney Allen Rippey swinger.

How many children do you have?

Three.

Oh, I have two. Both are married.

I'll bet that you have pictures of your children.

Well, I may have one or two.

I may have one of my grandsons.

You have

a nice laugh.

And then after I got back from Puerto Rico, I went to work for the federal

government. You know, I was working on a top -secret project.

You know, they always

Arthur.

Ben.

Ben.

I feel like dancing.

It would be my pleasure, madam.

In his stomach.

See, the answer is now. You over here knocking me in my head.

Hi. I saw the light under the door. Hey, where's Flo?

Well, Lana, we thought she was with you.

Well, she was, but I got up to dance. When I came back, she was gone.

Ma, is that you?

No, Michael, it's not mine. I'll go back to sleep, okay?

I'm not asleep.

I wonder where Flo could be.

She's going to be all right. I don't know what's up in the house. Hey, hey,

hey. Take it easy now. Y 'all cackling like hens here.

Let the man in the house handle this.

Yeah, what are you going to do?

You just watch my smoke, young lady. You just watch my smoke.

I know how to handle situations like this.

Hello? Police?

My mommy's missing.

Is that you?

Yes, dear.

Stick with me, huh?

Flo, where did you go? I looked all over the place for you. Well, you didn't

look in the right places.

Tell me all about it.

Kelowna, it's getting late and we both got to go to work.

and the action was going on.

But there was a phone in that place. I just know it.

And you could have picked it up and let your family who was sitting here

concerned.

You

could

have let us know what was happening.

But Ma, I'm going to have to ground.

I think you got that all backwards. You don't ground me. I ground you.

You just think that you got the market cornered for having fun.

Well, I had a good time tonight.

And I'm going out again as soon as I get a chance.

And if you don't like it, tough chitlins.

Good night.

Hi there.

What are you doing here at this hour?

Well, you know, I was just saying to Mrs. Bookman, I couldn't sleep, knowing

that your plumbing is out of order.

But that's the way it is with old friends like us, ain't it? You know, one

washes the other.

Not in our sink, it don't. That's exactly why I got up out of a warm bed,

you know that I'll take care of it the first thing tomorrow morning.

Does that make everything all right?

Good night, Barry.

Mmm, just looking out of the window, watching the asphalt

road,

thinking how it all looks and we die, oh yeah, time,

keeping your head above water,

making a wave when you can, till forever

Good times is videotape in front of a studio audience.