Original subtitles

Good times! Anytime you need a payment. Good times! Anytime you need a break.

Good times! Anytime you're up and under. Not getting hassled, not getting

hustled. Keeping your head up above water.

Making a way when you can.

Temporary layoffs. Good times! Easy credit ripoffs. Good times!

Hello.

Dynamite Greeting Card Company, J .J. Evans, resident president speaking.

Yeah, where the company that makes the black greeting cards?

Yeah, you want a dozen Washington birthday cards?

Is that Georgia Booker T?

Okay, you'll have them tomorrow.

Bye.

Well, Damien, we just got another order. Hey, that's great, J .J., man. We

really cooking up.

J .J., you should have been at your rib delivery job a long time ago.

You want a lift?

I'm going to show our line to see his discount stores.

No, I got a rendezvous with a couple of our crack writers.

Then I'll check you later.

Hey, look here, crack writer.

Michael, how you coming along with that black sympathy card?

Everything's coming along great, J .J. On the outside, the card's going to say,

expressing our sympathy on the lord of your Cadillac.

And on the inside, it's going to go like this.

Hot dog, you had a hog.

Your fortunes were really blessed.

We just hope that you can cope since it's just been repossessed.

A couple more like that, Michael, and I'll be able to quickly repay the money

got to get this business going.

Thelma, how you coming along on that St. Patrick's Day card? Oh, I only wrote

one little verse.

Well, let's hear it, my little leprechaun.

Well, um, uh, hello, St.

Patrick. A big welcome back.

It's a good thing you're Irish instead of black.

Because people would stare wherever you'd go and say, who's the dude with

green afro?

I'm going to forget St. Patrick's Day.

Hello?

Dynamite Greeting Car Company, J .J. Evans, resident president speaking.

Oh, hello, Mr. Jason.

Oh, yeah.

You say you're up to your what in orders of ribs to go?

Well, I wanted to get Ferguson's Fuel Home to deliver them.

Yeah, they're used to delivering cold ribs.

Just jiving, just jiving.

Yeah, I'm on my way. Okay, bye.

Well, I got to keep on keeping on, y 'all. Get off to work here. Okay. Let me

know what's happening.

What?

Mr. James Evans Jr.

Well, look no further. I am James Evans Jr., known far and wide as the Beige

Rage.

This is Karen Casey.

I'm an accountant.

The minority business office asked me to come over and help you set up your

books. Oh, yeah, we've been expecting you.

But when they said an accountant, I thought you'd be a bald -haired,

-up old man with glasses.

Oh, Damien?

You go to your accountant, and I will go to mine.

The Dynamite Reading Card Company has three partners, Miss Casey.

I'm Damon Stevenson, the super printer. Curtis Norton is our super salesman. And

the artwork is handled by J .J., the super weird.

Enough of these small chit -chat.

Why don't me and you go down here with the books and discuss the, uh, figures?

Preferably, we can start with yours.

No, Mr. Evans. You just give me the books, and I'll do it all myself.

Well, our ledger and financial data is right there.

Thank you, Mr. Evans.

Uh -huh.

Well, it's time for me to get to the job that pays the rent around here.

I'll talk to y 'all later on. All right, see you later, JJ. Ooh, kids, I'm so

glad you're all here. I want to read.

Mother's Day card I wrote.

I'm late for work. Oh, but this will only take a minute, and it's going to

millions. It's so original.

On the outside, it says, Happy Mother's Day, Mom.

Oh, that's original.

And then you open it up, and it says, To a dear, sweet, wonderful mother who

nursed me and birthed me when I was a baby. That's great, Mom.

As my first birthday passed, kept me dry and fondled me with love.

Oh, Ma.

Who, after I was two, patiently taught me to talk, walk, and feed myself.

Oh, Ma.

And who, when I reached a tender age of three... Oh, Ma, hold it, hold it.

But I'm not finished.

Oh, Ma, that makes Roots sound like a bicentennial minute.

I guess it is a little long.

Bob, don't worry. The thought is there.

Yeah, we can always edit it. Yeah, Ma, you got to politicize it. Get it down to

something like this.

As a child, I was glad I had a mother like you who saw me through all the

changes I put her through.

But as I'm older, I'm luckier still that when you were younger, they didn't have

the pill.

That's not what I was thinking.

Well, Mom, let's talk about that later. I got to get off to work.

All right. Bye.

Hold it, hold it. The girls in the boutique want to order 42 more of those

goodbye tacky turkey calls.

That's great, Wilona.

Whoever wrote that is going to have a nice royalty.

I certainly will.

Okay, how did you find Wilona? On the outside, it says goodbye.

On the inside, it says, you told me that I was the only woman in your life, and

I found... I found out you had a wife.

Now, I didn't yell and do none of that mess.

I just gave a mugger your name and address.

Hello.

JJ. Oh, hello there, Mr. Jason.

Yeah. Well, I know I'm not at the rib joint. Well, I'm not there because I'm

here.

But I'm on my way. I'm on my... What?

Hand in my cow?

But wait a minute.

I'm fired?

But wait a minute.

Hello?

How do you like that?

I just got canned.

Oh, JJ, I'm sorry to hear that.

Oh, JJ, that's terrible.

Well, come on, son. Don't worry about it. You'll more than make up for it with

these greeting cards.

No, Ma.

We can't afford to take any money out of the business yet.

The family needed that job.

We'll manage.

Now, this is the first chance you've had to make good money with your art.

This isn't just a hustle or a pipe dream.

It's something you can be proud of.

Yeah, I guess you're right, Ma.

Well, I'll have plenty of time to work at it now.

Thanks, Ma.

Hello, everybody!

Look who's here, the soul... version of the Goodyear blimp.

What do you want, Bookman? I just thought I'd drop by to throw the kids

business, Miss Evans. What did you have in mind for cards, Bookman?

Sorry to hear about your fat.

Very amusing.

You know, I felt I was losing touch with my tenant, so I decided to close the

humanity gap.

Honey, you could close the gap in the Grand Canyon by sitting on it.

That's a cold shot, Miss Woods. I'm hip, hippo.

card printed with this warm sentiment.

It's from me to you, and it's fact, not fiction.

My very best wishes for a happy eviction.

Look, uh, Gigi, give me a break on this, man. We old friends, you know. Hey,

Bookman, man, isn't that your car down there that's torn away?

I ain't got no car.

Well, it must be my mistake.

Must be Mrs. Bookman they're towing away.

I gotta go to work. Now, if I hurry, I can hit the ride on Mrs. Bookman.

Yeah, Ma, I have to leave, too. I'm going to the library to do some research

Black Holiday. Yeah, and I gotta go cook dinner.

You're cooking?

I better do some research on food poisoning.

Have you given me all of your assets?

Uh, what you see is what I got.

Excuse me.

Excuse me, is this the, um, Dynamite Greeting Card Company?

Yeah, that's us. Uh, what can we do for you? I'm Robert Lawrence out of, uh,

Woodruff, Clay, and Jacoby. Oh, I'm James Evans, Jr. out of poverty, hunger,

pain.

Advertising agency, Mr. Evans. We offer free consultation to minority businesses

to help them compete in the marketplace.

Oh, that's great. Well, over there is my partner, Damon Stevenson. And this is

my mother, Flora Evans.

Now then, when are we going to get on with doing them TV commercials?

Well, I doubt that this business is quite ready for TV commercials.

But of course they're ready. We even got a slogan.

For a message with soul that says it right, send a card from...

Dynamite! Well, I'm afraid there's more to TV advertising than slogans.

Here, if you'll just fill out this marketing questionnaire, it'll help us

determine your advertising needs.

I'll pick it up in a couple of days.

In the meanwhile, may I take a few of your cards back to the agency?

Yeah, sure.

Uh, as we say in the advertising business, we'll run it up the flagpole

if anybody salutes.

Well, as we say in our advertising business, let's feed it to the duck and

if it quacks.

You say that?

See you in a couple of days.

Uh, Ma, how you coming along with that Mother's Day card? Oh, I was just

on it.

See how this sounds.

I could take you to a movie.

I could take you to a drama.

But I'd rather take this time to say, hello, dear mama.

Well, my, you're a regular Gwendolyn Brooks. Oh, thank you. Good afternoon,

everybody. Damon, JJ.

Hi there, Carl.

Florida.

Well, now.

Being an investor in this concern, I thought I'd stop by to see how my money

doing. It's doing great, Carl. Just great.

I mean, business is a little slow now, but, you know, we be picking up, picking

up. That's right, J .J. Give it time.

Hey, hey, Damon.

Hey, everybody. We're going to be rich.

I just made the biggest sale since the Indians sold Manhattan.

Don't tell me you sold our company for some jive beads.

No.

I just left the buyers at Sid's discount stores, and he wants our cards. Not

just for the ghetto stores, not just for their Chicago stores, but for all the

stores in Illinois.

Whoa!

Look out!

Here is his order for 10 ,000 greeting cards.

Ooh, 10 ,000! Look out, brother!

You did it!

Excuse me.

Excuse me.

But as your accountant, I better tell you.

You have to buy a lot of paper and ink to print up 10 ,000 cards.

So we'll buy it. It means you'll have to spend at least $2 ,000.

So we'll spend it.

Not when all you have in the bank is $68 .13.

So we'll lose the business.

$68 .13?

J .J., what are you going to do?

We still got time to figure something out.

The contract says we don't have to deliver for 30 days. J .J., why don't

like I did?

Go to a bank. I went to a bank once and got a loan. I admit it's tough, but it's

not impossible.

Carl is right, J .J.

Okay, but suppose I go to the bank, try to get a loan, and they don't give it to

me. There's always the SBA, the Small Business Administration.

It lends money to small businesses.

Well, I know one thing for sure.

If we don't get the money from the SBA and we don't get the money from the

we'll get one thing for sure.

What's that, son?

It's from Bookman to us.

And it's a fact, not fiction. My very best wishes for a happy eviction.

We don't stand much better chance than we did at the banks. J .J., I know it

sounds silly to say cheer up after you've been turned down by four banks,

what the hell? Cheer up!

This must be an equal opportunity lender.

The only opportunity a brother has walking out of a bank with any money is

walks in wearing a ski mask.

That's a lot of bull.

I got money from the bank. I didn't wear a ski mask. I wore a suit, a shirt, and

a tie.

Well, you're left with more money if you want a suit, a tie, and a ski mask.

J .J., that's the wrong attitude.

That's the right attitude.

Well, I'll tell you what. You keep your attitude to yourself.

While we're here, I'll do the talking.

Oh, but Carl... No, but I'm the one with the cash in this business, and I don't

aim to lose it, so keep your mouth shut.

I'll be as quiet as a little mousie.

Gentlemen. I'm sorry to keep you waiting, but waiting is part of the

I'm J .J. Evans, president of Dynamite Greeting Card Company. Now I'm here to

introduce my financial consultant, Carl Dixon.

How do you do? I'm Irma Austin.

Sit down.

Now, Miss Austin, we... That's Miz.

Miz Austin.

We are here to see... To see about some money, some denaro, some yen, some

moolah, mama.

We... We are here to see about getting a loan.

Well, in order to qualify for an SBA loan, you must be turned down by at

two banks.

Four would be better.

Well, we qualify perfectly.

We've been turned down more times than the training bra on Charlie's Angels. J

.J.!

Well, since 91 % of all new businesses fold within the first five years,

the banks have gotten a little cautious.

Cautious? J .J., J .J., remember the little mousie?

How much of a loan do you need, Mr. Dixon?

$2 ,000.

You see, we got a big order for greeting cards, but we don't have the raw stock

to fill it.

Do you have any collateral?

A building, equipment, a small child?

That's just my little joke.

Your little joke.

Well, we do have a printing press. Yes, in great condition, thanks to the

police. The police?

it was seized in a numbers raid.

Two brothers tried to flush it down the toilet, but what happened was that when

they got it down there, it got a little heavy for the machine.

J .J., J .J., will you please be quiet?

Now, here is our balance sheet, profit and loss statement,

and other pertinent papers.

I see.

Well, now, uh... Oh, dear, you haven't been in business very long.

You don't have very much cash in the bank. Oh, it's going to be tough.

But I think that due to the nature of the loan and the amount, it can be

approved.

You mean we've got the loan?

Oh, I'll recommend it, yes.

When do we get the check?

Well, it takes at least 30 working days to process the loan, and then...

After that, about 60 more days.

That's 90 days.

We can't wait that long.

J .J., J .J., J .J., please.

This has to be handled with delicacy and tact.

Why the hell do we have to wait so long to get it?

Because we don't have any funds.

You mean the government is broke?

No, no.

I don't mean that. I mean that we've used up all our allotted funds for this

quarter, and we won't have any more funds to loan until next quarter. You're

joking. Okaying the loan and not giving it to us for three months is like

handing us a life raft with a hole in it.

Well, Mr. Evans, why don't you ask for an extension on your order?

Ninety days is nothing.

Well, sometimes our loans are held up for six months.

No wonder so many small businesses think the government is firing the torpedoes.

That's the wrong attitude.

Miss Austern, that's the right attitude.

Uh, Carl, I think we better be going here.

Well, if you get that extension, just remember, your government's behind you.

Well, I'd rather have them out in front of me where I can keep an eye on them.

Come on, Carl. I told you you should have wore that ski mask.

It's been an odd day.

Hey, JJ, are you sure you want to print this novelty card Michael wrote? Which

one is it? Dig this.

I hope your marriage turns out all right, though you are black and he is

A lot of people might not think it's wise, but I don't care. You're two great

guys.

The kid's all hard.

Hey, Curtis, our super salesman.

Did you sell Sid on the extension?

No, he wouldn't go for it, J .J. The order's been canceled.

You jiving?

No, I wish I was.

Wow, what are we going to do now?

Well, guys, what this boils down to is I think we should do an unfoldo.

Do we have to?

Well, we can't get enough dough to print the big orders, and the little orders

don't pay the light bills.

So we sell all the equipment in here, we can repay all the money we borrowed

from our friends.

I guess.

I guess you're right.

Well... Dynamite greeting cards bites the dust.

JJ, did you get the extension?

Yeah, we got extended right out of the business.

I'm sorry, JJ.

But even though it didn't work out, I'm proud of you.

Why? I let the whole family down.

No, you didn't. Now, the important thing is you tried.

And look what you learned.

Yeah, I learned that if you're black, and you can't get any green, you wind up

in the red.

Hello, Mrs. Evans. J .J., the guys at the agency went over that marketing

questionnaire you filled out and came up with some workable ideas.

Yeah, well, unless one of them includes life after death, you can forget them.

What do you mean?

Our greeting cards have gone to that big post office in the sky.

You're out of business?

Yeah, things didn't work out.

Oh, that's too bad.

What? To tell you the truth, J .J., this could be a blessing in disguise.

Well, if it is, the disguise is so good that it's fooling everybody.

J .J., you remember those greeting cards I took back to the agency?

Yeah. Well, I fed them to the duck, and the duck quacked.

The creative people loved them. They thought the artwork was really something

special. Well, you know, what can I say?

They told me to offer the artist a job if he ever became available.

Oh!

artist available.

The job title is Junior Art Director.

You do renderings, layouts, paste -ups, what all our art guys do when they

start. But with your talent, you'd go up the ladder fast.

J .J., that's wonderful.

I don't know, Ma.

J .J., Mr. Lawrence is offering you a career.

Now, working with your art is what you've always wanted, and it's where you

belong.

Take the job, dummy.

I can't just leave my partners out in the cold.

I mean, we launched this ship together, and we're going to deep -six it as one.

Forget it, man. It's you they want.

Yeah, but wait a minute, man. We're partners.

Together. The three of us.

Hey, a funny thing happened at Sears, J .J. Yeah, I know. You didn't get the

extension. No, uh, they offered me a job as a salesman.

Yeah, but you turned it down.

No, J .J., I took it.

There's still me and Damon.

Well, J .J., until I can find a steady printing gig, I'm gonna take this part

-time job I just copped.

Part -time job?

My cow!

Hey, man, somebody had to take the gig. It was open.

Better me than a stranger.

Anyway, it's time for me to split. You know how crazy Mr. Jason is about

delivering his ribs on time.

I gotta be going, too, J .J.

Good luck on your job, man. All right, thanks, man.

Take it easy, okay? Okay, later on, bro.

Well, Mr. Lawrence, I thought you had yourself a new art director.

Junior art director.

That's today.

Be at my office at 9 a .m. sharp. Come on. Oh, he'll be there at 8 .30.

See you then, J .J. Goodbye, Mrs. Evans. Goodbye.

happy for you and you should be happy too i am and if i were a greeting card i

would read the struggling and hassling have finally passed the cute kid from

ghetto has made it at last

Just looking out of the window, watching the asphalt roll,

thinking how it all looks when we die.

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

wave when you can.

Good times is videotape in front of a studio audience.