Original subtitles

* Good Times Any time you meet a payment *

* Good Times *

* Any time You need a friend *

* Good Times *

* Any time You're out from under *

* Not gettin' hassled Not gettin' hustled *

* Keepin' your head Above water *

* Makin' a wave When you can *

* Temporary layoffs *

* Good Times *

* Easy credit rip-offs *

* Good Times *

* Scratchin' and survivin' *

* Good Times *

* Hangin' in A chow line *

* Good Times *

* Ain't we lucky we got 'em *

* Good Times *

Hey, baby, what's for dinner?

Filet mignon. Huh?

Soon as I fatten up the filet

and beat the daylights out of the mignon.

Actually we're having round steak.

Yeah, that meat looks like it's been around a long time.

Oh, James.

Hello.

Please don't ask me what happened at school today.

What happened at school today, Junior?

Like I said,

please don't ask me what happened at school today.

I'm not the kind of guy to fink on his sister,

no matter how obnoxious she is.

Did something happen to Thelma?

Ma, please don't ask me.

Like I said before, my lips are sealed.

Wild horses couldn't tear it from me!

Thelma got called into the vice principal's office today.

Yeah, what for?

Like I told you, Dad, I don't know.

All I know is that little miss perfect got called in

to see the principal in charge of vice.

J.J., the vice principal is not in charge of vice.

Ma, you haven't been to school lately.

I do know that Thelma wouldn't do anything wrong.

Now what happened, Junior?

I don't know.

Like I told you before,

all I know is that it made my day.

She was probably cutting a class.

Oh, J.J., Thelma would never cut a class.

But it must have been something serious like that,

the vice principal kept her in there for a whole hour.

Oh, yeah?

Well, how do you know she was in there for a whole hour?

I cut class so I could time her.

Well, just because she had a long discussion

with the vice principal does not mean

that Thelma is in any trouble.

But, Ma, it must mean.

I mean I've been to the vice principal's office

a hundred times and it's always been trouble!

You know something, Junior?

You might as well be in the CIA,

because the more you talk, the more you hang yourself.

Moving back to Thelma.

You know they probably

caught her smoking in the girl's bathroom.

Thelma smoking?

Quiet Michael.

Now J.J.,

you know your sister does not smoke.

Ma, how about those Clorets you found in her room?

Florida is there something going on here I don't know about?

Honey, there is nothing going on.

Well, what about them Clorets?

Yeah, what about them Clorets?

Now James, you and I both know

that Thelma wouldn't do anything wrong.

Well, how I know she ain't doing nothing wrong

until you tell me what she's doing wrong.

Maybe she is smoking.

James, I suspect that those Clorets

are for kissing, not smoking.

Yeah?

It's that new dude she's going out with, ain't it?

I don't like him, I mean he dresses too fly for me.

And whenever I ask them where they're going

he just says, "Out."

I can't get a straight answer out of him

and then he don't look you straight in the eye.

Maybe he's putting her on to some of her bad ways.

Oh, James.

Well, she got to be doing something wrong, Florida.

Hi!

Young lady, I want you to stop seeing that shifty-eyed dude,

and whatever it is you done in school you can

come out with it right now.

Thelma, honey, we know you were called

into the vice principal's office.

It just kind of slipped out, Thelma.

Slipped out?

With your mouth it's an avalanche.

Well, for your information toothpick,

I was called in so they can tell me

I have a good chance for a scholarship!

Hey!

A scholarship! A scholarship!

Hey, that's great, baby girl.

Now see Florida, you got me all upset for nothing.

I been thinking there was something wrong,

there ain't a thing wrong.

Oh, James, can you ever forgive me?

That's all right.

Thelma, what kind of scholarship? To where?

To the Aliston School for Girls.

The what? Where?

Sound like a home for unwed mothers.

Now you keep popping them chops you going

to be going to the home for unglued brothers.

It's a private boarding school in Michigan

and it happens to be the highest rated

high school in the state.

Sounds like a snob school to me.

Well, all I know is they're offering scholarships

to needy blacks.

You mean token blacks.

Cool it, militant midget.

They probably got her there on a football scholarship.

With her build they'd probably sign her up for linebacker.

With your build you'd be one of the yard stripes.

Cool it, Junior. Cool it, cool it, cool it.

Thelma, why go to Aliston,

we have a high school right here?

Well, for one thing Michael,

she could go to the girl's room without a police escort.

Thelma, we're so proud of you!

We sure are, baby girl.

It's a big opportunity.

Aliston has a great record for college placement.

If I get good grades there,

I'll have a better chance to get into one

of the top universities in the country!

You know something Thelma?

Your daddy and I never said much

about our dreams for you and your schooling

because we didn't think we could afford it.

But now, with this kind of a break,

oh, I'm just sure you're going

to make something great of yourself.

Maybe even a cocktail waitress.

Be cool, Junior, can't you see

what we got here is a future lawyer?

Daddy! A doctor.

Ma?

I can just see it, Thelma Evans, MD.

Medical Disaster.

You know I am seriously thinking about

sending you to Detroit

see if can I get me one of them $500 rebates.

Dad, Ma, you all are jumping the gun, see--

Hi y'all.

Hey, Willona! Willona!

Thelma just won a scholarship

to that Aliston School for Girls.

Ma! Oh, honey, congratulations!

I always knew you had it in you.

Now, what are you going to wear?

Oh, she's got a lot of nice clothes,

and I'm going to make her a few more dresses.

Oh, Flo, honey, I don't think homemade dress is gonna get it.

That school is very foxy.

So Willona's going to make sure that

she is the foxiest of the foxes.

They got some stuff down at the boutique, honey,

that just screams, "R-i-c-h, rich," hey!

And I got a wallet that just screams, "P-o, po," hey!

Listen you all, what counts is what she learns,

not what she wears.

Right, Ma.

Thelma wants to become a doctor.

But, Ma, I may not make it.

Honey, it don't even matter,

because the way I'm going to dress you,

if you can't become a doctor

you sure can catch one.

Willona, she's not going there to catch a man,

she's going there to study.

Look, both of you--

Well, now, wait, she's gonna study,

what she needs is my study ensemble.

Willona.

A printed chiffon blouse with clinging pants.

You know that cling a little and swing a little

and shows a little and witholds a little.

What's all that got to do with studying?

James, it might not help her studying,

but it sure will give the boys something to study.

What Thelma should wear is my Malcolm X t-shirt.

Michael.

Florida, you know what I got in today?

What?

An aqua suit.

You know, with a matching jacket,

with a long flowing flip skirt,

gold earrings, bracelets,

lots of chains around the neck, honey!

Oh, I can see her, she's going to look great arriving on that

campus with her flip skirt and her lots and lots of chains

and carrying a cardboard suitcase.

Don't worry about that, baby,

we gonna get her matching luggage.

We already got that, two A&P shopping bags.

Look everybody.

Hey, wait a minute, your daddy is right.

Now if you're going to this Aliston School for Girls

we've got to do this thing up right.

But Ma--!

Yeah, don't you worry, baby girl,

we'll come up with the money somehow.

Don't forget you part of a family. Everybody is

willing to make whatever sacrifice we got to for you.

Right on! All for one and all the one.

That's right.

I'd like to take a vote on that.

You gonna go first class, baby girl.

We'll make sure you get in on all of them activities

and you gonna have every advantage

all the rest of them girls have.

[OVERLAPPING INDISTINCT DIALOGUE]

Will you listen to me?

Listen!

I'm not sure I got the scholarship yet.

Well how you let us get so worked up about it then?

Daddy, I said I had a good chance to get it.

Well, when will you know about it, honey?

This afternoon I hope.

They're having a meeting on it and Mr. Adler

the vice principal said he'd call.

ALL: Aww.

Well, I ain't worried, you'll make it.

And as soon as you get the word from the man

you come down to the boutique

and I will dress you so fine you will make Cher

look like Sonny, honey.

You know there are two other girls who might have a chance,

Juanita Gonzales and Sally Eaglefeather.

Being underprivileged is getting crowded.

[PHONE RINGING]

Hello?

What?

No man, you got the wrong list.

Some fool wants me to trade my Cadillac in on a Mercedes.

Well, I will get dinner started.

James? Huh?

A watched phone never rings.

Anything I can help you with?

Mm-hm. You can take out the garbage.

Okay.

Ma, you know I'm getting worried,

it's not going to be easy to become a doctor.

Oh, you can do it.

I don't know.

Lots of kids talk about those things,

but sometimes they don't happen.

Now you stop thinking like that-- You can do it.

You're gonna get that scholarship and you can do it.

I'm not sure, maybe I don't have the talent.

Oh, you do too.

Now you're just as smart and just as competent

as anybody else.

Whatever you want to do, you can do.

Oh, some day you're gonna be a doctor, a specialist,

the top brain surgeon of the world.

Now take out the garbage.

What, with these hands?

What you think you doing?

Calling my friend Alvin,

I want to know if he wants

to play basketball with me tomorrow.

You better hang up that phone.

Suppose I wanted to call Dial-A-Prayer?

You don't hang up that phone, you gonna have to.

[PHONE RINGING]

Hello?

Who?

I'm sorry, miss, you must have the wrong number,

there ain't nobody here named Samson.

Hold it, that's me!

Samson?

Hello, Delilah, baby.

Junior, hang up that phone,

you know we're expecting an important call!

Hold it, Dad, I been cultivating this chick

for a couple of months now.

I got a feeling the crops is just about to come in.

Give me a second.

All right, but make it snappy.

Hello, Delilah.

Yeah, I knew you was gonna call,

our cosmos must be in tune.

Oh, now come on, you're just saying that.

Now there must be some dude handsomer than me-- somewhere.

Okay, then. I'll agree that you're right,

because there is none other like Kid Dy-no-mite!

Daddy, please, get him off the phone.

All right, I said make it snappy, nappy!

Dad, when cupid shoots his arrow you don't eliminate the target.

You do if the principal is supposed to call.

Goodbye, Delilah.

Now, see, you done messed me up with Delilah.

Yeah, some Samson you are when you order a Big Mac

the girl has to lift it for you.

I don't want to hear that...

[PHONE RINGS]

Hello?

Yes, Mr. Adler.

Lord, tell us it's good news.

Baby the Lord don't tap no phones.

Really?

You mean it?

Yes, of course!

Oh, thank you so much!

Okay, bye!

I got the scholarship!

Oh, so happy for you!

Hey Thelma, even though it is a white school

I'm still glad you got that scholarship.

I can't believe it, I'm going to the Aliston School for Girls!

That's right, baby girl, you're going away!

James, our baby girl is leaving us.

Oh, now...

Ma, don't worry about it, I'll still be here.

J.J., please don't make things worse.

Oh, Ma, I'll be home a lot.

All summer, Easter, Christmas, and I'll write a lot too.

Yeah, whenever she needs money.

Doesn't anybody care?

Thelma is going away.

Oh, now, Florida, it ain't the end of the world,

it's the beginning of a dream.

Hey, Dad, that's a great line.

I think I'll use that on Delilah the next time she says no.

I'm gonna miss Thelma too, Mama.

Sure, baby, we're all gonna miss her.

Okay, I'm thinking about it.

All right, I'll miss you too,

Thelma, honest I will. But I get your room!

I get her bed!

Oh, no you don't,

I'm the oldest and the longest!

Well then, I get her closet.

Oh, no you don't!

Stop it, both of you!

Well, let's look on the bright side of this thing,

you're not losing a daughter, I'm gaining a bedroom!

And I'm gonna be in it too.

Oh no you won't, I'll give you her stereo.

Oh no you're not, I'm taking my record player with me.

Look at that, how selfish can you get?

Five minutes in a white school and she acting like one.

Thelma's going away and all you two

can think about is grabbing her room.

Ma!

Well, I thought I handled the situation very diplomatically.

I ain't even mentioned once about all of the new

bathroom time I'll be getting.

Well, the Walton's got John Boy and we got you.

Now come on, baby, don't take it so hard.

We both knew it was going to happen someday.

Yeah, but someday meant someday, not now.

Honey, our baby girl is leaving us.

But, Florida, I mean she's just going to school,

it ain't like she going to the slammer.

I mean, look at the bright side, she's getting ready

to get a good education that's gonna be free.

She have a chance to make something out of herself.

Now I ask you, is that something to cry about?

Look at this, her second birthday.

She's blowing out the candles on her cake.

Yeah.

We never told her that it was from a day-old bakery.

Yeah, good thing she couldn't read, huh?

Happy Birthday, Cynthia.

What?

I'm just jiving, baby, just jiving.

Now come on, snap out of it.

She was four years old wearing my high heels.

Yeah, cute as a bug's ear, wasn't she?

Now, baby, that's the way it's got to be.

I mean, it's time for the girl to move on.

Now we done done our part,

now she got to do what she got to do, that's life.

I know.

And besides, think how proud we're gonna be of her.

I suppose you're right. I guess I'm just being silly.

That's right.

Oh, you remember this one,

you and her making a snowman?

Yeah, she always said her daddy

was the best snowman maker in all of Chicago.

James, honey, thank you. I feel much better now.

Yeah.

You know you always knew

how to make me look at the bright side.

She also said her daddy was the best daddy

in the whole wide world.

Oh, James, I'm so happy for her.

How gonna be happy when we're losing our baby girl?

James, she's just going to school, not the slammer.

You're right, baby.

Come on, let's celebrate tonight, maybe we'll take

the kids out for some ice cream, a movie or something.

That'll be nice. All right.

Oh, thank you, kids.

[KNOCKING ON DOOR]

That's all right sweetheart, I'll get it.

Hello, is Thelma Evans here?

Yes.

I'm Cindy Bradford with the Zeta Gammas.

The what?

The Zeta Gammas, it's a sorority at Aliston.

Oh yes, yes, yes.

Come in, I'm Thelma's mother, and this is my daughter Thelma.

Hi.

How are you?

Oh, you're so pretty. Thank you.

I'm glad. The Rho Kappas haven't been here yet, have they?

The who?

The Rho Kappas--

they're another club at the school,

but we're much better than they are.

Anyway, as soon as our president heard about your scholarship

she phoned me up, because I was in town.

This is my weekend with my father,

and I hurried right over to invite you

to our first rush party.

Oh, that's nice.

Daddy, what's a rush party?

Don't ask stupid questions.

But, Dad, what is a rush party?

Didn't I just say don't ask stupid questions, stupid?

Cindy, this is my husband, James.

Cindy, how you doing?

Hello, Mr. Evans.

And these are our sons, James Jr....

Hi. Hi.

...and Michael. Hi.

Hi. Nice of you to invite me.

Well, we just know you're the type of girl for Zeta Gamma.

Michael, just to be on the safe side,

go in the bathroom and put some clean towels.

For a honky?

[INAUDIBLE]

Cindy, what kind of a club is this?

It's a social organization.

Oh, well we got those around here too.

We call them the Warlords, the Satan Knights,

the Silver Daggers,

which is the ladies auxiliary of the Satan Knights.

Would you like something to drink? Maybe some punch?

Oh, no, really.

You can use the bathroom now. Michael.

Or how about some cookies, we've got plenty.

No, no, believe me, I understand.

And we're doing things about it.

The Zeta Gammas collected $32 for the NAACP.

We never got our cut.

We support bussing in public schools.

And we want you to know, Thelma,

that you'll be very welcome in our sorority.

Thanks, but maybe I ought to look into the other clubs first.

But we need you.

Need?

Oh, well not need.

No, no, but that's what you said Cindy,

you said you need her in your club.

Now how come your club needs her

and the rest of the clubs don't need her.

I don't know what you mean?

Well, let me lay it to you straight then,

you want Thelma in your club because she's black, don't you?

Well, yes, but we Zeta Gammas

don't see what's so bad about it.

I mean the Rho Kappas already have a black.

Oh, now you all got to make your CQ, huh?

CQ?

Coon quota.

What you're saying is you want our daughter

to be your token black?

I told you.

Look, you shouldn't put it that way.

The Aliston sororities are trying very hard

to open their doors to you.

Yeah, well why don't you open them to a token Jap?

We got a Jap!

An Oriental-- and we also have a Chicana.

So see Thelma, they need you to complete the set.

Please don't be like that.

Don't you see, we're offering a helping hand.

Thanks, but no thanks.

You mean you're turning us down?

No, let me put it another way Cindy, you take your Zeta--

James.

But I'm trying to help.

I'm trying to open doors for you.

Then allow me to reciprocate.

Speaking on behalf of the minorities

throughout the nation,

goodbye, adios, sayonara and bon voyage.

You're lucky they didn't send Tricilla, she hates Bs.

Bs?

Yeah, blacks.

Well, so much for Zeta Gamma.

Let's face it, so much for Aliston.

Oh, now wait a minute, baby girl,

I mean you could still go to that school

without joining one of them jive clubs.

Would you want me to?

Well, the main thing is, you won the scholarship,

it's up to you to use it if you want to.

I do, Dad, but...

No way.

Any school that will put up with sororities like that

and encourage them is the last place in the world

I want to go to.

Come on, Mom, Dad, don't worry,

if I can win one scholarship I can win another one.

You sure can, Thelma.

Yeah.

And if I couldn't, I'd still get to college.

I'll work my way through or go to city college.

I might even get to a better university.

And there's always the United Negro College Fund.

Ma, Dad, don't worry, I'll make it.

Yeah. You know something?

I am sure you will.

Well, that's the end of a dream.

Don't you hang your head, Junior,

that's the beginning of a dream.

No, the end of my dream, not hers.

One more year in high school,

two more years in city college--

I'll never get that bedroom!

* Just lookin' Out of the window *

* Watching The asphalt grow *

* Thinkin' how It all looks hand-me-down *

* Good Times Good Times *

* Keepin' your head Above water *

* Makin' a wave When you can *

* Temporary layoffs *

* Good Times *

ANNOUNCER: Good Times is recorded on tape

before a live audience.

* Ain't we lucky We got 'em *

* Good Times *