Live in Front of a Studio Audience: 'All in the Family' and 'Good Times' (2019) Poster

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7/10
Jay Pharaoh was no J.J.
nelsonhager4 January 2020
That was most ridiculous portrayal of Kid Dynomite ever was. It about made me turn it off. I dont think Jay ever seen an episode of Good Times. If he had he wouldn't have acted like that. Almost unwatchable!!!
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7/10
Jay was not J.J.
nelsonhager3 January 2020
I grew up on Good Times and All in the Family. Still watch the reruns today. I dont ever remember J.J. acting like he was portrayed in this remake. Jay Pharaoh about made ne turn it off. Way over the top. The whole episode he had his hands in that position when J.J. would holla "Dynomite"! I don't think Jay ever watched an episode of Good Times cause if he had he wouldn't have portrayed J.J. the way he did. TRYING WAY TOO HARD!!!
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6/10
The original is so much better
MiketheWhistle12 August 2020
I grew up watching these Lear shows and remember them well so I was excited to watch this.

Good Times- I felt as if some of the actors do not know their lines as most kept making an "uh" with a brief pause then deliver their lines. I don't have the original ep to watch to see if that's how they did it, but I recall the series particularly well and I'm pretty sure that was not the case. I really like Anthony Anderson, but a singer he is not. Even though I didn't like this remake as much as the original, it was still worth seeing.

AitF - I actually saw the original not too long ago so I can compare the two. This was a better job of remaking and staying close to the original. In the original for this ep I didn't like Mike's acting particularly as it felt forced. In the remake I don't like the replacement actors but I feel like they generally delivered.

So all in all, for those of us old enough to have watched the originals this was a nice treat although it was a little light on the sugar.
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9/10
What a show
fatchrisdye-5451520 December 2019
I watched this last night to start with out of sheer boredom but I wound up really enjoying my time with both family's I laughed out loud numorous times the shows speeds were good and moved right along I am so happy I chose to watch this last night
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9/10
Fun show
dicoz21 December 2019
The show was fun and everyone did great, BUT there is no JJ but Jummie Walker
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I am a Good Times fanatic
ivegonemod28 December 2019
I know the show word for word. I'll just speak on what I thought of the performances.

Viola Davis did a good job as Florida. Her portrayal was a little harder than the original but it worked.

James is my favorite character and NOBODY can do James so I won't speak on it.

I thought Tiffany Haddish struggled as Willona...

Michael...

Corinne Fox only came across as Thelma here and there but she wasn't bad.

I can't say the J.J. was awful, but the casting seemed wrong to me. Jay Pharoah did hit on the character a few times so there is that.

Jharrel Jones stole the show as Jimmy Pierson. He embodied the original actor so well. Bravo!
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9/10
So glad I got to see this!
jillsemail-0236329 December 2019
While I didn't get to see the live airing, I was able to catch the replay on the 28th. I loved it! Having grown up watching these shows, I was excited to see them redo them. Without a doubt my favorites were Viola Davis as Florida Evans, Woody Harrelson as Archie, but Marissa Tomei was brilliant! I hope there are more live remakes like this.
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8/10
This second recreation of Norman Lear shows was a little better this time
tavm29 December 2019
In a remarkable coincidence, this special aired at the same time articles of impeachment for President Donald J. Trump were being held so during commercials, we saw both of those articles being voted in and Jimmy Kimmel commenting on it. The "Good Times" segment had the real treat of having original James Evans-John Amos-this time portraying the alderman Fred Davis-who is treated friendly by James and J.J. but indifferently by the women and Michael. After that, Jimmy then introed the other surviving "GT" cast members who showed up: BernNadette Stanis, Ja'net DuBois, and Jimmie Walker, none of whom had time enough to say anything. "All in the Family" takes place on Christmas Eve with among the guests, a friend of Michael's who returns from Canada which he went to avoid the draft and a friend of Archie's whose son died in Vietnam. While I still think Woody Harrelson doesn't do Archie justice, he's a little better this time especially when trying to talk about what he goes through near the end. In the middle of this, Martin Short sings "The Facts of Life" theme before Jimmy tells him they're not doing that show! Verdict: I thought this was a little better than the previous take on Norman Lear shows done last May.
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2/10
Nice to be able to watch, but I wish I hadn't.
brendanchenowith-6653830 December 2019
This concept is suffering its sophomore slump. Last year we had the fun of Jamie Foxx screwing up, catching himself and bailing himself out, which made his scene funnier than it was intended to be. Marla Gibbs' reprisal of Florence at the end was a very touching, poignant, heartwarming moment. I wish I could see that again.

Everyone in "Good Times" was either miscast, or not sure of themselves. Their performances were so tentative and shy, it threw their timing so badly off. Andre Braugher and Viola Davis were certainly not accustomed to doing comedy

Woody Harrelson really blew his big moment in this All in the Family remake. I was thrilled when I heard which episode it was because it's one of their best. Carroll O'Connor had a fantastic speech about war, etc., and it was highly emotional, and I really looked forward to seeing if Harrelson could do the speech with the same level of passion. He failed on all counts. He didn't make Archie sound like a simpleton stammering fumbling for words like O'Connor always had, he sounded drunk half the time. Ike Barinholtz (sic) was okay as Mike as was Jesse Eisenberg as the draft dodger, but the only shining moments in this piece were Marisa Tomei's flawless Edith and Kevin Bacon's spot-on portrayal of Pinky Peterson. Ellie Kemper was just "meh" as Gloria. She just filled space.
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1/10
Pure torture!
cn_warwick29 December 2019
5 minutes was all I could stomach of this travesty. NONE of the actors/actresses seemed able to fit the roles of the original characters - it was if they were confused about how they should act, and as a result they literally murdered the premise! Of course, that won't stop mindless fans from blindly loving it... just because it's based on a classic series (just like the crapfest that was the 2000's NBC remake of "year without a santa claus"). I've had enough of this ignorant network/studio trash - Time to delete ALL of them from my channel list and stick with alternatives like ME-TV, AntennaTV, and H&I.
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Can't even give it one star
amicbohan8 July 2020
I had the misfortune of watching the rerun of this travesty last night. It was just awful!! The Good Times episode was worse than the All In The Family but that's not saying much. The actor who portrayed JJ was WAY overacting, everyone else stumbled over their lines and looked like they wished they were anywhere but where they were at that time! Woody Harrelson as Archie Bunker was okay at first but then he just sounded like a drunk & bumbling fool during what was a very important speech. I've always pictured Carrol O'Conner as my grandfather because they looked alike, sounded alike and had the same mannerisms. Woody ruined that for me! Awful. Just awful. DO NOT WATCH THIS SHOW!!!
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