*If you are a fan of 70’s sitcoms then you definitely enjoyed the show “Good Times.” The hilarious TV show aired in the mid 70s for 6 whole seasons before it ended.
It made history as the first African American show with two parents and gathered a following of avid fans countrywide, so if “Good Times” had such a good reputation and following, why did one of the lead actors, John Amos, famous for playing James Evans Sr suddenly stop doing the show? Why was his character abruptly killed off? Fans will forever remember how Florida Evans broke down in her kitchen and we can confidently say, most fans broke down with her.
In an interview, Amos said that he felt the show was giving too much attention to one of his children on the show who was more interested in fooling around in a chicken hat when more emphasis could have been placed on his other two children who had ambitions of becoming a surgeon and Supreme Court Justice respectively. He felt that for a show with such an influence, black people did not have to be represented as clowns all the time when they had the power to be role models to the younger generation. Because he was always butting heads with producers, his character was killed off which came as a shock to him.
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“A disruptive factor”
These were the words the producers used to describe John, as opinionated and troublesome as he was for them, they believed they didn’t need such a person on set, so Mr. Evans died and in real life, John Amos discovered just how unimportant he was. Actually, that was not the case as the show certainly lacked some personality after his exit and many viewers just could not cope with the void his absence left.
Amos got the call that ended his time on the show while they were on a hiatus and he recalled Norman Lear’s voice saying, “Big John, I’ve got some good news and some bad news.” The good news was that “Good Times” had renewed for another season, which wasn’t exactly big news and he wasn’t surprised to hear this as they had a solid spot with high ratings and then Lear hit him with “you want the bad news?” To which the actor replied “sure how bad can it be” Lear then said to him,“ you won’t be with us.”
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The end of James Evans Sr.
And just like that, his fate was sealed. Although the producer wanted to get some words out of him, he didn’t budge, he simply hung up and remained his same old recalcitrant self to the very end. John said that was the last he heard from him for months, he never called back to check on him and even today, many fans can agree that after Mr. Evans death, something unique was missing from the show.
Conclusion
Because of his strong beliefs, John Amos was fired from “Good Times.” Many other stars have faced similar situations with producers who simply want to be blindly obeyed, but with actors and actresses getting a stronger voice these days, we can only hope that the same fate that befell the character of Mr. James Evans, does not happen to some of our current unproblematic and beloved TV stars.
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