The Breakfast Club - INTERVIEW: 'JJ' Walker, BernNadette Stanis & Ralph Carter Talk 'Good Times, Animated Reboot, Comedy + More

Episode Date: May 10, 2024

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Hey y'all, Niminy here. I'm the host of a brand new history podcast for kids and families called Historical Records. Executive produced by Questlove, The Story Pirates, and John Glickman, Historical Records brings history to life through hip-hop. Flash, slam, another one gone. Bash, bam, another one gone. The crack of the bat and another one gone. The tip of the cap, there's another one gone. Each episode is about a different inspiring figure from history. Like this one about Claudette Colvin, a 15-year-old girl in Alabama who refused to give up her seat on the city bus nine whole months before Rosa Parks did the same thing. Check it. Get the kids in your life excited about history by tuning in to Historical Records. Because in order to make history, you have to make some noise. Listen to Historical Records on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, everyone. This is Courtney Thorne-Smith, Laura Layton, and Daphne Zuniga.

On July 8th, 1992, apartment buildings with pools were never quite the same as Melrose Place was introduced to the world. We are going to be reliving every hookup, every scandal, and every single wig removal together. So listen to Still the Place on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to podcasts. Hey, what's up? This is Ramses Jha. And I go by the name Q Ward. And we'd like you to join us each week for our show, Civic Cipher.

That's right. We discuss social issues, especially those that affect black and brown people, but in a way that informs and empowers all people. We discuss everything from prejudice to politics to police violence, and we try to give you the tools to create positive change in your home, workplace, and social circle. We're going to learn how to become better allies to each other. So join us each Saturday for Civic Cipher on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Jenny Garth, Jana Kramer, Amy Robach, and TJ Holmes bring you I Do Part 2, a one-of-a-kind experiment in podcasting to help you find love again. Hey, I'm Jana Kramer. I'm Jenny Garth. Hi, everyone. I'm Amy Robach. And I'm TJ Holmes. And we are, well, not necessarily relationship experts.

If you're ready to dive back into the dating pool and find lasting love, we want to help. Listen to I Do Part 2 on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to podcasts. Hey, fam. I'm Simone Boyce. I'm Danielle Robay. And we're the hosts of The Bright Side, the podcast from Hello Sunshine that's guaranteed to light up your day. Check out our recent episode with actor,

former Beverly Hills 90210 star and podcast host Jenny Garth. You have to learn to live with yourself and allow yourself to be devastated sometimes. You can get through it. And there is always something on the other side that's waiting for you. Listen to The Bright Side from Hello Sunshine on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts,

or wherever you get your podcasts. Wake that ass up early in the morning. The Breakfast Club. Morning, everybody. It's DJ Envy, Jess Hilarious, Charlamagne the guy. We are The Breakfast Club. We got some special legends in the building. Man, come on now. This is a special one right here. Legends of the building. Of course, the cast of Good Times.

50 years of Good Times. We got Michael Thelma and JJ. Well, first of all, Ralph Carter, Bernadette Staines, and Jimmy Walker. That's right. Good morning, guys. How y'all feeling? Good morning, Breakfast Club. How y'all feeling, man? 50 how y'all feeling man 50 years of good times wow wow i know wow wow and we're still going strong yeah did y'all know good times was gonna make the mark that it made well i didn't no i had no idea no we didn't but we're very

grateful it did yeah thank you to the listeners. We appreciate you. Our fans. Well, from the beginning, let's start. How did it come about? How did Good Times come about? How did you guys audition and how did it make, because during that time there wasn't too many of us on television, so how did it come about? Well.

And he is black. You know when he said that. No, it was. I don't know. I can tell he's black. I'm black. Me too. They joke with me all the time, but I'm black. But go ahead. I don't know I can tell he's black They joke me all the time But I'm black

I don't know Mr. Carter Well it started with me Being in a beauty pageant You know And from there There was a manager Watching me in the beauty pageant And gave my mother a card

To say They're looking for a teenager to be in the show and meet Norman Lear at CBS you know so we went up there but there were thousands of girls when I opened the door so I mean but that's how it started with me you were a teenager on good times yeah how old was you 18 oh okay I was about to say. Lord have mercy. Okay. Yeah. All right. Okay. You're still beautiful. Thank you. Absolutely.

So, and then, you know, after a couple of months, I thought I didn't get it, you know, because I didn't hear back from them. And then I did get the call. My mom got the call that I was Thelma. And so they flew me out to California. That's how it happened for me. Wow. What about you, Mr. Carter?

By the time I began to work with Norman Lear, I had been in my sixth Broadway play by that time. I met during my journey with Miss Jane Murray and also Pat Kirkland. These were two wonderful women who I auditioned for when I went there. However, I literally had the job before I got the job. My contract was bought from The Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry. We did the edit version of the musical play. By that time, I had won the Tony Award nomination that year in 74. However, as a result of that, Norman would consistently, he came more than twice to see my work and flew my mother and I out to the state of California.

I was reluctant because they always said, it never rains in California. And I was excited. It rained for three months when I got there. Right then and there, any illusions about Hollywood were always neutralized as far as I'm concerned. So I'm very grateful to have not only worked with and still love Jimmy Walker and

Bernadette, but we give respect to the spirit of Ms. Esther Rowe, and to Jeanne Dubois, and to Johnny Brown, who played Bookman, to Helen Martin, who played Weeping Wanda. These are wonderful people that helped us along the way. Of course, to Mr. Ben Powers as well. Albert Reed, who played the older man. These are the people who accentuated what we did. Of course, we're working with the wonderful Debbie Allen and the work that she contributed to our production. So we thank you. What about you, Mr. Walker? Well, I'm just a hardcore stand-up.

That's it. That's all I do. I'm just a stand-up to the core. So I was working the improv me David Brenner, Bette Midler, Pat Benatar all of us together we had a comedy team named Edmonds and Curly they work all the time in those days and they and they couldn't do the job they were doing like three shows a day they said hey man we were supposed to do these warm-ups for this show called lucy's department we can't make it do you want to do take our place

and do the warm-up thing and i said i don't even know what a warm-up is never heard of it you know that kind of stuff like that and they said they said look you go over there it's like on 57th and 11th or 12th you go over there and you do like a half hour, you tell people what show's about. And I said, I don't want to do it. They say, well, it's $800. I said, well, who do I have to kill? I'm in. I said, I'm in.

So I went over there, I did the warm up. And luckily there was a few laughs in there. So everybody comes up after the show and they go, man are funny you need to be on this show you need to do this thing i said well in those days and i still believe this is this day everybody lies in this business there's no truth at all everybody is something until you ask for something they go well i was in charge of that but now I'm not in charge of that my friend is in charge everybody's a liar so until my line and I always say this everybody is full of doo-doo until proven a complete a-hole that's just everybody lies that's just me Freddie Prince David Brenner Robert

Klein Richard Lewis all the guys. We said, liars. So Pat Kirkland comes up and says, hey, we're doing this show in Los Angeles. Do you want to be on the show? I go, she's a liar. So you just go. I said, so you always say when people ask you to do something, oh, yeah, I'm in. See you there.

Anyway, so you'll never hear from them again. And everybody, women are liars. Everybody a liar so that's it so i said yeah i'll be in it so the next week i'm not even paying any attention i go do the warm-ups luckily i killed so norman lear's there at that time he says hey man you are funny because i just did the ronald martin show they had called and do the Ronan Martin thing so he says do you want to be on this show I said yeah he says uh we're going to send you a contract so I knew he's a liar so I said look don't even send the contract in my house send it to the improv so I'm not paying any attention I'm going out out. I'm doing my dates. I won this thing called the NAPTI thing.

And the NAPTI thing is where you go do college tours and you compete against other people to do it. So they bring in a whole bunch of acts. So I was on the show. Edmund and Curly again said, you need to do the NAPTI thing. I did the NAPTI thing. They said, you're going to do the region of the Midwest.

You're going to do South Dakota, North Dakota North Dakota Iowa that kind of stuff like that and if you win it you could get a whole thing so I came in second uh because you get a whole bunch of colleges I came in second the winner was B.B. King he won 150 dates I won 90 dates B.B. King yeah B.B. King was the winner so we're out doing dates and you know I'm just bouncing around so I get a call from J.B. King was the winner. So, we're out doing dates, and, you know, I'm just bouncing around, so I get a call from J.D. Joe. I'm in Fargo, North Dakota doing dates, and Ebony

said, these people have never seen a black person in their lives. You'll kill on this thing. So, luckily, I was killing on the thing, and J.D. Joe says, well, where are you? I said, I'm in Fargo, North Dakota. She says, you belong well where are you i said i'm in fargo north dakota she says you belong in los angeles i said i know i belong in los angeles but i had no reason to be there so they said no we sent you a ticket to the improv so i wasn't in new york at the time so i

never got the ticket i was on the road doing my thing so she says look get on a plane we have a ticket waiting for you in Fargo I thought she was a liar so what I said you always been so optimistic yes positive people have lied they lie women lie they lie it's just a constant thing it's just so then i i go to los angeles my man steve landsberg is on the show you guys don't even remember this guy it's the barbie darren show he was a day player on the barbie darren show so i said hey landsberg chalk man you just call him chalk man because he had all this white stuff that he used to do in his act. Chalk Man, we got to do some shows while we're out here. So I went to the comedy store. I'm doing shows.

I go back to bed at like 3 o'clock in the morning. I get a call, J.D. Joe. She says, where are you? I said, I'm in my bed sleeping. She says, well, you belong across the street. We're doing rehearsals. I said, rehearsal for what? She says, there's a show called good times

you signed on to the show i had signed on to it at the improv leave him yeah i because i didn't believe him because he's a liar so it was just a verbal contract no they had a contract kenny the drunk who was a lawyer was at the bar i said kenny is this any good he said yeah i think so sign it i'll send it back for you and i thought i said kenny's drunk he's not going to say he's a liar he's not going to send it so then he sent it back so i was on the show and i had no idea the contract at a bar man at a bar yeah kenny the drunk he's my man. You knew he was a liar. Yeah, he's a liar. I made $5. Yeah. The whole time. So Kenny signed me up for it. So I was in.

So I go to the rehearsal. And there's a whole bunch of people there at the rehearsal. Because I didn't even know we had a script. Because they said there's a script downstairs. I said, I'm going back to bed. Because I'm not going downstairs to get a script. Because they're lying. I don't have time.

But you're there. So I went. I got the script. And I looked at it. And I'm sitting next downstairs to get a script because they're lying. I don't have time. But you're there. So I went. I got the script. And I looked at it. And I'm sitting next to Norman Lee. I didn't know who Norman Lee was because we were always working at that time. You know, if you're a nightclub comic,

you know, I'm following Robert Klein. I'm following Steve Martin. I'm worried about holding my spot at the improv. That's tough enough. You know, that's a battle. You know,bert klein's there bet singing songs we got pat benatar singing so i said i better have my little act together to hang in there because it's a fight for the spots to get on yeah so i go and i'm reading the script

and i'm sitting next to norman i said huh. And I'm reading the script, and I sit a guy next to me like you normally are. I said, man, this sucks. What is this? God damn. I said, he said, we're going to do a TV show. I said, really? I said, you're a liar. It's not going to happen.

This is terrible. So now we finished rehearsal, and Norman Lear and Alan Manning, our producer, comes up and says, hey, you know, we know you have some problems with the script you can't be blasting out loud about how people stink you have to like bring it down a little bit so as a comic people tell you how bad you stink all the time people always go you suck you're a piece of garbage you're no good at all and you finish and there's always that couple of people that go we love you here but then when you go out you know we had andy kaufman

and andy kaufman is one of those guys you stink so it's that kind of thing you just have to keep going and so from then on we did the show and i was always throwing stuff in and people got upset so when did you stop thinking people was liars? Never. I think it now. People, I mean, agents are liars. They're all liars. No, very few people, people want to be bigger than what they are. And the big people, you never meet them.

They're in the big glass tower upstairs on the 90th floor. So, you know, even if like Bernadette told you know even if like bernie ellen tell you even i mean me the girl said give me your number i know she's lying because she's not going to give you the number and then with the horrible things with the cell phones they don't answer you text them you email them they just they sit in their room and they sit with their girlfriends and they they start laughing.

They go, this moron I met at Walmart. He asked for my number. I was busy. I gave him my number because I know I'm never going to talk to him. My answer is emails ever again. He did get lucky this week. Once in a while, somebody will come through. But very, very rarely.

And the girl will be nice, and some girls will go, and I learned this from a friend of mine who happens to be a girl, and she said a very interesting thing. She said, you know, if you want to get rid of a guy and he asked you to go out say you know like if she's a girl I asked you to go out and say what is your name sweetheart yes yes I say hey Jess you know why don't we you know go to go to the Four Caesars and have dinner just start laughing go ahead that's what they do. They go, are you serious?

Really? But you weren't lucky this week. No, it wasn't lucky yet, but it was a girl that showed promise. Oh, she answered. She answered. And I was like,

really? Sometimes, sometimes you're so stunned. And then one called you. One, one did call back. I was, I was stunned. How many times do you. One did call back. I was stunned.

How many times do you give your number out to these women? All the time. I'm available. Anybody, but see, and I've said to girls, hey, let's go on a cruise together. And they just go. What age are these women at your house today? They just go. What age are they?'re adults yeah they're adults

they just start laughing they just go you know i hear my toast popping up i have to go no so there's no there's no honest woman and then the phrase I always hate to hear, you know, I'm a single mom. And you just go, okay, okay, I got it. I can't be worried about that. Or, you know what happened? I met him. We didn't need to do no love connection for Mr. Jimmy walking out. We didn't talk about that.

But anyway, go ahead. We didn't talk about good times. Go ahead. Talk about the shit. That's how he got good times. It started from how he got good times. That's how he got. It started from how he got good times. That's how he got good times. That's what I just said.

I'm a guy. Miss Bernadette. Y'all been dealing with this for 50 years? I've never auditioned for any show ever. Oh, that's amazing. I've never auditioned for a show ever. I tolerate him. You tolerate him?

I've never auditioned. I never tried out. I never. I tolerate him because this. Just like I'm doing now. 24 hours a day. 24 hours a day. Just like I'm doing now 24 just like I'm doing now I know he got a hard to go I do know that people just see my act and they go let's hire

this guy yeah and we know how to do that too we let him go how much how much of y'all real lives did you implement in in these characters you know especially you know uh you Mr. Carter because Michael was like one of the most pro-black figures that early on we ever saw well I'm originally from Brooklyn Bernadette and I both from Brownsville giving out shout out to Brownsville Grafton Street do you do Martin Blake that's where I used to live when I was growing up in the heart of Brooklyn however my point is that by by virtue of the fact that I grew up in an African-American church, one of the most memorable productions we ever did on Good Times was when we had the Black Jesus. However, what happened in my case is that I physically grew up with the wonderful images in this fantastic sound room that I grew up with people who look like that on the walls of my church. So it was almost a form of

symbiosis when the good times parallel came up with how I was able to see that. But due to the fact that we were able to locate in the verses of the Bible the example that is used, hair of wool, skin of bronze, it ain't like me in Mississippi, Alabama, and Georgia. You know I was kid, but I got some unkind mail. But I was absolved from all of that by just taking myself to another level and not deal with the riffraff. I love the episode when you broke down that boy, mama boy is a white racist word. And it still is.

That's right. What I love about what we've done together as a team is that i'd rather be relevant than a relic and because of the fact that people are genuinely very kind to us we i know from my personal experience we're bombarded with positive energy so i believe as a human being it's very difficult to be negative when you're always being given good energy from the people that we meet and i'm i'm personally indebted to the people who viewed our work, the people who continue to like our work, and all I can say is thank you.

We respect that. How much of Thelma was you, Ms. Bernadette? Oh, with me, a lot of my character was the way I was. I grew up in a family, you know, well, there are five children. You know, I'm the eldest, and a mom and a dad. And so, you know, my father would always say, even though I was in the projects, he would always say, what's around you does not have to be in you. And that's kind of how we were.

So I knew my character and that young girls in the projects do grow up to become someone. You know, I strive to be the good girl you know and you know the positive person so very much so the character was very much like who i was then but benedict consistently has always has high standards and she has never belittled herself in that context what about you mr walker how much of you was jj well you remember, I'm a comic. So we just sit around and all we do is jokes. That's it. It's just jokes every day, every hour, every battle, every whatever. That's all we do.

And at that time, Johnny Carson was it. So our main goal in life was to get on the Johnny Carson show because if you get on the Johnny Carson show the next day you can draw and that's the key thing you must be able to draw put tushies in the seats I don't care how great you think you are you what you are it's like now with Netflix your goal in life nothing else counts mom dad family get on Netflix and take your shot. So in terms of my thing of being on the show, I wanted to get on Johnny Carson.

I didn't want to do anything else. So you just wrote jokes all day. Wow. How did you feel when, you know, Ester Roley and John Amos, they said they used to criticize your character saying it was a poor role model for black teenagers back then? at that time i was not really aware of it you got to remember we didn't have media like we had now and uh with our cast for me i didn't really it it's going to

sound strange i never watched the show i never really really. John is a great actor. I mean, he's probably one of the best black actors in America, best actor in general. I didn't really talk to John, so I didn't really know him. And Esther, I don't think in my humble, I don't think I've ever. Bernadette was very close with Esther. Very, very, very close. I don't think I ever said a word to esther because being in a

comedy lineup of like 30 guys you don't and girls too uh you don't really there's people you just you know you never talk to i mean you know there's people you talk to all the time and then i maybe you may talk to 10 guys all the time and there's another 10 guys you never talk to at all. You don't know them. You see them. And you just, so I, I,

I'm used to not mingling with some guys. That's it. That's the reality of it all. I was going to ask after good times, was it difficult to get other parts and movies and sitcoms and things like that? Cause people look at you as characters of good times like when i see you i still see michael like i still see delma i still see jj yeah and i and i

was a kid like when when i was coming up it was only i think at the time it was um your show and what's his name um jefferson no before jefferson's sanford assigns that was the only two yeah i would see blacks on television. So was it difficult after that? No. As a matter of fact, my transition, once I finished Good Times,

I still had to complete high school. So after I did my works in high school, I went back to high school. I completed. I graduated on June 6, 1979, which was a Friday, along with my colleague Lawrence Fishburne.

We were in the ninth grade together and we went all through that part of our education together as brothers. My point being that once I completed the work in good times, I was also invited to the wonderful nation of Nigeria. And at that time, I couldn't wait to get to West Africa. The point being that I grew up in an Afrocentric consciousness. And due to men like Jimmy Walker, he's one of the most well-read men I've ever met. So he became a blueprint for me as far as wanting to know information. I figure if I love and respect the history of not just Africa, but the global experience, because, you know, everybody here is human. We belong here. You know,

if you ain't come on earth to do your thing, then what you come here for? If you ain't come here to be the best you can while you're here, then what you come here for? So my point is that I wanted to make it, and I did make it my business to read as many books that related to my particular subject matter. I originally went to Los Angeles Community College in my early years and majored in poetry there. Then from there, I moved to meet up with a man named Dr. John Henry Clark, who became my primary mentor. Through him, I met other phenomenal historians like Joseph Van Yaken and Dr. Ivan Van Sertimer, the brilliance of Amos Wilson, who wrote just quintessential books that helped to to heal our people. Because in this culture, we've all been wounded and we're still in the process of repairing ourselves.

But we must understand this time around, ain't nobody coming to our rescue. Therefore, you must rescue yourself. So you bought all the energy to Michael because there ain't no white people can write that character. I'm very grateful to men like Eric Monti and Michael Evans due to the fact that Eric is from in Chicago from Cabrini Green. One of the highlights of working on the show was that consecutively for three years due to the genius of Esther Rold, she asked us to join and participate in the Bud Billiken Day Parade, which is very popular in Chicago. But also there were people who lived in Cabrini Green who knew that Bernadette, myself, Jeannette DuBois, Esther, of course, were coming in it. Hey, what's up? This is Ramses Jha.

And I go by the name Q Ward. And we'd like you to join us each week for our show Civic Cipher. That's right. We're going to discuss social issues, especially those that affect black and brown people, but in a way that informs and empowers all people to hopefully create better allies. Think of it as a black show for non-black people. We discuss everything from prejudice to politics to police violence, and we try to give you the tools to create positive change in your home, workplace, and social circle.

Exactly. Whether you're black, Asian, White, Latinx, Indigenous, LGBTQIA+, you name it. If you stand with us, then we stand with you. Let's discuss the stories and conduct the interviews that will help us create

a more empathetic, accountable, and equitable America. You are all our brothers and sisters, and we're inviting you to join us for Civic Cipher each and every Saturday with myself, Ramses Jha, Q Ward, and some of the greatest minds in America.

Listen to Civic Cipher every Saturday on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. So, y'all, this is Questlove, and I'm here to tell you about a new podcast I've been working on with the Story Pirates and John Glickman called Historical Records. It's a family-friendly podcast. Yeah, you heard that right. A podcast for all ages. One you can listen to and enjoy with your kids starting on September 27th. I'm going to toss it over to the host of Historical Records, Nimany, to tell you all about it.

Make sure you check it out. Hey, y'all. Nimany here. I'm the host of a brand new history podcast for kids and families called Historical Records. Historical Records brings history to life through hip hop. Each episode is about a different inspiring figure from history. Like this one about Claudette Colvin, a 15-year-old girl in Alabama who refused to give up her seat on the city bus nine whole months before Rosa Parks did the same thing.

Check it. Did you know, did you know, I wouldn't give up my seat. Nine months before Rosa, it was Claudette Goldman. Get the kids in your life excited about history by tuning in to Historical Records. Because in order to make history, you have to make some noise. Listen to Historical Records on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, everyone. This is Courtney Thorne-Smith, Laura Layton, and Daphne Zuniga. On July 8, 1992, apartment buildings with pools were never quite the same as Melrose Place was introduced to the world. It took drama and mayhem to an entirely new level. We are going to be reliving every hookup, every scandal, every backstab, blackmail, and explosion,

and every single wig removal together. Secrets are revealed as we rewatch every moment with you. Special guests from back in the day will be dropping by. You know who they are. Sydney, Alison, and Joe are back together on Still the Place with a trip down memory lane and back to Melrose Place. So listen to Still the Place on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to podcasts. Hi, I'm Dani Shapiro, host of the hit podcast, Family Secrets. How would you feel if when you met your biological father for the first time, he didn't even say hello? And how would you feel if your doctor advised you to keep your life-altering medical procedure a secret from everyone?

And what if your past itself was a secret, and the time had suddenly come to share that past with your child? These are just a few of the powerful and profound questions we'll be asking on our 11th season of Family Secrets. Some of you have been with us since season one, and others are just tuning in. Whatever the case, and wherever you are, thank you for being part of our Family Secrets family, where every week we explore the secrets that are kept from us, the secrets we keep from others, and the secrets we keep from ourselves. Listen to season 11 of Family Secrets on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, this is Justin Richmond, host of the Broken Record Podcast.

Every week, I or my co-host, Leah Rose, sit down with the artists you love to get unparalleled creative insight. Now we have a special series where we speak with the artists behind one of the most influential jazz labels of the 20th century, Blue Note Records. You'll hear from artists like nine-time Grammy award-winning Noah Jones, John Mellencamp and Madonna collaborator Michelle Indegiocello, and from the legendary Ron Carter, former member of the Miles Davis Quintet, who's also played with Herbie Hancock, and on Gil Scott Heron's The Revolution Will Not Be Televised. Join us over at Broken Record to hear stories behind the legendary label.

Listen on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to podcasts. Vance. And these are times when John blessed my father's heart because he is one of the people on Good Times that I worked long before

I ever worked in that production. But my point is that some of the residents in those wonderful complexes, they physically invited us to have dinner with us. I'm talking delicious food, but the camaraderie was there. So I think it helped us to be authentic because during the time I worked on Good Times, I never saw the show.

I was forbidden to watch the show. John Amos and Esther Rowe told my mother, my mother Lucille, who fortunately lived to be 97, and she would be 101 this year. But my point is that my mother kept me grounded and listened to what Esther Rolle and John Amos told her to do. Don't let them watch the show due to the fact that sometimes children tend to imitate themselves. So they wanted me to stay as authentic

and as organic as possible. So I didn't really understand the bombardment of people at that time, you know, coming after me. For years I stopped wearing jewelry because people thought they had the privilege or the right to snatch it off of me. I was like, yo, man, you know,

this is a $90 shirt in 1970s and you just ripped my so with that said it also is a very humbling experience because ultimately any way you look at it you just got to treat people the way you want to be treated and that is my personal philosophy well what was stardom like back then miss Bernadette like like in that era? Well, back then, there wasn't that many black stars there. So it was just like a handful of us.

And, you know, Red Fox, Richard Pryor, those kind of people, you know. And they would have parties or whatever. And, you know, they would invite just a handful who was there. But other than that, it wasn't a handful who was there but other than that it wasn't a lot of us there yeah so it was kind of empty in a way how was it when you did the cover of jet magazine oh ike sutton took a picture he was a friend of mine and he's invite me over to eat um he would cook like eight course meals for me i mean just me just me. I'm like, come on. I, you know, so then we'd take the pictures. Ain't nobody.

Ain't nobody. And so, you know, he, it was just Jane Kennedy then and me and people like that. So he just said he wanted to do a cover for me and he did it and I was on the cover. Wow. That's different though. Yeah. You on the cover of Jet Magazine back then? Yeah. And also one inside the week.

The centerfold. We expect photo. I did that one too. And you knew you were popular when you black and you on the cover of Ebony and Jet. I said, oh Lord, I know we on a lot of other magazines, but when you're received by your own people, it has a different type of connection.

And I say that because of the fact that who would have thought that we was going to be on the covers of connection. And I say that because of the fact that who would have thought that we was going to be on the covers of those. And irregardless of maybe the topics that they were talking about, we still were well received by the people. And there is no show without the people to participate with us. So we thank them. What was the most difficult episode to shoot?

For me, it was actually the contradiction of a character came to the show in the script where it was a caucasian young woman who i was supposed to have an on-screen kiss with right then and then my antenna went up because it would destroy everything i had built with that particular character as far as his pro-pan-africanism is dr umar would love you for that i remember that episode yeah Yeah. So what I did do, I took my grievances to the adults. Keep in mind, Janet Jackson and I are still minors.

So therefore, any type of script issues that we had, Jimmy was always and has been my advocate, along with Bernadette, and I brought my issue to them. And Esther said, this cannot happen. You can't do this for this particular character because it will,

you know, mostly all of the young, young African-American women would have said, well, here we go again. So I decided to just pull back

and it worked out in my favor and that didn't happen. Wow. Is that the episode that ended up being when you were supposed to move in?

Yes. Okay. That's right. But ended up being when you were supposed to move in? Yes. Okay. That's right. But we had to change that script because they had an intimate moment, which again would have contradicted the policies and the integrity of the character that I played. Absolutely. I always wondered because when I found out that they didn't like the JJ character, I was like, I never looked at y'all as ignorant. Like, I didn't think that y'all was reinforcing any stereotypes. How were y'all able to portray being from the hood

but not come off as ignorant? Well, a lot of people in the hood are not ignorant. At all. And I looked at Jimmy's character as, you know, like very, very intelligent, you know, an artist and everything like that. And, you know, sometimes in a family there's always one kid that makes the the family laugh i mean i have i had a brother who's who's a pastor now

kyle and he um used to make my mom laugh you know you do silly things but i mean that's just something that lifts a spirit that's that's all it is and that's how i saw jimmy i didn't see him as a character that no one liked it and i i Esther Rose defense I would say that she just didn't want them to make him a thief or a fool like and but she she loved the character too but she didn't want the writers or anybody to make him look like that like with the little hat or whatever and you know in the beginning they always had jimmy find in something you understand so so finding is stealing and she cut that out i don't want that like finding drugs yeah finding and i just found this pen i just found this shirt you

know fine with the metaphor that was used so she said no she didn't want that so those are the things that they hopped on you know like she didn't want that. So those are the things that they hopped on. She didn't like the character, but of course they did. I just wonder, when did Hollywood take a turn? Because it feels like back then y'all always had a hand in the creative. Y'all always had a hand in how y'all were portrayed. So when did Hollywood take the turn to where it's just like all of these negative stereotypes of black people just started? I think because a different breed of producers came through that weren't in contact and in touch with the people.

And when you disconnect yourself from the people, then you become in a box. And one thing I work with myself is the only opinion about me that matters is my own. And therefore, by not allowing myself to be in a box, I was able to take my work to another level. And being a historian in the context of the work that I did, I not only wanted to study the history of Africa, but I wanted to understand how valuable the contributions of people globally has been. You know, my ancestors have been here since 1799. And my great, great, great ancestors, she was kidnapped from Cameroon, sold on the Charleston auction block on December 17th, 1799. And as a consequence of that, I wanted to study as much as I could because

it used to be against the law for people of color to read in this country. So I made it my business to read as much as I can. Just for the record, brother man, I've read both your books. Thank you, sir. And you are an excellent writer. I got a lot of information on your journey, you know, and the way you gave the salutations to your mother, Julia,

and to your father, Larry. Yes, sir. It was a wonderful experience. Thank you. Thank you. I wouldn't want to tell you that to your face. Thank you, brother. I got a new one coming out. I'm going to give it to you father, Larry. Yes, sir. It was a wonderful experience. Thank you. Thank you. I wouldn't want to tell you that to your face. Thank you, brother. I got a new one coming out. I'm going to give it to you before you leave. I'll make it 21st. Yeah.

Great. Okay, my birthday coming up. Where's my gift? I got you. I bought yours in Barnes & Noble, by the way. Appreciate it. Now, you mentioned Janet. So how was working with Janet on the set?

How was that? For me, it was refreshing because for- You straightened your back out when you said that. Yeah. I saw it. For many years, I was the only Janet on the set? How was that? For me, it was refreshing because for- You straightened your back out when you said that. Yeah. I saw it. For many years, I was the only child on set. Therefore, that type of isolation, it didn't affect me because every time we went on hiatus, I always came back to New York and to Brooklyn, and I was with my peer group.

So I fundamentally didn't have an offbeat energy as whatever a child star means. And also I was never financially exploited by my family. That was not my experience. In my experience, no one ever put an offending hand on me. You know, I'm from Brooklyn. I jack you up. But what I did learn in that process of working with Janet, who is beyond a consummate professional, but she's a brilliant observer. And she watched because we spent the most time together, y'all. And in California state law,

we have to go to school for three hours before we can appear on set. So our actual working day after the three hours of school would be a five-hour working day. So we had tutors who protected us. My mother, Mrs. Lucille Carter, and Mrs. Catherine Jackson, they got along like peas in a pod. And because of the fact that our parents got along, and this would apply to Haywood Nelson and Lawrence Fishburne and myself, our mothers got along. Therefore, we got along too. So in in that context my job was to because I'm Bernadette's bully anybody stepped to her incorrectly there's gonna be issue and I was able to because of that loneliness Janet was like a beacon of

light when she came on the set and I still am so proud of what she has done in the work that she continues to do I want to go back back and ask Ms. Bernadette about the direction of Hollywood and how it went in another direction. Oh, yes. Thank you. I just want to say that Esther Rolle was an advocate for all of us. And I remember there was a week that we had, and I actually had really nothing much to say. It was like, you know, hi, Mom, hi, Dad.

I was in the bathroom. Shut up, JJ. That's about it. You know, the character had nothing. So I was very bored that week. And I said, this cannot go on. I can't sit here every week and just be this bored. So I did. I asked mom. I used to call mom and say, mom, you know, I was so bored this week. She said, what do you mean? I said, I just did nothing. I just sat there and I was bored. So she says, well, what do you want to do? I said, I need more to say. I need something, character. So she said, let me handle it.

And we had a reading at the round table. And that week I had my two or three little lines. Okay. And so Esther said at the end of the reading, she asked the producers and the writers, she says, I want to ask a question. And they said, sure, Esther, what is it? You know, what is it?

She said, I want to ask, are you ashamed of my daughter? And they said, no. And she said, then she went on to say, you know, well, I think that we should do a little better with her. I think that we have my son, JJ, who has a lot to say, you know, well, I think that we should do a little better with her. I think that we have my son, JJ, who has a lot to say, and my son, Michael, who has a lot to say. And I want my daughter to have a voice. And she said to me, and they said, oh, certainly. And so that afternoon, she said, you go up there and you tell them who Thelma is. Now, how can you develop a character?

I mean, you know what I'm saying? You're telling the character to develop a character so I knew who she was so I ended up going up there and telling them what I'd like her to be who I need her to be and after that the scripts came you know the dialogue came you know a voice became and I give her all the credit for doing that people don't really fight for people anymore like that so she she did and that's how you know she gave them a voice wow that's the road yeah absolutely and where them white people like norman lear at where they at in hollywood now passed away this i know you passed away but i'm saying where are those type of people well they're no more they're a rare breed believe me show me um yeah when they did kick they were really good you know because

for me in the context of history you would not really have had a good time if you didn't have an Amos and Andy. And Amos and Andy was also a product of the television station CBS. However, when I did my research and bought the catalog of that particular show, it was hilarious. The men and women who performed on Amos and Andy, we're speaking of veteran actors who had done Vaudeville and the so-called chitlin' circuit, as Jimmy Walker really knows all about that. He's been on the chitlin' circuit so long, he was cleaning the chitlin'.

But my point is that we were able to embrace, through the genius of Norman Lear, because keep in mind, Norman Lear was a magnet in the respect that he had all in the family Maud, Jefferson's, Good Times, the adjunct along with Bud Yorkin they also had What's Happening in which you had the works of Hayward Nelson, Fred Berry, of course Miss Shirley Hemphill and their wonderful cast of Danielle Spencer, Mabel King of course played the mother but my point is that there was a connection and a bond that we even on set had. We cross-referenced with the wonderful people on All in the Family,

with Jean Stapleton and Carol O'Connor. And we weekly saw Beatrice Arthur and Bill Macy while they were doing the works on Maud. So because of the work that Esther did, that allowed us as artists to get a gig. But Esther, to me, is the foundation of Good Times, along with John Amos. Absolutely. Mr. Jimmy, did you ever, ever get tired of saying down on my, at any point? I don't think we ever did it that much. Yeah? No, because, you know, know again being a stand-up

people came to see stand-up you know and and and at the improv or the store or anything like that and again not i guess we were in such competition and plus we had paul mooney and paul mooney straightened everybody out. Too black, too strong. Mooney would just say, man, your stuff is weak. What are you doing? You stink. And I remember we'd have somebody like a Gary Shandling who worked so hard. I was like, that's what made me get writers to help me out because he would have two notebooks full of jokes every day.

And you just go, hey, how's this guy doing this so in terms of the dynamite thing it didn't play in a club you know we had Freddie Prince who always said I am the funniest I am the best you guys stink I'm great I'm the youngest and I'm the baddest I'm 18 you guys will never be as good as me. You'll never be as funny as me. Don't even try it. And then you had Gary Shandling who said quietly, I'm the best writer out of everybody.

I will eventually have my own show. None of you will be as big as me. That's the way it is. Because he had a shot to do the Johnny Carson show. And he said, i don't want to be encumbered by network i'm going to have my own show where i'm in charge and which he did with the larry sanders show and it's the gary shanley show he was completely in charge he said i will never do a network show that i have to listen to other people so for, the dynamite thing was like not relevant

to the people that were coming to the show. I mean, you know, and plus I was the emcee for our ethnic shows. So we would do the Chicago show. Chicago show would be the emotions, the shy lights, Jerry Butler. So they weren't even for that because they were kind of like, hey, I'm Jerry Butler. So they weren't even for that because they were kind of like,

hey, I'm Jerry Butler. I'm the Iceman. I don't care about any dynamite stuff. And then you do the Philadelphia show where you have Teddy Pernagras who would say, I am the prettiest, the baddest, the most good-looking.

Chicks will look at me, and I'm great. And then you'd have the Motown show, which I was MC of and the temptations would go, there's no group that can dance better than us, that can sing better than us. We are, we don't care about any dynamite stuff.

So it was never that kind of thing. I was always very secondary because I was the youngest guy. We had CB wonders mom. We used to drive him behind us in her little station wagon so we never Jimmy Walker was never a big thing he was just a little part of the MC work that was it that was my catchphrase that was was John Rich yeah I did it one day in rehearsals when John Rich says I like that dynamite thing I said what dynamite thing so you just did it I said oh that was just fooling around he says john ritz said to me he says this

is going to be the biggest thing on this show this will be the big i said what he said the dynamite thing i said he said and he got up a little fat guy and showed me how to do it and i said john people are not that stupid they'll never go for this he says yes they will and he put it out there and norman hated it wow just hated it and and and everybody was threatening to walk john says if he doesn't do it i'm walking normally it says if he does it i'm walking so everybody was whatever so he did it and it became like Michael Buffer's thing where he says let's get ready to rumble if you ever watched you guys are too young but when so whenever he would do a fight it would be like a Sugar Ray Leonard he's won 97 knockouts he's killed his last 10 opponents he's the champion of the middleweight he's the champion

of the and you hear get ready he said ladies and gentlemen boys and girls across the world and you could hear the people go let's get ready to roll yeah i know yes oh yes it's only ten thousand dollars a pop if he does it nothing serious hey Hey, that's all he gets is to he gets $10,000 a pop He does it all so that's the way the dynamite thing rolled, but we nobody was that enthused I mean I had guys like Steve Martin who was selling out 15,000 people and you just go just go boy I would like to be like that You have any problem with women calling you back back then. Yes Definitely without a doubt.

At the height of good times? Oh, no. You got to remember, I was with Richard Pryor. And Richard Pryor was a guy, and Freddie Prinze. Those two guys had all the women. I can tell you stories about Richard that you don't want to hear on the air that you would go, are you kidding me? Because women would come. The floor is yours. women would do tell no i will not tell i will not tell the two gigantic stories that about richard and freddie freddie's the kind

of guy had so much confidence if he saw her and we walked outside he says i can get her i go freddie she's like you know she's a woman she's going for the woman thing to have her own thing outside he says i can get her i go freddie she's like you know she's a woman she's going for the woman thing to have her own thing and he says i will get her and you will you'll go at the end of the night they're walking out together you go damn how did freddie pull this off he's that kind of guy and he just believed i'm the prettiest i'm the baddest I'm the funniest and I will get any chick I want yeah that's not your job and it was just amazing but yeah so that was that do y'all remember the first day on the set versus the last day yes I do I remember the first day it was interesting you know I was really watching Esther and John how they handled a lot of stuff you know

and I learned a lot I really really did but I remember when like the first year well the first maybe a couple of months talking about women and JJ okay I remember he said something to me like oh what do you what do you do what do you get what do you do with these women how do you I mean what should I do I said you know the first thing you should do is when you have a girl you need to buy her a little jewelry I'm telling on you and he said what I said yeah buy some you know jewelry and stuff and break it in that way and so he said okay so that lunchtime he went to farmers market and he bought some jewelry and he came back. He said, how does this look? What's this about? And it was it was a turquoise piece, you know, with the silver around.

It was this big. I said, what are you doing? I said, well, you're dating a giant. Come on. So I said, no, go back over there. take that back and get some fine jewelry you know really gold a little something yeah and so that's what he did and so to this very day if you date Jimmy Walker you're gonna get some jewelry I'm telling you you know there's a trick out here man man. But he does it. How was the last day on set? The last day? Wow. For me? Well, it was like a little unreal, you know,

because I came to Hollywood right into a show, so I didn't know what it was like living outside of that. I mean, here in California. For me, it was like living outside of that I mean here in California you know in California so um for me it was very different it was like is this the end is this really the end you know what am I gonna do when I get up tomorrow you know kind of thing so that's how I felt to me the ending about you good times ended on March the 8th which was a Thursday in 1979. We had already braced ourselves for it because you could feel the momentum of the production was starting to lose its pace.

So I already knew I had to graduate from high school, and I already knew I had my ideas to go to college and to travel. So thereby, I used the rest of my 20s traveling to East and West Africa, primarily to Sudan, Ethiopia, and Egypt. And by doing that consecutively as a historian, I read the information before I went on the journey. The parallels in Egypt with the pyramids in Egypt and in Mexico are phenomenal because there was a wonderful connection between those two cultures where they did not destroy each other, but they complemented each other. And you could see that the Earth, Wind, and Fire has a wonderful song. It's in the stone. So in the stone, the people left how they looked and that we

were here and this is what we did while we were on the planet so it was a phenomenon for me to not only just theoretically do the work but to physically go and see the monuments for myself it felt like they could have showed y'all outside of the projects because the last episode, y'all, everybody did get out the projects. Yeah. They went to go move in the same building.

Yeah. A better building. They could have showed that. But, you know, what's done is done. The past is the past, Charlamagne. So, you know,

you don't want to regress. You want to progress. And people have constantly asked us to do a reboot of Good Times. However, you've lost some of the major primary characters.

That's right. So, you know, it wouldn't work to do that anymore. So, you've lost some of the major primary characters. So, you know, it wouldn't work to do that anymore. So you come up with new ideas. Like my new television series is entitled Grandma's Hands. And I deal with five generations of African women from the age of 13 to the age of 98, along with my wonderful co-writer, Mr. Gregory A. Holtz, a beautiful sister named Janine, and my young sister Vicki. So as a team, a quorum of four, we've been able to write some wonderful scripts. And all things in time, I could show you better than I can tell you.

And I just hope that people will, the opportunity comes where I can present this particular production so that people can experience us from another perspective, as I do as a writer. I've completed my autobiography in five volumes. Years ago, I had a dialogue with August Wilson, and he was one of the very rare, rare writers who had a play written for every decade of the last century

that we've gone through. But my point being, I asked him his technique and what should I do when I want to write my autobiography. And I got a lot of advice from my good friend, Mr. Irving Panton. He said, do it and I'll help you copy the books. So I began on a wonderful journey of getting wonderful information. And I didn't know that there was so much information on the work that I did in my early theater years.

My point is that I had a resource. Hey, what's up? This is Ramses Jha. And I go by the name Q Ward. And we'd like you to join us each week for our show Civic Cipher. That's right. We're going to discuss social issues, especially those that affect black and brown people, but in a way that informs and empowers all people to hopefully create better allies. Think of it as a black show for non-black people. We discuss everything from prejudice to politics to police violence, and we try to give you

the tools to create positive change in your home, workplace, and social circle. Exactly. Whether you're black, Asian, white, Latinx, indigenous, LGBTQIA+, you name it. If you stand with us, then we stand with you. Let's discuss the stories and conduct the interviews that will help us create a more empathetic, accountable, and equitable America. You are all our brothers and sisters, and we're inviting you to join us for Civic Cipher each and every Saturday with myself, Ramses Jha, Q Ward, and some of the greatest minds in America.

Listen to Civic Cipher every Saturday on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. So y'all, this is Questlove, and I'm here to tell you about a new podcast I've been working on with the Story Pirates and John Glickman called Historical Records. It's a family-friendly podcast. Yeah, you heard that right. A podcast for all ages. One you can listen to and enjoy with your kids starting on September 27th. I'm going to toss it over to the host of Historical Records, Nimany, to tell you all about it. Make sure you check it out.

Hey, y'all. Nimany here. I'm the host of a brand new history podcast for kids and families called Historical Records. Historical Records brings history to life through hip-hop. Each episode is about a different inspiring figure from history, like this one about Claudette Colvin, a 15-year-old girl in Alabama who refused to give up her seat on the city bus nine whole months before Rosa Parks did the same thing. Check it. And it began with me. Did you know, did you know?

I wouldn't give up my seat. Nine months before Rosa, it was Claudette Colvin. Get the kids in your life excited about history by tuning in to Historical Records. Because in order to make history, you have to make some noise. Listen to Historical Records on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, everyone. This is Courtney Thorne-Smith, Laura Layton, and Daphne Zuniga. On July 8, 1992, apartment buildings with pools were never quite the same as Melrose Place was introduced to the world.

It took drama and mayhem to an entirely new level. We are going to be reliving every hookup, every scandal, every backstab, blackmail, and explosion, and every single wig removal together. Secrets are revealed as we rewatch every moment with you. Special guests from back in the day will be dropping by. You know who they are. Sydney, Allison, and Joe are back together on Still the Place with a trip down memory lane and back to Melrose Place. So listen to Still the Place on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to podcasts. Hi, I'm Dani Shapiro, host of the hit podcast, Family Secrets. How would you feel if

when you met your biological father for the first time, he didnrets. How would you feel if when you met your biological father for the first time, he didn't even say hello? And how would you feel if your doctor advised you to keep your life-altering medical procedure a secret from everyone? And what if your past itself was a secret and the time had suddenly come to share that past with your child?

These are just a few of the powerful and profound questions we'll be asking on our 11th season of Family Secrets. Some of you have been with us since season one, and others are just tuning in. Whatever the case, and wherever you are, thank you for being part of our Family Secrets family, where every week we explore the secrets that are kept from us,

the secrets we keep from others, and the secrets we keep from ourselves. Listen to season 11 of Family Secrets on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, this is Justin Richmond, host of the Broken Record Podcast.

Every week, I or my co-host, Leah Rose, sit down with the artists you love to get unparalleled creative insight. Now we have a special series where we speak with the artists behind one of the most influential jazz labels of the 20th century, Blue Note Records. You'll hear from artists like nine-time Grammy award-winning Noah Jones, John Mellencamp and Madonna collaborator Michelle Indegiocello, and from the legendary Ron Carter former member of the Miles Davis Quintet

who's also played with Herbie Hancock and on Gil Scott Heron's The Revolution Will Not Be Televised Join us over at Broken Record to hear stories behind the legendary label Listen on the iHeartRadio app Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen to podcasts.

Schomburg. I had a resource with Lincoln Center, and the people who were there in that area, the librarians, so to speak, they were very gracious to me. So it helped me to complete five complete volumes of my autobiography. I taught at a child development for five years, so I'm

the author of 20 children's books as well. So as a musician, of the show. I've been a fan of the show. I've been a fan of the show. I've been a fan of the show. I've been a fan of the show. I've been a fan of the show. I've been a fan of the show. I've been a fan of the show. I've been a fan of the show. I've been a fan of the show. I've been a fan of the show.

I've been a fan of the show. I've been a fan of the show. I've been a fan of the show. I've been a fan of the show. I've been a fan of the show. I've been a fan of the show. I've been a fan of the show. I've been a fan of the show.

I've been a fan of the show. I've been a fan of the show. I've been a fan of the show. I've been a fan of the show. I've been a fan of the show. I've been a fan of the show. I've been a fan of the show. I've been a fan of the show. I've been a fan of the show. I've been a fan of the show. He's still here. That's amazing. How did y'all feel about the Good Times cartoon on Netflix? Well, that's Bernadette's thing. She'll tell you.

How did you feel, Ms. Bernadette? Because they keep calling it a reboot, but that's not a reboot. No, that's not it at all. No, that's not it at all. I think that our audience missed something. You know, they missed what happened to us. It's always they want the completion of it. It never really happened, you know, so far.

My thing about the animation was this, that, you know, I know that Jimmy Walker came to them and he presented a cartoon about five years before this one. And it was really all of us, the way we are in animation, and we have our same voices and everything like that. And they didn't bite that. But later on came up with they're going to do an animation.

And I remember my manager called them and said, well, what are they going to, you know, are we going to be in it or not? So the way they described the animation to us was this. It was going to be a modern day, you know, progression of what everything is going to be for the Good Times family. So, you know, fine.

But they asked Jimmy and I to do a tiny little part but it sounded okay you know we didn't see the scripts so jimmy did a part i did a little part my character's name is peaches you know she's like a project lady that's whatever but um when the when the uh when it came out when the trailer came out um we saw it and everybody was like, no. You don't have a cracked baby in somebody's mother's arms. You don't do that. And I remember having an interview with the singer, Gilstrap, Jim Gilstrap, a year before.

And he was saying, you know, there are some lyrics that they took out. So I said, what were the lyrics? And he said, well, you know, know they say roaches roaming the hallway roaches roaming the hallway and the landlord lives on the other side of town or something like that he said that they took it out because 50 years ago now they thought that that would be offensive to black people. Okay. But 50 years later, you have two roaches singing in the shower. They sing in the song good times. So I'm like, this is not it. You know, I'm sorry.

You know, I know people have, you know, want to write it out. They want to do this and that. But you have to do it right. You know, you have to represent it correctly. So to me it was not represented correctly and I had to say that you know I actually was quite disappointed with the actors who took the time to sign on to that project these are actors and artists and comedians that I really had a high

regard for I won't use the past tense with them right now, but I'm disappointed at the fact that they did that. When I did take a quick review of this particular rubbish that I saw, I was contacted by some media outlets from my point of view, but I refused to dignify it with a response. And I'm just pretty much disappointed with the artist who signed on to it. I don't think anybody ever saw it. I mean, I know Seth MacFarlane to me is very, very funny, but this is not his bag. It would be like saying, hey, we're doing Romeo and Juliet, and you know who we hired?

J.J. Walker and Lawanda Page. That's funny. And you go, really? Wow. That's great, Jimmy. That's a good analysis. I mean, it's just, Seth is, I mean, I love all his stuff. It's racist.

It's terrible. It's fantastic. It kills me. But it's funny. Yeah, it's funny. But he's not right for this and and and steph curry i know he's been watching lebron james and he sees lebron james has projects look let me tell you something i'm from new york i played basketball against nate archibald you guys are too young you

remember nate archibald but he's a big star i played i played against nate archibald and he only scored 63 on us three times that we played them he called 61 63 and 63 look let me tell you something it'd be like me going to steph and say look i played against nate archibald i want to be on the golden state warriors and they go why i play against nate archibald i belong on the team come on but no he's he's just the wrong guy to be in this. Y'all don't like the Good Times reboot. To say that. Yeah.

It's crazy. 50 years of Good Times. I'm talking like nobody did a documentary or some type of reunion show. Y'all didn't get approached about none of that? No. The anthology that I did write, it wouldn't be a product commercially right now, again, because of the losses that we had. But we did have a movie that we were going to put together,

and we had all the characters. It just didn't. They are now ancestors, so we have to keep living. This is Brett Miller, who works with Norman, and that's the guy who kind of kind of gaboshed us yeah and that that was it i mean that's the way because when i took it around everybody i talked to says well do you own the rights and we go no and they said well nothing we could do for you and these are all friends of mine so that's the way it was i I just think that, you know, they didn't want us involved

and they achieved their goal. Yeah. Well, we love y'all. All right, y'all. We celebrate y'all. Yes.

Our fans really kept writing us and telling us how much they loved us and they didn't like the animation. You know, they respect us in so many different ways.

So, we still got our satisfaction out of it you know right absolutely and when the people don't like it watch out because they're writing and what they think people want to see you know well it's a disconnect it's a disconnect because that's not what the people really want to see but yeah but you have like those pockets of people like like people trying to appeal to what media is like feeding. Yeah. You know what I mean?

And all that ghetto rad shit, Roaches singing and shit, like how they. They see it, yeah. But all of that, all of that rubbish tends to dumb people down, you know. Absolutely. And that's what people will fight for, you know. It's like, hey, don't try to make me spot it. It took a long time to be this dumb. Yeah. So don't try to make me spotted well i took a long time to be this dumb yeah so don't try to make me want to think and that's the the well in my critical analysis people

must think for themselves and solve their own problems i guess when you do that you can help other people yeah i guess they felt that you know 50 years later no one would notice that we can make them look like the way we want them to look I don't know I've never craved for attention like that I like I live a isolated life to the degree that I live alone but I'm not lonely you know I have a loving family that I speak to practically every week and by virtue of that my sense of grounding is a lot different than some people. Which was portrayed in the original Good Times.

Yes. I am to be taken seriously because life is serious. What do you want the legacy of Good Times to ultimately be? I hope that we made people enjoy the process of a family that was able to stay cohesive and live together in spite of the financial conditions that we had a tendency to be a part of. But the fact that we tried to make as many people happy as possible without placating them or patronizing them. We just did our job as artists.

And Good Times solved a lot of problems for people. Showed people how, you know, if you didn't have a father, John Amos was a father type to you, your mom, you know if you didn't have a father john amos was a father type to you your mom you know so we we did a lot for our people i think you know and i would like it to stay that way and it helped us grow and stay grounded more than anything you know i like that part about it you know because i thoroughly enjoyed going to work i was devastated of course when john amos' character left. But beyond that, because I'm glad because my biological father, Ralph, and John Amos got along like brothers. So it was, you know, I had co-fathers, so to speak. But the truth of the matter is, is that I think that we left a paramount impact on people. Because

again, we're bombarded with positive energy. I know I am and being that I'm able to walk the streets of Brooklyn on my own I'm able to greet some of our people. I don't walk around the streets saying hey look at me I'm here. No if anything I know when to to shut down. That's what I love about Jimmy Walker. As a comedian, he's not always on. When Jimmy's locked in to what he's going to do, he's going to do it. But other than that, no, you won't get him to say Dynamite because he's already done that. You can see it in the reruns.

When you want to play that, you can do it like that. But I just think that working with our people here has been a reward for me because I've learned a tremendous amount of information from Bernadette and from jim what do you want the legacy to be mr walker you know i i i really hadn't thought about it until norman lear died and then everybody started jumping up and down about norman dying and stuff like that it really i had i hate to say it, it never crossed my mind. I never, ever thought about it. Just never in there. Too busy thinking about them girls calling you back.

Girls and getting my shots when I was doing the David Letterman show, which is, in my opinion, my alleged best work. I loved it. It was fabulous. Because Letterman started out with me as a writer and uh you know my writing staff I'm so proud of all those guys the old man that's dying but it's them I mean had Jay Leno and Louie Anderson and and Elaine Boosler who to me represents the good in women's comedy she has the greatest stuff because women now, it's a little rough out here

what women are doing, but Elaine wrote great, clean, solid monster jokes, man. And Mike, this is a perfect example. You won't see this kind of joke done anymore, but this is the kind of joke she wrote. She says,

men are so hypocritical. They want you to scream that this is the best you've ever had. Why, Swing, you've never done this is the best you've ever had why swing you've never done this before now see that to me is a joke that's a solid killer monster clean joke that is very relatable well please i i'm sorry all those people were on your writing staff yeah jay leno jay leno louis anderson elaine boozler ralphie may uh uh uh by oh byron allen started when he was 14 years old

no he started writing for me as doing jokes for me okay i always tell the same thing but it's true uh he was doing comedy claiming he was 18 years old at the store. Got on. One of my writers saw him. He says, do you write? He says, yeah, I do write. He says, could you write for Jimmy Walker? He says, JJ, yeah.

He says, oh, yeah, I could do it. So he calls me up, and I got Leno at the house, and I got Louie at the house, and I got David Letterman at the house, and I got Ralphie May at the house. And I said, well, since Wayne, Wayne the Joke Train, says you're good, why don't you come over to the house and we'll see what you got?

He says, I'll come over, but I have to wait for my mom. I said, why? What's happening? He said, my mom has to drive me over. Wow. I said, drive you over? He says, yeah, I'm 14 years old. I said, oh, okay.

Because his mom worked for NBC. She was on staff over there as a PR gal, right? So he comes over. First joke Byron ever wrote for me, 14 years old, his first joke. He says, white people, black people are much different. He says, white people go to a movie, they don't like it. They say, I would like my money back. He says, black people go to a movie.

He says, I didn't like this movie. I want everybody's money back 14 you wrote that joke see that's the kind of stuff i look for got you and now he just mentioned it but do you get tired of saying nine oh my do people come to you no don't do it no no no i'm not gonna ask him to say no i'm not gonna ask no I would never ask him to say that. But I would say, do you get tired? Because, I mean, people must walk through the street.

People don't really ask because a comedy crowd is different than a TV crowd. You know, they come, if that's all I did, people go, well, it wasn't worth paying to see this guy because that's all he did. But when you see my act people go you know i think some of the best comments i've ever got my guys who are valets because i travel every week to do the road they go hey man we saw that special you did with michael winslow you know we always knew you were funny this is much better than i ever thought that you had i didn't know you had this kind of stuff that to me is like a great compliment I like that you know people ask but I I don't really do it but it's I have I I never did it in my act until recently I found a spot for it and it

works great. What? It's a very good piece. I have to admit that. I wrote it myself. Thank you. I can't really do it now, and it's not dirty. I don't do any dirt or anything like that. That's another thing.

I grew up in a non-dirt area. I'm not kidding. Allegedly, there's 9,000 comics making $25,000 or more, up to the Dave Chappelle $appelle 200 000 a night kind of level i would say there's no more other than the religious guys the ricky smiley type of cats i would say there's no more than 25 clean guys in america and girl girls i am stunned i don't think there's any... Judge Elias is a clean comic. No, she's not.

No, she's not. I'm not. Y'all can't even go with a joke. Shut up. I don't think... To me, I have... They would call me a liar. I guess she's lying.

I got Wendy Liebman. I got Ellen DeGeneres. I got Wendy Liebman. I got Ellen DeGeneres. I got Elaine Boosler. And I'm going to add on three more just for the kicks that maybe I left out. I don't think there's 10 clean women comics in America. I don't think there are. I mean, maybe there's somebody I'm missing. I have not met them.

And see, when I started, women were the cleanest. They were talking about their husbands or their boyfriends. And I think the joke I just did by Elaine, or if you look at Ellen, that to me is the hardest stuff to do. And women now, they're talking about their sexual acts from the beginning. I met this guy, and I went home, and I did this, and I did that, and he couldn't do it. You go, hey, easy. I don't want to know about all that.

You know, it's that kind of stuff like that. Even if they call you back, you don't want to know about all that. Not in a public setting. Oh, gotcha, gotcha. They do it on stage. I mean, they talk about it on stage where you just go, oh, my God. Come on. Is that all you can do to be funny? Yeah, that's it.

And see, I tell comics all the time, whether they're women or men, if you do the F word or whatever, if you only do it once, it will have more impact than just saying it all the time all the time all the time if you say it once or twice it will have tremendous impact you know i always bring up and i don't mean to curse about anything but i always bring up cosby who i think is the most devastating thing i've gone through with the cosby thing because i opened for cosby for like two or three years and i knew they had a lot of women that was a thing that but see to me this is camille's problem it's not our problem it's camille's problem and i think what killed cosby

and i say this all the time was that he got on and he stood on top of a mountain saying i'm america's dad follow me i'm the guy pull your pants up don't use language i think and i've always used this line it's true i think if he hadn't done that if he hadn't been such the guy to just say you can't do this i think it would have gone away and i i use this if it had been mick jagger nobody would have said anything because you know mick jagger has had more women than cosby's had but you'll never know about it because you go it's the rolling stones man what do you expect but cosby us, I would never do that. I raised my kids.

I've done my. So you got to come down off the mountain sometimes, unless you're totally innocent. You agree with that take, Ms. Bernadette? You agree with that take? Yeah. In a way, yeah. You know?

Well, we appreciate you guys for joining us. 15 years of good times. The lyrics to the theme song. Y'all all know that, right? No, I don't know it. I think Ralph knows it. Just looking out of the window, watching the asphalt grow, seeing how it all looks tear me down.

But you're keeping your head above water, making a wave when you can. Temporary layoffs, good times. Easy credit riffle, good times. Scratching in, surviving, good times. Hanging in a chow line, good times easy credit good time scratching and surviving good time good times hanging in a child line no oh it's hanging in the child that's how i interpret it i have the yes it is hanging you have two versions hanging in and jiving but also i have on document in my archive hanging in the child line so they have they said it that way so long they have both versions of it however it really caught on the way that the wonderful um jeanette dubois

wrote this the um the soundtrack for moving on up for the jeffersons jeanette dubois is the is the writer and the musician and the vocalist that sings that song. So that in itself, when you deal with theme songs, and when we were coming on, y'all were gracious enough to play it for us. So it was a nice way to walk into your sound studio and we thank you. So the mystery continues. We still don't know if it's hanging in the chat line.

It's hanging in the chat line. It's hanging in the chat line. It's hanging in the chat line. Google it. It's hanging and jiving. It's hanging and jiving. Yeah, that's what it is. Bernadernadette not gonna have this going on for a while obviously we appreciate you jim jim gillstrap the one who sung it told me he said it was hanging

in and jiving hanging in the job so that's what it was but it came off i don't know if it was the enunciation of it or not but it came off as hanging in a child line it sounds that way but it really was hanging in a drive and there's a second verse that people have never heard that goes to the same song so the information that i do have it has what i'm trying to say that's the roaches that's the roaches singing in the shower so you guys have been wonderful i thank you for thinking enough of us. Again, to your listening audience, we thank you again for a wonderful 50 years. May you be blessed by every breath you breathe and every beat of your heart. Thank you very much. That's right.

It's the Breakfast Club. Good morning. Thank you. Wake that ass up in the morning. The Breakfast Club. Hey, y'all. Niminy here. I'm the host of a brand new history podcast for kids and families called Historical Records.

Executive produced by Questlove, The Story Pirates, and John Glickman, Historical Records brings history to life through hip-hop. Flash, slam, another one gone. Bash, bam, another one gone. The cracker, the bat, and another one gone. The tip of the cap, there's another one gone. Each episode is about a different inspiring figure from history, like this one about Claudette Colvin, a 15-year-old girl in Alabama who refused to give up her seat on the city bus nine whole months before Rosa Parks did the same thing.

Check it. And it began with me. Did you know, did you know? I wouldn't give up my seat. Nine months before Rosa, it was called a four-month. Get the kids in your life excited about history by tuning in to Historical Records. Because in order to make history, you have to make some noise. Listen to Historical Records on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Hey, everyone. This is Courtney Thorne-Smith, Laura Layton, and Daphne Zuniga. On July 8, 1992, apartment buildings with pools were never quite the same as Melrose Place was introduced to the world. We are going to be reliving every hookup, every scandal and every single wig removal together. So listen to Still the Place on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen to podcasts. Jenny Garth, Jana Kramer, Amy Robach, and TJ Holmes bring you I Do Part 2, a one-of-a-kind experiment in podcasting to help you find love again. Hey, I'm Jana Kramer. I'm Jenny Garth.

Hi, everyone. I'm Amy Robach. And I'm TJ Holmes, and we are, well, not necessarily relationship experts. If you're ready to dive back into the dating pool and find lasting love, we want to help. Listen to I do part two on the I heart radio app, Apple podcasts,

or wherever you listen to podcasts. Hey, what's up? This is Ramses job. And I go by the name Q war. And we'd like you to join us each week for our show. Civic cipher. That's right.

We discuss social issues, especially those that affect black and brown people, but in a way that informs and empowers all people. We discuss everything from prejudice to politics to police violence. And we try to give you the tools to create positive change in your home, workplace and social circle. We're going to learn how to become better allies to each other. So join us each Saturday for Civic Cipher on the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcast or wherever you get your podcast. Hey, fam, I'm Simone Boyce.

I'm Danielle Robay. And we're the hosts of The Bright Side, the podcast from Hello Sunshine that's guaranteed to light up your day. Check out our recent episode with actor, former Beverly Hills 90210 star, and podcast host, Jenny Garth. You have to learn to live with yourself and allow yourself to be devastated sometimes. You can get through it, and there is always something on the other side that's waiting for you.

Listen to The Bright Side from Hello Sunshine on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.