Good Times (1974–1979): Season 1, Episode 5 - Michael Gets Suspended - full transcript

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City in Hollywood...

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Will you feed your
face someplace else?

I don't remember you
reserving this room.

Sure is a dumb painting.

His arm is twice
as long as his body.

Get lost.



That's the dumbest
painting I ever seen.

Why'd you make
his arm so long, JJ?

Why don't you get lost?

Now, you know,

ain't nobody got
an arm that long.

I'm warning you, girl,

I got one nerve left,
and you dancing on that.

Who ever heard of an arm
twice as long as a body?

You're going to have a lip

twice as fat as your face.

Okay, fine.

I won't say another word.

Good.

Except ain't nobody
got an arm that long.

An arm this long is
going to stretch out

and bust you in your big mouth.

All right, JJ.

Then tell her to
stop bothering me

while I'm painting.

Leave him alone, Thelma.

That's a nice
painting, JJ, real nice.

Son, don't you think
his arm is too long?

You know, the other night
they had a movie on TV

about Van Gogh, the
cat who cut off his ear,

and you know why
he cut off his ear?

'Cause his mother and
sister kept yapping in it.

And you know why
he left the other ear?

So his mama would
have something to box

when he got sassy.

And you stop laughing
and make yourself useful.

Go get the clothes off the bed.

Ma, it's JJ's turn to help.

I did the dishes.

I did the beds.

Florida, would you mind

getting the rest of
the clothes yourself?

Oh, thank you, Florida.

I don't know what
I'd do without you.

Okay, I'll get them.

That's all right. Go
on with your painting.

I like to see you paint.

Mama, someday I'm
going to make you famous.

You know that painting,
"Whistler's Mother"?

Well, someday I'm
going to paint one of you,

just like that, and it'll
hang in a museum.

I wouldn't mind being
like Whistler's Mother.

At least she got a
chance to sit down.

Hi, gang.

Hi, Willona.

Oh, Thelma, I got something
I know you'd be interested in.

There's an article in
there about your main man,

Billy Dee Williams.

Ooh, thanks, Willona.

You won't thank
me when you read it.

It's all about how
happy he is with his wife.

What a hip life that must
be, married to Billy Dee.

When I was your age,

I used to have those
kind of dreams too.

I used to dream about
marrying Errol Flynn.

Florida, you've
got to be kidding!

Errol Flynn?

My name would have
had a nice ring to it.

Florida Flynn.

But Errol Flynn was white, Ma.

Honey, in my day,

those were the only stars
we had to dream about.

It was either Errol
Flynn and Clark Gable

or Stepin Fetchit and Rochester.

Somehow, the sword
seemed a more dashing

than the broom.

Right, Willona?

What do you mean,
"Right, Willona?"

I'm too young to
remember anything

before the Korean War.

Oh, come on, now.
I know your age.

You mess with me, I'll tell it.

Uh, we'll tell on each other.

I don't care.

My children know my age.

I also know your weight.

My lips are sealed.

What is the Picasso
of the projects

painting today?

Ooh. Hey, don't you
think that... I know.

The arm's too long for the body.

No, the body is too
short for the arm.

Keep at it, Junior. When
you're rich and famous,

you can hire somebody
to explain it to me.

Michael!

What are you doing
home from school so early?

You shouldn't be back
for another two hours.

Michael, come here.

Now, answer me.

What are you doing home?

I got suspended.

Suspended? For what?

Nothing.

That's what I used to
always get suspended for.

Michael, a good student like you

don't get suspended for nothing.

Now, why were you sent home?

'Cause I'm black.

I want the truth, Michael Evans.

That is the truth,
Mama. I am black.

Michael, I want know
why you were sent home,

and I want to know now!

I said something my
teacher, Mrs. Danvers,

didn't like.

What?

I told her that
George Washington

was a white racist.

What?

Well, he was, Mama.
He owned slaves.

You little squirt.

Where do you come off

calling the father
of our country

a racist?

Where'd you pick up such trash?

In the library, in a
book on black history.

Well, you still don't
say things like that

about George Washington.

If you had to insult somebody,

you should've played it safe

and picked on somebody
like Benedict Arnold.

Mama, I was just
telling it like it is.

Look, boy...

Mama, "boy" is a
white racist word.

This child is so black,

I'm going to have to
lead a protest march

before he'll say I'm his mama.

Michael, I want you

to go right back to that school

and apologize!

Why? For telling the truth?

Mama, I'm quitting school.
I'm going to get a job.

Aw, come on, Gramps.

Now, don't make a
big hassle out of this.

Go on back to school

and apologize like
your mama said.

Yeah, 'cause Daddy's
going to be home soon,

tired and grouchy
from working all night.

You'd better not let
him see you here.

I don't care.

I'm not going to school

just to learn what they teach.

Then play it my way.

Go to school and
don't learn nothing.

You save that big mouth
of yours for eating, JJ.

Honey, I thought you
wanted to go to college

and be a lawyer.

I do.

Mama, some day, I'm going
to sit on the Supreme Court.

If your father catches you here,

you ain't going to be
able to sit anywhere.

Honey, in Washington's time,

lots of people owned slaves.

You got no call

to be disrespectful
to George Washington

because he owned slaves.

He was a great man.

He was our first president.

He wasn't our president.

He was their president.

No, Michael.

He was our president too.

They're all our presidents.

Why do you think
so many black folks

are named after presidents?

Washington, Jefferson,

Jackson, Lincoln, Roosevelt...

Every president.

It's because they were
all our presidents too.

Ain't no blacks named Nixon.

Look, Michael,

I'm no longer asking
you. I am telling you.

Gramps, come on.

Go on back to school.

No.

Okay, if you don't take back

what you said about
George Washington,

your father's going make sure
you have a Betsy Ross behind...

red, black, and blue.

Mama, I'm ready to
take my punishment.

I knew when I was born black,
life wasn't going to be easy.

When you were born, you
didn't know you was black.

Mama, I got nothing
to be ashamed of,

and I'm not afraid
to face up to Daddy.

Michael, go into that room.

JJ, Thelma, take him in there,

and see that he stays in there

even if you have to sit on him.

Come on, Michael.

It's for your own good.

Mama, I still say I
didn't do anything wrong.

I didn't do nothing wrong!

I knew that child was stubborn

from the time I
carried him in my belly.

JJ and Thelma just
kicked. He stomped.

You've got yourself an
11-year-old Nat Turner.

You'd better get him
back to school and fast.

You can keep this
from James just so long.

I feel just like those
people in California.

They know an
earthquake is coming,

but they don't know what
the heck to do about it.

Whoops, well, here's your
earthquake now, honey.

Good luck.

Hi, James. I was just leaving.

That's all right by me.

I ain't in no mood

to listen to the Rona Barrett

of the projects this morning.

Hi, baby.

Hello, James.

I got your bed ready.

You can go right to sleep.

Hey, wait a minute.

What kind of kiss is that

for a man who's been
working a 16-hour gig?

I'm sorry.

That's more like it.

Come on, now,
let's go beddy-bye.

Beddy-bye?

Later for beddy-bye.

Won't you get me a beer?

You sure you want one
before you go to sleep?

You know how they
run through you...

you'll be up before you're down.

Just get the beer, baby.

I'll take my chances.

Hi, Daddy.

Ain't you asleep yet?

What's going on here?

How come everybody's
in such a big hurry

to get me to go to sleep?

'Cause we know
how tired you are.

Michael, come back here!

No!

I'm sorry, Mama.

I turned my back for a minute,

and he escaped.

Now, what the hell's
happening here?

Now, Michael, what are you
doing home from school so early?

I got suspended.

You what?

I got suspended.

Lord, I know you're busy,
but this is top priority.

I need help, and
I need help quick.

One of the greatest
presidents we ever had,

and you called him a racist?

Well, he was.

Why, you militant midget, you.

Where do you get off
bad-mouthing the man

whose picture is on
our one-dollar bill?

In the shape
the dollar bill's in,

he sure couldn't afford
to buy no slaves now.

I ain't in the mood

for none of your jokes, JJ.

Just trying to ease the tension.

Why don't you ease
back into Thelma's room,

all of you,

'cause I want to talk
to your mother alone.

What you hanging around for?

You going to have a
fight with mama, ain't you?

You'd better believe it.

Well, I think I
should stick around,

'cause I'm the subject.

I'll have my words
with you later.

Now, get.

Florida, were you trying
to hide all this from me?

I wasn't trying to hide
nothing from you, James.

I was just trying to
solve the problem

without bothering you.

You got enough on your mind.

Now, look here, woman.
I'm the father of those kids.

Never denied that.

Any problems to be
solved around here, I'll do it.

It don't make no
difference how busy I am.

I want to know what's going
on in this house every minute.

You got me?

You want all the details?

Damn right.

Okay. I woke up at 7:05,

I got out of the
bathroom at 7:10.

At 7:15, I made hot
oatmeal for the kids.

At 7:40, I washed your shirts.
At 9:10, I went shopping...

All right...

I ain't finished detailing yet.

I bought a dozen eggs,

I looked at the hamburger,
but it was too expensive,

so I moved on over
to the baloney...

Now, look here.

I want to talk to you about
solving these problems.

If you don't think
shopping is a problem,

try going with me sometime.

While they got the whole
world watching the price of gas,

they're sneaking
food prices up again.

Okay, so we've
both got it tough.

Do you think it's easy
working two jobs?

Eight hours in a greasy
spoon, busting suds,

and eight hours in a car wash,

and in the greasy spoon,
everybody orders eggs,

and leaves dried egg
yolk on their plates.

Baby, have you ever tried
scraping dried egg yolk

off of 200 plates,

so don't tell me about
your problems, woman.

I got enough of my own.

I know.

That's how come I didn't
tell you about Michael.

Michael?

That's what we're
supposed to be arguing about

in the first place.

Now, how'd we get
off on egg yolks?

I don't know.

I guess we both were
so upset about Michael

that we start
snapping at each other

for no reason.

You're right, baby.

Now about this suspension,

what are we going to do

about getting him unsuspended?

All he got to do is
apologize to Mrs. Danvers,

but that stubborn
little mule won't do it.

Baby, you leave
that to me, you hear?

Michael? Get your butt out here!

See, there's some things
only a father can handle.

I called for Michael.

What are you two doing out here?

I'm the attorney
for the defense.

Thelma here will act
as court stenographer.

Michael, this is what
we're going to do tomorrow.

I'm going to take off
from work for a few hours,

and you and me are
going down to the school,

and you're going to
apologize to Mrs. Danvers.

Nope.

No?

Did you say no?

You going to talk
that way to me?

Now, does that
make sense to you?

Yep.

Daddy, I've got nothing
to be ashamed of.

You can beat me all you
want to, but I'm not apologizing.

I claim innocence for my client

on the grounds of insanity.

Now, son, when you
mess up in school,

you're messing with
something serious.

Now, you march your
behind back in that room,

and you've got
exactly 10 minutes

to change your mind,

or you're going
to get a whipping

that you'll remember
for the rest of your life.

Now, git!

Hey, James, can a
friend have a vote?

Now, stay out of this, Willona.

This is between me and my son.

I love Gramps and I
care what happens to him.

He's just being a
little stubborn now.

He'll get over it.

I'm going to help
him get over it.

Florida, not only did he

show disrespect to
George Washington,

but he also showed
disrespect to his teacher

and to me, and I'm
not going to have that.

Yeah, some teacher.

I had that Mrs. Danvers
in the sixth grade.

She was 20 years
behind the times then,

and just sitting there
waiting for her retirement.

Yeah, I had her in
the sixth grade too...

twice.

Talk about fat.

Somebody put a tack
on her chair one day,

and it took her 15
minutes to jump up.

Yeah, Mama, but
that's not all of it.

She's so dull,

she should pass you
for just staying awake.

You should see the
way she runs her class.

Good morning, class.

Today, we're going
to learn some facts

about American history.

The War of 1812
was fought in 1812.

Those kids are not
exaggerating, James.

I had her myself
in the sixth grade.

You, Willona?

Why, how long has that
woman been in that school?

How long?

She's been there so long, honey,

she can remember when this
was an all-Indian neighborhood.

James, that's the trouble
in the projects today.

There's just too many students

and not enough good
teachers to go around.

Yeah, well, maybe so, but
it's the only game in town,

and I don't want
Michael getting out of line,

him of all people.

He's got too good
a future for that.

So you're going to beat
the future out of him, huh?

No, baby, I just
want to teach that boy

to have some
respect for authority.

Now, you all go back in the room

and tell your brother he's
got exactly two minutes.

Well, I guess there's
nothing else for me to say,

is there?

Not unless you want

to share Michael's paddling.

Well, this is Rona
Barrett of the projects

with a word of
advice to Willona:

"Get back to your
own apartment."

Bye.

What's the big deal
about apologizing?

You don't have to mean it.

I ain't giving up my principles.

You're going to be
giving up a lot of skin.

Like I told you before, Michael,

when it comes to
getting suspended,

you ain't in for no
ordinary whipping.

You're going to get the VIP job:

Very Intense Pain.

Michael, if you apologize,

I'll give you my
autographed picture

of Billy Dee Williams.

Hey, did he lead
any protest marches?

No, I don't think so.

I ain't interested.

Michael, maybe you're right
about George Washington,

but George already
made his farewell speech...

no reason you making yours.

Listen to JJ.

He might not
ever be right again.

I love y'all both, but nothing's
going to change my mind.

And you're supposed to be
the smart one in the family.

You get good grades in school,

but you'd get
an "F" in survival.

Well, I might as well give you

some of the finer points

in how to get through

one of Daddy's AAA specials.

Now, first, when he
puts you over his knee,

give him one of them soulful
"what did I do wrong" looks.

You can pull it off,

'cause you've got that
sweet, innocent face.

Personally, it never
worked for me.

Yeah, Michael, it
helps to cry a lot.

That's what I always do.

Cry? Men don't cry at whippings.

Don't cry.

Just groan and moan

and make like the world
was coming to an end.

That usually cuts down
on the beating time

considerably.

I intend to suffer in silence.

Well, go ahead and suffer,

but do yourself a favor... yell!

Yeah, Dad's going to say,

"This hurts me as
much as it hurts you."

Make him believe it.

Well, he's had his time.

James, please.

Now, baby, this is
something I've got to do, now.

Lord, make the child's
hide a little tougher

and make James'
belt a little softer.

All right, you two, out.

Well, I got one last thing
to say to you, Michael...

better you than me.

Junior, if you don't split,

you're going to be next!

Well, Michael?

Hey! Now, don't rush me.

We might as well
get it over with.

I'll set the pace around
here if you don't mind.

Before I do what I got to do,

at least give me a chance

to explain why I'm doing it.

See these hands, son?

What do they mean to you?

They're the ones
that's going to hit me.

No, I mean these
calluses, Michael.

Son, that's why I want
you to finish school,

so your hands don't
never have to look like this.

That's why I don't
take no excuses

when you mess up in school.

I'd rather you be
hurt a little bit now

than hurt for the
rest of your life.

You understand?

What the hell is your big hurry?

One of my heroes,
Crispus Attucks,

wasn't afraid
when his turn came.

Now, who was Crispus Attucks?

He was a black man.

He was the first man to
die in the Revolutionary War.

One of us fought in
the Revolutionary War?

More than one.

There was Peter Salem.

He was the hero at Bunker Hill.

Well, I'll be damned.

But the school don't
teach you about that.

They also don't teach you

about Dr. Daniel Hale Williams.

He did the first
open heart surgery

in this country.

Or about Pedro
Alonzo Nino, who...

Oh, now, wait a minute.

Any cat named Pedro Alonzo
Nino couldn't be no brother.

Well, he was. He
sailed with Columbus.

A spook sailed with Columbus?

That's right.

He did the rowing, didn't he?

He was a navigator.

You know what, son?

Next Columbus Day,
I'm taking off from work.

James Evans, I
just can't stand...

Baby, did you know

a spook sailed with Columbus?

A black man

also helped to
discover the North Pole.

The North Pole?

Hell, I bet we also
discovered the South Pole,

East Pole, and West Pole.

Michael, where did you
learn all that stuff from?

In my black history book.

Son, what made you go
to the black history book?

Well, Mama,

there was nothing about
us in the other ones,

and I just knew we had
to have done something.

But you wouldn't have
gone to the black book

if you hadn't read
the other one.

I don't understand.

What I'm trying to say is

if you hadn't found
something wrong

in the first book
you was reading,

you would never go
to the second book.

School ain't perfect, you know,

but that's no call to drop it.

It's got a lot of good in it.

You take that good and
use it... you understand?

Yeah, son, you suck it dry

of all the knowledge you can,

and if that ain't enough,
then you get some more,

but you get what's there.

Michael, you can't drop out.

We ain't even dropped in yet.

There's one more thing

I want to say to you, son.

I want to apologize

for wanting to give
you a whipping.

Daddy, you apologizing to me?

Mm-hm.

Well, if you can do that,
I can go back to school

and apologize to Mrs.
Danvers tomorrow.

Well, all right.
Now, that's my man.

Mama, you seen my
black history book?

I got to take it back
to the library tomorrow.

Must be where you left it.

Beats me.

Hey, Thelma?

You seen my black history book?

No!

I've got enough
troubles reading about

Billy Dee Williams'
happy marriage.

Hey, JJ, you seen
my black history...

Back off, Jack!

It's got to be around
here someplace.

Hey, baby,

you see what it says here
in Michael's history book?

Daddy, I've been looking
all over for that book.

I've got to take it back
to the library tomorrow.

Well, you can just
get it renewed, mister,

'cause I ain't
finished with it yet.

Baby, it says here
that Alexander Dumas...

you remember the guy

that wrote "The
Three Musketeers"?

Said he was black.

He was?

If he was black,
he sure blew it.

He should've named
those three dudes

Jimmy Brown,
Shaft, and Superfly.

♪ Mmm ♪

♪ Just looking out
of the window ♪

♪ Watching the asphalt grow ♪

♪ Thinking how it all
looks hand-me-down ♪

♪ Good Times Good Times ♪

♪ Keeping your
head above water ♪

♪ Making a wave when you can ♪

♪ Temporary layoffs ♪

♪ Good Times ♪

Good Times is recorded on tape

before a live audience.

♪ Ain't we lucky we got 'em ♪

♪ Good Times ♪♪