Good Times (1974–1979): Season 5, Episode 5 - Thelma Moves Out - full transcript

♪ Good times ♪

♪ Any time You meet a payment ♪

♪ Good times ♪

♪ Any time You need a friend ♪

♪ Good times ♪

♪ Any time You're
out from under ♪

♪ Not gettin' hassled
Not gettin' hustled ♪

♪ Keepin' your
head Above water ♪

♪ Makin' a wave When you can ♪

♪ Temporary layoffs ♪

♪ Good times ♪



♪ Easy credit Ripoffs ♪

♪ Good times ♪

♪ Scratchin' And survivin' ♪

♪ Good times ♪

♪ Hangin' In a chow line ♪

♪ Good times ♪

♪ Ain't we lucky We got 'em? ♪

♪ Good times ♪

[LAUGHING]

Well, thanks for dinner, Paul.

I just love Chinese food.

Oh, see, I really got lucky
with my fortune cookie,

didn't I?

I mean, I gotta have
this thing framed.



"He who reaches out will
attain passionate romance."

But remember what mine said:

"He who reaches
out will attain fat lip."

[BOTH LAUGH]

Uh, would you like to come in?

Well, if you're sure

we're not gonna be
waking anybody up.

No, we have the living
room to ourselves.

Well, great.

I'll turn on the light, okay?

Okay. All right.

Just keep talking

I'll follow the
sound of your voice.

Okay, you're getting warmer.

Is this warm enough, cupcake?

Hey! What's going on here?

Man, what is this madness?

Hey, come on now!

J.J., what are you doing here?

Who are you?

I'm cupcake, who are you?

Hey, what's going on here?

Who's that?

Who are you?

Paul, these are my brothers.

Thelma, I thought you told me...

Oh, J.J., Michael, what
are you doing out here?

We're not sleeping,
that's for sure.

Gimme, J.J. I'm gettin' out.

Hey, Michael.

Come back here with
those blankets, man.

I feel like a naked
chicken out here.

Well, chicken, here
are your feathers!

Hey, what's your problem?

J.J., you and Michael
have your own room now.

Why aren't you in it?

'Cause Penny's
sleeping in there.

We're babysittin' for Willona.

You could have let
Penny sleep in my room.

Look here, Thelma.

Now, Penny's goin'
through her formative years.

If the first thing
she was to see

in the morning was your face,

the girl would
be ruined for life.

Look, maybe I just
better leave, okay?

But wait a minute,
Paul, don't leave.

This is ridiculous.

Don't leave right now.

It does my heart good to
see young people in love.

Welcome to the family, bro.

J.J., what are
you talking about?

I just wanna make sure
Paul's intentions are honorable.

This is just our first date!

Oh, so that's your plan, huh?

Take young ladies
to their own apartment

and love 'em and leave 'em.

Do I look like I'd do
something like that to Thelma?

Oh, so Thelma's not
good enough for you, huh?

Thelma? Um, Paul,

I think it's time for you to go.

Will you call?

Would you?

J.J., are you crazy?

This is the third time
you've pulled a stunt like that

since Ma's been away.

Thelma, you're better off.

You didn't need him.

The man was all hands.

J.J., would you mind
your own business?

You are not my
father! [KNOCKING]

Hey, look here, Thelma.

I'm the oldest, I'm looking
out for your well-being...

[BOTH ARGUE]

Isn't anyone gonna
answer the door?

Now look what you did.

You woke Penny up.

I woke her up?

You're the one who
started this thing first.

And look, you're
invading my privacy.

Look here, girl. You're
invading the planet

with that old ugly
Martian face of yours.

[KNOCKING]

Speaking of invasions,

we've just been
invaded by a buffalo butt.

Very funny.

Look, the neighbors
are complaining

about some noise
coming from this apartment.

They can't sleep.

So they call on me.
Now I can't sleep.

And if I can't sleep, Mrs.
Bookman can't sleep.

And when Mrs. Bookman
can't sleep, she gets mean.

When I say mean, I mean,
mean as "Mean" Joe Greene.

Mr. Bookman?

Yes, Penny.

Does Mrs. Bookman know
you're wearing her clothes?

And look, what's
going on around here?

This is a family matter,
it doesn't concern you,

so butt out! Wait a minute...

Hold on, let me handle
this. Let me handle this.

Now, see, Bookman is
not no ordinary janitor.

This man's a scholar.

He's beyond the normal
realm of human being.

This man's a janitorial engineer

and he should be
treated like one.

Butt out, rhino rump!

See, Thelma, it's
now what you say,

it's how you say it.

That's why Ma left me in charge.

Ma didn't leave you in charge.

You have taken charge...

That's right, 'cause
I'm the oldest...

Quiet!

Michael's trying to sleep.

Ooh, I'm sorry I'm late.

What a night we
had at the store.

We're taking
inventory, you know.

We kept on coming
up with this extra coat.

And after two and a
half hours of searching,

we discovered it was mine.

Penny, what are you
doing up this late at night?

Well, I was asleep,

but then Thelma came
home with her boyfriend

and he ended up
in bed with J.J...

who he called cupcake,

which made Thelma
throw a pillow at him

because, see, he and
Michael were supposed to sleep

in her room tonight.

Then J.J. threw
the boyfriend out

and that made
Thelma real mad at J.J.

'cause he's not her father.

And then rhino rump came in mad

'cause he's married
to Mean Joe Greene

and that's the
name of that tune.

Willona, let me explain.

Mm-hmm See, being
the head of the house...

As head of nothin'.
J.J., I'm tired of the way

you trying to run
things around here!

Me? What did I do wrong?

Well, for one thing,

you're always
screening my boyfriends.

Telling me how to run my life.

Complaining about my cooking.

Strutting around like
some dumb peacock,

and just making it
miserable for me!

Yeah, but what did I do wrong?

Kids, do you know
what time it is?

Let us talk about this tomorrow,

in the morning.

J.J., you better stop
bossing me around!

Look here, Thelma,
I'm the oldest

and Ma left me in charge.

And if you don't like it,
you know what you can do.

Yeah, I know what I can do,

and that's exactly
what I'm gonna do,

I'm gonna do it!

Hey, hey, hey! [BOTH ARGUE]

Hold it! Hold it!

Hold it! [CONTINUE ARGUING]

Come on, Penny, come
on. You go on home.

Go home and get in the bed.

Here.

Aw, Willona, do I
have to? Yes, you do.

Turn on the television set
and I'll be right home, okay?

But this is better than TV.

Penny, come on. You go home.

Out of here.

Go on, all right?

Okay, okay, Penny's
gone. Now, Thelma,

we have some talking to do.

Well, pardon moi.

I have more important
things to attend to.

Okay, Thelma, come on.
Tell me what this is all about.

Willona, J.J. is
just impossible.

Oh, now, Thelma. You know J.J.

He's hard on the
outside, but he's like a little

mushy paper inside.
You know that.

I always said that
about his brain.

J.J., get outta there!

Does a king leave his castle?

Willona, you see what I mean?

Has Hurricane
Thelma blown over yet?

Yeah.

You can get back in the bed now.

Where is Gramps?

You get out of my bed.

Doesn't anybody get
any sleep around here?

Thelma, you're upset.

J.J., you're not
helping matters any.

Can we talk about it
in the morning, okay?

Okay, I'll go to sleep and
we'll talk about it in the morning.

Good.

And then I am moving out!

[DOOR SLAMS]

Hey, good morning, everybody.

Hi, Willona. How's it going?

Real fine, real fine.

Heh-heh-heh. Where's Thelma?

She's still sleeping.

This late?

Don't wake her up, Willona.

I'm trying to eat
breakfast here.

She may want to
come in here and cook.

Thelma?

That's strange.
She's not in there.

She's not?

Oh, Willona, she probably
just went for a walk.

She'll be back.

Thelma, where were you, honey?

Oh, I was out thinking about
what happened last night.

I was thinking about it too.

And I'm thinking that perhaps
your moving out is a good idea.

You do?

Mm-hmm, but on the other hand,

you are young, you
got your whole future.

Right.

Then again, on the other hand,

kids do grow up
quicker these days.

Exactly.

But then again,

you do have some
kinda family obligation.

Hear! Hear!

Then again, on the other hand,

Thelma needs her space,
and the freedom to grow.

Amen.

But on the other hand...

Willona, you got more
hands than that dude

who came over here last night.

J.J., will you get off my case?

Now, Willona, what
do you really think, huh?

Well, I really think that you
are ready, and dependable

and capable enough to
make your own decisions.

If you feel in your heart you
need a place of your own,

then, honey, God bless.

Oh, thank you, Willona!

But on the other
hand... Willona!

Come on. I'll help
you find an apartment.

Willona, I already found one.

Hold on, there, girl.

As executive
chief of this family,

I got to veto that vote

on the grounds that
unleashing you upon mankind

in Americana

will constitute cruel
and unusual punishment.

Overruled!

Hey, Thelma, what's
your place look like?

Oh, Michael, it's perfect.

It's right near campus
so I can walk to school,

and one of my roommates
is a girl in my dance class,

and do you know,

my share of the
rent is only 50 bucks.

Oh, hey, that's reasonable.

When you plannin' on
moving? The first of the month?

[LAUGHS NERVOUSLY]

Uh, not exactly, Willona.

What you mean,
"Not exactly, Willona"?

Uh, I'm moving in today.

What?

Well, Willona, this is
it. What do you think?

Well, it reminds me of home.

The elevator's
broken, and it's dirty.

Oh, Willona, wait
till you see inside.

Hi Oh, I'm sorry,

we must have the
wrong apartment.

Uh-uh. This is
Alvin Oh, hi, Alvin.

We still got the
wrong apartment.

No, no, no. Alvin is
one of my roommates.

One of your roommates?

[LAUGHS NERVOUSLY]

Um, Willona, come on in.

Alvin, I'd like you to
meet Willona Woods.

She's a friend of the family's.

Hello.

Hello.

I hope you're going jogging.

Huh?

Jogging.

[CHUCKLES]

[IMITATES CHUCKLING]

Thelma, you didn't mention

that one of your
roommates was a man.

Willona, I grew up
in the same house

with two brothers.

What's the difference?

There's a big difference, honey.

Oh, Karen, I'd
like you to meet...

Don't tell me, don't tell me.

You must be Mrs. Evans.

Marvelous to see you.

You know, you look
just like your daughter.

Karen, this is
my friend Willona.

Whatever.

Um, this is my
roommate, Karen Clay.

How are you, Karen?

Thelma, I got these boxes here.

Where do you want me...?

Well, well, well.

You didn't tell me the
apartment came with

built-in delectables.

The clarinet with
feet is my brother J.J.

This is Karen. Hi.

Enchanté, señorita.

Oh, my goodness.

Ah, Willona, come
on, let me show you

around the place. Okay.

Uh, take the long route.

Go by the river.

I guess by now, Thelma told you

that I'm an artiste.

Painting is my game.

Do you have your own studio?

No, I gave up my
big, three-block studio

down in the loop

for a high-paying position
as an advertising executive.

Heh-heh-heh. Sell out!

I bet you enjoy
duping the masses

into buying worthless
garbage they can't even use.

It's people like you

that should be put up
against a wall and shot.

Uh, lady, I just draw pictures.

What you think? How
you like my place?

Well, it's, uh, full of stuff

and, well, it's, uh...

I guess you'd say it was cozy.

[SCREAMS]

[INAUDIBLE DIALOGUE]

This is Bear.

Our other roommate.

Uh, hi.

Ahhhh!

Oh, Willona, I know
what you're thinking.

I'm thinking I might
never use that hand again.

Thelma, honey, listen now,

if cuckoo-eyes
sleeps in one room,

and you and Bubbly Bert
sleep in the other room,

Where does Bear sleep?

Anywhere he wants to.

Willona, there's really
nothing to worry about.

You see, the four of
us are just roommates.

Hey, I'm hungry. Ain't we got

nothin' to eat in this house?

Bear, don't you touch my frog!

Frog? In the refrigerator?

Sure. I'm a biology major.

Hey, would you like to
meet Thor, my tarantula?

Wait, I'll get him.

I think I'll, uh... I'll
wait for you downstairs.

You mean to tell me
the big advertising genius

is afraid of a
little bitty spider?

Uh, the only thing I wanna see

with eight legs are
The Pointer Sisters.

Thelma, I got to
go home too, honey.

Okay. You take care of yourself,

do your homework, eat well,
if you need anything, call me.

You know where I'll be.

Willona, you
sound like a mother.

Do I? Ain't that terrible?

Wait a minute.

I am Penny's mother.

And us mothers
got a strong union.

Oh, Willona, I love you.

I love you too, honey.

Take care, y'all.

This here is Thor.

Hey, where did everybody go?

You mean to tell me
we ain't got nothing to eat

in this house? Oooh!

Hey!

Isn't Thelma ever coming home?

Well, Penny, right now,
Thelma's happy where she is.

Yeah, she has her own
friends and her own life, baby.

She's been gone
for three weeks now

and I wish I could
tell her I miss her.

Oh, sugar, we all miss her,

but it's important
we don't let her know.

Why not?

Well, Penny, because

we don't want Thelma
to think that we miss her.

Why not?

Well, because it would
make her unhappy.

I don't understand.

That's because
you're not a grownup.

Boy, life is a lot more
simple when you're a kid.

Uh, let's get back
to the cookin'.

What's next?

"A quarter teaspoon of pepper."

A quarter teaspoon of pepper.

Quarter teaspoon...

That's about a quarter teaspoon?

Yeah. Okay.

"A dash of hot sauce."

You put the dash in, honey.

Okay.

That's good. That's good.

And what do I do now?

"And stir until..."

Okay, stir until... Until what?

"Stir until..."
continues on page six.

Well, turn to page six.

Find page six, honey?

There is no page six.

Then what do we do now?

What do you mean
"we," Betty Crocker?

Hi, everybody!

[IN UNISON] Thelma!

I thought I'd just
drop by 'cause

I was in the neighborhood

and pick up the
rest of my things

How you doing?

Well, um, I'm doing fine, great.

I couldn't be better. Good.

I bet you things are
just not the same

around here without me, huh?

They sure aren't. We really...

What Penny means is
that we've been so busy,

honey, we haven't had
a chance to even realize

or notice you was gone.

Yeah, Thelma, you know,
it's the first time in my life

I've ever had a
bed all to myself.

Uh, well, I see you guys
are getting ready to eat.

Maybe I came at the wrong time.

Uh... No, honey, come on.

I cooked, we got plenty.
You can have some.

That's all right.

I got dinner waiting for
me at home, see, so...

What I'll do is just go
get my things, you know?

Okay, Penny, let's
serve up the stuff.

Get the chili bowls...
Get out of here.

What have you done to my room?

I've given it something it's
never had before, Thelma.

Class.

J.J., you call Lola Falana
on the ceiling, class?

And what's that old fake fur
doing up there on the wall?

Thelma, I'll have you know

that is 100 percent genuine

imitation zebra skin.

Oh, my goodness.

Where's my bed
and all my furniture?

Everything's gone!

Honey, nothing is gone.

We put it all down in
storage in the basement.

That's right, 'cause
it was cluttering up

my room.

What do you mean, your room?

Well, I guess it is
your room now, huh?

Well, I gotta run.

Thelma, you sure you won't stay
and have some dinner, honey?

No, uh-uh. It'll be okay.

I'll call.

Okay, you take care
of yourself, you hear?

Come on, baby, let's eat.

Oh, boy, we miss Thelma
and we didn't even tell her.

I bet she missed us
and she didn't tell us.

Are you sure you grownups
know what you're doing?

Well, I'm home.

Ooh, girl, you
missed a great dinner,

but we saved you some.

Oh, good, 'cause I am starving.

Where is it?

The Bear ate it.

Again?

Thelma, your
share for this week's

grocery bill comes to $15.90.

For what?

I didn't eat nothing.

Look, we all take our
chances with the Bear.

Well, that's all right.

I gotta study anyway.

[DISCO MUSIC PLAYING]

Bear! Would you mind
doing that someplace else?

I'm trying to study.

Thelma, I go where
the music takes me.

Oh, Thelma,

your share for this month's
phone bill comes to $23...

Oh, now, come
on. That's ridiculous.

I didn't make no calls
to no Bowlie, Oklahoma,

or anywhere else long distance.

Look, we split all
bills equally four ways.

How can I use the phone
when I can't even find it?

Look at this place!

Now, I know I cleaned
it up from top to bottom

before I left this morning.

Uh-huh, and you
did a good job too.

Look, Paul's coming
here in a few minutes.

Do you think
there's a possibility

that somebody else
can clean up for once?

Well, you don't have to shout.

Who's shouting?

Bear!

Get out that bathroom now!

[DISCO MUSIC PLAYS]

[MUSIC CUTS OFF]

[KNOCKING ON DOOR]

Oh. Hi, Thelma.

Hi, Paul, how you
doing? Okay, okay.

Come on in.

Hey, I really like your
new place, Thelma.

I think.

Uh, look, I brought you
a little housewarming gift.

Ha-ho! Chocolate cherries.

Chocolate cherries?

Whoo-hoo!

Chocolate cherries! Mmm.

Here, Alvin, have some.

I don't mind if I do.

What you doin'?

Will you stop it!

Get outta here. Will you...

I must say... What...?!

Thelma, you didn't tell me
we were having company.

Haven't we met somewhere before?

No.

But you look familiar, uh...

Well, she ought to.

She's wearing my blouse.

Uh, would you
mind taking it off?

If you insist.

Wait, no, not here!

Hi, I'm Karen.

Uhhh, would you like some candy?

Ooh, chocolate cherries
with the gooey centers!

Did you bring them just for me?

Uh, no, I... No, he didn't!

Now, if you don't
get outta here,

I'll have something
just for you.

Well, time to go.

Oh, don't go.

All right! All right!

Thor's gone!

Has anybody seen my tarantula?

I'm going. Thor?

I'll call you. I'll call you.

I'll call you as soon as I can.

You know, Thelma,
he's kinda cute.

Look, I don't dig you
flirting with my boyfriend.

You got that?

Look, baby,

in this pad we share everything.

Well, then, good.

Maybe you'd like to share
some chocolate cherries.

[KNOCKING]

Oh, J.J., what are
you doing here?

I brought the rest of the
stuff from the basement.

You're lucky, the
rats only ate half of it.

Oh, J.J.!

Thelma.

Now, I know I have this
uncanny effect on women,

but you're my sister.

There, there, Thelma.

Tell brother J.
What the problem is.

Oh, J.J., I'm a failure.

Thelma, how can you say that?

I guess I was wrong.

I just wasn't ready
to try my wings.

I left two people I really love

to move in with three cuckoos.

Thor? Tho...

I still can't find my tarantula.

Thor?

Uh, look here, bro.

Either your spider is over here

or your shirt's going
to the laundry by itself!

Thor!

Come to papa.
Yes, I still love you.

I just can't believe
this. I really can't.

Thelma, I never
thought I would say this,

but I've finally found
somebody's cooking

who's worse than yours.

Willona's.

Thelma, will you come home?

J.J., you don't want me.
You're just saying that.

No, Thelma, I really mean it.

Will you come home?

I can't.

Pretty please.

What about you
trying to run my life?

All right, Thelma.

I promise I won't ever
try to run your life again.

Good.

Now get this.

You get Lola
Falana off the ceiling.

You get that fake
fur off my wall.

And get all my things
put back into my room

where they belong
because, J.J...

I'm coming home!

[♪♪♪]

♪ Just lookin' Out
of the window ♪

♪ Watchin' the asphalt grow ♪

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

♪ Good times ♪
♪ Hey, yeah ♪

♪ Good times ♪

♪ Keepin' your
head Above water ♪

♪ Makin' a wave When you can ♪

♪ Temporary layoffs ♪

♪ Good times ♪

♪ Easy credit Ripoffs ♪

♪ Good times ♪

ANNOUNCER: Good Times was
videotaped in front of a studio audience.

♪ Good times ♪