A Very Special Episode...

[Khan]

I don't know whether I ever could say I enjoyed Denise Huxtable as a character, or Lisa Bonet Lilakoi Moon as an actress, but I do think both had improved upon her return to TCS. Before, she seemed always to giggle and smirk through her lines, and, well, that just got annoying after awhile. But, you know, when you're filming a sex scene for a glorified snuff film with Mickey Rourke, with fake blood dripping from the walls, you probably realize how off-track your career has become and you need to shape up fast.

[ChitHappens]

I hear Bill Cosby was fuming about that movie.

[Khan]

Me, too. I've never seen such a boring porn movie in all my life.

But really, compared to "Leonard, Part 6" and "Ghost Dad," it was like watching "Masterpiece Theatre."

[Gray Bunny]

Agreed. Loved Olivia, hated the Pam year(s). It was a completely different show with her and her friends.

[Soapsuds]

It was boring and tedious to watch Pam and her friends. Those ass episodes were so damn boring. I didnt see the point in the character at all. The ratings dropped drastically once she showed up. The ratings were still good when Olivia appeared.

[Y&RWorldTurner]

But, TCS did fall out of the #1 spot in the ratings the season Olivia joined, just saying.

[dragonflies]

The later years of ADW are my favs, don't care for the early seasons as much

[SFK]

Absolutely, the same could be said for Good Times.

The later season TJ episodes I remember best tend to be the darker, moodier ones. Like George being stabbed by the girl gang member, Louise's visit to her old apartment (which won IS her Emmy), George being hypnotized and remembering his father's death, Louise witnessing a murder on Halloween, Florence's crooked preacher, Charlie the bartender is an alcoholic, the Whittendales' doberman swan diving to his death off of the Jeffersons' balcony...

[Eric83]

Good Times after James died was horrible.

[SFK]

The first Penny episodes and the return of Penny's mom ("A Matter of Mothers") are probably the finest post-James episodes.

The worst thing about GT is that it got CORNY!! Oh my God, those silly songs and rhymes they had Keith and guest stars do, like, what corny ass writer was responsible for that crap? Unfunny, I can forgive, but corny? No sir.

[Eric83]

I hated Keith with the fire of a thousand suns and HOW IN THE HELL do you have a career ending injury from tripping over someone? I hated that plotline so much and not to mention the episode where he hit Thelma I was just looking at the screen like

Oh and the episode where Thelma's boyfriend was living in a halfway house for commiting bigamy.

[SFK]

LMFAO! SO TRUE! Keith "Glass Knee" Anderson.

[SFK]

That episode was so bizarre. And Thelma annoyed the hell out of me sticking up for him. This is the one where she spits at J.J. that she hates him.

[Khan]

I don't know whether to blame that on the "advent of Olivia," though. IIRC, that also was the season when TCS went up against "The Simpsons" in their time-slot, as well as when "Cheers" finally became the most-watched show on TV.

[Khan]

True that. From S1 until James' death, GT was your typical, Norman Lear-produced, issue-of-the-week-driven series. After that, episodes were "softer," for lack of a better word, less stagey and pointed, and more routine (although Bern Nadette Stanis clearly didn't receive that memo, judging from her oft-screechy performances).

"And the Doorknobs Shined Like Diamonds," written by Michael G. Moye. I floved that episode. It was written and staged almost like a thirty-minute play.