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50 free Good Times trivia questions with answers — entertainment quiz, new questions added Aug 2026.
Good Times ran on CBS from 1974 to 1979 and was television's first sitcom about a Black two-parent family. This Good Times trivia quiz has 50 free questions with answers covering the whole run: the Evans family's Chicago apartment, Florida and James, J.J. and his catchphrase, Thelma, Michael, Willona, Bookman, Penny, and the neighborhood regulars from Sweet Daddy Williams to Ned the Wino. It also digs into what happened off camera: why John Amos was written out, why Esther Rolle left and came back, who painted J.J.'s artwork, who almost played Michael, where the theme song came from and how the series ended. Some questions are easy for anyone who watched the reruns; the later ones are for people who know the episode titles. Every answer was checked against the show's Wikipedia entries and its episode guide, and each question links to the page that establishes it.
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Q 01Good Times was a spin-off of which sitcom, on which Florida Evans had been the housekeeper?
Maude
Maude was itself a spin-off of All in the Family, making Good Times a spin-off of a spin-off; Florida had worked for Maude Findlay in Tuckahoe, New York.
Q 02On which network did Good Times air its entire six-season run?
CBS
It premiered on February 8, 1974 and ended on August 1, 1979, all on CBS.
Q 03Good Times was created by Eric Monte and which actor, best known as Lionel Jefferson?
Mike Evans
Mike Evans, who played Lionel Jefferson on All in the Family and The Jeffersons, co-created the series with writer Eric Monte, whose film Cooley High later inspired What's Happening!!
Q 04Which producer developed Good Times and served as its first executive producer?
Norman Lear
Norman Lear developed the series at Tandem Productions, the company he ran with Bud Yorkin that also made All in the Family and Sanford and Son.
Q 05In which city do the Evans family live?
Chicago
The Evans family lives in a public-housing high-rise in inner-city Chicago, Illinois; the project is never named on screen.
Q 06What is the Evans family's apartment number?
17C
The Evans family's home is apartment 17C, a unit in a public-housing high-rise in a poor inner-city neighborhood; the building is never named on screen.
Q 07Which real housing project is shown in the opening and closing credits?
Cabrini-Green
The show never names the project on screen; the exterior shots were of Cabrini-Green, later demolished.
Q 08What first name did Florida's husband have before Good Times renamed the character James?
Henry
Florida's husband was called Henry on her earlier sitcom; the character was renamed James Evans when Good Times began in 1974, with the same actor in the role.
Q 09What job did Florida's husband hold on her earlier sitcom, before Good Times reworked him?
New York City firefighter
On Florida's earlier sitcom her husband was a New York City firefighter with a middle-class home; Good Times moved the family to the Midwest and into a housing project.
Q 10How far did James Evans get in school, which is why he works manual jobs?
Sixth grade
Sixth grade was as far as James Evans went in school, so he takes manual jobs such as dishwashing and construction, often two at once, and refuses charity.
Q 11Who played James Evans?
John Amos
John Amos played James Evans until the character was written out; he was less than a decade older than Jimmie Walker, who played his teenage son J.J.
Q 12How old was Jimmie Walker when he began playing 17-year-old J.J.?
26
Jimmie Walker was 26 when Good Times premiered in February 1974; born in June 1947, he was nearly a decade older than the 17-year-old J.J.
Q 13What nickname does James give his youngest son Michael, because of his political activism?
The militant midget
"The militant midget" is James's nickname for young Michael, played by Ralph Carter, because the boy loudly champions Black political causes and argues with authority.
Q 21Which comedian used a famously hard-to-hear line of the theme song as a quiz question in his sketch show?
Dave Chappelle
Dave Chappelle's sketch "I Know Black People" on Chappelle's Show asked contestants for the theme's garbled line, which the lyricists later confirmed as "Hangin' in a chow line".
Q 22Which future star filled in as Michael in early rehearsals while Ralph Carter's contract was settled?
Laurence Fishburne
Carter was under contract to a Broadway musical, so early episodes carry a credit that he appears courtesy of that show.
Q 23Ralph Carter had to be bought out of which Broadway musical to play Michael?
Raisin
Q 14What is the name of the Evans family's neighbor and Florida's best friend, played by Ja'Net DuBois?
Willona Woods
Willona Woods, the divorced neighbor down the hall, works at a boutique and is promoted to head buyer in the finale; she is a series regular for all six seasons.
Q 15What is the surname of the building superintendent, nicknamed "Buffalo Butt"?
Bookman
Nathan Bookman, the portly building superintendent played by Johnny Brown, is teased by J.J. and the neighbors as "Buffalo Butt" and, more cruelly, "Booger".
Q 16Which director is credited with J.J.'s catchphrase "Dy-no-mite!" and insisted he say it every episode?
John Rich
Director John Rich pushed Jimmie Walker to say "Dy-no-mite!" in every episode, over the doubts of both Walker and the show's executive producer; the line became a national catchphrase.
Q 17In the season one episode "Black Jesus", who does J.J. use as the model for his portrait of Jesus?
Ned the Wino
J.J. paints Jesus with the face of Ned the Wino, the neighborhood drunk played by Raymond Allen; the family's luck seems to improve while the painting hangs in the apartment.
Q 18Which artist actually painted most of the works credited to J.J. on the show, including The Sugar Shack?
Ernie Barnes
Ernie Barnes painted the canvases shown as J.J.'s work; his 1971 painting The Sugar Shack, seen in the closing credits, was also used as the cover of Marvin Gaye's 1976 album I Want You.
Q 19Who played Keith Anderson, the man Thelma marries?
Ben Powers
Ben Powers played Keith Anderson, who marries Thelma and joins the cast as a regular in the final season; an injury on the wedding day wrecks the career he had lined up.
Q 20Who composed the gospel-styled Good Times theme music?
Dave Grusin
Dave Grusin, the jazz pianist and film composer, wrote the melody, which is sung over a gospel-style choir; Grusin later won an Oscar for scoring The Milagro Beanfield War.
Ralph Carter was appearing in the Broadway musical Raisin, based on A Raisin in the Sun, so the producers bought out his contract; early episodes credit him as appearing courtesy of that show.
Q 24Chip Fields was a finalist for the role of Thelma; which character did she later play instead?
Penny's abusive mother, Lynnetta
Chip Fields lost Thelma to another actress but returned in season five as Penny's abusive mother, Lynnetta, who burns the girl with a hot iron before abandoning her.
Q 25Which magazine ran Esther Rolle's 1975 interview attacking the J.J. character?
Ebony
In a 1975 Ebony interview Rolle said the writers had made J.J. "more stupid" and enlarged the role; she and the actor playing James both pushed for more serious storylines.
Q 26The actor who played James was let go from the show after how many seasons?
Three
Three seasons in, the actor playing James was told his contract option would not be renewed, which he said amounted to being fired for clashing with the producers over J.J.'s buffoonery.
Q 27How was James Evans written out of the show?
Killed in a car accident in Mississippi
Killed in a car accident in Mississippi, James had gone south to start a new job ahead of the family's move out of the projects; the producers chose not to recast the role.
Q 28What is the title of the two-part episode in which James dies?
The Big Move
The Big Move is the two-part episode in which the family, packed to leave the projects for James's new job, learns that he has died.
Q 29Which household object does Florida smash when her grief finally breaks through after James's funeral?
A punch bowl
A punch bowl is what Florida hurls to the floor, crying "Damn, damn, damn!", after holding an eerily cheerful front through the gathering that followed James's funeral.
Q 30Florida leaves after season four, engaged to which shop owner played by Moses Gunn?
Carl Dixon
Carl Dixon, the shop owner played by Moses Gunn, marries Florida off screen; Esther Rolle disliked the storyline partly because Carl was an atheist and Florida a devout Christian.