Sitcom: Good Times
Episode: Penny’s Christmas
Year: 1977
Story line: Penny is nabbed for shoplifting at Christmas.
Details: Tivo offered up two Christmas episodes of Good Times. I chose the older version, though it wasn’t old enough. This one aired well after Good Times had jumped the shark. Florida and James, the mother and father, are long gone at this point. Willona stops by to check on J.J., Michael and Thelma here and there, and she’s trying to adopt Penny. In a nutshell, Penny wants to get her mother a necklace, but a pickpocket steals her wallet. So Penny shoplifts the necklace. And gets brought home by a store security guard just as a child welfare worker is at the house to tell Willona they’re going to finalize the adoption. Or not. Of course, eventually they do, but not before the geeky white child welfare worker gets whacked on eggnog and hijinks ensue. Overall, this show had a nyuk or two, but it’s mostly pretty lame. Lots of catastrophically bad one-liners strung together, most of them duller than yesterday’s Christmas wrapping.
Nipple ripple: Janet Jackson plays Penny. Janet Jackson had a wardrobe malfunction. Elaine Benes had a wardrobe malfunction on her Christmas card in an episode of Seinfeld. Proving once again that there are seven nipples of separation across TV Land’s Christmas universe. Or something like that.
Killer quote: “It’s a good thing you got (this tree) off the street. It could have been arrested for indecent exposure.” Michael, referring to the Charlie Brown Christmas tree that J.J. dragged home.
Ebenezer alert: The easy choice would be the pickpocket who nabs Penny’s wallet. But I’m voting J.J. here. Kid Dy-No-Mite is phoning this one in. He’s a minor player in this episode, and his one extended bit involves him pulling out the Betsy Wetsy doll hidden in the freezer and making sure Penny sees it before Christmas. His late appearance as a boney, funky Santa doesn’t do much to save him. Dy-No-Mite my ass.
Childhood memory: I liked this show in the early going and seem to recall that it competed in the Happy Days time slot, forcing us to choose. We were opting for Good Times at one point, but I don’t think it lasted long. I have no recollection of this episode, or any of the post-mom and -dad episodes, for that matter. My early recollection of it was as a funny but somewhat gritty look at inner-city life. It quickly devolved into a clown act starring J.J. But damn. Thelma was hot.