TVSquad

There is something I forgot to be thankful for at my Thanksgiving dinner last week. After being thankful for family, friends, health, abundance, etc., etc., I should have stopped and told everyone I know "Thank goodness for TV Land."

Every time I run into a TV Land marathon of one of my favorite old-time shows, I have to force myself to not whittle away the entire weekend in front of the TV. But sometimes they come in handy; a recent Night Court marathon kept me going as I worked all night trying to squelch a computer virus at work (I'm also thankful for VPNs... I was able to work from home). But they are also a good way to analyze the complete run of a classic program and reconsider  long-held impressions you may have had, usually leaving the show worse off in your estimation than before the marathon began.

Most people "of a certain age" know some of the details behind the development of this show.  It started out being a sitcom about the trials and tribulations of an African-American family living in the projects on the south side of Chicago, but it eventually became a showcase for comedian Jimmie Walker and his character, J.J. "Dy-no-mite!" Evans. It was hard for the producers, among them the legendary Norman Lear, to resist the rubber-faced beanpole's popularity with the audience, and, by the second season, the rest of the cast was there merely to serve as straight men for J.J.

This was a pretty unfortunate circumstance, as it pretty much squelched any character development for the rest of the cast, which is something the writers could have used to generate more believable situations and humor. For instance, I had forgotten that early on, the character of Michael Evans was pretty much a Junior Black Panther, always protesting something or other that had to do with civil rights. But as J.J. became more prominent, the "Millitant Midget," as dad James called him, disappeared, and what remained of the Michael character just issued cute one-liners that seemed snappy when the he was 12 but kind of creepy when he was 18.

Other characters disappeared, too; John Amos, who played James, got fired after he told a reporter that he didn't like the direction in which the show was going, and Esther Rolle, who played Florida, left a year later because she was reportedly unhappy with the poor role model the writers had made J.J. into. So, at this point, the inspiring sitcom about a cohesive family unit trying to make it in the projects turned into a show about three kids -- older, but still kids -- trying to make it on their own, just the opposite of the original intention. Heck, by the end of the series, gossipy Willona was more responsible than all the Evanses put together, having adopted little Penny.

It was fascinating to watch the show devolve in front of my eyes from a funny sitcom with social values to a cringeworthy show full of caricatures. And that's something that doesn't really happen when the you watch a show week-by-week for years; you may percieve a change, but it doesn't hit you with the same force as it does when shown in all one sitting.

Oh, another thing about a TV Land marathon: if you watch one, you'll be sure to be humming the show's theme song for a week. "Keepin' your head above water... making a wave when you can..."