Good Times was a 1970s television sitcom centered on the Evans family, a working-class African American family in a Chicago housing project, exemplifying post-1970s TV's effort to depict strong Black family units and the diversity of African American life (AP African American Studies, Topic 4.18).
Good Times (1974-1979) was a sitcom about the Evans family, a tight-knit, working-class Black family living in a Chicago public housing project. The parents, James and Florida Evans, worked hard to keep the family afloat while raising three kids, and the show mixed comedy with real issues like unemployment, poverty, and life in the projects.
For AP African American Studies, Good Times matters as evidence of a shift. Since the 1970s, African Americans on television have been depicted in ways that attempt to capture the diversity within the culture (EK 4.18.B.1). Good Times showed a loving, intact family facing economic struggle, which pushed back against earlier stereotypes and against the idea that there was only one kind of Black family to put on screen. Put it next to The Jeffersons, which aired around the same time, and you see the range: one show follows a family striving in the projects, the other follows a family that has 'moved on up' to a deluxe apartment. Together they show TV starting to portray Black life as varied, not monolithic.
Good Times lives in Unit 4 (Movements and Debates), Topic 4.18: Black Life in Theater, TV, and Film. It directly supports LO 4.18.B, which asks you to explain how migration and economic growth influenced representations of African Americans in television and film. The show's Chicago setting isn't random. Chicago was a major Great Migration destination, and Good Times portrayed the urban, working-class communities that migration created. It also supports LO 4.18.A by giving you a concrete example of African Americans being represented as complex, realistic people, the same goal Oscar Micheaux pursued in film decades earlier. The big takeaway the CED wants you to land is that post-1970s TV tried to show the diversity within Black culture, and Good Times is one of your go-to examples.
Keep studying AP® African American Studies Unit 4
The Jeffersons (Unit 4)
These two shows are a matched pair. The Jeffersons (1975-1985) depicted Black upward mobility and economic success, while Good Times depicted a working-class family in public housing. Knowing which show represents which experience is exactly the distinction exam questions test.
Oscar Micheaux (Unit 4)
Micheaux's films in the 1920s-1940s presented Black characters as realistic and complex to fight racist depictions in early cinema. Good Times is the TV-era continuation of that project, showing a full, humanized Black family instead of a stereotype. Micheaux paved the road; shows like Good Times drove on it.
The Great Migration (Units 3-4)
Good Times is set in a Chicago housing project, and Chicago was one of the biggest Great Migration destinations. The show's setting reflects how migration reshaped where Black communities lived, which is the migration half of LO 4.18.B.
Soul Train (Unit 4)
Soul Train, created by Don Cornelius, hit national TV in the same era as Good Times. One was a dance and music showcase, the other a family sitcom, and together they show African Americans claiming multiple kinds of space on 1970s television, not just one format.
Good Times shows up most often in multiple-choice questions about post-1970s television representations. A classic stem asks which 1970s show depicted an African American family's upward mobility, and Good Times appears as a tempting wrong answer (the correct answer is The Jeffersons). Other questions ask you to identify the central theme of Good Times itself, which is a strong family unit navigating working-class economic struggle. No released FRQ has used this term verbatim, but it works as concrete evidence for short-answer or project responses about how migration and economic growth shaped Black representation on screen (LO 4.18.B). Your job on the exam is to do two things: name what Good Times portrayed, and contrast it accurately with shows like The Jeffersons.
Both are 1970s Black family sitcoms, so they blur together fast. The difference is class and trajectory. Good Times follows the Evans family, a working-class family in a Chicago housing project holding together through economic hardship. The Jeffersons follows George and Louise Jefferson after they've achieved upward mobility and moved into a wealthy Manhattan apartment. If the question says 'upward mobility,' the answer is The Jeffersons. If it says 'strong family unit facing poverty,' that's Good Times. The CED's point is that having both on air at once showed the diversity within Black life.
Good Times was a 1970s sitcom about the Evans family, a working-class African American family living in a Chicago housing project.
The show's central theme is a strong, loving family unit holding together through poverty and economic struggle, not upward mobility.
Good Times is evidence for EK 4.18.B.1, which says post-1970s television tried to capture the diversity within African American culture.
On multiple choice, don't mix it up with The Jeffersons, which is the era's example of Black upward mobility on TV.
The show's Chicago setting connects television representation to the Great Migration, since shows began depicting the urban communities migration created.
Good Times continues the tradition Oscar Micheaux started in film, presenting Black life as realistic and complex to counter stereotypes.
Good Times (1974-1979) was a sitcom about the Evans family, a working-class Black family in a Chicago housing project. In Topic 4.18, it's an example of post-1970s television depicting strong Black family units and the diversity within African American life.
No, and that's the trap on multiple choice. Good Times portrayed a family struggling economically in public housing. The Jeffersons (1975-1985) is the show that depicted upward mobility, with the Jefferson family moving into a wealthy Manhattan apartment.
Good Times centers a working-class family in a Chicago housing project, while The Jeffersons centers a family that achieved economic success. Together they show the range of Black experiences 1970s TV was starting to portray, which is exactly the point of EK 4.18.B.1.
It supports LO 4.18.B, explaining how migration and economic growth influenced representations of African Americans on TV. Its Chicago setting reflects Great Migration communities, and its themes show TV depicting Black life as varied and complex.
A strong, unified family navigating working-class life and economic hardship together. Exam questions about the show's theme point to the family unit, not wealth or fame.
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