8.6/10129 votes#1 - The Evans Get Involved (1)
Season 5 Episode 1 - Aired 9/21/1977
When a young girl, Penny Gordon follows J.J. home, she quickly insinuates herself into the Evans household and makes up stories about her life, including forgetting to mention she has an abusive mother.
Director: Gerren Keith
Writer: N/A
- 8.3/10110 votes
#2 - The Evans Get Involved (2)
Season 5 Episode 2 - Aired 9/21/1977
Willona and the Evans children are convinced that Penny is being abused, but when Willona takes Penny to see a doctor about a broken arm, he refuses to believe she's being abused.
Director: Gerren Keith
Writer: Sid Dorfman
- 8.3/1089 votes
#3 - The Evans Get Involved (3)
Season 5 Episode 3 - Aired 9/28/1977
Willona and the Evans kids are stunned to discover that Penny and her mother have moved. They are equally stunned when they discover Penny hiding the Evans apartment. Later, Penny's abusive mother abandons her leaving Willona to ponder adopting the battered youth.
Director: Gerren Keith
Writer: N/A
- 8.1/1088 votes
#4 - The Evans Get Involved (4)
Season 5 Episode 4 - Aired 10/5/1977
Willona worries over whether or not she will be able to adopt Penny. Meanwhile, a well meaning, Bookman, tries to help out by telling the social worker, that he's married to Willona, this only makes things worse when the social worker learns the truth.
Director: Gerren Keith
Writer: N/A
- 7.2/1081 votes
#5 - Thelma Moves Out
Season 5 Episode 5 - Aired 10/12/1977
Fed up with having no privacy and being burdened by two brothers, Thelma decides to move out and into an apartment that is shared by three other roommates.
Director: Gerren Keith
Writer: Kim Weiskopf
- 7.8/1088 votes
#6 - Willona, the Fuzz
Season 5 Episode 6 - Aired 10/19/1977
Willona is offered a new job but her morals force her to refuse it. However, when Penny has her heart set on figure skating lessons, Willona decides to set her morals and values aside and take the job for the extra money.
Director: Gerren Keith
Writer: Sid Dorfman
- 7.3/1073 votes
#7 - Wheels
Season 5 Episode 7 - Aired 11/2/1977
J.J. and his friends become partners in the ownership of car, a car that they foolishly bought from Bookman. However, the quality of the car is minor compared to the constant fighting over who gets to use it.
Director: Gerren Keith
Writer: Al Schwartz, Kim Weiskopf
- 7.1/1080 votes
#8 - Breaker, Breaker
Season 5 Episode 8 - Aired 11/9/1977
Michael passes himself off as J.J. while using a CB radio and quickly discovers he's not the only one who's putting on an act. A girl he contacts who calls herself Fun Girl really turns out to be a paraplegic.
Director: Gerren Keith
Writer: N/A
- 6.8/1072 votes
#9 - Bye, Bye, Bookman
Season 5 Episode 9 - Aired 11/16/1977
The conditions in the building become to much for Willona, Penny and the Evans kids to bare so they decide to circulate a petition that would terminate Bookman as the superintendet. However, Bookman and his wife, hatch a plan to save his job.
Director: Gerren Keith
Writer: N/A
- 7.1/1078 votes
#10 - Thelma's Brief Encounter
Season 5 Episode 10 - Aired 12/7/1977
Thelma begins dating a man named Lloyd Williams, however, suspicions run rampant between J.J., Willona and Michael who become convinced he's married. However, J.J. makes a discovery that surprises everyone.
Director: Gerren Keith
Writer: Bruce Kalish
- 7.0/1079 votes
#11 - Requiem for a Wino
Season 5 Episode 11 - Aired 12/14/1977
Fishbone, a wino, complains that he has no friends and quickly discovers he has many when a vagrant steals his wallet and is later killed in a car accident. Everyone assumes, Fishbone is the one that was killed and they hold a wake.
Director: Gerren Keith
Writer: N/A
- 7.4/1078 votes
#12 - Penny's Christmas
Season 5 Episode 12 - Aired 12/21/1977
After getting her wallet stolen, Penny steals a necklace from a department store in a desperate attempt to try to get Willona a Christmas gift. However, Penny's attempts may lead to Willona losing custody of her.
Director: Gerren Keith
Writer: N/A
- 6.9/1066 votes
#13 - No More Mr. Nice Guy
Season 5 Episode 13 - Aired 1/4/1978
Michael's apathetic behavior towards household chores and homework leads J.J. to put his foot down and to step in as a father figure. He really comes down hard when Michael and Penny are arrested for being in a stolen vehicle.
Director: Gerren Keith
Writer: Dan Wilcox
- 7.0/1067 votes
#14 - Willona's Mr. Right
Season 5 Episode 14 - Aired 1/11/1978
Willona's old boyfriend arrives back in town and asks Willona her hand in marraige. However, Willona turns him down since his job would have her and Penny constantly moving. Meanwhile, Penny, feeling like she's holding Willona back, decides to run away.
Director: Gerren Keith
Writer: N/A
- 6.8/1074 votes
#15 - J.J. and the Boss' Daughter
Season 5 Episode 15 - Aired 1/18/1978
J.J. is given a sexy assistant, one whom he makes a play for immediately. However, later when he learns that she's the boss's daughter, he continues to go out with her thinking that it will give him special privileges with his boss.
Director: Gerren Keith
Writer: Kim Weiskopf
- 7.7/1079 votes
#16 - Where There's Smoke
Season 5 Episode 16 - Aired 1/25/1978
A hole has been burned into one of the couch cushions and J.J., Thelma and Michael each have their own versions of how it got there. However, Penny is the only person who knows the truth of how it really got there.
Director: Gerren Keith
Writer: Bruce Kalish
- 6.4/1072 votes
#17 - I Had a Dream
Season 5 Episode 17 - Aired 1/30/1978
J.J. wants a promotion at work but a co-worker convinces him that the promotion will only go to a white man. This leads J.J. to have a crazy dream where he gets to experience being white.
Director: Gerren Keith
Writer: N/A
- 6.4/1071 votes
#18 - The Boarder
Season 5 Episode 18 - Aired 2/6/1978
To pick up extra money for the rent, J.J. decides to take in a boarder. However, little does he know the man he takes in, is placed their by the police department for his protection.
Director: Gerren Keith
Writer: N/A
- 6.9/1070 votes
#19 - J.J.'s Condition
Season 5 Episode 19 - Aired 2/13/1978
J.J.'s latest relationship with a woman, Barbara, who's currently married but plans on divorcing her husband, results with him coming down with an ulcer. The situation is compounded when J.J. learns that her husband and her still share an apartment.
Director: Gerren Keith
Writer: Dusty Kay
- 6.9/1066 votes
#20 - Willona, the Other Woman
Season 5 Episode 20 - Aired 2/27/1978
Bookman's strange behavior leads his wife, Violet to become convinced that he's seeing another woman. However, appearances can be deceiving especially when Violet catches Willona and Bookman in a compromising situation.
Director: Gerren Keith
Writer: N/A
- 6.5/1061 votes
#21 - Something Old, Something New
Season 5 Episode 21 - Aired 3/13/1978
Grandpa Evans visits and has plans of becoming rich thanks to his new invention. Meanwhile, Lena, Grandpa's fiancee gets tired of being ignored and decides to leave him.
Director: Gerren Keith
Writer: Sid Dorfman
- 6.9/1065 votes
#22 - Willona's New Job
Season 5 Episode 22 - Aired 3/20/1978
Willona's boyfriend, Frank, continues his efforts to try to get her to marry him. Meanwhile, down at the boutique, Willona gets a promotion but Frank is determined to get her to turn down the offer.
Director: Gerren Keith
Writer: N/A
- 6.4/1070 votes
#23 - Write On, Thelma
Season 5 Episode 23 - Aired 3/27/1978
Thelma has written a full length play and is ecstatic when it is chosen to be produced as the local theater's latest production. Thelma quickly realizes a few changes to her manuscript may be needed, but it soon feels like almost everything will need to be changed to please the theater owner.
Director: Gerren Keith
Writer: Judi Ann Mason
- 7.1/1070 votes
#24 - That's Entertainment, Evans Style
Season 5 Episode 24 - Aired 4/3/1978
A child-care center in the neighborhood is scheduled to close due to lack of funds. To keep it open, the Evan's plan a show to raise money from the neighbors.
Director: Gerren Keith
Writer: Kim Weiskopf
The Best Episodes of Good Times Season 5
Every episode of Good Times Season 5 ranked from best to worst. Discover the Best Episodes of Good Times Season 5!
Good Times is an American sitcom that originally aired from February 8, 1974, until August 1, 1979, on the CBS television network. It was created...
Genre:Comedy
Network:CBS
Season 5 Ratings Summary
"The Evans Get Involved (1)" is the best rated episode of "Good Times" season 5. It scored 8.6/10 based on 129 votes. Directed by Gerren Keith and written by N/A, it aired on 9/21/1977. This episode is rated 0.3 points higher than the second-best, "The Evans Get Involved (2)".