Animation
Good Times
Netflix takes a classic sitcom, Good Times, and turns it into a vulgar, violent, sexually-charged TV-MA show.
Is there anything better than spending Saturdays at Saturdays Rockin’ Roller Palace? Not to Paris Johnson, there isn’t.
Paris and her two best friends, Simone and Ari, spend every weekend at the rink. They even have their own skate club: We-B-Girlz.
But they aren’t the only ones who love the ‘90s-themed hangout. Paris’ brother, London, deejays at the joint with his buddy, Derek. And the Johnson kids’ parents, Cal and Deb, were crowned “The Goldens” at the Battle 2-B Golden Skate Competition back in the day (an honor Paris hopes to win herself someday).
Until that day comes, Paris is just happy to spend her weekends skating her worries away.
Saturdays feels like a throwback to my childhood—and not just because the show’s modern Gen-Z fashion is basically a carbon copy of the ‘90s. Rather, it brings back a familiar Disney Channel story formula: kid wants something; kid enacts crazy antics to attain it; kid learns valuable life lesson when methods ultimately don’t turn out as planned.
Now, Saturdays isn’t as perfect as I’d like it to be. Kids aren’t always corrected when they have bad attitudes or act rudely toward adults. And the Johnson parents can be a bit dopey and immature themselves at times. Families will also want to note that there is the occasional misuse of God’s name.
Those caveats aside, it’s a cute show that focuses on the importance of family and friendship. And each episode ultimately shows that breaking rules and being mean won’t solve any of life’s problems.
When Paris and her friends realize they’re too young to audition for a music video, they hatch a plan to sneak in.
God’s name is misused twice. People lie. Some characters are rude. Cal and Deb act out of jealousy. We hear a girl was arrested for driving her car through a mini-mart after mistaking it for a drive-thru. We don’t see it onscreen, but Cal notes that most of another man’s selfies feature the man without a shirt. Some kids are insulted when they are given toilet paper and plunger costumes for a music video. Some girls hurt themselves by wearing ill-fitting costumes.
Characters apologize for lying and acting petty.
Emily studied film and writing when she was in college. And when she isn’t being way too competitive while playing board games, she enjoys food, sleep, and geeking out with her husband indulging in their “nerdoms,” which is the collective fan cultures of everything they love, such as Star Wars, Star Trek, Stargate and Lord of the Rings.
Netflix takes a classic sitcom, Good Times, and turns it into a vulgar, violent, sexually-charged TV-MA show.
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