Awesome / Good Times

• In "Willona's Surprise", after Willona's scumbag ex-husband Ray promises to Willona that he'll never cheat on her again, they decide to remarry. But, as soon as she and Florida leave, he gropes and tries to rape Thelma. He doesn't go through with it because Flo and Willona come back in the house. Florida realizes right away what he tried to do and tells Willona to dump Ray again. Flo is furious at Ray for his lies and what he tried to do to her daughter and JJ is about to hit Ray. Suddenly, Willona screams at JJ to keep his hands to himself and that Ray is hers. Ray grins, thinking she chose him over Flo but she whirls around and punches him in the face! Awesome.
• In "JJ And The Gang", Thelma and Michael stand up to three gangbangers with guns.
• When a friend of JJ's takes pills in a suicide attempt, JJ walks him around the living room, all the while talking to him in an effort to keep him awake until the ambulance arrives. JJ talks about random things, going from humor, to childhood memories, to plans for the future before finally screaming at him, "There's a whole damn world out there to live for, man, and not a damn thing worth dying for! Robert, don't die, man! A lot of people care! I care!" It's topped off by the guy thanking JJ as the medics take him away. It's a great moment for perpetual goofball JJ to show some genuine depth and emotion and considering that at one point he mentions how much he misses his father, it's almost a Tearjerker as well.
  • Followed abruptly by a Mood Whiplash when the paramedics arrive and almost cart off an exhausted JJ.
• Doubling as a Funny Moment: The season 6 episode "Michael's Decision," which deals with positive discrimination. When the family is feeling increasingly claustrophobic, Michael decides it's time to find a roommate closer to campus. He brings his new roomie home, and she's a young white woman named Cindy. Florida is against the pair moving in together without being married, but Cindy's parents' reaction is completely outrageous. They're pleased that Michael comes from "the ghetto" and should know how to react in violent situations. Their reactions to the family being black get more and more outrageous, with the Evanses responding more and more stereotypically. Finally, Keith does a soft-shoe that has to be seen to be believed. Unfortunately, the Crebbinses just don't get it.
• In the series finale, when JJ unveils his new comic book hero, and Thelma's reaction.
• The Season three episode "Love In The Ghetto" saw Thelma announce her engagement to her latest boyfriend. Florida and James are vehemently against it, believing that getting married so early will hurt Thelma's chances at getting a good career. Surprisingly, JJ, Thelma's goofball brother who seemingly thrives on giving Thelma a hard time, takes his sister's side, trusting in her good judgment and wanting her to be happy. He even stands up to James, who is in full Scary Black Man mode and as angry as he's ever been on the show, who repeatedly tries to intimidate his son to make him recant his support, but JJ refuses. In the end, the couple decide to delay their engagement, but James makes a point of telling his son how impressed he was by his courage and how proud he was of JJ for standing by his sister.
• In one episode, the family hits the lottery for a $2500 prize. They get the news when Thelma's friend Edna is at the apartment doing homework, and are so busy celebrating that they don't notice her leave. Then Edna comes back with her sister Rozzie—both armed with guns and demanding the cash. Florida goes to the bank to retrieve it, and first tries to pull off an awesome moment by alerting the tellers to her situation; though Rozzie sees through the deception and forces her to stop, the fact that Florida was able to keep cool and nearly pull off saving her family while there was a literal gun to her back is incredible. Then comes the finale, which is even more powerful: after Florida returns with the money, she and the rest of the family notice that Edna has been nasty and abusive to Rozzie since they arrived. Through a few carefully chosen words, they're able to convince Rozzie that Edna will cheat her out of her share of the lottery winnings. The sisters start violently fighting, which enables the Evanses to grab their guns and subdue the pair.
• In "A Matter of Mothers", Penny's biological mother Lynetta marries someone wealthy and attempts to get Penny back. She hires an actor to flirt with Willona and frame her to make it seem like she's unfit to look after Penny. When Penny records a conversation between Willona and Lynetta, Lynetta attempts to attack Penny, but Willona restrains her.