Black-Ish creator Kenya Barris is riding high on his freshman sitcom about an upscale African-American family. Now, he has been set by Sony to write Good Times, the feature adaptation of the groundbreaking sitcom about an African-American family on the other side of the spectrum, struggling in the Chicago projects in the turbulent ’60s. Scott Rudin and Eli Bush are producing.
Sony set up the project last year. Good Times, which aired on CBS from 1974-79, was among a number of socially aware Norman Lear-created sitcoms that became hits. The show was a spinoff of Maude, which itself was a spinoff ofAll In The Family. Good Times followed the struggles of working-class couple James and Florida Evans, who raised three kids through financial hardship as they tried to keep their kids away from trouble during a politically and socially turbulent time in a Chicago housing project. They are setting the movie in the 1960s.
William Bannister, Michael Daniels and Neville Mouguel will be associate producers and Eric Monte, Tammie Evans and Carlena Harris will be executive producers. Principato Young and CAA rep Barris, who last week set up a pitch at MGM and New Line with The Goldbergs EP Alex Barnow which is being produced by Ice Cube (who’ll voice a key role) and Jeff Kwatinetz.
Source: Deadline
