Esther Rolle did in fact return in the final season when her daughter Thelma was about to get married to football player Keith.
Rolle’s Florida was especially poignant in the finale when Thelma and Keith celebrated their first anniversary—and Thelma announced she was pregnant.
Loved the episode in which Florida implored Winona (DuBois) to tell her adopted daughter Penny (played by Janet Jackson) about the facts of life/sex. Winona woke up after Penny was attacked in their apartment building.
Moreover, the finale revolved around how Florida was joining Thelma and Keith in moving to a better home that just happened to be in the same building in which Winona and Penny were relocating.
J.J. announced he was taking his own apartment (after giving Thelma and Keith a gift of tickets to The Bahamas IIRC) and Michael said he was going to moving into his school’s dorm.
Loved Good Times and always believed John Amos left because he couldn’t stand how Jimmie Walker basically stole the show.
The news of James’s death in a Mississippi car accident, revealed in a telegram read at the going away party and Florida’s stoic demeanor (not reacting to grief) until she smashed a punch bowl was extraordinary!!!
I just read on wiki about Ralph Carter who played Michael Evans or JJ’s brother. The shows co creator was named Mike Evans. Coincidence?