For the 50th anniversary of the Good Times premiere in February of 1974, Netflix released a trailer for the animated reboot of the series. The reboot features a whole new cast of characters, including some HBCU representation with Wanda Sykes (Hampton) and JB Smoove (Norfolk State). In lieu of an outcry of support, however, fans across social media met the trailer with confusion and disdain. In interviews with Ryan Gajewski of The Hollywood Reporter, even some of the original cast members didn't quite understand the trailer, though they are holding judgment until the full series drops.

“I really can't form an opinion, as I've not seen any of the episodes yet,” said John Amos, who played James Evans, to the Hollywood Reporter. “Norman – and the entire cast and company – set the bar pretty high. They'll have a hard time reaching that level of entertainment [and] education. I wish them the best. I see people aspiring to that, but I don't see anybody reaching that goal, especially in an animated version.”

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BerNadette Stanis, who played Thelma Evans, echoed some of Amos' sentiments in quotes obtained by the Hollywood Reporter.

“Probably a lot of people don't know how Hollywood works,” she said. “A lot of times, you can use a certain name to open up the door for a new show. That could be what it is. But I'm sure a lot of people will be a little confused at first because they have to think that it's us. They think, ‘Oh, my God! That's got to be Thelma, J.J., and Michael.' And then you come in there, and you don't see anything like that.”

While Amos and Stanis reserved the right to criticize the reboot, social media users grilled Netflix for green-lighting the project. Many felt that the new show did not carry the same vision that legendary producer Norman Lear had for original version.

“The Evans family lived, as marginally as possible, in the Cabrini-Green project in Chicago,” the late Lear said. “James held down three jobs if he had to. Still, we were determined that the family would never go one welfare; they would deal with the reality of their world (gangs, drugs, crime, poverty, etc.), and despite that, the kids would not fail to get an education.”

In the rebooted version of Good Times, the story follows the story of the Evans' descendants, living in a similar (if not the same) housing project in Chicago. Of the multiple new changes, the addition of a drug-dealing infant set users on the internet ablaze.

Despite being slightly critical of the reboot, Stanis admitted that she voiced a minor character in the show.

“I did a little voice for them, but I did not know it was going to be the way it is,” she said. “I thought it was going to be different. It's just a little here and there. But I think that they did that because they knew what their show was going to be like. So I guess they figures, if you put us in there, it wouldn't look so bad or whatever.”

The Good Times reboot is set to air April 12 on Netflix.