Lester vs. James Evan from Good Times

I would say James but I prefered Lester for the simple fact that James was too angry.

"Natalie Wood died for our sins"-Oh9

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James seems like the type of dad that would cuss you out for eating the big piece of chicken. "Now what the hell did you eat the big piece of chicken for?! I come home from a hard days of work and can't even get a decent piece of chicken! Ain't that some shyt!"

Lester would be a bit understanding, "It alright Baby Girl. I wasn't that hungry anyway."

You don't think of them as human, you don't think of them at all.

I would say James was the much stronger father. He was a fierce protector of his family and a strict disciplinarian. I prefer tv fathers like him than the week whipped ones of today's media.

In a way, I think Lester was stronger because he could get his point across without going off like James did.

This isn't a fair comparison. The Evans lived in the projects which posed many more problems for a father.

Now they were both strong in their own way. Years ago, I would have had James run away with this. But after watching reruns of 227 on the centric network, Lester held his own. He wasn't overbearing like Mary, and he was certainly understanding. He wasn't as quick tempered like James, but he wasn't no pushover. Remember the two actors met face to face in the pilot episode of Good Times? They both had advantages where the other had disvantages. But because this is Marla Gibbs sitcom, the Lester character couldn't be the leading man like James was.

"Go To Hell, Devil!"

James was the stronger father. But it's not really a fair comparison because James had three kids, was dirt poor, and lived in the ghetto where sometimes he HAD to be tough on the kids. He was always caught between trying to protect his family and make things easier while trying to teach his kids good morals (the gun, hustling pool, taking the money from a robbery when a reward turns out to be crap).

That's not to say that Lester was a bad father, but he had it easier. He hadthe patience of a saint. Brenda was his only kid and he and Mary could depend on Rose, Pearl, and even Sandra to look after her. He was no pushover but he was willing to see things from Brenda's POV, like when she wanted to get a job.

As a teenager, I would have preferred a James Evans type because he comes with Florida. Mary was kind of a smug bitch and Sandra was the best part of 227 but she left. Florida gets a lot of heat for her overbearingness but she never tried to put her kids down, even when she poked fun at JJ, it was out of love. Something about Mary's attitude just irritates me and makes me want to rebel against her and I'm not even a teen anymore. James and Florida weren't the most educated and couldn't give me all that I wanted, but they believed in their kids 100%- encouraging JJ to pursue art, Thelma to pursue dancing/writing/medicine, and Michael to pursue law- hard fields to find success in, but they pushed them to be their best. Brenda couldn't date for the longest time and Mary was so completely against Brenda getting a job and really, growing up in general. I understand, Brenda was their one and only and they were fiercely protective of her. But the Evanses weren't comfortable with their kids growing up either and yet they never stopped them from trying.

And I'm a girl. So James would see me as his "baby girl" and treat me like a princess.