Aluminum Christmas Trees: That song Michael sings at Thelma and Keith's wedding? It's a Stevie Wonder song, "You And I (We Can Conquer The World)" from the album Talking Book.
Base-Breaking Character: Florida herself. It seemed as though she was diametrically opposed to anything good and potentially life-changing happening for her family if it went against her moral code, which makes her decision to leave her kids and marry an atheist after James's death all the more confusing.
In addition to the VD episode, Florida's dismay of the eponymous "Black Jesus" painting, which she considered blasphemous. Her pushback on the idea of a non-white Jesus would've been far more common during the 1970s, especially with someone of Florida's age. Though she seemed to be less dismayed by the Race Lift than the fact that JJ made Jesus look like Ned The Wino.
James' heavy-handed disciplining of his kids. He uses his belt on them, which is relatively uncommon today, and could even be considered child abuse in certain areas.
Fridge Brilliance: The ending of "The Gang part 2" when James, who was eagerly waiting to confront the hoodlum who shot JJ, has a change of heart after witnessing him and his mother falling out and him berating his absentee father. Even James himself can't figure out why he would suddenly have sympathy for the guy. The following season's episode "The Family Tree" reveals that James's own father abandoned him when he was a boy. Perhaps James subconsciously saw himself in the hoodlum.
During the season 5 episode "Breaker Breaker," Willona says to a depressed Michael, "You've been moping around like you're Farrah Fawcett and you found a bald spot on the top of your head". Fawcett died in 2009, after a battle with cancer, including chemotherapy.
Seeing the abuse that Penny received in her debut episode at the hands of her mother looks much worse since her actress, Janet Jackson, and her siblings also suffered physical, verbal and psychological abuse at the hands of their infamous Stage Dad Joe.
Hilarious in Hindsight: In one episode, Thelma dates an African named... Ebay.note The actual spelling of the name is "Ibe", but this is never shown in the episode proper. And it's pronounced exactly like the website.
Comments are sometimes made about Florida's weight. While she's thicker than Willona or Thelma, she's about a size 16 and looks like a middle-aged mom.
Bookman also. He's hardly svelte, but he's completely undeserving of the excessive barbs directed at him.
Narm Charm: While Florida yelling "Daaamn... DAAAMN... DAAAAAAAMN!" has been ripe for parody, it doesn't make her breakdown over James's death any less heartbreaking.
Ugly Cute: J.J.'s appearance. The opinion varies from episode to episode. While he's attractive enough (Kavorka Man) to pick up women, most characters—namely Michael, Thelma and even Florida—comment otherwise. It's Played for Laughs when addressed and doesn't seem to bother him.
JJ's denim cap. While other decades had their fill of denim-dominant fashion, the denim hat remains one piece of clothing that hasn't gotten as popular again.
In the opening credits video montage, the 6000 series Chicago "L" train cars shown running are a treat for rail enthusiasts (these cars were in use until 1992).
The notorious Cabrini-Green housing projects where the series was set were all torn down by 2011.
In an episode where Florida is out of town, Thelma is overwhelmed with trying to do all the household chores by herself. Her two brothers sit back and watch her scramble, making fun of her for how badly she's doing and complaining about her cooking. At no point do any of them act like the boys could or should help out with the chores — it seems to be accepted by everyone that housework is for women only. While James does tell the boys to stop making fun, he doesn't tell them to start helping, nor does he help out himself.
There was also the subject of spanking, especially with a belt, treated as a normal and unsurprising method of discipline. In one particular episode, Michael has a trouble-making classmate come over to try and help him do better in school since he doesn't have any support from his own family or teachers, and at one point, James takes the boy to another room and audibly whups him. Although he and Florida then explain that it was discipline meant out of care and a desire to help him do better, it would still would be unfeasible to see a show even ten years later try and get away with a father using his belt on a child, especially one who's not his own, even if his own parents are neglectful.
Values Resonance: One episode has J.J. being accused of a crime, only for the police to admit that the actual crook is a short, rotund, light skinned black boy who looks nothing like him apart from the exact same wardrobe. With all the complaints about police racial profiling nowadays, this plot sadly feels all the more relevant.
Animated Sequel
Audience-Alienating Premise: The sequel for a lot of people. Not only did it already feel like a cash grab, many people questioned the characters because they were stereotypical tropes that didn't help the black community, and many see through it's attempts to be nothing more than a blatant cash grab. Some have even gone as far as to say no matter how much they reference James, it doesn't feel like they're truly related at all. It’s also been noted that James’ legacy having such a profound impact on the new family is far fetched, considering that he passed away long before his grandson Reggie would’ve been born.
