Sanford and Son

Perhaps the last really good TV Sitcom. Redd Foxx and Demond Wilson were the stars of this 70's comedy but had such great support from actors and actresses to include Whitman Mayo, Lawanda Page, Raymond Allen, Don Bexley, Noam Pitlik, Gregory Sierra, Nathaniel Taylor, Slappy White and Hal Williams that the show was a "Can't miss an episode" on Friday nights.

Even when Redd Foxx was out of several episodes during a contract dispute one season the show never missed a beat as Whitman Mayo's "Grady" became the main character.

This is definitely one of the greatest sitcoms in history. Redd Foxx was perfect in his portrayal of the crotchety old Fred Sanford and Demond Wilson was perfect as his son Lamont. My parents and I would turn on this show every week just to see Fred put down Lamont by constantly calling him "Dummy". However, you pretty much could tell that even though he called Lamont a dummy that he basically loved his son and was very much afraid of losing him. Also the supporting cast of Don Bexley as Bubba, Whitman Mayo as Grady and, of course, LaWanda Page as Fred's bible thumping sister-in-law Esther all made this show the great alternative to the bubblegum shows that were on A.B.C. on Friday nights.

Sanford & Son is hilarious!

Fred's antics and one liners such as "I'll have Scripple, oh that's what I call Scotch and Ripple mixed!" are hilarious!

His interactions with Aunt Esther are my favorites and (in my opinion) the funniest!

They have (so far) the first foure seasons on DVD and will probably put the other two out eventually.

There are also T Shirts with "This is the Big One!" on them (which I've searched all over the Web for but are all sold out!)

If you're looking for a good laugh watch Sanford & Son! It currentley airs (at a TERRIBLE time slot) on TV Land at 4:00 in the morning...

I definetley recommend this to EVERYONE! It's hilarious!

Very funny TV comedy series about the situations a Los Angeles junk dealer,Fred Sanford (Redd Foxx) and his son/business partner Lamont(Demond Wilson) find themselves in.

In my opinion, the impeccable timing of hilarious lines delivered by Mr. Foxx made this show a classic. I think the humor was probably cutting edge for its time also, often referencing the racial and sociopolitical climate (a la All in the Family). Though ageless with respect to humor, some of the lines are not politically correct anymore as evidenced by TV Land (that currently shows reruns as of this writing) cutting out any reference to the "N" word said by Fred Sanford as I remember being in more than a couple of episodes when they first aired on NBC.

A whole host of other characters added to the shows hysterical but stereotypical flavor such as the religiously fanatical Aunt Esther, the dimwitted Grady and neighbor Julio. No ethnic group or race was spared a ribbing on this show.

Two of my all time favorite episodes are 1. The Sanfords being promised $10,000 if Lamont marries Fred's cousin's overweight stepdaughter and 2. Fred and Lamont's plane ride to St. Louis to attend the reading of a will of a relative that recently passed.

Priceless.

I guess that "Sanford and Son" must have been the first show that portrayed black ghetto life. No matter, it's hilarious. Dad Fred essentially spends every episode lounging around his house, calling his son Lamont "dummy" and threatening to bust people's lips. Lamont remains eternally embarrassed about Fred's antics, especially whenever Fred comments on how ugly he considers the sister-in-law, Aunt Esther, to be. And it's always great when the two cops (one white and the other black) come to the house, and the white cop acts like a dork, forcing the black cop to have to identify it.

Anyway, it was part of the new wave of really funny shows in the early 1970's that portrayed stuff that TV shows previously were uncomfortable portraying ("All in the Family" of course led the way). It would have been neat if Fred Sanford and Archie Bunker could have ever met. That would have made for some crazy dialogue. Four stars.