Baby... I'm Back!

After the success of "Sanford and Son",actor Demond Wilson did two short-lived television series during the late-1970's and early 1980's. The other sitcom? "The New Odd Couple" that was a twist on the Neil Simon Broadway play that featured two African-American men in the roles of Felix and Oscar(the other was played by Ron Glass of "Barney Miller" fame)that lasted one season. But Demond Wilson's second attempt at a situation comedy series didn't last very long. The short-lived black sitcom from the mid-1970's "Baby I'm Back" had a somewhat great premise and the show itself was fairly enjoyable due to the colorful cast of characters. Who would have thought that casting actress Denise Nicholas (of "Room 222" fame and later in the 1990's for "In The Heat Of The Night")as his ex-wife and making Demond Wilson as a desperate man who tried to convince his wife that he was a changed man and wanted to start over again into a new relationship with her and there little girl,who just like her mother was a sassy,but wise beyond her years cute little girl(played by Kim Fields who when this show ended went over to NBC to played Tootie Ramsey on the long-running series "The Facts of Life").

His wife has gotten engaged to a military man,Colonel Wallace Dickey(Ed Hall)and to make things even worse off for Demond Wilson's character Ray Ellis,was getting along with her mother Luzelle Carter(played to the absolute perfection by Helen Martin,later of "227" fame)who made things for him even worse off than they were. The verbal battles and puns between Demond Wilson and Helen Martin were especially enjoyable to watch,since Martin mostly sought to recreate LaWanda Page's Aunt Esther as a foil for Wilson,but she did have her moments with was basically the best part of the series. But it didn't help in the ratings neither. The show lasted one season on CBS-TV from the first telecast of January 30, 1978 until April 24, 1978. Only 13 episodes were produced since the series lasted no more than three months on the air. "Baby I'm Back" came in as a mid-season replacement for another CBS series in which it replaced. After more than a decade off the air,cable giant BET(Black Entertainment Television)resurrected all 13 episodes in repeated syndicated during the mid-1980's until the early part of the 1990's(the last time it was shown was back in 1991). And it hasn't been seen since. "Baby I'm Back" remains one of the lost and forgotten black sitcoms that were all over the place during the 1970's and 1980's.

I managed to watch all 13 episodes on YouTube. I had never even heard of this show, but I was doing some IMDb research on Sanford and son and came across this show with Demond Wilson. I've always been a big fan of Kim Fields, and of course who doesn't love Helen Martin. So when I saw someone had uploaded all the episodes to YouTube, I spent a week watching it. I was very impressed. The comedy was great and the writing was excellent. Kim Fields is just too cute in this show and It was really great seeing her before her Facts of Life fame. I don't think that this show was given a fair chance or enough time to become what it could've been. That's always a disappointment to me when a show looks like it will work out pretty well, but gets the plug pulled way too quick. Sanford Arms and Grady and even Sanford were very lame, but this show had potential. The show ended without any farewell as it barely had enough time to find its niche. Helen Martin is as sassy as she always is since I mainly knew her as Pearl.

I will Forever be thankful for YouTube other streaming services that allow us a peak into yesteryear.

This was Demond Wilson's attempt at making it on his own after feuding with Redd Foxx over who made "Sanford & Son" a success. In the show, Wilson returned to his wife who was attempting to remarry. Denise Nicholas was the wife and Helen Martin (later on 227) was her mother, Luzelle, who Demond would say was French for "killer".

Martin mostly sought to recreate LaWanda Page's Aunt Esther as a foil for Wilson here. She did have her moments, especially when she got drunk on the cooking cherry trying to cook that chicken.

First she would stagger out into the living room drunk, then later on, upon entering the kitchen, Martin would be having the plucked chicken do a little two step then take a dive into the bowl.

The show would also have feminist periods, but with the lovely Denise Nicholas making the argument, they were memorable as I still recall them.

In one, Wilson told her that men are always listed before women: "men and women, boys and girls, his and hers."

Nicholas replied with "ladies and gentlemen!"

She would then also hit him up as to why there was never a King Bee.

The show didn't last long, obviously, but those moments with Martin were funny.

I'm told two episodes came out in 1989 , but I didn't get to see nor can I locate.

Demond Wilson's character had deserted his wife and son some years before, and had returned home. However, his wife had declared her errant husband dead, and had gotten engaged to a military man. The premise of the short-lived sitcom was the efforts of the Wilson character trying to convince his wife that he was a changed man and wanted to have a relationship with her again.

Wilson was fresh off of the recently cancelled Sanford and Son at the time, when he appeared in this series. It was not a good series, and I don't believe it made it through one season.