Sanford

Sanford was a welcomed spin off to fans of the original show,however,with Lamont gone and replaced with a 300 lb Dennis Burkley (Cal Petty)the show became one fat joke after another.Not that it wasnt always dull,once when Cal stepped on the scales the sounds of springs popping and twanging could be heard (the audience laughed it up,if it was a real live audience),however to those who were/are obese the show could be considered very cruel.I for one thought the first "season" was very entertaining,jokes loaded everywhere...never a dull moment,but season two (after a brief hiatus)was terrible.The jokes were lame and the "audience" wasnt laughing.Something major was wrong...a comedy show without comedy????? It was sad to see "Sanford" disappear,but it was bound to happen with writing like that,even Foxx didnt seem to put his all into it.A bad way to go out....

Redd Foxx was the star of Sanford and Son. Here he reprises his role as Fred Sanford without his son, Lamont. He has a new partner played by Dennis Burkley. His character is white, overweight sidekick but he's quite funny at times. The other characters include a wealthy widow, Evelyn Lewis, played by Marguerite Ray who does a great job. Lawanda Page comes back to torment her brother-in-law as Aunt Esther. The show was your typical sitcom from the early 1980s. Sadly, sitcoms are no longer in abundance nor are they packaged to be funny anymore. Redd Foxx was enormously funny and outrageous at times without being offensive to the audience regardless of your skin color. I was pleasantly surprised to see this show which must have been under my radar back when it first aired on television. BET has brought it back to new audiences who will rediscover Redd Foxx's wit and comedic genius.

Why is this series so hard to come by? These further adventures of Fred Sanford was just as good as the original series, I thought the show would pick up with the return of Aunt Esther & Grady but the 26 episodes of this series was actually very entertaining especially with Cal replacing Lamont!

This spinoff of sorts was a weak attempt to continue to the success of Sanford and Son. Lamont Sanford's character had taken a job elsewhere and his friend Cal took the place of Fred's partner in the business. Fred also had a new girlfriend, a rich Beverly Hills matron (it was never explained what happened to his fiancee, Donna, from the previous show). His new girlfriend had a mother who disapproved of Fred being a junkman from South Central LA. Aunt Esther was also still on hand to exchange insults, but the magic that had made the earlier show a classic was just not there.

This was actually a very funny show and the back and forth between Redd and Cal was hilarious. Typical establishment though - anything that is different, people are opposed to accepting. I would have liked to have seen Redd's son in some episodes to complete the transition to just the "Sanford." show. With all the nonsense poor quality shows before, at the time. and since, this show should have lasted much longer and gotten much more credit than it received. I was sorry to see the actor who played Cal passed away. He too had great talent and never went as far as he should have in the business.