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Sanford and Son is a television sitcom, the American remake of the British sitcom Steptoe and Son. Sanford and Son first aired on the NBC television network on January 14, 1972, and was broadcast for six seasons until the final episode aired in May 1977.
Sanford and Son starred Redd Foxx as Watts junk dealer Fred Sanford. Demond Wilson also starred as his son Lamont, a 28-year-old who still lived at home. Although Fred loved Lamont, he thought that he'd never amount to anything, often called him "dummy", and threatened to give him, "one across the lips".
Redd Foxx was the genius of the show, playing Sanford as a sarcastic, argumentative antique dealer whose frequent money-making schemes routinely backfired and created more troubles.
Showing up in many episodes was Lamont's Aunt Esther (played by LaWanda Page). One of her trademarks was that she was a devout Baptist, and exhibited behaviors Fred saw as "Bible-thumping". Fred criticized Esther frequently for many reasons, ranging from her incessant talk about the Bible to constant comparisons to Godzilla. Her reaction, invariably, was to tell Fred to "Watch it, sucka." Sometimes, she would go berserk and try to hit him with her purse, or call him, "fish-eyed fool" and "heathen".
Fred's friends Bubba (Don Bexley) and Grady (Whitman Mayo) showed up from time to time, as did Lamont's shady friend Rollo (Nathaniel Taylor). Lynn Hamilton was shown infrequently as Fred's nurse girlfriend Donna Harris. Julio, Lamont's friend, also showed up from time to time, whom Fred made ethnic jokes about. A pair of police officers, one white, one black also were perennial visitors.
In 1975, Redd Foxx walked off the show in a salary dispute midway through the season and his character was written out of the series for the rest of the season, though Foxx later returned.
After the series was canceled in 1977 (due to ABC giving Foxx a big raise to do a variety show and refusal to give Wilson a raise), a short-lived continuation featuring supporting characters entitled Sanford Arms aired. Whitman Mayo starred in a spinoff series, Grady during the 1975-76 season. In 1980-81, Redd Foxx attempted to revive his old hit with the short-lived Sanford (so named because Demond Wilson declined to reprise the role of Lamont for the new series).
Some of Fred's quotes
"You big dummy!"
"How would you like one across your lip?"
"Ohhh...this is the big one. Hear that. Elizabeth? I'm comin' to join you honey!"
External Links
Sanford and Son (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0068128/) on the Internet Movie Database
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