"The Surprise Party" was the episode that heralded the long awaited return of Redd Foxx, following a losing prolonged battle with NBC that failed to help him and didn't hurt his show (he would miss only one further episode, the GRADY pilot "The Family Man," in which Lamont is also absent). Everyone gathers at the junkyard for Fred's return from St. Louis, with Grady preparing his 'secret sour soul sauce.' He's his usual gruff self with 'gorilla' Esther: "the voice of a chicken comin' out of a buzzard!" Fred wants Lamont to get Grady to help clean up, but his son insists that he wasn't much help during his absence. Unfortunately, this conversation is overheard by a despondent Grady, while Lamont's words of comfort to him are heard by his eavesdropping father. Now it's Fred who feels like he isn't needed anymore, drowning his sorrows at the local saloon: "my best friend ran off with my son!" The show was back to normal though Grady himself would be seen far less frequently, soon to begin his own spin off lasting less than a dozen episodes.
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