Sanford and Son 

The misadventures of a cantankerous junk dealer and his frustrated son.

Creator:

Norman Lear

Stars:

Redd Foxx, Demond Wilson, LaWanda Page

Won 1 Golden Globe. Another 3 wins & 12 nominations.

Cast

Complete series cast summary:
Redd Foxx	...	Fred G. Sanford / ... 135 episodes, 1972-1977
Demond Wilson	...	Lamont Sanford / ... 135 episodes, 1972-1977

Storyline

One of television's all-time classic sitcoms, the Norman Lear-produced "Sanford and Son" debuted just three days after the one-year anniversary of Lear's fabulously successful, "All in the Family." Fred Sanford is a cantankerous 65-year-old, black, widowed junk dealer living in Los Angeles' Watts neighborhood. Helping him is his restless son, 34-year-old Lamont; Fred's beloved wife and Lamont's mother, Elizabeth, had died more than 20 years earlier. Fred's schemes and bigotry especially toward Julio, a Puerto Rican who was Lamont's friend, whites and other minorities often frustrated Lamont. Fred also showed overt disdain for his sister-in-law, Aunt Esther (the feeling was mutual). Many times, Lamont threatened to leave for meaningful work, but Fred faked a heart attack each time ("Oh, this time its real, I'm a-comin' 'Lizabeth!") as a sympathy ploy to get his son to stay. By 1977, Fred and Lamont had sold their business (stars Foxx and Wilson wanted to leave the series); it became ...

---

Plot Keywords:

sister in law | sitcom | junkyard | brother in law sister in law relationship | father and son business | 

---

Genres:

Comedy

---

Certificate:

TV-PG

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

14 January 1972 (USA)

Also Known As:

Sanford and Son

Filming Locations:

10659 West Magnolia Boulevard, North Hollywood, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Tandem Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

30 min (135 episodes)

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

4:3

Did You Know?

Trivia

The show is a remake of a British series "Steptoe and Son" which ran for seven years. Initially co-writer Aaron Ruben thought that meant that the show had seven years worth of scripts to adapt. Unfortunately, the original show only produced four new episodes per season.

---

Goofs

The exterior shot of the Sanford house/junk shop as seen in the opening credits does not match the exterior of the house/junk shop as it appeared on the show. In the opening credits shots, the house's front door is seen almost flush against the street with a very small front yard and little to no junk out in front of the house. In the show however, the Sanfords have a huge front yard with piles and piles of junk scattered about and the street is very far from the front door.

---

Quotes

Bubba: Say Fred, that's one of them Superman suits ain't it?
Fred: Superfly Bubba, Superfly.

---

Crazy Credits

During the end credits of the episode "The Headache" (4.21), Fred and Lamont's voices can be heard. They're doing a soap opera cliffhanger parody. (Eg. Fred: "Will Lamont leave home?" Lamont: "Will you be quiet?")

---

Alternate Versions

During the show's network run, a few episodes contained the "N-word". However, when the show began to appear on the TV Land cable network, the word was edited out.

---

Connections

Spoofed in Disjointed: Eve's Bush (2017)

---

Soundtracks

If I Didn't Care
Composed by Jack Lawrence
Performed by Redd Foxx
(numerous episodes)

User Reviews

Friday night classic on NBC!

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.