Grady (1975–1976) User Reviews

Grady Boy

[ThunderKing6 · 5/10 · 7 April 2021]

Grady was great as a supporting cast. When he became a main the charm and curiosity was gone.

Spinoffs don't really work. It's really a lazy way to make products. Spin-offs ruin characters more than it builds.

Grady was just of a guy living with a well together family where he does some crazy stuff. It wasn't horrible but the Grady charm was gone.

Overall a barely decent show/spin off.

What can be learned? Spin offs don't really work well not then and still not now.

Verdict: From the junkyard to the can.

The spin-off to "Sanford and Son"

[raysond · 28 August 2002]

I had the opportunity to catch this seldom seen LOST series from the 1970's last night on TV Land during a Showcase presentation. This was the spin-off to Norman Lear's successful series "Sanford and Son" which follow the adventures of his pal,Grady Wilson(played by Whitman Mayo)who moved out of Watts and went to the suburbs of Los Angeles to live with his daughter(Ellie)who was married to an architect who was his son-in-law and his two grandchildren in a house located in the exclusive section of Westwood Estates. This show was hilarious at times catching Grady and his pals getting into all sorts of mischief along with his Watts pals like Bubba and even Fred Sanford himself dropping by. It was Grady who was most of the trouble some of the time only to be saved by his daughter and her husband but they always forgive him,and always helped out the kids too in some situation or another. The series produced 12 episodes which ran on NBC-TV from 1975-1976. The series starred Carol Cole(who plays his daughter Ellie),who was the daughter of legendary singer Nat King Cole,and his sister Natalie,and a youthful looking Joe Morton as her husband and two unknowns who were the children (Rosanna Katon as the daughter Kellie,and Haywood Nelson as the son who after this show went right on to play Dewayne on "What's Happening!" the next year after this show was cancelled)in the family known as The Marshalls. This was one of many LOST African-American shows of the 1970's that didn't stay very long which included "That's My Mama","Rollout",and "Get Christie Love"....... and so forth. The executive producer of the show was Redd Foxx himself whom also directed two of the episodes for this series. Catch it on TV Land!

A short-lived classic

[TERMINATOR180 · 5 October 2003]

Based on who was probably the favorite on-and-off character from Sanford and Son, Grady, this show didn't fail to deliver the same laughs as Sanford and Son, if not more.

According to the show's publicity advisors, the show's lack of popularity was largely due to the little advertising provided.

The biggest difference between this and Sanford and Son, is that "Grady" is more of a lighthearted show, with fewer arguments.

However, the lack of arguments did not prove to be a downfall for the show.

The "Box Set" (TV Land's name for themed shows, usually playing 4 shows pertaining to the same subject matter, or in Grady's case, Spin-Offs) has been used to bring Grady to a modern audience (Not that it had much of an audience in the 70s)

I'd recommend viewing it when episodes air, as they rarely do, and you won't be disappointed.

Feel Good Show

[chuckyr · 15 July 2004]

Grady was of the first TV shows that portrayed a middle class Black family sans stereotypes. The Marshall family didn't have any conflicts with appearing bourgeois and trying to fit in to a so-called white suburban culture nor did they shy away from their Blackness. In fact the actress Rosanna Katon as the daughter Kellie, played her role so well that her character came across as the "Black girl growing up in the suburbs persona".

Kind of like the Jennifer Freeman character in the current ABC sitcom, "My Wife and Kids", but more practical.

I remember Carol Cole to be absolutely gorgeous. I wonder what has happened to her these days. Rosanna Katon became Playboy Playmate of the month in September 1978.