The Sanford Arms
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| The Sanford Arms | |
|---|---|
| Genre | Sitcom |
| Starring | Theodore Wilson LaWanda Page Don Bexley Whitman Mayo |
| Opening theme | Henry Mancini |
| Country of origin |  United States |
| No. of episodes | 8 |
| Production | |
| Executive producer(s) | Bernie Orenstein Saul Turteltaub Bud Yorkin |
| Running time | approx. 0:30 (per episode) |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | NBC |
| Original run | September 16, 1977 – October 14, 1977 |
| Links | |
| IMDb profile | |
The Sanford Arms was a 1977 sitcom that was an attempted continuation of the hit NBC sitcom Sanford & Son.
After six seasons, Redd Foxx left Sanford & Son to star in a variety show for ABC. The producers planned to continue the series with Demond Wilson as Lamont. But Wilson left the project in a dispute over his expected salary as the star of the series. The producers decided to continue the project with a new character. Norman Lear stepped down from his position as executive producer but stayed on as a consultant.
Contents |
[edit] Premise
The new lead character was Phil Wheeler (Theodore Wilson), a widower and an old Army buddy of Fred Sanford's. It was explained that Fred and Lamont had moved to Arizona and they sold their property to Phil. Phil now lived in the Sanford's old house with his two teenage children, Angie and Nat. But the main location of the series was the rooming house next door which Fred named "The Sanford Arms". The rooming house was a storyline established in the final season of the original series. The new series focused on Phil's attempts to turn the rooming house into a successful hotel.
Most of the recurring characters from the original series also starred in this series. Grady (Whitman Mayo) was now married to his girlfriend Dolly (who appeared in one episode of the original series). Bubba (Don Bexley) now worked at the Sanford Arms as a bellboy and a maintenance man. Aunt Esther (LaWanda Page) was left in charge helping Phil and collecting the mortgage payments. Her husband Woodrow (Raymond Allen) also appeared. Rounding out the cast of characters was Phil's girlfriend, Jeannie.
The attempt to continue a hit series without its two main stars turned out to be a failure. The ratings were dismal and the show was cancelled after five episodes.
[edit] Reruns
The Sanford Arms was not included in the syndication package with Sanford & Son. Eight episodes had been produced. But the final three episodes did not air before the series' abrupt cancellation. In 1990, BET began airing reruns of the series and premiered the three unaired episodes. It has not been rerun since the early 1990s.
