| Sanford and Son | |
|---|---|
From the Sanford and Son opening credits: the sign above the Sanfords' home and workplace |
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| Genre | Sitcom |
| Created by | Norman Lear Bud Yorkin |
| Starring | Redd Foxx Demond Wilson |
| Theme music composer | Quincy Jones |
| Opening theme | "The Streetbeater" |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Language(s) | English |
| No. of seasons | 6 |
| No. of episodes | 136 (List of episodes) |
| Production | |
| Executive producer(s) | Norman Lear Bud Yorkin |
| Producer(s) | Bernie Orenstein Aaron Ruben Saul Turteltaub |
| Camera setup | Multi-camera |
| Running time | 22–24 minutes |
| Production company(s) | Tandem Productions (billed as "A Bud Yorkin/Norman Lear Tandem Production", copyrighted as "NorBud Productions") |
| Distributor | Sony Pictures Television |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | NBC |
| Picture format | 1.33:1 (fullscreen) |
| Audio format | Monaural |
| Original run | January 14, 1972 – March 25, 1977 |
| Chronology | |
| Followed by | The Sanford Arms Sanford |
| Related shows | Steptoe and Son Grady |
Sanford and Son is an American sitcom, based on the BBC's Steptoe and Son, that ran on the NBC television network from January 14, 1972, to March 25, 1977.
In 2007, Time magazine included the show on their list of the "100 Best TV Shows of All Time".[1]
Contents |
Sanford and Son stars Redd Foxx as Fred G. Sanford, a 65-year-old widower and junk dealer living at 9114 S. Central Ave. in the Watts neighborhood of South Central Los Angeles, California (); alongside Demond Wilson as his 30-year-old son, Lamont Sanford. In his youth, Fred moved to South Central Los Angeles from his hometown of St. Louis.
On the show's premiere in 1972, newspaper ads touted Foxx as NBC's answer to Archie Bunker, the bigoted white protagonist of All in the Family. (Both shows were adapted by Norman Lear from BBC shows; Sanford And Son was adapted from Steptoe And Son and All in the Family was the American version of Till Death Do Us Part.)
Foxx portrayed Sanford as a sarcastic, irascible schemer whose frequent get-rich-quick ideas routinely backfire. His son Lamont longs for independence, but he loves his father too much to move out on his own and leave the trouble-prone Fred unsupervised. Though each owns an equal share in the business and though, technically, Fred is the boss, Lamont often finds himself doing all the work and having to order his father to complete tasks and duties. Fred often insults his son, usually calling him a "big dummy." Lamont also insults his father, referring to him as an "old fool." However, the two share a close bond and regularly come to each other's aid.
Fred is a widower whose wife Elizabeth died some two decades before. Fred raised Lamont alone and missed Elizabeth deeply. According to Fred, his son was named for Lamont Lomax, a (presumably fictional) pitcher from the Homestead Grays. In one episode, Lamont asks why he didn't have a middle name. Fred tells him Lamont is his middle name: he and Elizabeth never came up with a first name.
At first, Fred's main foil on the show is his sister-in-law and Lamont's aunt, Ethel (Beah Richards). Ethel's involvement in the Sanford family squabbles lasts only until midway through the second season, whereupon she is replaced with her more tart-tongued sister, Esther (LaWanda Page). Fred and Esther's relationship as in-laws goes on to become a major part of the plot. The two frequently trade insults, usually instigated by Fred (he often contorts his face upon Esther's entrance and uses disparaging and colorful metaphors to describe her), whereas Esther generally retorts "WATCH it, sucka", attacks Fred with her purse, and refers to Fred as "you old heathen". Esther's disdain for Fred goes back to when he and Elizabeth were dating; she disapproved of Fred marrying her sister.
A running gag on the show is that whenever Lamont threatens to move out or things are not going Fred's way, he will fake a heart attack and say something like, "You hear that, Elizabeth? I'm coming to join ya, honey!" No one, however, falls for the transparent ruse. (This running gag was later blamed for Redd Foxx's actual death during the run of The Royal Family, a later situation comedy in which he starred, as his legitimate complaints of heart problems were not taken seriously enough until it was too late to save his life.) Despite his stubbornness and irascible nature, Fred sometimes redeems himself with acts of kindness, even to those (like Esther) whom he insists he does not like. In the last episode of the series, Fred earns his high school diploma, and is the valedictorian of his graduating class.
Earlier in the show's run, it adheres more closely to the format laid out by its British predecessor, Steptoe and Son, with Fred and Lamont often at loggerheads over various issues. Fred and Lamont are also depicted as being equally manipulative. (Fred's manipulative acts consist mainly of his constant threats of "the big one" and his "arthur-itis;" Lamont's, of his attempts to drive a wedge between Fred and his girlfriend, Donna Harris (Lynn Hamilton), whom he sees as usurping his mother's place.)
Lamont is depicted at times as the greedier of the two. In one episode, for example, he refuses to sell two coffins for less than what he thinks they were worth, despite the fact that this clearly upsets his superstitious father. Lamont sometimes receives his comeuppance for being disdainful of his father's habits and ways. (One example of this is the time Lamont is upbraided by a Nigerian woman he hopes to impress by "adopting" African culture; she considers his attitude towards Fred to be disrespectful.) There are moments when Lamont is shown to be naive and foolish, such as the episode where he invites his new "friends" over to play poker. His street-savvy father sees right away that they are out to cheat Lamont after they gain his confidence by letting him win a few smaller-stakes games. Fred then turns the tables on the scammers by pretending to be ignorant of poker himself, agreeing to play a few hands and then taking all of their money by means of a marked deck of cards and special glasses that allow him to see what he is dealing.
As the series progressed, however, it became more focused on Fred's antics and schemes, with Lamont often adopting the role of the gentler, more open-minded progressive who attempts to broaden his father's horizons, in much the same way that Mike attempts to broaden Archie's horizons on sister show All In The Family. A notable example of the softening of Lamont's character is his change in attitude towards Donna Harris (Lynn Hamilton), Fred's girlfriend. Early in the show's run Lamont derides her as "the barracuda" and is openly hostile towards her, attempting to ruin her relationship with his father at least twice. In later episode, however, Lamont invites Donna out to dinner with himself and his girlfriend, remarking that it would do his reputation good to be seen with "two lovely ladies."
Similarly, Fred is initially depicted as a man who, if not always ethically or culturally sensitive, has the wisdom of experience and significant street smarts. As the show goes on, Fred is seen getting into increasingly ludicrous situations, such as: faking an English accent to get a job as a waiter; convincing a white couple that an earthquake was really the "Watts Line" of the non-existent L.A. subway (a wordplay on the common phrase "WATS line"); taking over a play featuring George Foreman; or sneaking into a celebrity's private area, such as Lena Horne's dressing room or Frank Sinatra's hotel room. Many of these situations invariably revolve around Fred trying to make a quick buck.
One constant throughout the show is the loyalty of father and son to each other. Even in the show's earliest episodes when one or the other leaves the house, seemingly for good (Lamont moves out at least twice, and at one point he even puts Fred in an old folks' home), something always occurs that returns things back to normal. (Lamont gets homesick and worries about his father, or something does not work out and Lamont schemes his way back in; Lamont feels lonely without his father around the house thanks to a plan Fred hatched with his friend Bubba.)
Perhaps the best example of this bond between father and son occurs in the episode where a friend from Fred's past shows up and claims to be Lamont's real father. After hearing the news, Lamont tells a tearful Fred that he is "the only pop I've ever known" and as far as he is concerned, it is "always" going to be Sanford and Son. (In the humorous twist that closes the episode, it turns out the friend had accidentally slept with Aunt Esther, thinking she was her sister Elizabeth.) Lamont's birthday is mentioned in the second season episode "Libra Rising All Over Lamont" as September 27, 1940, although in a season five episode called "Ebenezer Sanford", Lamont says his birthday is in February.
Sanford and Son has long been hailed as the precursor to many African American sitcoms, such as The Cosby Show. Although sometimes gregarious in its humor, Sanford and Son was groundbreaking for African Americans on television. James Whittle of The Washington Post called it "a show that broke new ground and paved the way for Cosby...". And Gene Siskel, known best for his critical reviews of both television and movies, said this: "What All in the Family did for the Caucasian race in our nation with television, Sanford and Son did for African Americans. It is one of the two most noted and significant African American sitcoms since the invention of television."
Sanford and Son was enormously popular during most of its run, and was one of the top ten highest-rated series on American television from its first season (1971–1972) through the 1975–1976 season.
With its coveted 8 p.m. Eastern Friday night time slot, Sanford and Son put enough of a dent into the middling audience of ABC's The Brady Bunch to drive it off the air in 1974. Sanford and Son peaked at #2 in the Nielsen ratings during the 1972–1973 season, and stayed there for three years in a row. The series was second only to All in the Family in terms of ratings. By the 1974–1975 season, Sanford and Son's high lead-in helped the entire NBC Friday night lineup to place in the coveted bracket of Top 20 shows (Chico and the Man, following Sanford, placed in the Top 10, while the police dramas The Rockford Files and Police Woman aired later in the evening and ranked in the lower reaches of the Top 20).
In the midst of taping episodes for the 1973–1974 season, Redd Foxx walked off the show in a salary dispute. His character was written out of the series for the rest of the season. The continuity of the show explained that Fred Sanford was away in St. Louis attending his cousin's funeral and leaving his friend Grady (Whitman Mayo) in charge of the business. NBC sued Foxx and as part of the settlement, and Foxx later returned. Foxx had taped fewer than ten episodes before Fred "left for St. Louis." The show was still quite popular when it was canceled in 1977.
Sanford and Son was a big hit in the ratings during its six year run (1972–1977) on NBC. Despite airing in the so called Friday night death slot, it peaked at #2 in the ratings (behind All in the Family).
| Season | Ranking |
|---|---|
| 1972 | #6 (25.2 rating) |
| 1972–1973 | #2 (27.6 rating) |
| 1973–1974 | #2 (27.5 rating) |
| 1974–1975 | #2 (29.6 rating) |
| 1975–1976 | #7 (24.4 rating) |
| 1976–1977 | #27 (20.3 rating) |
The series was produced by Norman Lear and Bud Yorkin's company Tandem Productions, which was also responsible for All in the Family. The two shows had a few things in common. They were both based on popular British sitcoms and both were pioneers of edgy, racial humor that reflected the changing politics of the time. Both series also featured outspoken, working-class protagonists with overt prejudices. However, Sanford and Son differed from All in the Family and other Norman Lear shows of the era in that it lacked the element of drama. Sanford and Son helped to redefine the genre of black situation comedy.
The program was taped at the NBC Studios in Burbank, California.
The truck driven in the series is a 1951 Ford, which was crashed by its owner on July 12, 1997, Donald Dimmitt of Dimmitts Auto Salvage, a real-life junk dealer in Walnut Township, Marshall County, Indiana.[2]
The use of the Sanford surname was somewhat ironic, given that Redd Foxx's birth name was John Elroy Sanford.
Also ironic would be Foxx's death in 1991. On October 11, 1991, during a break from rehearsals for Foxx's last sitcom The Royal Family he suffered a fatal heart attack on the set. (Adding still further to the irony is that the working title for the series was "Chest Pains.") Reportedly, co-star Della Reese and the rest of the cast and crew thought he was doing his classic "Elizabeth, I'm coming to join you!" fake heart attack routine he made famous on Sanford and Son, even going as far as collapsing to the floor, although that was not part of the usual schtick.[3] However, this heart attack was real, and Foxx never regained consciousness.
Titled "The Streetbeater", the theme music was composed by Quincy Jones through A&M Records and first released in 1973.[4] Although the song only reached #294 and did not reach Billboard status, it has maintained mainstream popularity and is featured on Jones' greatest hits album.[5]
After the series was canceled in 1977, a short-lived continuation featuring supporting characters titled The Sanford Arms aired. Whitman Mayo starred in a spin-off series, Grady, during the 1975–1976 season.
In 1980–1981, Redd Foxx attempted to revive the show with the short-lived Sanford (so named because Demond Wilson declined to reprise the role of Lamont for the new series).
Sony Pictures Home Entertainment has released all six seasons of Sanford and Son on Region 1 DVD between August 2002 and June 2005, with a Complete Series box set following in 2008.
| DVD Name | Ep # | Release Date |
|---|---|---|
| The First Season | 14 | August 6, 2002 |
| The Second Season | 24 | February 4, 2003 |
| The Third Season | 24 | October 7, 2003 |
| The Fourth Season | 24 | March 30, 2004 |
| The Fifth Season | 24 | September 14, 2004 |
| The Sixth Season | 24 | June 7, 2005 |
| The Complete Series | 136 | October 28, 2008 |
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