Sanford and Son
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 the Sanford Arms, a rooming house. The show continued as the short-lived 'Sanford Arms' (without Foxx or Wilson); it was revived in 1980 on CBS as 'Sanford' (starring Foxx and without Wilson).
Cast
