Sanford And Son [TV Show] (DVD)

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"Sanford & Son" has a lot in common with "All in the Family." Both shows were retooled British sitcoms ("Steptoe and Son" and "Till Death Do Us Part") that Norman Lear produced. Both featured a cranky, racist, older blue-collar philosophizing patriarch (Fred G. Sanford and Archie Bunker), who sparred with a younger, hipper, and more politically sensitive man (son Lamont Sanford and son-in-law Michael Stivic). Both were shot like stage plays, with the actors feeling like "players" whose every entrance generated applause from the studio audience. And both were hugely successful.

Though it never raked in the Emmys that "All in the Family" did—no doubt because the characters and situations were played more over-the-top, with more caricatures and less serious issues—"Sanford & Son" was just as popular, finishing in the Nielsen Top-10 every year it was telecast between 1972-77. Part of the attraction was comedian Redd Foxx, who, along with fellow nightclub comic Moms Mabley, had reputations and record albums that made them the undisputed king and queen of raunchy stand-up comedy. By contrast, "Sanford & Son" was pretty wholesome, but the Foxx mystique made viewers tune in just to hear what irreverent things might come out of his mouth.

Demond Wilson played the younger Sanford, and pretty much held to his second-banana role throughout the six-year run. There were tender moments between them, but mostly there was plenty of verbal abuse, with Fred's default "You big dummy" resonating from episode to episode as Lamont's get-them-out-of-the-ghetto schemes failed one after the other. Ironically, in reality the show ended because of Wilson's demands for more money than the producers were willing to pay him after Foxx left the show, making the sixth season the show's last.

Unlike Lamont, NBC was no dummy. Where's the appeal in "& Son"? It was Foxx's show, plain and simple. Though the comedian was ten years younger than the character he played, Foxx had the 65-year-old Sanford shuffle down to a tee, as well as his character's signature reaction to shock and fallback if he needed to deflect attention from his mischief: a faked heart attack and his heavenward monologue, "I'm comin', Elizabeth, I'm comin' to join you."

Foxx, who received another Golden Globe nomination, was still on his game during the show's final season, even if the writers were running out of things to do with a 65-year-old Los Angeles junkman and his thirtysomething unmarried son. And "Sanford & Son" still finished in the #7 spot.

Here's the rundown on the season's 24 episodes:

1) "Fred's Extra Job"—A dynamic opener finds Lamont falling back on an old threat—to leave the junkyard for a "real" job—that seems real enough to where Fred lies to him about how well the business is doing, then has to take out a bank loan and work as a busboy to make the payments.

2) "I Dream of Choo-Choo Rabinowitz"—Lamont has gotten serious with Janet (Marlene Clark), a single mom he had been dating, and Fred is out to impress his future mother-in-law by trying to get himself in the Guinness Book of World Records.

3) "The Hawaiian Connection, Part 1"—In town for a Junkmen of America convention, Fred and Lamont are used by jewel thieves to smuggle gems from Hawaii to L.A.

4) "The Hawaiian Connection, Part 2"—Don Ho has a cameo as Fred loses track of his "friends'" package and is chased all over the island, with some hilarious scenes shot at Sea Life Park. Sheldon Leonard and comedian Pat Paulsen guest.

5) "The Winning Ticket"—This time Fred has a scheme to bring more business to the junkyard, except that there's a catch he hadn't noticed that might bankrupt them.

6) "The Stakeout"—Fred is enamored with one of the tenants at the Sanford Arms Hotel, the business Aunt Esther (LaWanda Page, as the memorable purse-swinging Christian), but something's not quite right. The ma'am is really a man on the lam.

7) "California Crude"—Shades of "The Beverly Hillbillies," the Sanfords see dollar signs when an Arab oil representative (Ross Martin, from "The Wild, Wild West") tells them there might be oil on the property.

8) "Committee Man"—The mayor chooses Fred to represent Watts businessmen on a community relations committee, but the other members want no part of him.

9) "Aunt Esther Has a Baby"—Social services comes calling at the wrong time to see if Esther's home environment would qualify her as an adoptive parent: her husband is drunk, and that leaves Fred G. to handle things.

10) "Aunt Esther Meets Her Son"—Esther's "baby" turns out to be quite a bit older, and, to her shock, an atheist!

11) "Sanford and Gong"—Before "American Idol" there was "The Gong Show," and Fred and Lamont put in an appearance, hoping to win the grand prize. Chuck Barris guests.

12) "Carol"—A bank robbery and a mysterious visitor who claims to have known Fred 40 years ago form the basis of this episode.

13) "Here Today, Gone Tomorrow"—Misunderstandings abound in this episode where Lamont and Esther try to surprise Fred by sending out his furniture to be reupholstered.

14) "Fred Meets Redd"—A bit of self-referential play finds Fred needing to choose between spending time with his accountant (comedian Jack Carter) or compete in a Redd Foxx look-alike contest (in which Foxx handles two roles and his daughter appears).