Sanford and Son is an American sitcom television series that aired on NBC from January 14, 1972, to March 25, 1977. It was based on the British sitcom Steptoe and Son, which initially aired on BBC1 in the United Kingdom from 1962 to 1974.
After the show premiered in 1972, newspapers 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 programmes. Sanford and Son was adapted from Steptoe and Son and All in the Family from Till Death Us Do Part.
An earlier pilot for an American version of Steptoe and Son was produced by Joseph E. Levine in 1965. It starred Lee Tracy and Aldo Ray as Albert and Harold Steptoe. This version was unscreened and did not lead to a series. The pilot was released on DVD in the UK in 2018.
Sanford and Son was enormously popular during most of its run and was one of the top 10 highest-rated series on American television from its first season (1972) through the 1975–76 season.
Sanford and Son put enough of a dent into the audience of ABC's The Brady Bunch to drive it off the air in 1974. Sanford and Son peaked at No. 2 in the Nielsen ratings during the 1972–73 season and the 1974–75 season, and the series was second only to All in the Family in ratings during those years. By the 1974–75 season, Sanford and Son's lead-in helped the entire NBC Friday night lineup place in the coveted bracket of the Top 15 shows (Chico and the Man, following Sanford and Son at 8:30 p.m., ranked No. 3 for the season, while the police dramas The Rockford Files and Police Woman, which aired later in the evening, ranked at No. 12 and No. 15 respectively).[citation needed]
The show's ratings dipped substantially in its final season, though it was still quite popular at the time of its cancellation.
In 2007, Time magazine included the show on its list of the "100 Best TV Shows of All Time".[4]
Ratings
Sanford and Son was a ratings hit through its six-season run on NBC. Despite airing in the so-called Friday night death slot, it managed to peak at No. 2 in the ratings (behind All in the Family, and ranked less than one ratings point behind All in the Family during the 1974–75 season).
Friday at 8:00-8:30 PM (Episodes 1, 3–11, 13–25) Friday at 8:30-9:00 PM (Episode 2)[5] Tuesday at 8:00-8:30 PM (Episode 12)[6]
No. 27
20.3
14,453,600
Production notes
The series was produced by Norman Lear's and Bud Yorkin's Tandem Productions, which was also responsible for All in the Family. The two shows 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.
Because of Lear's commitments to his other concurrent series, and the distance between NBC Studios in Burbank where Sanford and Son were taped and the Hollywood locations of other Tandem shows, such as All in the Family, Maude, The Jeffersons, and One Day at a Time, which were recorded at CBS Television City or Metromedia Square, he did not have as much day-to-day involvement with Sanford and Son as with the other Tandem series, leaving the show-running to Yorkin.
While taping episodes for the 1973–74 season, Redd Foxx walked off the show in a salary dispute, though he cited health issues. His character was written out of the series for the remaining six episodes of the season, and it was explained that Fred Sanford was away in St. Louis attending his cousin's funeral, with friend Grady (Whitman Mayo) in charge of the home. Foxx, who had been earning $19,000 per episode, equivalent to $130,408in 2023, sought a 25% ownership stake in the series. Tandem Productions fought back with a $10 million lawsuit. The dispute was resolved in June 1974, with Foxx receiving $25,000, equivalent to $171,589in 2023, per episode, to equal Carroll O'Connor's All in the Family pay, plus 25% of the producers' net profits.
Although Foxx was still absent for production of the first three shows of Season 4, NBC aired his return as the season premiere and delayed showing the previously taped episodes. In 1977, rival network ABC lured Foxx away with a large sum to host his variety show, The Redd Foxx Comedy Hour, ending Sanford and Son, which had been gradually declining in the ratings. The media reported that the dispute between Foxx and NBC was over the lack of a dressing-room window.
An exterior shot of the NBC Burbank lot was featured in the Season 5 episode "Steinberg and Son". The storefront, seen only in the opening credits, stood at 10659 West Magnolia Boulevard in North Hollywood, nearly 16 miles from the Sanfords' fictitious 9114 South Central Avenue address in Watts. This same storefront, minus the "Sanford and Son" sign, can also be seen in Emergency! in a 1973 episode titled "Alley Cat".
The pickup truck depicted in the series is a 1951 Ford F1. It was purchased at auction after the series ended and was later leased back to NBC for the spin-off shows Sanford Arms and Sanford. It has changed hands a few times over the years, eventually purchased by a real-life junk dealer, Donald Dimmitt of Dimmitt's Auto Salvage, in Argos, Indiana. In 2014, the truck was purchased from Dimmitt's by Tim Franko and Jeff Canter, owners of BlueLine Classics, a classic car dealership in North Royalton, Ohio, who restored the truck to its true condition as seen on the TV series and currently display it in the dealership's showroom.[citation needed] It has since been on display in locations within Cleveland.
Theme music
Titled "The Streetbeater", the theme music was composed by Quincy Jones through A&M Records and released on record in 1973.[7] Although the song did not reach Billboard status, it has maintained mainstream popularity and is featured on Jones's greatest-hits album.[8] The song has been featured on series such as Scrubs and The Simpsons.[9]
Daytime Reruns
The series was rebroadcast on NBC from June 14, 1976 to July 21, 1978.
Legacy
After the series was canceled in 1977, a short-lived continuation featuring the supporting characters titled Sanford Arms aired. Whitman Mayo starred in a short-lived spin-off series, Grady, during the 1975–1976 season.
In 1980–1981, Foxx attempted to revive the show with another short-lived series titled Sanford, but Demond Wilson refused to reprise his role as Lamont Sanford for the new series.
Home media
Sony Pictures Home Entertainment 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.
John Elroy Sanford, better known by his stage name Redd Foxx, was an American stand-up comedian and actor. Foxx gained success with his raunchy nightclub act before and during the civil rights movement. Known as the "King of the Party Records", he performed on more than 50 records in his lifetime. He portrayed Fred G. Sanford on the television show Sanford and Son and starred in The Redd Foxx Show and The Royal Family, where he played the husband of Della Reese, and grandfather to actor Larenz Tate.
Grady Demond Wilson is an American actor and author. He played Lamont Sanford, the son of Fred Sanford on the NBC sitcom Sanford and Son (1972–77). He also portrayed Oscar Madison on The New Odd Couple (1982–83) and appeared in the film Me and the Kid (1993).
Johnny Brown was an American actor, comedian and singer. He was most famous for his role as building superintendent Nathan Bookman on the 1970s CBS sitcom, Good Times. Brown portrayed Bookman until the series was cancelled in 1979.
Whitman Blount Mayo Jr. was an American actor, best known for his role as Grady Wilson on the 1970s television sitcom Sanford and Son.
Alan David "Bud" Yorkin was an American film and television producer, director, screenwriter, and actor.
LaWanda Page was an American actress, comedian and dancer whose career spanned six decades. Crowned "The Queen of Comedy" or "The Black Queen of Comedy", Page melded blue humor, signifyin' and observational comedy with jokes about sexuality, race relations, African-American culture and religion. She released five solo albums, including the 1977 gold-selling Watch It, Sucker!, and collaborated on two albums with the comedy group Skillet, Leroy & Co. As an actress, Page is best known for portraying the Bible-toting and sharp-tongued Esther Anderson on the popular television sitcom Sanford and Son, which aired from 1972 until 1977. Page reprised the role in the short-lived television shows Sanford Arms (1976–1977) and Sanford (1980–1981). She also costarred in the 1979 short-lived series Detective School. Throughout her career, Page advocated for fair pay and equal opportunities for black performers.
Donald Thomas Bexley was an American actor and comedian, best known for playing Bubba Bexley on the 1970s television sitcom Sanford and Son.
Tandem Productions, Inc. was a film and television production company that was founded in 1958 by television director Bud Yorkin and television writer/producer Norman Lear.
Nathaniel Taylor was an American television and film actor best known for portraying Rollo Lawson on the 1970s sitcoms Sanford and Son, Grady and the 1980s sitcom Sanford.
Theodore Rosevelt "Teddy" Wilson was an American stage, film, and television actor. He is best known for his recurring roles as Earl the Postman on the ABC sitcom That's My Mama, and Sweet Daddy Williams on the CBS sitcom Good Times and Phil Wheeler on Sanford Arms (1977). Throughout his television and film career, Wilson was credited interchangeably with either Theodore (36) or Teddy (50) as his given name.
Fred G. Sanford is a fictional character portrayed by actor/comedian Redd Foxx on the 1972–1977 NBC sitcom Sanford and Son and the 1980–1981 NBC sitcom Sanford.
Esther Winfield Anderson, known as Aunt Esther, is a fictional character from the television series Sanford and Son. She was played by actress LaWanda Page, an acquaintance of series star Redd Foxx. Page was Foxx's first and only choice to play Esther.
Grady is an American sitcom and a spin-off of Sanford and Son that aired on NBC from December 4, 1975, to March 11, 1976. Whitman Mayo reprises his role as Fred Sanford's widower friend Grady Wilson, who leaves Watts to move in with his daughter and her family in Westwood. Executive producer Norman Lear served as a consultant to the show.
The Royal Family is an American sitcom television series that ran on CBS between September 18, 1991, and May 13, 1992. The series was created by executive producer Eddie Murphy, as part of a development deal Murphy had with CBS, and produced by David Garber, Shelley Jensen, Deborah Leschin, Leslie Ray, and David Steven Simon. Other executive producers alongside Eddie Murphy are Mark McClafferty and Greg Antonacci. It was presented by Eddie Murphy Television in association with Paramount Television, the television arm of Paramount Pictures, a Paramount Communications Company, with which Murphy had long been associated. The series starred Redd Foxx and Della Reese.
Sanford is an American sitcom television series and a sequel to the original 1972–1977 sitcom Sanford and Son. It was broadcast on NBC from March 15, 1980, to July 10, 1981.
Sanford Arms is an American sitcom television series produced as a spin-off and continuation of Sanford and Son, that aired on NBC from September 16 to October 14, 1977.
Grady Wilson is the name of a fictional recurring character on the NBC sitcom Sanford and Son played by Whitman Mayo. The character's name first appeared in the 1972 episode "The Dowry"; however, in this episode he was played by Albert Reed Jr. and he was Fred's cousin. Once Mayo took the role, Grady became a regular on the show.
Alan Rafkin was an American director, producer, and actor for television.
Hot l Baltimore is a 1975 American sitcom created by Norman Lear, adapted from the 1973 off-Broadway play The Hot l Baltimore by Lanford Wilson.
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