How to Watch Sanford and Son Online

Sanford and Son is a sitcom that aired on NBC between 1972 and 1977. It was based on the British sitcom Steptoe and Son, but adapted by Norman Lear and Bud Yorkin for American audiences.

Fred Sanford (Redd Foxx) was a widower and junk dealer in Los Angeles's Watts neighborhood who shared a home and business with his long-suffering son Lamont (Demond Wilson). Both characters were often seen plotting ways to make money, though Fred was usually greedier than Lamont.

How to Watch

One of the most memorable and impressive televised productions of the era, NBC's Sanford and Son was a surprisingly sophisticated series for its day. Its 139 episodes, which ran from 1972 to 1973, are available on demand at the time of writing. The show, which was a ratings powerhouse, was also the first of its ilk to receive an Emmy award. Its star ascended quickly, and despite its occasional misfires (like the inexplicable lack of the show's namesake) and the ill-fated tidbit about its creators, it remains a cherished family favorite to this day.

The aforementioned show's many accolades include being the most watched half-hour television program of its time, and a near perfect rating from Nielsen. It was a bit of a flop at the time of its inception, but after a few hiccups and some well-timed marketing opportunites it reemerged as an instant classic. It is a bit of a slog, but the rewards are worth it in the long run. It is a good idea to check out the show's website for a current schedule.

Episodes

The misadventures of a cantankerous junk dealer and his frustrated son. Sanford and Son is a sitcom that first aired on NBC in 1972. It features Redd Foxx and Demond Wilson as Fred and Lamont Sanford, a father and son who run a junkyard in South Central, Los Angeles.

The show was based on the BBC television series Steptoe and Son and was produced by Norman Lear and Bud Yorkin. The series ran for six seasons and was a huge hit. It was ranked in the top 10 for its entire run and it was nominated for several Emmy awards including two for Foxx as best lead actor.

During its run, the show featured an African American cast that broke a lot of ground in comedy. It was one of the first shows that focused on racial issues, and it was also a show where Black characters could be seen as real people with a life of their own.

In the beginning, the show was a ratings hit and it won many awards for its high quality. However, it dropped off after the second season. This is mainly due to the fact that the production staff took too many shortcuts and did not properly refine the scripts.

Another issue with the second half of the series is that it became more gimmicky. This was a big problem because the show was already very satirical and it was hard to make it even more so without losing some of its humor.

A good example of this is the episode "An Offer from a Silent Movie Star." In this episode, Fred (Redd Foxx) and Lamont (Demond Wilson) buy a porcelain figure for $15 from a silent movie star. They decide to sell it at an auction but things go awry.

While this is a great episode, it is not my favorite from the entire series. I am not a fan of the storyline and it is a little too melodramatic.

Despite this, it is still a great series that you should check out if you enjoy watching comedy. The episodes of this show are very funny and they have some great storylines and characters.

Characters

Adapted from the British series Steptoe and Son, Sanford and Son follows Fred Sanford (Redd Foxx) and his son Lamont (Demond Wilson), a pair of junkyard owners in Los Angeles’ Watts neighborhood. The show was a top-rated hit on NBC from 1972 to 1977, and is considered a classic of family sitcoms for its running gags, racial humor, and catchphrases.

During the course of the series, Sanford and Lamont attempt to get rich quickly in a variety of ways. They make a number of errors, which result in hilarious scenarios. In particular, they often end up with a lot of money they don’t have and find themselves in financial trouble as a result.

The show starred Redd Foxx as Fred Sanford, an irascible junk dealer who foists work on his long-suffering son Lamont. Throughout the show, the two share a prickly relationship. They frequently clash, but they also regularly come to each other’s aid.

As the show’s star, Redd Foxx was regarded as one of the funniest Black comedians of all time. His bawdy recordings and racy nightclub routines had influenced generations of Black comics.

In addition to his work on Sanford and Son, Foxx starred in the TV show The Man from U.N.C.L.E. as well as the film Cotton Comes to Harlem. He died in October 1994 at the age of sixty-eight.

Many fans regard Foxx as the best African-American actor to have ever starred in television. His performance as Fred Sanford in Sanford and Son earned him Emmy nominations for Best Actor in a Comedy Series.

He also received an Emmy nomination for his role in the film Cotton Comes to Harlem. In addition to his acting career, Foxx was a producer and director of several movies.

Another notable character on the show is Julio Fuentes, the Puerto Rican next-door neighbor to the Sanfords. Despite Julio’s friendliness, he is frequently insulted by Fred.

Similarly, Officer "Smitty" Smith (Hal Williams), an African-American police officer, occasionally visits the Sanfords’ junkyard. He is usually accompanied by a white partner, who delivers the punchlines to Williams’s straight-man set-up lines.

Seasons

The show debuted in January 1972 as a midseason replacement, kicking off a series of hit single-episode runs that made it one of the most popular and highest-rated comedy series of its time. It dominated Friday evenings for several seasons, often beating out rivals such as The Waltons (which aired its first episode in 1973) and Planet of the Apes.

In the early seasons, the program revolved around junk dealer Fred Sanford (Redd Foxx) and his son Lamont, who operated a "salvage" shop in South Central L.A. The two worked in conjunction with a pair of scheming buddies, Grady (Whitman Mayo) and Bubba (Don Bexley), as well as Lamont's friend Rollo (Nathaniel Taylor). It also starred the show's secret weapon, Aunt Esther, played by La Wanda Page, Fred's sister-in-law, who was a major source of hilarity throughout the series.

Sanford and Son was a pioneering television series that took on some of the most serious issues facing the United States at the time. As a result, it has become a classic of the genre and is still widely watched today.

As was the case with many TV shows of its era, it was aimed at bringing about awareness and promoting social progress. This was especially true with the show's foregrounding of issues of race and culture.

For example, in one season-ending episode called “Watts Side Story,” Fred’s petty and prejudiced attitude toward his Puerto Rican neighbor Julio (Gregory Sierra) led him to hire a surveyor to mark the property line. He soon learns the cost of that gesture when Julio tries to build his own house across the street, which is only allowed by the law after Fred pays an extra $3,000.

The show’s heightened embrace of guilt-free racial humor – and its frequent use of the word “nigga” – was the most memorable of its ilk. The most famous of these moments came in a third-season episode, Fred Sanford, Legal Eagle, where Fred’s bigoted comments – to a black judge – about supposed racist cops, land him a contempt of court fine.