Shark Bytes

Nowhere as good as Sanford and Son

I LOVED Sanford even more than Sanford & Son. Lamont was always whining about everthing and, as a previous poster noted, always wanted something better.

The chemistry between Fred and Cal were great. I hope this comes out on DVD. I will be the first to buy it!!!

LOVE this show! Was so happy to see it return to BET!

I am hoping that the series would be released on DVD at some point. S&S dvd sales were pretty strong and I would think that SANFORD would sell reasonably well.

Sanford Arms? Not so much.

In the three year space between the original series and Sanford, the NBC affiliate in Indianapolis went from WRTV-6 to WTHR-13. Watching Sanford on Channel 13 didn't have the same aura as the original series, notably because of Lamont's absence. With Jeff Foxworthy now hosting a FOX game show, Sanford's redneck jokes have become hopelessly dated.

Incidentally, Sanford aired on reruns once before, on either BET or USA during the late 1980s/early 1990s when I was attending Ball State.

This show was hilarious! Recently on BET, they had an all day marathon, from 10 am to 12 midnight, I watched every episode. I loved Cal, the chemistry between him and Fred was excellent. Yeah, I missed Lamont, but on the show, Lamont was over 30 and always wanting something better. So, let him go and bring in the big, white guy for a whole new direction.

If these same episodes have been done with Demond Wilson, it would have been about as good as the original. Nothing against the guy who played Cal, but it just wasn't the same without Lamont.

They ran a complete series marathon on BET today, 3/8/08 starting 9 AM and running to 9:30 PM, and it's supposed to be part of the BET lineup past the marathon.

I would like to know, where can I find the episodes of Sanford. I liked them and I can't find them anywhere.

Fred's first episode after his strike, he gets a huge response from the audience (deservedly so, it was his first ep. back in a while). However, it set up the opportunity to have the audience applaud the appearance of any cast member, no matter how big (Lamont, Esther, etc.) or how small (Hoppy and Smitty). This is a JTS point for any show, b/c it shows the characters have become shadows of themselves (see Happy Days, Married...with Children, and Family Matters). It causes the writers to get lazy and think they can put the characters in ANY situation (no matter how ridiculous) b/c the audience loves the characters regardless. This was around the 74-75 season, one of the last truly good S&S seasons. There were still some good ones afterward, but the first four seasons were gold. Favorite line...BUBBA to Lamont: Hey, you got a new coat? LAMONT: Yeah, it's a pea coat. BUBBA: Yeah...did you know that when you bought it. The comic timing and Lamont's dirty look was priceless.

Sanford never jumped the shark. It was a excellent continuation to a classic sitcom. Fred Sanford was still the same as he was in the original show. He still faked heart attacks and the fat jokes he said to Cal were hysterical. Even though they were only seen twice, it was great to see Aunt Esther and Grady again. It was also great to see Rollo and Officers Smitty and Hoppy in a few episodes. Cal was very different from Lamont, but his chemistry with Fred was excellent. I enjoyed it when Fred insulted Evelyn's brother Winston and her maid Clara. It proved that he was still the same Fred Sanford we enjoyed for six seasons from 1972 to 1977. This was the best continuation I have ever seen. Should of lasted longer.

When Lamont left the show and Cal came on. Though Cal was loveable it just changed the dynamics of the show.

"Sanford" was to "Sanford and Son" what all those revival series were to "The Brady Bunch": a really bad idea minus all the saccharine and p.c. Let a good thing stand alone already!

I too watched this show when it debuted on prime time. At the time, I thought it was awesome to see Fred on TV again. Even having Rollo around was cool, but the large Texan was too much to bear even for a kid. Redd Foxx was probably wishing the original show never ended and the same was probably true for Demond Wilson (Lamont) whose other two shows "Baby I'm Back" and the "New Odd Couple" were abysmal.

I don't know if you can consider Sanford a spinoff since it aired 3 years after Sanford and Son went off the air, but to me it was a spinoff and spinoffs hardly ever work. Just the simple fact that they produced a show called Sanford was a jump the shark moment. Not that this show was that horrible or anything, but it just wasn't the same with Cal on it, I'm not surprised it only lasted a year or two. I actually remember watching this show as a kid when it was on primetime, but the thing that I find very funny and ironic is that BET would always air re-runs of this show in the late 80s/early 90's instead of Sanford and Son. I just found that funny. They played the show with the fat white guy instead of the show with Lamont. Maybe they couldn't obtain the rights to the original classic.

It never jumped. at least cal had a personality, lamont was really a DUMMY! i wish i could watch it again, it dont come on anywhere, great show, even better than sanford and son.