The sitcom I am writing about this week is in honor of Black History Month. "Sanford and Son" was the first successful African-American sitcom in television history.
Redd Foxx(photo left) and Demond Wilson (photo right) starred as the historic father-son duo, Fred and Lamont Sanford for six seasons from 1972-1977. They played partners in a salvage business. Fred was the boss of the salvage business who did least of the work. He was a very stubborn, colorful character who often expressed bigoted views against puerto ricans, whites, and other minorities. Lamont did most of the work and often had to call on his father to get tasks done. All he ever wanted was peace and his privacy. He often considered leaving his dad to take on more meaningful work, but, whenever he threatened to, Fred would fake a heart attack and spew out a catchphrase, such as, "Oh, this time it's real! I'ma comin' Elizabeth."(This refers to seeing his dead wife, Elizabeth, in Heaven)
Many of you have probably seen this show. It is not quite as old as "I Love Lucy" so I won't go into more detail about the plot of "Sanford and Son." What I didn't know about "Sanford and Son," is that it is based off of a BBC sitcom that ran for a good chunk of the 1960's called "Steptoe and Sons." It is considered by some as Britain's best sitcom.
"Sanford and Son" was a great sitcom. In 2007 it was recognized by Time as one of the "100 Best TV Shows of All Time." More importantly than that, however, it opened the doors to many other African-American Sitcoms. It was a new idea at that time having a "black man" running his mouth about other races. Some content of the show is even considered too controversial (Warning: Derogatory Racial Language) to be shown on network TV now. Without "Sanford and Son," who knows if we would have the great sitcoms we have had ever since, such as, "The Jeffersons," "The Cosby Show," "Family Matters," and "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air." Therefore, we salute you Fred and Lamont Sanford for being pioneers of African-Americans on television.
Happy Black History Month, ya big dummies!
Cool post. I like how you incorporated it into black history month. I haven't actually seen an entire episode of this show, but I remember watching parts of it with my dad.
ReplyDeleteI couldn't believe it when I watched the controversial clip you linked for us. Television back in the day usually didn't even swear, yet here they are, making derogatory remarks.
I don't think I have ever seen an episode of Sanford and Son, but i do remember watching Family members every day and getting pumped when I saw the Fresh Prince was on (Will Smith can do it all).
ReplyDeleteI can't believe what they said on that show! That language would never fly on television now, whether it was said by a caucasion or African American. I think it is crazy that that was able to be said on cable television.