The Redd Foxx Show aired from January until April 1986 on ABC.
Redd Foxx attempted a comeback in this funky little comedy about a small-time businessman in New York City. Al Hughes ( Redd Foxx) was a gruff old codger who ran a combination diner/newsstand in a black, inner-city neighborhood. Hanging around the counter were Toni ( Pamela Segall), a white street kid he had adopted as a foster daughter; Diana ( Rosana DeSoto), the waitress; Jim-Jam ( Nathaniel Taylor and later Theodore Wilson), a friend; and Dwight ( Barry Van Dyke), a local cop. There was a lot of street life in the neighborhood, and early episodes were enlivend by a group of 4 young harmonizing black kids ( played by Ron Jaxon, Phil Perry, Theo Forsett and Oren Waters) who worked as movers and constituted the " Mulberry St. Du-Wop Moving Company."
Major cast changes were made in March in a vain attempt to improve the program's sagging ratings. Diana and Toni departed ( the latter to boarding school), and Al was descended upon by his sharp-tongued ex-wife Felicia ( Beverly Todd), who demanded a half-interest in the business in lieu of the alimony he had never paid her. Bryon ( Sinbad) was a new foster son.
A Review from USA TODAY
TV PREVIEW/BY MONICA COLLINS
A flinty, phony 'Foxx'
Redd Foxx is a lot of things. He's not Bill Cosby.
Foxx's new sitcom, in which he plays a raspy foster dad to a street urchin, reveals this character as having little warmth and sincerity. One wonders why Redd Foxx even has his own show.
How's this for a comeback? When the she-urchin tries to pursuade Foxx to adopt her, she whines, " I'm friendly, loyal and clean." And the curmudgeon shoots back, " So's a cocker spaniel." Ha ha.
Somehow, the crusty comedy at which Foxx is an expert doesn't seem to make it on TV anymore. We're now into cuddly, not curmudgeonly, comedy. We want to see TV dads with sturdy bearing and hearts of gold. Although Redd Foxx fits neatly into TV's trend toward older characters, you tend to forget the grizzle after a while and merely concentrate on the gravel.
And the whole premise of the Foxx sitcom seems terribly old. How many gruff rejoiners can you handle in an evening? How many weezy retorts? If you have a hankering for cantankerous you'll turn into a satisfied viewer. If not, you'll merely turn the dial.
In a switch of TV's usual bi-racial premise-black children adopted by white parents-here we have a white child ( Pamela Segall) adopted by a guy who's not only an equal opportunity foster dad but employer as well. In the curmudgeon's paper store-cum- snack counter, he pays wages-and delivers punchlines-to a happy Puerto Rican waitress ( Rosana De Soto).
Everyone here is gruff on the outside and gushy on the inside. That makes for a lot of screaming and shouting and carrying on. That also makes for a lot of phoniness.
And sincerity is the byword these days in TV comedy. We're looking to pay a little mind to heart.
Redd Foxx is just not the guy to give it to us. He's too busy rasping, wheezing and tossing around the put-downs to reveal any warmth at all.
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