My number 1 reason would be Fred constantly insulting the other characters. Every episode Fred makes some wisecracks to Esther or Lamont which then leads to hilarity!

shouldn't this be in the SANFORD & SON forum?

I also crack up laughing when Fred fakes a heart attack and moans "This is the big one! You hear that Elizabeth, I'm coming to join you!" Also, LaWanda Page's portrayal of Aunt Esther is very funny as well as her chemistry with Redd Foxx.

ESTER! Lawanda was magnificent in the role.

The show was great up until Redd Foxx held out for a new contract. It even held up well with Grady and LaMont were carrying it on.

I think they changed some of the producers after Redd's holdout and the show was still mostly watchable with a few exceptions but rarely as good as before the dispute.

Fred's "heart attacks" were funny, but I can't help but think that he died of one while filming one of his later series when I see it now.

One of My Favorite Shows. . .EVER. Red Foxx was meant to play this role!

http://i.imgur.com/pfslNAv.jpg (http://lunapic.com)

It wasn't the Brady Bunch?

Before Redd Foxx's walkout, the characters seemed like a true father and son. The chemistry was phenomenal. The scripts were really funny and had that blue collar feel about them. The first few seasons were hilarious while not taking the story so far as to be unrealistic. That all changed when Redd Foxx returned. We had to suffer through the circus in the junkyard, multiple earthquakes (but for only one episode), Lamont's boring engagement and The Sanford Arms.

The banter between Aunt Esther and Fred was probably the sole reason I watched this show.

The banter between Aunt Esther and Fred was probably the sole reason I watched this show.

Their fights were priceless. And I really liked her a lot more than Fred. The way he's always insulting her looks . He needs to take a good look in the mirror himself-providing he doesn't crack it!

I was born in 1967, and Sanford and Son came on in 1972, which basically means I have watched this show my entire life. I am white and from the South and I and my dad loved this show, but not The Jeffersons, or Good Times.

Redd Foxx was hilarious and had the character down pat. Demond Wilson made a great straight man to Foxx. Then there are his friends, Bubba and Grady. Whitman Mayo was about as funny as Foxx was. When Foxx "went on strike" Mayo did admirably. Foxx also used a lot of the players from his days on the "Chitlin Circuit" Lawanda Page was a comedic genius. I have heard some of her stage performances, and this woman was DIRTY, Foxx's show is Bob Hope compared to her.

We liked/loved and cared about the characters. Lamont and Fred loved each other very much and were best friends. Also, this was the 1970's, before political correctness. We could talk about race, even say "******" and laugh at it all the same. One of the all time funniest scenes was Fred defending Lamont in traffic court. You could not do that today. Actually most all the actors of this show were great and most of the stories funny. The Hawaii episode was a stinker, and the weird dream episode where Fred and Lamont in WWII was strange. But 90 percent of the shows were great.

The show lasted as long as it did, and as someone mentioned above, after Redd came back from his "strike" the stories got more silly and ridiculous. But I for one liked the "circus in the yard" episode and especially the talents of Lawanda Page. It was also nice to see Lamont getting together with that nice girl with the son in the last season. We got a sense of Lamont moving on with his life with Fred's blessing. Fred gets his high school diploma. We may not liked how it ended, but it ended on a good note.

It was also nice to see Lamont getting together with that nice girl with the son in the last season. We got a sense of Lamont moving on with his life with Fred's blessing. Fred gets his high school diploma. We may not liked how it ended, but it ended on a good note.

Lamont and Janet split up when Roger's dad showed back up. The last time we saw her she said something along the lines of "Maybe it's temporary" as she walked out of his life.