There are certain characters of Sanford and Son that were not funny at all-i wish they were not on at all. These are the characters.

1.Fred's friend-Melvin
2.Aunt Ethel
3.Lamont's friend Hulio
------------------------

These were the funniest characters
1. Rollo
2. Aunt Esther
3. Grady

All the characters were good.

Originally posted by Fan of old shows
All the characters were good.

Rollo and Aunt Esther made the show better

Well the producers must have thought Melvin was bad as he was dumped pretty quick into the run. I thought Bubba was great but I agree if had to pick one it would be Julio too.

Originally posted by Ericguy
Well the producers must have thought Melvin was bad as he was dumped pretty quick into the run. I thought Bubba was great but I agree if had to pick one it would be Julio too.

I know Melvin was horrible-Actually the first season was horrible-Too much Fred and Lamont and no one else

I dunno, Solomon...I think you might be missing the whole point of the show...

To my understanding, "Sanford and Son" is the story of a crochety old man and his attempts to keep his mature, adult son from leaving the family business and going out on his own, leaving the old man all alone. Of course, in this relationship the balance of power has shifted, so that the son takes on a parental role over his increasingly ill-behaved father, much to the chagrin of both men.

That's pretty much the basic plot of the show, or rather "Steptoe and Son", the British sitcom on which "Sanford and Son" is based. The episodes of the first season were all adapted from stories broadcast during "Steptoe and Son"'s FIFTH season...so you'll notice that these episodes aren't quite as polished as what would follow...but you DO get the series' concept presented to you in an undiluted form, what with the son controlling the father, and the father acting a fool and embarrassing the hell out of the son at every opportunity.

Like most series, the show went through a period of trial-and-error, to see what would work and what wouldn't---hence the removal of Officer Swanhausen, Melvin, and Aunt Ethel, and the addition of Hoppy, Rollo, Grady, and Aunt Esther and Uncle Woody. Once the writers and producers found their groove, the show hit its stride.

I guess what I'm trying to say here is that while the first season or so of S&S may not be as funny as subsequent seasons, these episodes shouldn't be dismissed because of the lack of favorite characters; instead, one should use the older stories as an opportunity to examine the evolution of a long-running (and popular) tv series that's brought so much joy to so many.:)

Originally posted by W.J. Griffin
I dunno, Solomon...I think you might be missing the whole point of the show...

To my understanding, "Sanford and Son" is the story of a crochety old man and his attempts to keep his mature, adult son from leaving the family business and going out on his own, leaving the old man all alone. Of course, in this relationship the balance of power has shifted, so that the son takes on a parental role over his increasingly ill-behaved father, much to the chagrin of both men.

That's pretty much the basic plot of the show, or rather "Steptoe and Son", the British sitcom on which "Sanford and Son" is based. The episodes of the first season were all adapted from stories broadcast during "Steptoe and Son"'s FIFTH season...so you'll notice that these episodes aren't quite as polished as what would follow...but you DO get the series' concept presented to you in an undiluted form, what with the son controlling the father, and the father acting a fool and embarrassing the hell out of the son at every opportunity.

Like most series, the show went through a period of trial-and-error, to see what would work and what wouldn't---hence the removal of Officer Swanhausen, Melvin, and Aunt Ethel, and the addition of Hoppy, Rollo, Grady, and Aunt Esther and Uncle Woody. Once the writers and producers found their groove, the show hit its stride.

I guess what I'm trying to say here is that while the first season or so of S&S may not be as funny as subsequent seasons, these episodes shouldn't be dismissed because of the lack of favorite characters; instead, one should use the older stories as an opportunity to examine the evolution of a long-running (and popular) tv series that's brought so much joy to so many.:)

Yep, gotta agree with W.J. Most shows start off kind of shaky during the first season. Most, but not all. Some people may like first seasons and some don't.

Look at All in the Family for example. Edith wasn't as ding batty in the first few eps. They just hadn't found the Edith groove yet. When she got to be a dingbat, that's when the Edith character sparkled.

Originally posted by Jenny


Yep, gotta agree with W.J. Most shows start off kind of shaky during the first season. Most, but not all. Some people may like first seasons and some don't.

Look at All in the Family for example. Edith wasn't as ding batty in the first few eps. They just hadn't found the Edith groove yet. When she got to be a dingbat, that's when the Edith character sparkled.

Well I can't say all all the episodes from season one were dull, just the episodes when Fred and Lamont were in that house the entire episode with no other characters.

Melvin was that type of friend that wasn't too smart, and I think a lot of us have friends like that, so I think that's why they had his character, but you are right about Rollo, Grady, and Aunt Esther.

I really liked ROLLO because he was so HIP for that time, and I also liked Bubba, especially in the episode when Fred was trying to get his Blind Mella Jella records back....."I Want My Daddy's Records":):):):):)

SANFORD AND SON WAS THE SHOW....THERE WILL NEVER BE ANOTHER SHOW LIKE IT. It was too REAL!!!!

Originally posted by jbento
Melvin was that type of friend that wasn't too smart, and I think a lot of us have friends like that, so I think that's why they had his character, but you are right about Rollo, Grady, and Aunt Esther.

I really liked ROLLO because he was so HIP for that time, and I also liked Bubba, especially in the episode when Fred was trying to get his Blind Mella Jella records back....."I Want My Daddy's Records":):):):):)

SANFORD AND SON WAS THE SHOW....THERE WILL NEVER BE ANOTHER SHOW LIKE IT. It was too REAL!!!!



YES YES-that phrase by bubba had me on the floor-I WANT MY DADDY RECORDS-i was laughing so hard. I have to tape that episode when TV LAND shows the marathon on January 4, 2002.

i think all the characters were good. and played well. being a john amos fan, i wish they had more of luther, as well of skillet and leroy.

I think Grady is one of the best characters on the show! I can look at him and start laughing. Bubba is really funny, too "I want my daddy's records". Aunt Esther and her husband Woody are really good, too.
I think the show could have done without Julio and his goat and the white policeman that tried to be "hip". I have not seen many of the episodes when they had the Sandford Arms--I just couldn't get interested in them.

Grady was so cool and funny

I agree, Julio wasnt that funny. He was there as a verbal punching bag for Fred. The best is Aunt Esther. Her and Fred could of done the whole show by themselves (well not really), they were a great pair.

Originally posted by RCA
I agree, Julio wasnt that funny. He was there as a verbal punching bag for Fred. The best is Aunt Esther. Her and Fred could of done the whole show by themselves (well not really), they were a great pair.


Julio was very funny. Julio character brung the best out of the Fred character.

Originally posted by SOLOMON
There are certain characters of Sanford and Son that were not funny at all-i wish they were not on at all. These are the characters.

1.Fred's friend-Melvin
2.Aunt Ethel
3.Lamont's friend Hulio
------------------------

These were the funniest characters
1. Rollo
2. Aunt Esther
3. Grady

I Wouldnt take Julio off. Some of my favorite episodes revolve around Fred yelling at Julio and the goat :lol:

Touching on what was said earlier in the thread- that's basically why it was just Fred and Lamont most of the time during that first season. All of the episodes were based on Steptoe & Son eps. so there was no need for any additional characters at that point.

Melvin was pretty bad, but so were a lot of the "actors" on the show. I guess that's because aside from Lamont, nobody was really an actor, which is made obvious by some of the dialogue in many episodes. The reason we got so many people that couldn't reall act was because a lot of them were good friends of Redd Foxx and he insisted that they be given a role on the show in some capacity.

I think it shows that Redd could be a great guy. Guys who wouldn't have found similar work elsewhere because of their appearance or in some cases, ability, were given a shot on S&S because of Redd.

Originally posted by Bruiser Chong
Touching on what was said earlier in the thread- that's basically why it was just Fred and Lamont most of the time during that first season. All of the episodes were based on Steptoe & Son eps. so there was no need for any additional characters at that point.

Melvin was pretty bad, but so were a lot of the "actors" on the show. I guess that's because aside from Lamont, nobody was really an actor, which is made obvious by some of the dialogue in many episodes. The reason we got so many people that couldn't reall act was because a lot of them were good friends of Redd Foxx and he insisted that they be given a role on the show in some capacity.

I think it shows that Redd could be a great guy. Guys who wouldn't have found similar work elsewhere because of their appearance or in some cases, ability, were given a shot on S&S because of Redd.


Besides Lawanda Page, who else was a friend of Redd Foxx that he wanted on the show?

Although I can't totally verify this, I do believe that most of Fred's friends on the show were his real-life friends. Characters like Bubba, Leroy, Skillet, Ah Chu (sp?), Grady, and Melvin were the main ones, I believe. He definitely got Ah Chu work because I recall hearing about Redd telling the producers to put Pat Morita (Ah Chu) on the show in some capacity, being told that they had no part for him, and Redd replying that he didn't care and to get Pat a part on the show.

Personally,I never cared for Donna - she wasn't funny and lacked personality.She added nothing to the show.

Originally posted by vintagetvgirl
Personally,I never cared for Donna - she wasn't funny and lacked personality.She added nothing to the show.


I have to agree-she just took up space on the set

I Wouldnt take Julio off. Some of my favorite episodes revolve around Fred yelling at Julio and the goat :lol:
Same here!! We have Julio to thank for introducing Fred to sangria aka "flapple". :rofl: The Merger is one of the funniest episodes I've ever seen of any show. Only Vitameatavegamin tops this TV commercial, in my book. Lamont swaggering into the camera wearing that goofy tie - :brent!!

There are certain characters of Sanford and Son that were not funny at all-i wish they were not on at all. These are the characters.

1.Fred's friend-Melvin
2.Aunt Ethel
3.Lamont's friend Hulio
------------------------

These were the funniest characters
1. Rollo
2. Aunt Esther
3. Grady


You probably know by now that Melvin and Ethel WERE taken off the show. Ethel was only on two episodes, though I wanted to see more of her.

Hutch was a character i didn't care for at all!

Hutch was a character i didn't care for at all!


Hutch was a lot better than Melvin-lol

Actually I thought all of the characters were good. Melvin was pretty funny too. I liked the episode where Fred, lamont & Melvin were talking about Puerto Ricans. Fred was talking about how the PC's messed up Harlem and how it was once a paradise. After Lamont asked how a ghetto could be a paradise, Melvin siad "Yeah Fred. How can a ghetto be a paradise?" To which Fred said "Shut up Melvin".
Also, the episode where Fred wants a new color TV is funny, where Melvin is trying to watch TV with Fred. All in all, I think every character added something to the show. Although Officer "Hopie" was pretty lame at times ("Let's divide" only to be corrected that's it's "Let's split").