Why were the police officers on the show more than once? What was the point? I think every city has police officers. I was always confused when I kept seeing these characters over and over again. I can see if one of the police officers were a relative of one of the cast members but they were not and the existence of the police officers never made sense to me.

Hoppy and Smitty are what is refered to as "problem solvers"...those characters who come in every so often to: A) shake up the leads when they're in the midst of mischief and:B) rescue the leads when said mischief goes awry. Plus, Officer Smitty is portrayed as a community-minded policeman who would often lend a helping hand to Fred and Lamont when they needed it most, and good-natured Officer Hoppy, while often portrayed as being inept culturaly, was just as civic-minded as Smitty (and remember, the Watts riots of the late sixties and early seventies was still fresh in everyone's minds, so the inclusion of ethnically diverse lawmen was probably put in by the network to alieviate hard feelings from the Black community at the time.)

But unnecessary? NEVER!!;)

Hoppy and Smitty are what is refered to as "problem solvers"...those characters who come in every so often to: A) shake up the leads when they're in the midst of mischief and:B) rescue the leads when said mischief goes awry. Plus, Officer Smitty is portrayed as a community-minded policeman who would often lend a helping hand to Fred and Lamont when they needed it most, and good-natured Officer Hoppy, while often portrayed as being inept culturaly, was just as civic-minded as Smitty (and remember, the Watts riots of the late sixties and early seventies was still fresh in everyone's minds, so the inclusion of ethnically diverse lawmen was probably put in by the network to alieviate hard feelings from the Black community at the time.)

But unnecessary? NEVER!!;)

Great answer! 💯💯💯💯

I thought the most pointless character was May Hopkins (Officer Hoppy's mom) who joined the show in the 5th season. She becomes a resident of the Sanford Arms and appeared in 5 or 6 episodes. She was played by Nancy Kulp (Ms. Hathaway from the Beverly Hillbillies) and she seemed completely out of place on Sanford & Son.

I thought the most pointless character was May Hopkins (Officer Hoppy's mom) who joined the show in the 5th season. She becomes a resident of the Sanford Arms and appeared in 5 or 6 episodes. She was played by Nancy Kulp (Ms. Hathaway from the Beverly Hillbillies) and she seemed completely out of place on Sanford & Son.

Oh Yes, lol And the unnecessary addition was Esther's and Woody adopted son Daniel