Ranking the "Sanford and Son" spin-offs

[TMC]

Grady (1975-76)

I have never seen an episode of the short-lived show, but if the backdoor pilot (which aired at the end of Sanford And Son‘s fourth season) is any indication, I’m not missing much. (I do have access to at least one episode, however, so perhaps I may cover the show at a later date. Stay tuned…)

Transplanting Whitman Mayo’s Grady into the middle of a bland family sitcom ends up yielding little more than… a bland family sitcom. The main trouble is the ensemble, as none of the leads are well-defined or comedically on par with the great cast where Grady was formed.

Sanford Arms (1977-78)

It is often said today that the key to Sanford And Son‘s success was Redd Foxx, and apparently audiences of the time felt the same way. Eight episodes were produced for the 1977-1978 season, but only four aired. I have all four episodes. Although similar in tone to the end of the “father series” (and Esther and Bubba are still great), the new characters are nowhere close to Fred and Lamont. And, truthfully, why would we want to see a show with Sanford in the title if there are no Sanfords in sight?

Sanford (1980-81)

Yes, Redd Foxx is back. But, with an inferior supporting cast and weak scripts, even he can’t overcome the mediocrity. Are there laughs in the re-boot? Some, especially when the show returns to its roots, like in the two part Season Two premiere in which Esther and Fred learn that they accidentally got married.

However, having this great comic would not prove to be enough for Sanford, not if it didn’t also have his first series’ smart, simple construction, for the key issue here is, once again, this Sanford And Son spin-off misses the strong emotional connection between Fred and his son Lamont.

[Dude111]

I picked Sanford but its sad that guy didnt want do it w/him anymore......

Was that really his son??

[Road Dog]

I actually liked the Grady spinoff. There were only 10 epsiodes, but some of them were very funny. Bubba and Rollo appear in a few episodes.

[TMC]

We look at the 3 major Sanford and Son Spin-offs and see how they did and how long they lasted.