Top 10 Best Sanford and Son episodes.
When it comes to iconic sitcoms in television history Sanford and Son is on the top 5 list, and when talking about greatest and funniest sitcoms featuring a black cast it ranks even higher. The show was simple. It was just a show about a father and son who ran a Junkyard business together and that’s it. The father was a cantankerous, bigoted and sharp witted old man dependent on his more progressive, quick tempered and overachieving son. Fred and Lamont Sanford had plenty of help making us laugh with Fred’s sister in law and arch nemesis the bible thumping and no nonsense Esther Anderson aka “Aunt Esther”, Fred’s two dimwitted but lovable buddies Grady Wilson and Bubba Baxter, friendly and patient Puerto Rican neighbor Julio Fuentes, Lamont’s cool, slick and ladykiller best friend Rollo and Fred’s nurse girlfriend the beautiful Donna Dixon. Sanford and Son made us laugh for six full seasons and gave us over 100 hilarious episodes but today we’re gonna talk about what are in my humble opinion the top 10 best and funniest episodes of the series.
10. Once a Thief. Season 4 episode 15.
Grady gets uptight when Lamont brings his ex-convict friend Herman (Ron Glass) home to stay until he can find a job.
This episode was actually filmed in season 3 during Redd Fox’s contract dispute where Whitman Mayo took Foxx’s place and Whitman Mayo was as great in this episode filling Redd Foxx’s shoes as he was in all the other episodes where he took over. His and Esther’s dynamic in this episode was hilarious as well. I get such a kick with how with Fred gone all of a sudden Grady is now making it his job to insult Esther.
9. Julio and Sister and Nephew.
Allergic to Chico the goat, Julio’s sister and young nephew stay with the Sanfords. Controversy arises when young Roberto is placed down a grade in school because of his poor English skills.
A classic episode that also showed a bit of character development for Fred and one of the few episodes with a bit more emotion and a heartwarming message making it particularly special.
8. The Puerto Ricans are Coming! Season 2 episode 8.
Fred’s prejudice is first introduced when he and Lamont meet their new Puerto Rican neighbor Julio.
This episode is not only special because it’s the introduction of the fan favorite Julio, but it also has one of the funniest moments in not only Sanford and Son’s history but in sitcom history:
7. Lamont Goes Karate. Season 3 episode 19.
Lamont learns karate to defend himself against bully Jo Jo Jackson:
This was the very first episode where Whitman Mayo filled in for Redd Foxx for the rest of the season and this first episode was a great start. Demond Wilson also gets what’s perhaps his funniest scene in the entire series:
6. A Guest In The Yard.
Fred and Lamont discover that no good deed goes unpunished when the homeless man they help plays the Sanfords for suckers, resisting their every effort to throw him out.
This is one of the very first episodes I saw of Sanford and Son as a kid and it always stuck with me as one of my favorites. Fred and Lamont working as a team to get rid of the bum was satisfying to watch as well.
5. Sanford and Son and Sister Makes Three.
A husband-seeking old flame of Fred’s returns with a shocking revelation about her daughter, who has sparked a flaming passion in Lamont’s heart. This episode features the wonderfully talented Ja’Net Dubois best known as Willona Woods from Good Times:
This episode is also a gem because it was co written by two peers of Redd Foxx who were just as iconic as he was: Richard Pryor and Paul Mooney. You can tell by the comic genius of the writing in the final confrontation scene:
4. Hello Cousin Emma, Goodbye Cousin Emma. Season 3 episode 24.
Grady’s cousin Emma blows in from the Windy City and promises to make the living easy for the two men, but Lamont has his doubts, especially after being bumped from his bedroom and having to share a bed with Grady.
One of my very favorite episodes and perhaps the best guest star the show ever had. Clarice Taylor, who would go on to play Heathcliff Huxtable’s mother on The Cosby Show gave as good as she got as the shady Cousin Emma. Reminiscent of A Guest in The Yard only with Grady instead of Fred and perhaps an even better example of the similar premise.
3. The Members of The Wedding. Season 3 episode 9.
Fred and Donna are to be married on Sunday, but Lamont plots to put them asunder before the Lord joins them together by inviting to the wedding his Aunt Esther and the rest of Fred’s irascible in-laws.
A truly classic and hilarious episode that featured the second failed attempt of marriage by Fred and Donna and once again by Lamont’s naughty hands. The episode however really belongs to Lawanda Page who truly shined in this episode maybe more than any other. She and the other two ladies who played her sisters were, to put it mildly, incredible.
Warning: This scene will cause dangerous amounts of laughter. Your ability to breathe might be compromised:
2. Fred Sanford, Legal Eagle. Season 3 episode 15.
When Lamont gets a traffic ticket, Fred convinces him to fight it in court, where the poor man’s Perry Mason steps up to defend his son against the system. We also get a great turn by Antonio Fargas (Starsky and Hutch, Everybody Hates Chris) as Sonny Cochran, a lawyer friend of Grady’s who gives Fred and Lamont advice.
Perhaps the greatest and most memorable part of the whole episode is when Fred Sanford puts the traffic cop on the stand and utters the iconic lines “Look at all these niggas in here! There’s enough Niggas in here to make a Tarzan movie!” Lines completely improvised by the late great Redd Foxx who couldn’t care less for censors:
Try, just try to find a sitcom that would dare have scenes and dialogue like this today.
- Mama’s Baby, Papa’s Maybe. Season 3 episode 14.
Fred’s feathers get ruffled when an old friend from St. Louis comes to town claiming to be Lamont’s actual father.
This episode was a perfect mix of hysterical laughter and genuine emotion. Lamont’s speech at the end was so heartfelt without being sappy or corny. It was perhaps the most emotional the show ever got but it worked so well. It also has such a genuinely shocking hilarious moment that is one for the ages:
The live audience was as stunned as I’m sure we all were when we first heard that out of Aunt Esther’s mouth.
Runner ups: Rated X, season 2 episode 24, This Little Tv Went to Market season 3, episode 5, Fred’s Treasure Garden season 4 episode 11, The Surprise Party season 4, episode 1, Libra Rising All Over Lamont. Season 3 episode 2.