History Series / SanfordAndSon

* CaptainErsatz: Max and Murray Steinberg, Gabey and Aunt Ethel from [[ShowWithinAShow "Steinberg and Son". It is later revealed that Rollo was the one who based the show on Fred, Lamont, Grady and Aunt Esther and pitched it to the network executives. Ironically, there was an early character named Aunt Ethel, who was replaced by Aunt Esther.

* BadBadActing: Inverted in the earthquake episode, all throughout Fred's exodus to Las Vegas, the extras constantly break reality: as Fred walks down the street after departing the bus, other pedestrians around him have idiotic grins on their faces; when he encounters Steve and Eydie Gorme in the casino, a group of men in the background just stand there and watch the taping in progress (it doesn't they're all wearing matching white T-shirts with red hearts, making them stand out like sore thumbs); when Fred later walks towards an outdoor fountain, in the distance, we see a security guard clearly holding tourists back trying to take Fred/Redd Foxx's picture.

* EditedForSyndication: Zigzagged; the network and episodes in local network affiliate reruns bowdlerize the N-word out, while reruns on [=GetTV=] and Starz [=EBlack=] leave the N-word utterances uncut.

* CelebrityStar: The last two seasons are full of these, a number of different episodes featuring special celebrity guest stars, including Della Reese, George Foreman, Don Ho, B.B. King, and even Redd Foxx in a dual role AsHimself.

* TheChessmaster: In "Pot Luck", Lamont buys a chamber pot from a woman for $20, only for her husband Mr. Osborne to object to Lamont's unscrupulous sales tactic of talking the wife out of selling the piece for a low price and then raising the resale price, with Lamont believing it's worth more than that because it supposedly once belonged to the Prince of Wales, and the man reluctantly offers $200 to buy back the chamber pot. Later on, Mr. Bonnet[[note]][[ItIsPronouncedTroPay Pronounced "Bo-NAY"]][[/note]], a rare globe-trotting antiques dealer comes by, offering $900 to buy the chamber pot Lamont acquired and that Osborne offered $200 to buy back. In the midst of the shady wheeling and dealing, Lamont discovers that Mr. Osborne and Mr. Bonnet are in cahoots, with Lamont paying $300 to buy it off of Osborne, with the original $200 check being bounced by the bank, and Bonnet has left the country, with the contact number belonging to a McDonald's restaurant, and the deal falls through, with Fred explaining that Osborne and Bonnet are running a fake chamber pot racket, with Fred hiring an antiques appraiser to find that the commode is worth $20 because it's a cheap reproduction being circulated throughout the neighborhood, and as a result, Lamont wrote a $300 check to Osborne, and the $200 check Lamont deposited is refused by the bank, with Lamont losing $320 dollars on the deal for a worthless chamber pot.

* DarkAndTroubledPast: ''Esther'', of all characters, is implied to have this! In one episode, a friend of the Sanford family pays Fred and Lamont a visit, claiming that he is actually Lamont's father, because at a younger age, he snuck into the Winfield household, and into Elizabeth's room for a sexual encounter, only for it to be revealed towards the end that it was actually ''Esther'' 's room he snuck into. Esther is visibly ashamed of her past deed, but she is quick to point out that she has repented of her sinful ways. On another interesting note, apparently in-universe, she and ''BBKing'' were an item, he even writes about her (only by initials: E.W.) in his memoirs, and claims that losing her is what made him turn to singing the blues.

* NWordPrivileges: But usually not in [[EditedForSyndication syndication]]. And Fred's attacks on other ethnic and minority groups that got big laughs in the 1970's [[OnceAcceptableTargets would never fly today]]. [[AcceptableEthnicTargets Or would they?]]

* WhiteDudeBlackDude

'''Rollo''': [[GettingCrapPastTheRadar That's exactly what I had in mind!]

'''Fred''': Well, knickers ain't out of style, that's why I didn't say nothing. I saw a picture in the paper the other day, and you know the head man in Yugoslavia, what's his name, [[Malaproper Toto]]?\\

'''Rollo''': [[GettingCrapPastTheRadar That's exactly what I had in mind!]]

* BatmanGambit: Until he mellowed out and became friendly with Donna in later seasons, Lamont constantly attempted to derail Fred's relationship with Donna; usually by instigating Fred's prideful attitude and/or arranging for other characters to interfere with Fred and Donna's dates (and in one case, their actual would-had-been marriage). While he wasn't successful in the long-term, he usually did enough to set up brief roadblocks in their relationship, with Fred usually none the wiser half of the time.

** Grady starts out Fred's slow-witted best friend who always forgot everybody else's names. Overtime, while he didn't usually forget other's names, his slow-wit did improve somehow. Then we get into the period where he took over in Fred's absence, during this period of time, he suddenly turns into a SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute by bantering with Lamont a lot more, and even feuds with Esther almost in the same manner as Fred.
* ChuckCunninghamSyndrome: Melvin (Fred's best friend, pre-Grady), Officer Swanhouser, Bubba.

* HollywoodHeartAttack: If not the perfect example, surely the [[MostTriumphantExample the most triumphant one]]. It's the running gag where Fred – when something doesn't go his way, he doesn't get his way or he's otherwise upset or surprised – clutches his heart and does the "I'm coming, 'Lizabeth" routine. Lamont – fooled at least 20 times beforehand (per the series premiere) and dozens more [[OncePerEpisode throughout the course of the series]] – would just roll his eyes and go outside to unload the truck as though nothing was wrong.

* TheLoad: At the end of Season 3, while Grady was watching the house for Fred, who was taking care of business in St. Louis, in "Hello Cousin emma, Goodbye Cousin Emma", Grady invites his cousin Emma to do some housekeeping, believing that she will fix meals for Lamont and Grady. Unfortunately, she never gets around to making the meals, and Lamont believes that her "help" is more of a hindrance.

* SlidingScaleOfBeauty: Aunt Esther, although certainly no all-American beauty, was in the very least tolerable to look at. But that didn't stop Fred from constantly making cruel comments comparing her physical looks to such creatures as Film/KingKong and Franchise/{{Godzilla}}.

* EnemyMine: As much as Fred and Esther despised each other, in the episode featuring "Big Money" Grip, they both teamed up to challenge him on his claim that he was Lamont's father.

* StrangeBedfellows: Fred and {{archenemy}} Esther teamed up on rare occasions, such as when Fred tried to help her win a beauty contest or to [[RivalsTeamUp defend Elizabeth's honor]].

* HollywoodHeartAttack: If not the perfect example, surely the [[MostTriumphantExample the most triumphant one]]. It's the running gag where Fred – when something doesn't go his way, he doesn't get his way or he's otherwise upset or surprised – clutches his heart and does the "I'm coming, 'Lizabeth" routine. Lamont – fooled at least 20 times beforehand (per the series premiere) and dozens more [[OncePerEpisode throughout the course of the series]] – would just roll his eyes and go outside to unload the truck as though nothing was wrong.
** At least once, Lamont took Fred to the doctor after another of his father's fake heart attacks to try to knock some sense into him and warn him that [[CryingWolf he may well be ignored when he is suffering an actual heart attack]]. (In real life, that's what happened to Redd ... and it killed him.)
** Both Bubba and Lamont each also have, "The Big One" at least once - Bubba when and Fred both see what appears to be Lamont strangling a white woman to death, and Lamont when Fred actually brings LenaHorne to the house; Lamont even says, "I'm coming, Mom! Your boy's coming to join you... with a mustache!"
** In one episode, Fred suffers an actual heart attack and has to be hospitalized. Afterwards, Lamont gives him an ultimatum: no more fake heart attacks. When Fred receives the hospital bill, he pleads for just one more, and Lamont reluctantly agrees.
* {{Hustler}}: Lamont's best friend [[LoveableRogue Rollo Lawson]], who happened to be an ex-con and frequently enlists him in his [[ZanyScheme outrageous schemes]].
* InstrumentalThemeTune: "The Streetbeater", by Quincy Jones.
* IntoxicationEnsues: Played with in "Fred's Treasure Garden", where Rollo sees a plant growing in the garden that looks like marijuana [[spoiler: only for Aunt Esther to recognize the plant as wild parsley by its taste]], with hilarious results when Rollo and Lamont try to "dispose" of the evidence:

* ChurchOfSaintGenericus: In "The Reverend Sanford", Fred buys a mail-order minister's license to avoid paying taxes, only to have the church's head man declare that the Sanford place is now the church's property, so Fred turns his property into the "Chapel on the Junk Pile of Seventh-Day Junkists" and holds an unusual service to convince the church's head man to give Fred back the deed to his property, when he runs away, calling the attendants crazy.

** Bubba and Grady seemed to take turns CommutingOnABus throughout the series; one season will feature Grady more than Bubba, while Bubba is seen more than Grady another. Although rare, there are a few occasions where Bubba and Grady appear in the same episode, such as "The Surprise Party", "The Masquerade Party", and "School Days".

** Additionally, despite their mutual disdain for each other, Fred and Aunt Esther would invariably put their differences aside in times of each other's need – such as the time Fred helped convince a by-the-book case worker that Aunt Esther would make a good mother to a young orphan – or in the rare event they actually agreed on something they thought was an injustice.

* BadBadActing: Inverted in the earthquake episode, all throughout Fred's exodus to Las Vegas, the extras constantly break reality: as Fred walks down the street after departing the bus, other pedestrians around him have idiotic grins on their faces; when he encounters Steve and Eydie Gorme in the casino, a group of men in the background just stand there and watch the taping in progress (it doesn't they're all wearing matching white t-shirts with red hearts, making them stand out like sore thumbs); when Fred later walks towards an outdoor fountain, in the distance, we see a security guard clearly holding tourists back trying to take Fred/Redd Foxx's picture.

* AsTheGoodBookSays: Esther -as well as Lamont to a lesser extent- usually tossed Bible quotes out to Fred, either as a rebuttal or for reasoning. [[DeadpanSnarker Fred]] usually replies with either a manipulated version of the same quote or a completely fake quote, which usually threatened to attack them or to turn down a request.

** Presently, TV One broadcasts of the show leave Fred's (and occasional other characters') use of the N-word intact.

** Lamont in both {{Aftershow}}s. In ''TheSanfordArms'' he and Fred have both moved to Arizona while in ''Series/{{Sanford}}'' he's said to be working on an oil pipeline in Alaska.

Redd Foxx and Demond Wilson played the title characters of Fred and Lamont Sanford from 1972 to 1977 on Creator/{{NBC}} and shared the screen with a number of memorable supporting players (notably Whitman Mayo as the forgetful Grady Wilson and [=LaWanda Page=] as bible-thumping harridan Esther Anderson). The father-son duo engaged in frequent arguments about everything under the sun and truly got on each other's nerves, but despite the loud fights and constant disappointments [[OddCouple the two remained devoted to each other]]. The series was one of the highest rated sitcoms of the 1970s before [[CreativeDifferences internal strife]] caused both Foxx and Wilson to walk away from the show in the spring of 1977; subsequent {{spinoff}}s and revivals failed to recapture the magic.

* BatmanGambit: Until he mellowed out and became friendly with Donna in later seasons, Lamont constantly attempted to derail Fred's relationship with Donna; usually by instigating Fred's prideful attitude and/or arranging for other characters to interfere with Fred and Donna's dates (and in one case, their actual would-had-been marriage). While he wasn't successful in the long-term, he usually did enough to set up brief roadblocks in their relationship, with Fred usually none the wiser half of the time.

* ScrewPolitenessImASenior

* SpinOff: ''Grady'', ''The Sanford Arms''

* CatchPhrase: "You big dummy!" "Watch it, sucker!" "...on account of my arthur-its."

** Fred often displays bigotry towards other ethnicities: he opposes Julio moving in next door because he hates Puerto Ricans, he opposes Lamont being friends with Ah Chew because he hates Japanese, and he opposes his little sister being married to a white man... you get the idea; but interestingly, {{inverted}} when Fred invokes reverse-prejudice when Lamont insists he sees a dentist for a toothache, but Fred's only condition is that he see a white dentist, because (he thinks) only white people would actually go to a highly recommended and established dental school and get diplomas, and therefore, would actually be certified for dentistry as opposed to any black dentist who probably went to a ghetto facility without proper and full education.

** In "The Oddfather," Donna pays Fred a visit one night to discover he's been rushed to the hospital after getting involved with a crime involving an innocent bystander being killed by a notorious local mobster; the rest of the episode deals with Fred's night in the hospital being monitored and protected by the LAPD, and also receiving visits from Donna and Esther, and later the media for him to identify the mobster to have him convicted of his crime.

** A subtle example, but Fred was named after Redd Foxx's father, John Elroy Sanford.

** In the early episodes Lamont is shown to be almost as greedy as Fred (sometimes more so) and having a great disdain for Fred's girlfriend Donna whom he calls "The Barracuda". Not much later Lamont becomes the more sensitive of the two and often acts as somebody trying to broaden his father's horizons and even becomes quite friendly with Donna.

* DarkAndTroubledPast: ''Esther'', of all characters, is implied to have this! In one episode, a friend of the Sanford family pays Fred and Lamont a visit, claiming that he is actually Lamont's father, because at a younger age, he snuck into the Winfield household, and into Elizabeth's room for a sexual encounter, only for it to be revealed towards the end that it was actually ''Esther'' 's room he snuck into. Esther is visibly ashamed of her past deed, but is quick to point out that she has repented of her sinful ways. On another interesting note, apparently in-universe, she and ''BBKing'' were an item, he even writes about her (only by initials: E.W.) in his memoirs, and claims that losing her is what made him turn to singing the blues.

* EverythingIsRacist: While this show often invoked this, especially given the time period, there are a few specific examples where this trope is utilized for a laugh, such as Fred, Lamont, and Rollo finding a gun left behind by a burglar; Fred suggests taking the gun to the police, since that's what people do, but Rollo argues that's what ''white'' people do, if any of them brought the gun to the police, they'd be thrown into jail.
** In "Fred Sanford the Legal Eagle", Lamont gets traffic ticket for failure to yield the right-of-way, even though the other motorist ran the red light; Lamont believes he was given the ticket for being black (as the office issuing the ticket was white, as was the man who ran the red light).
** Fred often displays bigotry towards other ethnicities: he opposes Julio moving in next door because he hates Puerto Ricans, he opposes Lamont being friends with Ah Chew because he hates Japanese, and he opposes his little sister being married to a white man... you get the idea. But interestingly, Fred invokes reverse-prejudice when Lamont insists he sees a dentist for a toothache, but Fred's only condition is that he see a white dentist, because (he thinks) only white people would actually go to a highly recommended and establish dental school, and get diplomas, and therefore, would actually certified for dentistry as opposed any black dentist who probably went to a ghetto facility without proper and full education.

* YetAnotherChristmasCarol

An [[TransatlanticEquivalent Americanization]] of the British sitcom ''Series/SteptoeAndSon'', this series from Creator/NormanLear is a DomCom (of sorts) about a {{Grumpy Old Man}} and his [[OnlySaneMan long-suffering son]] who live in a [[PerpetualPoverty rundown house situated in the middle of a Watts junkyard]]. {{Hilarity ensues}}.

* TheComicallySerious: Officer Swanny, Smitty's partner in Season 1.

* TheComicallySerious: Officer Swanny' Smitty's partner in Season 1.

* TheComicallySerious: Officer Swanny, and (to a lesser degree) his replacement Officer Hoppy.