Sanford and son...greatest show ever?

Too bad this era of television is behind us, or is it? For some reason, Redd Foxx is my new hero. I recently quit smoking and I haven't seen El Guapo in over a month. He is not coming back! Anyway, I have this Sanford and son t-shirt that I wear all the time, because for some odd reason it makes me happy. You see, I have high blood pressure, and I can relate to the humor and seriousness of this character, I admire it.

Yes, we all know that Fred G. Sanford was always just seconds from 'coming to join you'. That was one of the highlights of the show, that and the constant verbal abuse ('you big dummy') served up to his son, Lamont. Remember when verbal abuse was funny? THOSE WERE THE DAYS....wrong show(All in the Family), same time period, and actually the same stream of conscience. Sorry for the massive ADD moments, but i will get there.

Whenever I think of all the problems that Fred had with Aunt Esther, Rollo, and Grady; it makes me ponder. I think that Sanford and son is really my life in a 70's television show. Here's how:

Aunt Esther is my current job. Hell my job is like having two Aunt Esthers constantly troubling me. My weight is like having Grady agitating you all day. Its not a huge distraction, or for that matter a nuisance, but eventually Grady is going to drive you into the ground. Oh, it gets worse. Rollo can come over too. Rollo is depression. Now Rollo is not always around but he is lurking and then at the worst possible moment; Rollo comes over and drinks all your Ripple and eats all your food. So then, you go out, spend extra money on drinking and food, because Rollo loves to party.

Now the great thing is that there is Lamont. Lamont is my friends and family. Lamont tries to talk sense to me, and like Fred, I often don't listen to Lamont when I should. Just like many an entertaining story thread eminate from Fred's screw ups, the same can be said for some bad events in my life. So far, things have worked out good bacause eventually Lamont comes and saves the day. Although a few episodes have been all Fred baby!

So how do we keep Sanford and son on the air?

Well Fred needs to get some blood pressure meds, exercise, eat right, and take care of himself. Fred needs to lay off the Ripple, although a great many studies have said that two glasses of ripple a day are good for you. A fatal mistake is to let Grady run the junkyard while you leave for St. Louis. In my opinion thats how the show cancelled, and we cant have that. We need to write Aunt Esther off the show. Now we need an Aunt Esther replacement of some kind because the show really would suck without an Aunt Esther.

We need to figure out a way to reduce Grady's presence on the show and have a recurring special guest star. Now Grady wont go away instantly, well I suppose he could, but thats not an option that the audience (cash) would appreciate. In fact, the audience would better served in the long run if we hire George Foreman. Now George could serve as exercise and diet. George would probably keep Rollo away as well. So we replace Grady and Rollo with George Foreman. I think Lamont would like George Foreman too. Lamont would also like to see his 'pop' in better shape. Because with Foreman around cooking and helping Fred exercise, its a win for everyone.

Will the dynamic of the show be different? Absolutely. Will it be better? Who cares, because no matter what Fred is going love Lamont. Thats what the show is really about. Because essentially we all see ourselves in characters. Every show has its version of Aunt Esther, Grady, and Rollo. Every show has its special guest stars and recurring themes. But the greatest thing is that not every show is the same, well except Hogans Heros, but you get my point? DO you?

Well we all know that eventually the show will get cancelled. But what really matters is the legacy of a great show. Does Sanford and son stand the test of time? Well one thing is for sure, it could have been better in the first few seasons; but it was always funny.