Customer Reviews

Sanford and Son - The Third Season

5 star:		(33)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Finally, more Sanford & Son has arrived! With more Aunt Esther, Julio, Chico the goat, Bubba, Rollo & lots & lots of Grady! This 3 DVD set contains all 24 episodes of the hilarious 3rd season. The 3rd season, which ran from September 1973 - March 1974, is interesting because Redd Foxx (due to contract disputes with producers) does not appear in the last 6 episodes of the set. Foxx's absence from the episodes was written as Fred visits family in St. Louis and Grady instead stars in each episode alongside Lamont. Don't worry, there's still 18 episodes here featuring Fred and the last 6 episodes are hilarious in their own right. Another interesting aspect is there is no episode 19 (again because of contract disputes). The episode was scripted, but wasn't filmed so the episodes run like 17, 18, 20...

Season 3 features some of the shows most hilarious moments. Each disc features a color photo & the only extra feature is a preview of other TV comedies on DVD. Here are the episode titles in the order they appear on the DVD set:
Disc One
1. Lamont, is that you?
2. Lamont as Othello
3. This little TV went to market
4. Presenting the 3 Degrees
5. Libra rising all over Lamont
6. Fred, the reluctant finger man
7. Fuentes, Fuentes, Sanford, & Chico
8. A house is not a poolroom
Disc 2
9. The Blind Mellow Jelly Collection
10. Superflyer
11. The members of the wedding
12. Grady, The Star Boarder
13. Mama's baby, Papa's Maybe
14. Wine, women, & Aunt Esther
15. Fred Sanford, Legal Eagle
16. This land is whose land?
Disc 3
17. Fred's cheating heart
18. The party crasher (last Redd Foxx appearance in Season 3)
20. Lamont Goes Karate
21. Will the real Fred Sanford please do something?
22. Tyrannt, thy name is Grady
23. Aunt Esther & Uncle Woodrow Pfft...
24. The way to Lamont's heart
25. Hello cousin Emma, Goodbye cousin Emma

I can't recommend this set enough because it just keeps getting better. Redd Foxx was brilliant and the fact that he continued to be hilarious even during the behind the scenes feuds with producers is a testament to him. I'm already anticipating Season 4! Bring it on!

Trivia:
* The Grady character, played by Whitman Mayo, became popular enough to spawn a series spin off ("Grady") which also co-starred Haywood Nelson from What's Happening. The show only lasted 12 episodes between '75-'76. Season 4 of Sanford & Son contains the episode that served as the pilot for this series.

* Redd Foxx's contract disputes, which led to his absence in 6 episodes of Season 3, carried on into Season 4 making him absent from 4 of the season's 25 episodes (including the pilot episode for "Grady").

* Season 4 contains the final appearance of Julio (Gregory Sierra, who went on to Barney Miller) and the introduction of character Ah Chew (Pat Morita)

Sanford & Son's third season not only debuted Grady Wilson(Whitman Mayo) but boasted many classic episodes including The Chameleon(Blind Mellow Jelly),Lamont, Is That You?(The Gay Blade),Introducing The Three Degrees,This Little TV Went to Market(Guy's Groovy Grabbag),Fred Sanford, Legal Eagle,and many others.
Unfortunately towards the end of the season Redd Foxx was absent due to contract disputes.It was explained that Fred was in St. Louis,and Grady was watching the business for Fred.Although some episodes were funny,Redd Foxx was definately missed.
By the following season,Foxx returned with a raise,but the show started to slip in quality.But even mediocre S&S was better than most shows on the air during the era.

It was with great anticipation that I awaited the third season of the Sanford and Son DVD, as it is, in my opinion, the funniest in the show's history. Season three includes all of the shows hilarious co-stars, with the introduction of Grady Wilson played by Whitman Mayo, as well as more episodes featuring Aunt Esther, Bubba, Julio and Donna Harris. A few of the episodes will have Grady as the star, as Redd Foxx was absent from several shows this season due to a contract dispute.

A few of my favorite episodes include Fred Sanford, Legal Eagle(The courtroom scene will have you cracking up!), Super Flyer, and A House is Not a Poolroom. What I like most about the first two seasons of Sanford and Son on DVD, and I'm sure that season three is no exception, is that all the scenes that are taken out from the episodes that are shown on TVLand because of increased commercial time, are all included in the DVD.

By far, this is the best S&S collection because in my opinion, it has the best episodes.

Two in particular deserve honorable mention in the annals of comedy history. One involves the efforts of Redd Foxx and Bubba Bexley to retrieve a rare record by Bluesman Blind Mello Jelly (a spoof of real-life blueman Blind Lemon Jefferson) by Bubba posing as Blind Mello Jr. repeatedly yelling to the record collector "I Want My Daddy's Records." Trust me, it's funnier on DVD than in print.

Then there is the classic "Three Degrees" episode where Redd and Skillet and Leroy (a sort of low-rent Amos and Andy type comedy team) bumrush a nightclub where the real life soul trio the Three Degrees are performing. They act so wild and ignorant by insulting the other performers and shouting "We Want The Three Degrees" repeatedly until they are deservedly (and hilariously) thrown out.

A real howl. I was not even a big fan of S&S, but this season had some truly great episodes that will do your funny bone justice. Get it!

Sanford and Son: The Third Season saw the popular `70s sitcom running on all cylinders. The writing was its peak and the episodes were consistently funny the entire season. This was also the first season where the cast was becoming an ensemble as Bubba (Don Bexley), Aunt Esther (LaWanda Page) and especially Grady (Whitman Mayo) all played important roles. In fact, when Redd Foxx would sit out the last several episodes of the season to a contact dispute, it was Mayo, whose Grady character had become wildly popular, who would play the lead role opposite Lamont (Demond Wilson) in those episodes. Lamont's friends Rollo (Nathaniel Taylor) and Julio (Gregory Sierra) would also receive more exposure. Fred Sanford was hysterical as usual and even if his off-color and insensitive remarks would never appear in today's more politically correct society, they were still pretty funny. All of the episodes were very strong. Disc 1 is the least impressive of the collection but is still very good with the best episodes being "This Little TV Went to Market", "Fred, the Reluctant Fingerman", and "A House Is Not a Pool Room." Disc 2 is flawless as the "Blind Mellow Jelly Collection" (best Bubba episode), "Grady, the Star Boarder", "Mama's Baby, Papa's Maybe", and "Wine, Women, and Aunt Esther", were among the best episodes of the series. The aforementioned "A House Is Not a Pool Room" and "Wine, Women, and Aunt Esther" all feature great camaraderie between Fred and his friends Grady, Bubba, Skillet, and Leroy. Despite Redd Foxx's holdout in most of the Disc 3 episodes, they're all very good with the best being "The Party Crasher", "Lamont Goes Karate" (awesome Grady episode) and "Tyranny, Thy Name is Grady." In watching these episodes, you see Grady's character evolve from a nincompoop who would forget Lamont's name to an angrier but still easily fooled dude at the end. Also worth noting is that the episodes are featured in their entirety, not in the TV Land versions that are a few minutes shorter, and have a lot more racier comments with "Fred Sanford, Legal Eagle" being the best example. All told, Sanford and Season's Third Season is the popular sitcom at its peak and puts all of today's sitcoms to shame. Highly recommended.

Don't be fooled. Several of the episodes are absent of Redd Foxx but Whitman Mayo (Grady) is quite funny in his own idiosyncratic way! Enjoy!

"Sanford and Son" was always one of my favorite US TV shows, and one I return to often when in need of a lift of spirits or just a good laugh. The series reviewed here is the 3rd season (1973-74) and most of the shows are favorites of mine. By the time these were filmed, lead actors Redd Foxx and Demond Wilson were used to working together after two previous seasons, and their chemistry was excellent. There are also contributions from LeWanda Page (Aunt Esther), Whitman Mayo (Grady) and Gregory Sierra (neighbor Julio Fuentes) which make for more humor. The plots are funny, engaging, and most of the time believable. There are witty remarks about the Watergate Investigation and President Richard Nixon, then current events, which may fall on deaf ears of young people from a later generation watching these episodes. But still, the 3rd Season episodes are funny and really entertaining. I can watch them over again without becoming bored or weary of them.

There are always lessons to be learned from these episodes. Even though Fred Sanford believes he's doing the right thing in many scenes, he often operates from self interest, cannot "see the forest for the trees", and through hard-heartedness towards his neighbor Julio or Sister-in-law Esther, only ends up shooting himself in the foot. Half the time his friends: Grady, Bubba, Leroy, or others - end up mad at him by the time an episode ends. So, there's an important lesson for the viewer to learn in addition to enjoying the humor.

Watching these makes me sorry Redd Foxx (1922-1991) is no longer with us. He was a great comic actor in this part, and will be famous for generations as a result of it.

The 3rd season of Sanford and son kicks off right where the second season ended. Fred Sanford is his usually funny self. This guy is simply funny. Redd Foxx is on of the greatest comics in the history of comedy. The way Fred Sanford walks is funny in itself. One of my favorite ones is the one called "This land is whose land". Fred and his neighbor Juilo are at it again. This time Julio leaves some of his junk on Fred's property. Fred demands he gets his junk off his property. After they finish, Fred calls a surverior to tell him where the property line is. When the surverior finishes, Fred is shocked that Juilo has more property then Fred. So Fred tries covering it up by being Juilo friend and befriending Lamont (his son). Here is a classic diaglog from this:

(Julio coming into the Sanford house, back door because Lamont put all of the Sanford materials in the front yard and the back door is the only door avaliable.)

Fred Sanford: Come on in Julio and have some breakfast with us
Julio: You're inviting me for breakfast, mucho gracis"
Fred Sanford: No, we don't have any grass!! We don't have any grass but I can get you some Shredded Wheat.

Classic.

At first i thought the horizontal red lines were a problem with the dvd.However on tv land the same episodes have the lines also.True it would be better without the lines however having no commercials and uncut episodes clearly makes up for the lines.As long as it is easy to see what is going on i will recommend buying it. No commercials makes it far worth it!!!!!!!!

I love this season and refer to it as "Sanford and Son--The Grady Years." Whitman Mayo stepped in and saved this show when Redd Foxx was missing due to contract disputes.

Of course the Fred episodes are classic. This set includes the classic episodes "Lamont , Is That You" (when Lamont and Rollo are seen going into the Gay Blade, "The Blind Mello Jelly Collection" (a too hilarious episode where Fred accidently gives away a record collection and finds that its worth money), and many more episodes I can rave about.

When Grady steps in to helm episodes 20-25 the laughs keep rolling. The episodes are still too funny including "Hello Cousin Emma, Goodbye Cousin Emma," and "Will The Real Fred Sanford Please Do Something."

Dont sleep on this set just because Fred isn't in all the episodes. These episodes are classics!