But first things first.
The reason this show, Sanford Arms, The Redd Foxx Show, Baby Im Back, all came about was because Foxx and Desmond Wilson had disputes as to which one of them was the star of the show. The quote tossed around back then was that Desmond Wilson said he could do 'Sanford and Son' with a chicken. Contracts clearly came up for renewal and who should get paid what reached a boiling point. the show began in '72, was replaced with Sanford Arms approximately five years later.
Both men struck out on his own to find success outside of Sanford and Son, neither met with the same success.
I for one actually thought Redd Foxx's show and Baby I'm Back, which Wilson did with Denise Nicholas (later of In The Heat of the Night) and Helen Martin (of 227) were both very funny. Much funnier than Sanford.
As to the idea that Wilson was now stigmatized for playing a homosexual in a made for TV movie, first I've heard of that (the movie and the stigma).
That reviewer should check out Soap with billy Crystal, Ode To Billy Joe with Robbie Benson, boys in the Band, Norman, Is That You? etc, etc, to see actors who didn't have their careers 'stigmatized' from portraying homosexuals.
Even still, there was nothing about Desmond Wilson not being wanted on this Sanford outing because he had played a gay character.
Sanford itself aired today on BET. It was like lost episodes of Sanford and Son to me. There were plenty of episodes that didn't have Lamont, Grady or Bubba in them; plenty of episodes without Donna (further made confusing by an earlier appearance by Lynn Hamilton as Lamont's landlady).
Rollo does appear briefly on this second outing, and the show isn't overrun with fat jokes either.
To even put an extremely large white man like this in the show that the network was wanting to hold on to the previously established audience was rather mindblowing and daring (moreso than Bill Cosby bringing in Erika Aleksander and Raven Symone when he ran out of daughters on Cosby Show).
Still the transition of the show is intriguing to watch.
Foxx obviously wanted to get his character out of the junk business with the rich girlfriend (played by Marguerite Ray, who for nearly a decade would play Mamie the maid on Young and Restless, leading to utter confusion as to why this show was so popular among black youths when it also sported the fewest black characters of all soaps at that time, something they have since rectified), as well as recreate Esther moments with the girlfriend's maid (big miss).
Even more peculiar was the young man brought in to play the nephew Cliff. I looked up the actor to see who he was and was astonished to see he was the token off of Sliders, who ended up being the only actor to stick it out with that show.
All of this in and of itself makes this Sanford outing an interesting anchor in black entertainment history of sorts.
The show is even further enriched by a handful of appearances by LaWanda Page, the sensational Aunt Esther.
You can hear the remorse from the audience when Esther declares that Woodrow had passed away.
Also, I don't think the adopted son of Esther and Woody was named Cliff (as played by Eric Launeville).
In the end, this show could just as easily air along with Sanford and Son, and no one would really be bothered by the changes.
the most astonishing aspect for me was the alteration of the house. LOL! That was a bit much! and I did notice Foxx taking a very different approach to his portrayal as well. He didn't seem as in character to me.
Yes, I missed bubba and Grady and Woody, but Cal had his fun moments.
