Sanford and Son: 15 Weird Facts You Didn’t Know
#rememberwhen Redd Foxx ruled Friday nights with fake heart attacks and front-porch insults? Starring Redd Foxx as Fred G. Sanford and Demond Wilson as long-suffering Lamont, Sanford and Son ran from 1972–1977 and left a legacy of unforgettable moments, iconic characters, and behind-the-scenes chaos. Here are 15 weird, wild, and sometimes heartbreaking facts you didn’t know about one of the greatest sitcoms in TV history.
Sanford and Son (1972): 15 Weird Facts You Didn’t Know
Chapters:
00:00 – Intro
01:02 – #15: NBC’s Lifesaver — Redd Foxx
03:02 – #14: That Theme Song — Quincy Jones
04:00 – #13: From London to Watts — Wilfrid Brambell
06:16 – #12: The Shoes That Shuffled
07:45 – #11: Two Spinoffs, Zero Hits — Dennis Burkley
09:43 – #10: Lamont Could’ve Been Bookman — Johnny Brown
11:12 – #9: CBS Said No (Oops) — Fred Silverman
12:08 – #8: Aunt Esther Almost Got Recast — LaWanda Page
13:46 – #7: Demond Wilson Wasn’t Sold — Demond Wilson
15:37 – #6: Redd’s Comedy Crew — Slappy White
17:13 – #5: The Heart Attack Gag Was Personal — Mary Sanford Carson
18:38 – #4: The Secret Breakup
20:51 – #3: Pryor & Mooney in the Writers’ Room — Richard Pryor & Paul Mooney
22:51 – #2: The IRS Came for Everything
24:27 – #1: The Final “Heart Attack”
Watch more retro TV deep dives here:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLRZTUGHHqdh6OxPqp3M0P1Q5DXSKME9ap
#SanfordAndSon #ReddFoxx #DemondWilson #RichardPryor #ClassicSitcoms #70sTV #TVNostalgia #RememberWhen
@RememberWhenHQ
March 17, 2026 at 9:31 am
If hearing that funky Quincy Jones theme song instantly makes you grin, you’re definitely our people. Redd Foxx was one of a kind — sharp, hilarious, and totally fearless. Which classic Sanford & Son line still cracks you up every time?
Subscribe if you haven’t already, and share this with a friend who still shuffles across the room yelling, “I’m comin’, Elizabeth!”
More retro laughs here: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLRZTUGHHqdh6OxPqp3M0P1Q5DXSKME9ap
@mmontystsr997
March 17, 2026 at 9:31 am
Friday nights was the night we would go bar hopping but NOT before watching Sanford and Son!😮
@CarolHarris-e8l
March 17, 2026 at 9:31 am
I still watch “Sanford and Son” on Tubi just about every day. Grew up with the show. I still laugh at the episodes. Brings back great memories.😂😂
@BlackHollywoodUs
March 17, 2026 at 9:31 am
Hollywood wouldn’t be the same without Black storytelling. Period.
@mistermagic11381
March 17, 2026 at 9:31 am
I didn't know until recently that Demond Wilson's first name was Grady Demond Wilson
@tiffanycurtis4794
March 17, 2026 at 9:31 am
He had a beautiful mother wow😄
@SunFiyahhTV
March 17, 2026 at 9:31 am
Alaskan Pipeline? Didn't James Evans from Good Time go to the Alaskan Pipeline too?
@zaskarclf
March 17, 2026 at 9:31 am
Seeing these little documentaries, makes me realize how much talented people we had back in the day. Now a days we get kids becoming famous for doing literally thee most stupidest things on social media aka NO TALENT. All those actors on Sanford and Son were so Iconic.
@jaywade3242
March 17, 2026 at 9:31 am
RIP Demond Wilson. Fred wouldn't have been Fred without his big dummy
@Ubernerd3000
March 17, 2026 at 9:31 am
PAT MORITA aka MR MIYAGI had a chance to buy his first home, but because it was situation where the original buyer had gotten into $$-problems, he had to come up with the down payment, fast…so he started hitting up some of his other stand up friends, to raise the money…not only did Redd give him the whole amount, he insisted that instead of paying him back, that Pat, “pay it forward”…Redd was a great comedian, and a Good Man…
@JeremiahWoods-o4e
March 17, 2026 at 9:31 am
Damn they took The Brady Bunch outta here 😂
@peterbeth2027
March 17, 2026 at 9:31 am
It’s hard to imagine Lawanda Page missing her mark. She was pitch perfect when she first appeared
@peterbeth2027
March 17, 2026 at 9:31 am
I would have loved to have seen Johnnie play Lamont, but Demond nailed it
@peterbeth2027
March 17, 2026 at 9:31 am
Sanford and Son took down Brady Bunch. For that I will be eternally grateful
@peterbeth2027
March 17, 2026 at 9:31 am
One of the best shows ever. RIP Demond
@meridianheights6255
March 17, 2026 at 9:31 am
Sanford and Son was so great. I used to watch reruns of it when I was a kid. One of the best shows ever in my opinion.
@LastCandle-c5e
March 17, 2026 at 9:31 am
RIP Demond Wilson
@AnthonyChiaramonte-l4o9u
March 17, 2026 at 9:31 am
You big dummy 😂
@erwindavis9451
March 17, 2026 at 9:31 am
R.I.P. Demond Wilson
@SuperDBZz
March 17, 2026 at 9:31 am
RIP Demon Wilson, he was a good man until the end, his legacy will always lives on.
@sabretooth717
March 17, 2026 at 9:31 am
49 back then….nawwww can't be
@teejaye6226
March 17, 2026 at 9:31 am
When he clowned on Rollo, I laughed so damn hard.
@Man-child540
March 17, 2026 at 9:31 am
So 3 spin offs total. .Sanford, Grady and just now learning about the Sanford arms
@Michael-ev8rv
March 17, 2026 at 9:31 am
You failed to mention that Fred Sanford was his real name.
@wilfredomartinez1701
March 17, 2026 at 9:31 am
This is the best sitcom ever nothing touches it I've washed it as a little kid and I watch it now as a grown 40-year-old man and I can't get enough of it it's just never gets old to me it's so damn funny. Redd Foxx is the goat plain and simple. Aunt Esther and Fred together is untouchable 😂😂😂
@metrotek5
March 17, 2026 at 9:31 am
15 Weird Facts You May Not Have Known
@pmsfar-outgrooviness8025
March 17, 2026 at 9:31 am
The "wah-wah guitar" in "The Streetbeater" is a clavinet
@annapooinlaywewwkwfiossjgg3883
March 17, 2026 at 9:31 am
❤❤❤❤❤ still watch..
@KashDinero260
March 17, 2026 at 9:31 am
When companies/music artist need saving/relevance they cater to the black community. I just wish the black community knew this.
@neneshubby
March 17, 2026 at 9:31 am
“”Esther gonna be in this house! Oh! Elizabeth, I’m coming to join you honey! Died from an overdose of ugly!”
@schmoop14
March 17, 2026 at 9:31 am
Among Redd’s friends, you left out Pat Morita, who had been such a good friend in the 1960s that Redd loaned him money for a house and told him don’t worry about repaying him, but pay it forward.
@EWheels
March 17, 2026 at 9:31 am
Redd Foxx’s real name is John Sanford and his late brother was named Fred! He used his brother’s name as an homage because he passed away as a kid!
@mongoslade4356
March 17, 2026 at 9:31 am
Being from St Louis, I grew up with REDD, there was nothing new to me. But it was interesting. I have been to his shows in Vegas and his house in Vegas, that is an insurance office now, with a lil fox on the sign. I loved Sanford and Son and watch it till this day….
R.. E.. D… D…..F.. O DOUBLE TROUBLE
@CutterHistorical
March 17, 2026 at 9:31 am
wait Aunt Esther was raunchy IRL??
@melissaealy
March 17, 2026 at 9:31 am
You big dummy you wasn’t 5 across thy lipth
@richdouglas2311
March 17, 2026 at 9:31 am
LaWanda Page was wonderful, but she wasn't a "breakout star." Her career pretty much ended with this show (and the brief sequel.)
@richdouglas2311
March 17, 2026 at 9:31 am
Wilford Brambell played Paul's grandfather in "A Hard Day's Night." Throughout the movie, people would call him a "clean" man, in clear reference to his "dirty" man in "Steptoe and Son."
@gregpearce3864
March 17, 2026 at 9:31 am
I'm glad that red fox remembered the people that he acted on the circuit with all those years… We need more people that remember the people that were behind them or that they passed up when they climbed the ladder.
@gregpearce3864
March 17, 2026 at 9:31 am
A lot of times it's the people that are writing and producing the show are not the same people. Or a key peace is missing. Sometimes the mixture of actors and actresses won't always blend right. Take 2 1/2 men for instance…Once Charlie Sheen was off that show they replaced him with Kercher and what a blowout that was. He was great on the 70s show, but once he was on two and a half Men….welllll that really made him look bad. Not to mention whoever was doing the writing. I don't know what happened to them either.
@scvmbag
March 17, 2026 at 9:31 am
4:01 #13 "Britain had it first America made it better"
Just like the office
@EMMANUELMANZUETA81
March 17, 2026 at 9:31 am
You didn't mention julioo
@jimhurd3101
March 17, 2026 at 9:31 am
The real slim shady
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