The strength of the black men was well within James Evans and though his decisions on the show didn't always make sense or seem realistic at times, it was the main thing that the show got right. He was the no-nonsense, straight forward, honest father that we hadn't seen, a departure from the passive yet angry Fred Sanford and different from what we had seen in the past. There had never been such an alpha male black father on a television show until James Evans. The characters you grew to enjoy and you saw some of your older cousins or aunts within the character slightly. In some ways, this is where I enjoyed the show, as a struggling family who wanted to survive and dealt with the day to day of that struggle was endearing. Now, Good Times was all about a family in Chicago trying to make a way while dealing with the pressure that everyday life brings us. Nothing furthers this notion than the shows like Good Times, That's My Mama, and What's Happening. Instead, they take a caricature of the culture and base everything on the stereotype. It was important to have black actors visible and popular for the culture, but the white writers and show creators really didn't have an idea of what black life was really about. Now, when I say black television, I'm only referring to the stars and the actors. Regardless, Sanford and Son was the standard bearer for black sitcoms and the true game changer for black television at that point. Nothing was more embarrassing to me than observing the Redd Foxx Show, a one season disaster that saw Redd Foxx surrounded by white characters and he even adopted a 'street wise' white teenager. Was there a need for a Grady spinoff? Another Sanford spinoff after Redd Foxx left the show? Another Sanford spinoff as Redd Foxx came back to reprise his character without Lamont? If you lived through the 70's and early 80's, you might have felt like they went to the well one too many times, and nearly ruined the legacy of Sanford and Son. There were multiple spinoff shows from Sanford and Son, none of which were successful. Sanford and Son mostly bucked the trend, outside of a few issues, but unfortunately, it seemed as if winning with one black sitcom led the producers of the show to want more and more. With racism so prevalent during the decade, it's a never ending saga it seems as the shows either accurately depict the state of the world within white perception of blacks or follow misguided stereotypes to paint us as such. black people can be racist too', in a sense. Without going all thinkpiece on you, one has to suspect this was Hollywood's way of saying 'see. Norman Lear really wouldn't have an accurate depiction of what goes on in the culture, but this is entertainment, so it's no shock that the show features Redd Foxx being seen as a bigot who hates just about every other race except black, much like Archie Bunker was a close minded racist on All In The Family. The problem I had however honestly, was the fact that it seemed as if there was a disconnect in the writing and the mentality of the show creators and what was really going on within the culture. The characters came to life whenever the show was on, and Aunt Esther and Grady were two reoccurring characters that would build up their own following. Norman Lear was a vital force in pushing for black sitcoms and this would be one of his greatest creations in many ways, as Quincy Jones composed the infamous theme for the show. The story of Fred and Lamont Sanford was hilarity personified, and Redd Foxx put forth enough jokes, charisma, and wit to carry the show for 6 seasons with over 135 episodes. When referencing my favorite black sitcoms, I tend to look at most of the sitcoms from the 90's, as that's the decade I really became invested into television, but one sitcom from the 70's that always resonated with me was Sanford and Son. After a long run in standup that proved to be successful, Redd Foxx was given his own vehicle to star in a sitcom, one that would change television forever. He's in many ways one of the godfathers of comedy without a doubt. The beginning of the shift has to be attributed to Redd Foxx, I would say.

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