Trivia / Sanford and Son

• Corpsing: It isn't unusual to see actors playing guest characters (and sometimes, even the regulars) struggle to keep a straight face during Fred, Esther, and/or Grady's antics.
• The Danza: Don Bexley as Bubba Bexley. Also Redd Foxx's real name was John Elroy Sanford. (He named his character after his brother, Fred G. Sanford Jr., who was named after their father.)
• Dawson Casting: An inverted example; Redd Foxx was only 48 years old when he first portrayed the 65 year old Sanford.
• Edited for Syndication: Zigzagged; the network and episodes in local network affiliate reruns bowdlerize the N-word out, while reruns on GetTV and Starz EBlack leave the N-word utterances uncut.
• Friday Night Death Slot: Completely and utterly averted. The show peaked at #2 in the ratings (behind All in the Family) during its second and fourth seasons (peaking with a 29.6 rating during its fourth season, less than one rating point behind All in the Family), and kept the same timeslot for its entire run (Fridays at 8 pm). In this capacity, in fact, it put enough of a dent into the ratings of The Brady Bunch on ABC to force it into cancellation in 1974.
• Irony as She Is Cast: Raunchy, expletive-using comedian LaWanda Page played devout church-goer Aunt Esther.
• The Other Darrin: In "The Dowry", Grady Wilson is Fred's cousin, played by Albert Reed, Jr., better known as Alderman Fred C. Davis on Good Times. In subsequent appearances, Grady Wilson is retconned into Fred's neighbor, played by Whitman Mayo.
• Recast as a Regular: In "A Pad for Lamont," Lynn Hamilton appeared as the landlady of an apartment Lamont moves into, who barges in and throws his date out for breaking the no visitors of the opposite sex after 11:00 rule, before returning later in the season to play Fred's steady fiance, Donna, for the duration of the series.
• Recycled Set: One set in particular is used over and over again whenever a scene takes place inside a shop, and has been used for a pawn shop where Fred, Lamont, and Rollo try to sell a gun, a dress shop where Lamont's new girlfriend works, and eventually Woody and Esther's department store.
• True Companions: Redd Foxx and LaWanda Page had been very good friends since they were children. Before the series began taping, Foxx convinced Page to tryout for the role of Aunt Esther, and he later threatened network executives that he was going to walk away from the show had they fired Page. The two remained friends long after the series ended, and Page reportedly broke down in tears at Foxx's funeral in 1991.
• What Could Have Been: In his introduction to the compilation album Comedy Stew: The Best of Redd Foxx; actor Johnny Brown mentioned that he had been considered for the role of Lamont Sanford, only for Brown to be forced to turn the role down due to scheduling conflicts. However, Norman Lear would remember Brown; eventually casting him as building superintendent Nathan "Buffalo Butt" Bookman on Good Times.
• Written by Cast Member: Redd Foxx wrote two episodes.
• You Look Familiar: Some guest actors have returned to the show as different characters than the ones they played previously. Notable examples include Fritzi Burr and Frank Nelson.