MovieFreak.com - "Sanford and Son - Season 3" DVD Review

"Oh, this is the biggest one I ever had! You hear that Elizabeth? I'm coming to join you honey!" - Fred

Sanford and Son tells of the misadventures of a grumpy junk dealer and his frustrated son.

Sanford and Son is definitely one of the funniest shows in television history. Being the first TV show featuring an all black cast and having had such success, Sanford and Son is already of television hall of fame in my opinion.

The third season of Sanford and Son has many funny episodes, but not enough to have a funny and consistent season. There are episodes that are just plain "not funny". Of course I laughed here and there, but some of the jokes weren't all that great.

The funniest episodes in season three are This Little TV Went to Market, Limbra Rising All Over Lamont, Fred, The Reluctant Finger Man, Fuentes, Fuentes, Sanford and Chico, The Chameleon, Superflyer, Mama's Baby, Papa's Maybe, Fred Sanford, Legal Eagle, and Fred's Cheating Heart. So here we have nine good episodes out of twenty-four, which is neither very good nor all that entertaining. The major dilemma that made the third season so weak is the fact that Redd Foxx (Fred) does not appear in the final six episodes due to contract disputes between him and the show's producers. Also, episode 19 was written but never filmed, leaving the show with 24 instead of the planned 25 episodes.

The best part of Sanford and Son is the dialogue. Fred is the funniest of them all. His constant confrontations with his son Lamont are classic. One of Fred's favorite quotes is, "How'd you like one across your lip?" Also, the fact that he always calls Lamont a 'dummy' and makes up names for stuff he invents, like his Guacamole and Swiss Cheese's 'Holymolee' or his Ripple mixed with Champaigne's 'Chapripple', makes this show so damn funny.

The are not really any negative things I can say about the show in general, but there are some things I disliked about the third season. I disliked the fact that there are too many boring and humorless episodes. Also, Redd Foxx wasn't in the last six episodes, which turned out to be the most boring and humorless episodes of the season. The writers tried too hard to make them funny, but it didn't work.

On the other hand, there is Grady (Whitman Mayo) who plays Fred's best pal in the show. He is funny by himself when he appears occasionally. But in the last six episodes, he had to take over because of Fred's absence. In those six episodes Fred is supposed to be in St. Louis for the week. Grady is trying too hard to be like Fred, saying and acting like him, which makes him look like a fool, because no one can really replace Fred. The funny episodes were more than just funny and sometimes the hilarious ones make up for the dumb ones.

The video for Sanford and Son appears in fullscreen format. The quality is alright considering the fact that they used old 70s video which was new at the time and didn't look too professional. Sometimes the video is a little too grainy. It is also out of focus at times. I also noticed that in two episodes there were three red lines across the screen, nothing annoying or disruptive, but the fact that they were there makes the quality of the video worse than if those lines weren't there. Overall, the video is good considering the aged material.

The audio for Sanford and Son is quite good considering the fact that they used mono sound for the show. It's loud and clear, but has that cheap video sound to it. Also, the sound of the audience clapping and laughing in the background sometimes becomes quite annoying. Again, considering the age of this soundtrack, the audio presentation is decent.

There are no extras for this DVD. There probably was no footage in the archives and most of the show's cast has passed away, which makes a retro featurette somewhat impossible.

Overall, the Sanford and Son - Season Three DVD is pretty good considering the few negative aspects of it.

THE SHOW/SEASON	8
THE VIDEO	7
THE AUDIO	6
THE EXTRAS	0
OVERALL (not an average)	7