Sanford and Son Episode: Happy Birthday, Pop

"Sanford and Son" was a comedy series that originally aired on the NBC network from early 1972 until the spring of 1977. The show was based on a British show called "Steptoe and Son," that began in the 1960s. This American show was set in the Watts neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. In those times Watts had a predominantly, but not exclusively, black population, and indeed, during its years of original episodes, the diversity of the neighborhood was shown, while giving emphasis to the area's black majority. Today, Watts is a majority Latino neighborhood. 

 

This episode first aired on NBC in January 1972. Harold Fong, who plays the waiter in the restaurant, was a Chinese-American actor who played a lot of generally minor Asian characters in movies and on television from the 1940s through to the 1970s, but he was one of those actors people might recognize, but they likely didn't know his name. 

Episode Cast:

Redd Foxx as Fred Sanford 

Demond Wilson as Lamont Sanford

Harold Fong as the waiter in the Chinese restaurant

Jack Manning as the man seated at the next table in the restaurant

It's Fred's 65th birthday and he thinks Lamont has forgotten, and Lamont lets his dad go on believing that, until he surprises him with a new hat, a gray fedora (see 'Word History' below). Lamont also has a nice birthday card with the hat, and Fred wants to read the card out loud, although Lamont doesn't like that idea, as he thinks the card is mushy. Fred reads the card out loud and the father and son squabble a bit over Fred reading the card, especially when Fred tells his son the sentiment of the card means more to him than the hat. This prompts Lamont to say, "Okay, keep the card and I'll take the hat back!" Fred protests and Lamont says his dad is never satisfied. Things gradually calm down and Lamont tells Fred he's taking him out for his birthday, as he has a nice evening planned for the two of them to celebrate and to spend time together, and that first they'll be going out to get a drink, then Lamont has made reservations to a movie and finally they'll be going to dinner. Fred complains a little about having to wear a coat and tie, but things seem fine. 

 

So Fred puts on his suit and tie and wears his new hat and Lamont takes his dad into a nice upscale bar. Fred looks at the list of drinks and orders a Shirley Temple, and Lamont tells him that's a drink frequently served to children, and that Fred should order something else. So Fred asks if the place has beer on tap (also known as 'draught/draft beer'), but the bartender tells him they only have bottle beer, which brings a reply from Fred that, "I don't like bottle beer, it makes me burp; I don't like to burp." So the bartender goes to wait on other customers while Fred decides what he wants. When the bartender comes back, he suggests that Fred have an "Old Fashioned" (typically whiskey, sugar or simple syrup, water and angostura bitters), but Fred is unfamiliar with the cocktail and instead he takes offense at being called "old fashioned." Lamont settles things down by ordering the Old Fashioned for his dad and a martini for himself. Lamont comments about what a nice place it is, but Fred complains that they don't have a pinball machine. When Lamont tells him places like that don't have pinball machines, Fred says they might have it in the backroom, so he yells out, "Hey, do you have a pinball machine?" Lamont is embarrassed. The bartender brings their drinks and Lamont asks how much he owes. When the bartender says "Two dollars and fifty cents," Lamont gives the bartender $3 and tells him to keep the change. Fred is upset, saying, "We could have got a half case of muscatel for $3." (Note: Remember, this was 1972, and $2.50 for two cocktails was considered expensive back then. Many neighborhood bars in those times charged ten to fifteen cents for a glass of beer. $2.50 is equivalent to between about $17 and $18 in 2022. Also, in those days, muscatel had a reputation for being the drink of winos and cheap wine. Hic! Now wait a second, I said back then, not now! hahaha) Fred takes a drink of the Old Fashioned and right away he complains that it's too sweet and he says it's like syrup, but without the hotcakes. Lamont has had enough and he gets Fred and they begin to leave, but Fred can't go without turning and shouting, "Hey, get a pinball machine!" 

 

Lamont takes his dad to the movie theater to see "Fiddler on the Roof" (Note: This was the film adaptation of the major hit Broadway musical that had been released in the mid 1960s, and the film was also a hit. The story has to do with a Jewish family in western Russia in the early 1900s.) During the intermission, Fred and Lamont come out into the theater lobby with Fred complaining about the movie. Fred's bigotry comes out when he says you can't understand the movie unless you're Jewish. When the buzzer sounds to signal the second half is about to begin, Fred is surprised that there is more to the movie! He tells Lamont to go back into the movie and that he'll take the bus home, but of course, Lamont won't let that happen and he agrees to leave and to take his dad to dinner as promised. When one of the theater personnel tells Fred and Lamont the second half is starting, Fred replies, "The movie is too long ... get some cartoons on there!" 

 

Lamont takes Fred to a Chinese restaurant and Fred's bigotry makes another appearance, as he tells Lamont he heard that someone found soap in their Chinese food, because the Chinese cook and do their laundry in the same pot. Fred also has the waiter bring a third chair so Fred can put his new hat on it. The waiter takes the chair from the next table where a couple is not using it. Lamont does the ordering and when he orders fried wonton, Fred says, "I ain't gonna eat that, that stuff will kill ya," but Lamont calms things down and the waiter takes the order. Now Fred turns his attention to the couple at the table next to them, and he tells them about it being his birthday and he shows them his new hat. The man can't wait to get away from Fred as he already has his check, but when they stand up to leave, Fred grabs his arm and tells him they saw the movie, which he calls, "Fiddler Up A Roof." He also tells the guy if they haven't seen it, not to waste their money, but the man says, "I heard it was VERY good." Fred turns to Lamont and privately says, "He must be one 'em" (implying that the guy must be Jewish). The man wishes Fred a "happy birthday," and as the couple leaves, Fred says to Lamont, "That's a nice white fella." 

 

The waiter brings their food and Fred puts his finger into one of the dishes and smells it, "Ew, that smells," he declares, and he continues, "Smells like insect spray ... I'll bet they gave it a shot so that when it got out here, would nuthin' on the plate move." This upsets Lamont and he has hit the limit, so he gives Fred some money and tells him to go buy his own dinner, because he's leaving. He gets the check and the waiter asks Fred if he wants to take the food home, but Fred answers, "I don't like Chinese food, make me burp." Fred puts his hat on and covers up the food with a napkin. When Fred gets outside, there's a crack of thunder and it starts raining. Fred quickly takes off his hat and puts it under his suit jacket. 

 

The next morning, Lamont is waiting for his breakfast, but Fred comes down from the upstairs still in his robe. He tells Lamont he's not cooking breakfast, because he's retired, and he's expecting a good monthly sum from Social Security. Lamont questions whether that will prove to be true, because his father hadn't earned enough to receive a large amount. Fred gets the telephone and calls the Social Security office. He asks how much he'll be receiving each month, and while he waits for the person to look up his information, he tells Lamont the kitchen is closed due to retirement. The person comes on the line and Fred gets a funny look on his face and hangs up the phone. He asks Lamont, "How do you want your eggs?"          

Photo is of the 2002 Columbia TriStar Home Entertainment Season One DVD release (Columbia TriStar is now part of Sony Home Entertainment)

WORD HISTORY:

Fedora-This name for a type of hat with a crease in the crown and with a soft, bendable brim comes from the feminine form, "Fedora," of the Russian male name "Fedor." "Fedor" is "Theodore" in English, and the meaning is "gift of god," a compound form, with the first part going back to Indo European "dhes/dhehs," meaning, "god, deity;" thus also, "sacred, holy."^ and the second part going back to the Indo European root "do" (long 'o'), meaning "give."^^ The first part gave transliterated Greek "theos," meaning "god," and the second part gave transliterated Greek "doron," meaning "gift." Together these gave Ancient Greek the name "Theodoros," which was taken by Russian as transliterated "Fedor/Fyodor" (the 'th' was rendered in Russian as 'f'), and the feminine form "Fedora." In late 1882, a play by French dramatist Victorien Sardou called "Fedora," which he named after the main character, began a popular run of performances. In the play, the character Fedora wore a creased hat with a flexible brim. The character was originally played by then popular actress Sarah Bernhardt, which helped to promote the use of such hats among women and the name of the play and character being applied to the hat. This was borrowed into English (by American English) with that meaning by the mid 1880s.   

 

^ This part of "fedora" makes it related to "feast," "fair" (the noun form only, meaning 'gathering for selling, buying or a promotional event') and "festival," all words of Latin derivation borrowed by English from Latin-based French, and to "fest," a word borrowed from German, which had it from Latin, and to "theology," a word borrowed from French, which had it from Latin, which had it from Greek.  

 

^^ The second part is related to "dose," a word borrowed from French, which had it from Latin, which had it from Greek, and to "donation," a Latin word borrowed by English via French.