Hearing about the passing of Demond Wilson, best known as Lamont from Sanford and Son hit me harder than I expected. It felt like losing a piece of my childhood.
Some of you may already know this, but growing up we didn’t have cable TV. We tried many times to get it, hoping we could somehow get it free like some other folks seemed to manage. But it never worked out for us. We couldn’t afford it. So we watched what I call the classics that came on regular TV.
And one of those classics was reruns of Sanford and Son.
That show brought so much laughter into our house. No matter what kind of day we had when Fred and Lamont came on the screen everybody would stop and watch. The jokes, the arguments, the crazy situations….it all just worked.
Sanford and Son followed Fred Sanford, played by the legendary comedian Redd Foxx, and his son Lamont Sanford, played by Demond Wilson. They ran a junk business in Los Angeles and were always getting into funny trouble. Fred was stubborn, loud, and always scheming, while Lamont tried to keep things together and move forward in life.
Their back and forth felt real. Even when they argued, you knew they loved each other. That father son bond was something many of us could relate to in our own homes.
The show also gave us a look at life during those times, but it did it in a funny way. It showed struggles, family issues, and everyday problems, but it wrapped them in comedy so families like mine could laugh together.
And honestly even today I still catch myself watching reruns whenever they come on. Some shows just never get old.
Now both Redd Foxx and Demond Wilson are gone, and I like to think Fred and Lamont are back together again, somewhere above us, still arguing and making people laugh in heaven.
The truth is, there just isn’t another show like Sanford and Son. Today we have hundreds of channels and streaming options but that simple magic those two created is hard to find.
So today I just wanted to say thank you to Demond Wilson, Redd Foxx, and the show that gave my family so many laughs when we needed them most.
Rest easy, Lamont. And tell Fred we still miss him too.
