The BEST episodes written by Bernie Orenstein
#2 - The Burger Queen
What's Happening!! - Season 1 - Episode 6
Dee is selected for a series of TV ads for a burger chain.
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#3 - A Little Extra Security
Sanford and Son - Season 4 - Episode 13
After Grady receives an extra Social Security check, he gambles the money away in Las Vegas.
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#4 - The Play's the Big Thing
What's Happening!! - Season 2 - Episode 7
Roger writes and directs a play that is to be performed with a TV executive in attendance, but casting Rerun as the lead threatens to doom Roger's big opportunity.
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#5 - The Birthday Present
What's Happening!! - Season 1 - Episode 2
To earn money to buy Mama a birthday present, Roger resorts to playing dice and is accused of shoplifting along with Dwayne and Rerun.
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#8 - Donna Pops the Question
Sanford and Son - Season 5 - Episode 8
With another marriage proposal in hand, Donna gives Fred an ultimatum.
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#13 - The Stand-Ins
Sanford and Son - Season 4 - Episode 16
When Fred's friend Bowlegs finds himself a man short for a nightclub engagement, Fred and Lamont must take the stage to help him out.
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#14 - The Oddfather
Sanford and Son - Season 5 - Episode 13
After witnessing a murder attempt, Fred is a target for assassins as he recuperates in a hospital bed.
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#15 - The Director
Sanford and Son - Season 5 - Episode 21
Fred becomes the director of a community theater production starring boxer George Foreman.
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#16 - The Surprise Party
Sanford and Son - Season 4 - Episode 1
Fred returns from his extended trip to St. Louis but feels unwanted because Grady took better care of the house and Lamont.
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#17 - Christmas
What's Happening!! - Season 1 - Episode 9
With Mama having to work on Christmas, Roger and Dee have Christmas dinner at Bill's apartment.
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#19 - Aunt Esther Has a Baby
Sanford and Son - Season 6 - Episode 11
When Woody gets drunk just before a visit from the adoption agency, Fred must stand in as Esther's husband.
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#20 - Ebenezer Sanford
Sanford and Son - Season 5 - Episode 12
Fred plays the role of Scrooge in his dream version of Dickens' "A Christmas Carol".
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#21 - Steinberg and Son
Sanford and Son - Season 5 - Episode 5
Fred sues NBC for airing a show called Steinberg and Son, which seems to copy his life exactly but with white Jewish characters rather than black ones.
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#22 - Going Out of Business
Sanford and Son - Season 4 - Episode 6
With business bad and the tax bill due, Lamont takes a job at a local haberdashery.
Watch Now:Amazon#23 - There Sure are a Bunch of Cards in St. Louis (1)
That Girl - Season 5 - Episode 6
Ann learns that killing two birds with one stone is almost too much when she goes to St. Louis with Donald to meet his parents and to star in a play. She is convinced that Don's mother hates her and decides that she might be able to turn it around if she were to have a larger, starring role in the play instead of her more modest part.
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#24 - Shirley Is a Mother
What's Happening!! - Season 2 - Episode 21
With Mama out of town, Raj gets Shirley to babysit Dee but finds himself in trouble for feeding answers to Rerun during a final exam.
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#25 - Fred Meets Redd
Sanford and Son - Season 6 - Episode 15
Fred enters a Redd Foxx look-alike contest.
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#26 - Bank on This
Sanford and Son - Season 5 - Episode 3
At the bank to seek a loan to open the Sanford Arms, Fred and Lamont find themselves hostages in a robbery.
#28 - Fred's Extra Job
Sanford and Son - Season 6 - Episode 9
To keep Lamont from quitting the business, Fred takes out a loan and must secretly work as a waiter to pay it off.
#29 - Dance, Monkees, Dance
The Monkees - Season 1 - Episode 14
Peter is tricked into signing a lifetime contract with a ballroom dancing instructor.
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#30 - The Hawaiian Connection (1)
Sanford and Son - Season 6 - Episode 1
A band of jewel thieves lures Fred and Lamont to Hawaii to unwittingly smuggle diamonds off the island.
#31 - Sanford and Niece
Sanford and Son - Season 4 - Episode 9
Fred's niece, who closely resembles his late wife, comes to visit.
#33 - You Have to Know Someone to Be Unknown
That Girl - Season 1 - Episode 26
Ann reads that a famous producer is looking for an unknown for his play and has Donald put in a good word for her. He tries to tell her that the producer had found his star a long time ago, but she doesn't listen.
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#34 - The Hawaiian Connection (3)
Sanford and Son - Season 6 - Episode 3
When Fred and Lamont discover stolen diamonds intended to be smuggled to the mainland, the thieves chase them all over Hawaii.
#35 - That Script
That Girl - Season 5 - Episode 14
Ann wants film rights to a novel, but the author will not sell. He changes his mind when he sees Ann, and how much she resembles his late wife. His new wife tells Ann that her husband can't write anymore and Ann turns down the movie out of respect for him.
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#36 - Aunt Esther Meets Her Son
Sanford and Son - Season 6 - Episode 12
Esther and Woody adopt a teenage boy whose attitude and beliefs don't sit well with Esther.
#40 - The Success Story
The Monkees - Season 1 - Episode 6
When Davy's British grandfather visits, the boys try to fool him into believing that Davy is rich.
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#41 - Brother, Can You Spare an Act?
Sanford and Son - Season 5 - Episode 6
To help new brother-in-law Rodney, Fred teams up with an old friend to make Rodney's gig as nightclub impresario a success.
#43 - Julio and Sister and Nephew
Sanford and Son - Season 4 - Episode 10
When Julio's sister and nephew visit and must stay with the Sanfords, Fred becomes involved with the nephew's problems at school.
#45 - The Pilot (Not the Pilot)
Cosby - Season 2 - Episode 9
Fasten your seat belts. When Griffin tries to back out of a lucrative out-of-state concert gig because of a flying phobia, Hilton vows that he will get Griffin on the plane - no matter what it takes. When the commercial airline is grounded, Hilton calls on an old airline buddy with a private plane, and they're joined by Jack, who volunteers to underwrite the flight. But thanks to Jack, the pilot passes out, and it's up to Hilton to bring the plane down -- safely.
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#48 - Della, Della, Della
Sanford and Son - Season 5 - Episode 7
An encounter with Della Reese causes Fred to support a political candidate whose opponent is backed by Lamont.
#49 - Sanford and Gong
Sanford and Son - Season 6 - Episode 13
Lamont, Fred and Bubba face the music as contestants on The Gong Show.
#50 - The Will
Sanford and Son - Season 6 - Episode 20
Fred draws up his will and holds a reading of it in the living room.