Sanford and Son (1972 – 1977)

Redd Foxx was hilarious. The story is about a junk dealer named Fred Sanford (Redd Foxx) who is the comedy part of multiple comic duos. His son, Lamont, is pretty much always the straight man to Fred's crazy whims. Fred was the sort of man who could be cruel to you and yet make you laugh at the same time. Rawanda Page, as Aunt Esther, was a superb straight woman who suffered the most at Fred Sanford's cruelty. While the specific topics are "dated", the comedy is everlasting, because the comedy is about the shallowness of Fred against the depth of thought by those around him.