September 15th, 1977- January 26th, 1978.
Series Premiere Episode.
Red Foxx appears in his first variety series with guests LaWanda Page and the Los Angeles cast to "The Wiz." Sketches find Redd as the leader of a zany New Orleans Dixieland Band, and as an obscure relative of President Jimmy Carter, working in a car wash.
The cast of "The Wiz" performs "Ease On Down the Road."
An hour-long comedy/variety show hosted by Redd Foxx.
15 broadcasts: 1977 - Sept. 15, 22, 29, Oct. 6, 20, Nov. 3, 10, 17, 24, Dec. 1, 8, 15, 22, 1978 - Jan. 5, 12, 26.
Pre-empted Oct. 13, 27, Jan. 19, 1978. Re-run Dec. 29 (Sept. 29).
After Redd Foxx quit Sanford And Son after only four years, that made him rich, famous and so successful he elected to do this short lived TV variety show (16 broadcasts). Despite good critical ratings ABC TV dropped the show. It was disappointing to Foxx fans for this show provided a venue that allowed Redd to show off his talent and charm and charisma.
Red Foxx He was a pioneer for young black comics. If you ask any one of them Richard Pryor or Eddie Murphy who their idols were they would probably say Redd Foxx.
Many rare moments did occur on the show such as when the great Joe Louis guested on the third show (9/29/77). In a comedy routine Louis made out like he was going to box Redd. They called it "The Brown Bomber versus The Redd Target"
NOTE: To date only four of this series video taped episodes are extant. Three are archived at The Paley Center for Media (Oct. 4, Nov. 17, and Dec. 20, 1977. No episodes are in the archives of The Library of Congress or at UCLA Film & Television Museum.
One complete episode has been uploaded to You tube (Jan. 5, 1978).