The new lead character was Phil Wheeler (
Theodore Wilson), a widower and old
Army buddy of
Fred Sanford. It was explained that Fred and Lamont had moved to
Arizona and they sold their property to Phil. Phil now lived in the Sanfords' old house in
Los Angeles, with his two teenage children, Angie and Nat. The primary setting of the series, however, was the
rooming house next door that Fred named "The Sanford Arms". Fred and Lamont bought the house in the penultimate season of the original series. The new series focused on Phil's attempts to turn the rooming house into a successful hotel. on
Sanford Arms (1977) Most of the
recurring characters from the original series also starred in this series.
Grady (
Whitman Mayo) was now married to his girlfriend Dolly (who appeared in an episode of the original series). Bubba (
Don Bexley) now worked at the Sanford Arms as a bellman and a
maintenance man.
Aunt Esther (
LaWanda Page) was left in charge helping Phil and collecting the
mortgage payments. Rounding out the cast of characters was Phil's girlfriend, Jeannie. The attempt to continue a popular series without its two main stars turned out to be a failure. The
ratings were low and the show was cancelled after four episodes. When Redd Foxx returned to television as Fred Sanford in the 1980–1981 short-lived spinoff
Sanford, the events of
Sanford Arms were completely ignored. ==Episodes==