The secondary characters in "Sanford and Son" were A-1. The drop ins by Aunt Esther (Lawanda page), the Bible thumping sister of Fred's late wife, Elizabeth, were comedy gold.

My favorite episode was when a cool cat showed up and claimed Lamont was HIS son, because he had snuck into Elizabeth's window back in the day. He even described which window. Fred wanted to kill him, but nothing beat the big reveal when Esther stopped by and Fred told her what the other dude was claiming.

After beating the dude with her purse, she yelled that SHE KNEW he was a lie because the window he claimed to climb into was HER window. It was only after she said it that she realized what that meant. :)