"A House is Not a Pool Room" is the episode where Ernest 'Slick Skillet' Mayhand and partner 'Lucky Leroy' Daniels (fourth of five) enjoy their finest showcase, including both Grady and Bubba. Fred's birthday celebration features Lamont's $75 present of a pool table: "I slept on 'em and I played on 'em, but I never owned one!" Grady is the one receiving a schooling on losing: "I can beat you blindfolded, one arm tied behind me and the other one in a cast, wearin' army shoes in the hospital havin' an emergency appendectomy!" Unfortunately, his loved ones are shut out by the pool hall hustling atmosphere (Leroy accepting long distance charges from Detroit!), Lamont forced to shave in the kitchen, where Donna's stuck for her date with Fred as he can't tear himself away from the table. Lamont comes up with the answer, breaking out the food and beverages for Skillet and Leroy, 'home grown bellies' that Fred can't afford to feed at his place: "you never saw 'em eat have you, every time the elbow bend the mouth fly open!" Fred now must sell his precious birthday gift to Otis Littlejohn (Stymie Beard), intending to keep the money for himself rather than return it to the 'good son' who paid for the table. This episode truly encapsulates all the best qualities that make the show endure, and secures the relatively new character of Grady as the only real rival to Bubba as Fred's best friend. After three decades of relative obscurity, former OUR GANG member Stymie Beard engineered a comeback with three appearances as Otis on SANFORD AND SON, remaining much in demand in his final years.
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