Black Samurai (1977)

 

Starring:

• Jim Kelly
• Marilyn Joi
• Bill Roy
• Roberto Contreras 
• Chia Essie Lin

Storyline
Robert Sand, an agent of D.R.A.G.O.N. Defense Reserve Agency Guardian Of Nations, is playing tennis on his vacation when his commanding officers ask him to save a Chinese girl named Toki who happens to be Sand's girlfriend and the daughter of a top Eastern Ambassador. The ransom for the abduction was the secret for a terrific new weapon - the freeze bomb - but the 'Warlock' behind the deed is also into the business of drug dealing and Voodoo ritual murders. 

Black Caesar (1973)

Starring:

• Fred Williamson
• Gloria Hendry 
• Art Lund 
• D'Urville Martin 
• Julius Harris 
• Minnie Gentry 
• Omer Jeffrey

Storyline
The brutal assault at the hands of a racist cop will inform the life of Tommy Gibbs (Fred Williamson), who will grow up to become the reigning head of Halem's black mafia in Black Caesar.

Establishing a mob empire that challenges the New York mafia's stronghold on the city, Tommy will prove himself a worthy opponent and a natural born enemy. His volatile romance with chanteuse Helen (Gloria Hendry) will set in motion a series of deadly events that the self-proclaimed criminal kingpin, the Black Caesar, may not escape.  

Sanford and Son [Second Season] (1973)

Starring:

• Red Foxx
• Demond Wilson

Episode Guide

• TV.com

Amazon.com
This three-disc boxed set compiles all 24 episodes from Sanford and Son's second season, which began on September 15, 1972. The sitcom quickly vaulted to the No. 2 spot on the network ratings--right behind creators Norman Lear and Bud Yorkin's previous effort, All in the Family. The second season brought no changes to the show's basic format--comedian Redd Foxx remained the focus as cantankerous junkman Fred Sanford, with Demond Wilson as his son and perennial foil, Lamont. What the second season did bring was several new characters and some of the series' funniest episodes. The second season supporting cast was filled out by some of Foxx's fellow comics, including Leroy and Skillet ("A Visit from Lena Horne") and LaWanda Page as Aunt Esther, who became a recurring character after "The Big Party." Also joining was Don Bexley as Bubba ("By the Numbers"), Nathaniel Taylor as Rollo ("Have Gun, Will Sell"), and Barney Miller's Gregory Sierra as neighbor Julio ("The Puerto Ricans Are Coming!").

But Sanford and Son's strength remained in Foxx's sharp-tongued and often improvised performance, which was ably abetted by the scripts (a number of plotlines were taken directly from Steptoe and Son, the U.K. series that inspired Sanford). Richard Pryor and Paul Mooney penned two of the collection's most laugh-filled half-hours, "The Dowry" and "Sanford and Son and Sister Make Three," but every episode has its share of hilarity thanks to Foxx and his costars. Though only English and Spanish subtitles are offered as extras, series fans should be pleased with the set, especially as a reference for Fred's best zingers ("I'm gonna stick your face in a bowl full of dough and make gorilla cookies!").

Good Times [Second Season] (1975)

Starring:

• Esther Rolle
• John Amos
• Ja'net DuBois
• Jimmie Walker
• Bern Nadetta Stanis
• Ralph Carter

Episode Guide:

• TV.com

Amazon.com
Centered on the strong-willed but loving parents Florida and James Evans (Esther Rolle and John Amos), Good Times spun out stories of poverty and resilience that skillfully balanced comedy and politics. An episode in which James returns a found bag of money stolen from a bank doesn't trot out bland homilies about honesty, but becomes a surprisingly multilayered debate about civic virtue. In one of the second season's comic centerpieces, the Evans family avoids eating a neighbor's meatloaf because they think it's made with dog food. The scene is played as hilarious farce, but the acknowledgment of a poor old woman living on dog food gives the sequence an underlying bite. The commentary rarely feels forced; at its best, the show drew significance out of the characters' daily lives. An episode about a pregnant teen ends on an unexpectedly moving note, without any strings on the soundtrack to cue the audience's heartstrings--that's solid writing and acting. With buffoonish Jimmy "Dy-no-mite!" Walker, foxy Ja'Net Du Bois, sweet BernNadette Stanis, and militant Ralph Carter rounding out the cast, Good Times is a time capsule both for fashion (even though they lived in the projects, the Evans' fashion-plate neighbor Willona, played by Du Bois, was rarely without a glamorous get-up) and for a time in which mainstream sitcoms had the freedom to reflect the tougher side of reality.