User Reviews

"The Card Sharps" continues the show's ascension to the top, even as the 13th direct adaptation from its British cousin. Lamont again returns home to find his father slumbering on the couch rather than cleaning. He plans to have a few friends from the pool hall over for poker, among them ex-con Skeeter Matthews (Thalmus Rasulala, later seen in "Fred's Cheating Heart"), used car dealer Hucklebuck (Ron Glass, later seen in "Once a Thief"), and Rooster (David Moses). Fred knows the game but his son refuses to listen, determined to play without his father's interference. Skeeter is the first to greet the irascible junkman: "you must be Papa Sanford" "no, I'm Mama Cass!" Lamont has been set up as a pigeon by winning $15 last time, the stakes raised tonight, Fred doing his best to disrupt their tactics. After Lamont loses his last hand his father offers sage advice: "flush is right, your money going right down the toilet!" "that cleans me out" "that's a good balance ain't it, nuttin' in your pocket, and nuttin' in your head!" Sending his son out for refreshments, Fred lures the con men into another game, this time using his own deck and see-through eye glasses: "deal unto others as they have dealt unto you!"