After the success of "Sanford and Son",actor Demond Wilson did two short-lived television series during the late-1970's and early 1980's. The other sitcom? "The New Odd Couple" that was a twist on the Neil Simon Broadway play that featured two African-American men in the roles of Felix and Oscar(the other was played by Ron Glass of "Barney Miller" fame)that lasted one season. But Demond Wilson's second attempt at a situation comedy series didn't last very long. The short-lived black sitcom from the mid-1970's "Baby I'm Back" had a somewhat great premise and the show itself was fairly enjoyable due to the colorful cast of characters. Who would have thought that casting actress Denise Nicholas (of "Room 222" fame and later in the 1990's for "In The Heat Of The Night")as his ex-wife and making Demond Wilson as a desperate man who tried to convince his wife that he was a changed man and wanted to start over again into a new relationship with her and there little girl,who just like her mother was a sassy,but wise beyond her years cute little girl(played by Kim Fields who when this show ended went over to NBC to played Tootie Ramsey on the long-running series "The Facts of Life").
His wife has gotten engaged to a military man,Colonel Wallace Dickey(Ed Hall)and to make things even worse off for Demond Wilson's character Ray Ellis,was getting along with her mother Luzelle Carter(played to the absolute perfection by Helen Martin,later of "227" fame)who made things for him even worse off than they were. The verbal battles and puns between Demond Wilson and Helen Martin were especially enjoyable to watch,since Martin mostly sought to recreate LaWanda Page's Aunt Esther as a foil for Wilson,but she did have her moments with was basically the best part of the series. But it didn't help in the ratings neither. The show lasted one season on CBS-TV from the first telecast of January 30, 1978 until April 24, 1978. Only 13 episodes were produced since the series lasted no more than three months on the air. "Baby I'm Back" came in as a mid-season replacement for another CBS series in which it replaced. After more than a decade off the air,cable giant BET(Black Entertainment Television)resurrected all 13 episodes in repeated syndicated during the mid-1980's until the early part of the 1990's(the last time it was shown was back in 1991). And it hasn't been seen since. "Baby I'm Back" remains one of the lost and forgotten black sitcoms that were all over the place during the 1970's and 1980's.
