The Politicians

"The Politicians" introduced Albert Reed (previously seen in "Sometimes There's No Bottom in the Bottle") in his best known role of Nixonian Alderman Fred Davis, appearing in a total of six episodes through the final season. He's been around for many years, and continuously brings up the fact that he's the man responsible for the Evans family living in their humble apartment in the project, happy to run against a 'young egghead' named Jimmy Pearson (Stanley Clay) fairly new to politics. James and JJ are the only ones actively supporting Davis, everyone else proud to back the newcomer, who knows more than Davis gives him credit for but still has trouble trying to win votes. One can surmise that Davis is a Democrat and Pearson a Republican, as the long suffering citizens of the Windy City never seem to put Democrats out of power.