Michael Grade Management & Representation. Among the artists whom Grade represented were Morecambe and Wise (he successfully negotiated the duo's defection from ATV to BBC2 in 1968) and Larry Grayson. Grade entered the television industry in 1973 when he joined London Weekend Television (LWT) as Deputy Controller of Programmes (Entertainment). During this time he bought the scripts of an Afro-American sitcom "Good Times" which had an all-black cast. Adapted as "The Fosters" (1976–77), it became the first British sitcom to have an entirely black cast. At LWT, Grade worked with both John Birt and Greg Dyke. After he became Director of Programmes
The Fosters (1976 TV series) incarnations). The series starred Norman Beaton as Samuel Foster, a hard-working man trying to support his family in a South London multi-storey council flat. The Samuel character was based on the fictional character James Evans Sr. (portrayed by John Amos) in "Good Times". Alongside Beaton was Isabelle Lucas, portraying Samuel's wife, Pearl Foster (Florida Evans in the original "Good Times" series, portrayed by Esther Rolle), who gossips with her best friend, Vilma, played by Carmen Munroe. Vilma was originally the character Willona Woods (portrayed by Ja'Net DuBois), who in the American version, gossips with Florida on every one inside (and