The Amos 'n Andy Show (1951–1953) User Reviews

Top notch sit-com, on par with any other.Is as Immortal as 'The Honeymooners.'

[redryan64 · 9/10 · 18 April 2002]

After 2 years on the CBS Television Network, the video version of 'Amos 'n' Andy' found itself without a sponsor. The series was canceled. This was truly a shame, for it is indeed as funny as anything that has been on TV before or since.

Following an extensive industry wide hunt for the most talented and fittingly cast players to bring the longtime favourite radio series to the small screen, a special program featuring Hal Roach, Jr. and the creators Freeman Gosden and Charles Corell(all whites), was telecast to introduce us to the actors now playing the characters.

Pressure from the NAACP, whose position that the series, with its comical characters, was demeaning to Black Americans. The sponsor, Blatz Beer of Milwaukee, did not renew its sponsorship.We have always contended that Amos 'n' Andy no more represented a true picture of Black Americans than The Honeymooners' Kramden & Norton were meant to be an accurate portrayal of White Americans. They were both designed to make us LAUGH!!

The series was over, but went into syndicated re-runs which made most of us aware of these very funny episodes featuring such a great and talented cast.

I don't know of anyone who took the show 'seriously', for we all knew that Andy, Kingfish,Calhoun, Saphire, Momma, Madame Queen, Lightnin', etc. were all played for laughs, with Amos, his family and others providing a strong level-headed,serious counter balance.

Meanwhile, the Radio series continued, never seeming to attract any real criticism.

In the end, we the public were the losers; along with Alvin Childress, Spencer Williams, Jr., Tim Moore, Ernestine Wade, Amanda and Vivian Randolph, Johnny Lee, 'Nicodemas' Stewart and other Black players. They were picked from the best available talent, only to suffer a premature termination.

Amos N Andy- Done in By Political Correctness ****

[edwagreen · 9/10 · 14 November 2007]

Outstanding television series originally from radio. It dealt with life among black people.

Though the show was an instant hit, it came at the time of the rising influence of the NAACP and other civil rights groups of the early 1950s. Through successful efforts of threatening advertisers with boycotts, the show was suddenly taken off the air.

How come we never heard such protests in the early 1970s with "All in the Family?" Certainly that show may have offended other groups but it was done in fun as was "Amos."

With characters such as the Kingfish, Andy Brown, Lightnin' and Sapphire with her mother, a memorable cast of great black acting talent was shown. Unfortunately, none of these talented thespians went anywhere after the show went off. I hate to use the pun, but were they blacklisted?

Yes, Kingfish was lazy and shiftless and he did try to fool Andy Brown with some of his outrageous schemes. Yes, Sapphire was a wife with a temper and her mother was memorable as well. How many groups can also boast having mothers-in-law like what the Kingfish endured? Plenty.

Amos & Andy. A Great Old American T.V. series

[gooelf50 · 9/10 · 12 March 2007]

I just loved watching this T.V. show when I was a youngster in the 1950s. I laughed and laughed at the funny stories that came out of each episode. I was only 10 -12 years old, but I remember that the stars were constantly embroiled in some sort of scheming and the results were invariably hilarious. These were lovable characters, and when I watched the show, it was the storyline and the predicaments that the characters found themselves in, that captured my attention, not the fact that they were black. Just in case you're wondering, I'm a white male, raised in Ontario Canada, and I and my friends watched the show religiously and discussed the stories at recess the next day. I can't recall ever hearing a reference to the fact that the characters were black. Invariably, we'd talk about what happened in the show and how funny the various actors reactions were. We never thought, "Only a black person would do something like that." or "Something like that would never happen to a white person." There was not much difference in the Amos & Andy show and several other comedy series of the 1950s. They were meant to be funny and only survived if they were. I gather that there are many who believe that the series stereotyped blacks and as a result, you can't find this delightful series anywhere. That's such a shame as the actors did a great job and never failed to make me laugh. I'm sure that all of those who played in the series have gone on to their final reward and it would be nice if they were given the credit they deserve. What better way than to resurrect the series on reruns. You wouldn't catch me anywhere other than in front of my T.V. when these great comedians were on the air.

A Bad Rap?

[schappe1 · 31 January 2005]

I've just watched a documentary on African-Americans on television which showed several clips from "Amos and Andy". It got me thinking about this show that I watched when it was syndicated in our area 40 years ago. For the record I am a middle-class white male, but I don't think it really matters that much. I haven't seen an entire episode in decades but my memories of the show seem to be similar to others so I will trust them. I too, agree that the show has something of a bad rap but I think the reasons why are interesting.

I agree with the several posters who have compared this to "The Honeymooners", which was obviously influenced by it. You have the men out front, not as smart as they think they are, hatching various schemes to make their dreams come true or cover up their missteps while smarter females lecture them for their foolishness when the smoke clears. Things like the lodge they belong to are obvious parallels. If the Honeymooners could be a classic, why couldn't Amos and Andy? The characters are not servants or shoe-shine boys. It's whole black community. I remember noticing that all the characters were black when I was a kid but just regarded it as a peculiarity. If the show taught me anything about blacks is that they are just like everyone else. Is that harmful? I agree that the fact that the series gave black performers jobs is not an "excuse" for racial stereotyping. But just search the IMDb for a look at the actor's careers after this show ended. Spencer Williams's career basically ended. Alvin Childress showed up on Perry Mason as a janitor. Tim Moore was blacklisted, (an ironic term). There's something to be said for employment.

So why is this show linked with Stepin Fetchit or "Rochester" as an example of black stereotyping such that it's been essentially banned from TV for four decades through the efforts of the NAACP, (ironic that Moore was banned by rightists and his show by leftists)? Firstly, while it does present an entire black community, it does use traditional elements of black humor- exaggerated dialects, references to lazy or untrustworthy characters, etc. However the same elements are present in later "black" shows such as "Good Times", which were not banned.

Perhaps a stronger reason was that the show was created and performed on radio by two white men, Freeman Gosden and Charles Correll, who had appeared on film playing the characters in blackface. That further links the show to racist stereotyping and illustrates that its genesis was certainly in the white man's view of comical black men. However subsequent documentaries have indicated that Gosden and Correll were anything but racists themselves and were respected by their TV counterparts who went on to make the characters their own in a series that was much toned down from the radio show.

I think perhaps the biggest problem with Amos and Andy is that it was the only show that attempted to depict black life in America in the 1950's. Whites had Joe Friday and Paladin and Dr. Kildare, so when they watched Ralph and Ed they didn't look at them as representatives of the white race. They just looked at them as a couple of funny guys. Blacks had no Joe Friday or Paladin or Dr. Kildare so these comic characters became their symbol. When it came time to move on, they were left behind.

I owe my grandparents a lot for teaching me about this show

[preacha93 · 10/10 · 30 August 2004]

As a young man still in my 20s, I didn't grow up watching or listening to Amos n' Andy when it first aired. However, when I was in the 10th grade and spent a year with my grandparents in Mississippi in the early 1990s, I discovered this show for the first time. I heard some radio episodes first, and then saw several of the videos. I still think that this show has some of the funniest (and cleanest) comedy I've ever encountered.

One person commented that the black stars of the television series deserved equal recognition as the white creators of the radio series, including stars on the Walk of Fame. While I wholeheartedly agree that they should receive special recognition as the pioneers of black actors on television (and I won't deny that they should get stars on the Walk of Fame), I don't think it is accurate to say that the popularity of the series rests more on them than on Gosden and Correll. Perhaps you think that the radio series was fairly new when the television series began in 1951. On the contrary, Gosden and Correll had been playing Amos n' Andy on radio (and Sam n' Henry before that) since the late 1920s, and even played the characters in a 1930 movie, Check and Doublecheck. There was a time when movie theaters, in order to keep from losing customers, would actually stop the movie for 15 minutes each evening to play the Amos n' Andy radio show (what theater would stop a movie today for anything?). During that 15 minute period each evening, everything in the country went to a standstill, including water usage. Cops could walk down the streets and catch the entire show because they could hear it coming out of every single window. For many years, not only were Gosden and Correll the only writers (pumping out a fresh script every single day), but they also played every single character. It wasn't until 1943 that the series was was re-formatted to a 30 minute radio sitcom with a live audience, at least 15 years after the series began. So, as much as I love the cast from the TV series (many of whom had been on the radio series) and think they deserve proper recognition, the real credit still goes to Gosden and Correll, two white men who personally loved the black people and hated racism themselves.

Racist? No. Hilarious? Yes

[jdc121 · 10/10 · 27 May 2016]

There are basically two types of situation comedies. One is the innocuous, quaint type of sitcom such as "Family Affair", "Father Knows Best", or "Julia". These types of shows may summon a chuckle now and then, but their basic purpose is to entertain with a sweet or thought-provoking story.

The second type of sitcom is played purely for laughs. The majority fit under this category and include such classics as "I Love Lucy", "Green Acres", and "Seinfeld". In order for this type of sitcom to work, outlandish characters make up the majority of the roles. Such characters can include the schemer (Sgt. Bilko, Ralph Kramden, George Costanza, Lucy Ricardo); the dim bulb (Gilligan, Ensign Parker, Herman Munster, Ted Baxter); and the enabler (Ethel Mertz, Ed Norton). Ofttimes, there was also a voice of reason to keep them all under control (Alice Kramden, Andy Taylor, Blanche Morton). Even in sitcoms where the characters are respected in their fields, they often carry a trait or two which makes them laughable (Sheldon Cooper, Frasier Crane).

This brings us to "Amos 'n Andy" and the ridiculous notion that, because the characters were not all upstanding, reputable, fault-free citizens, this somehow made the show "racist". Without the duplicitous Kingfish, the air-headed and easily conned Andy, and the willing pawn in many of Kingfish's schemes (Calhoun), there would have been no "com" in the "sitcom". These characters no more represented the black community than the self-absorbed gang from "Seinfeld" represent the white community.

The attack on "Amos 'n Andy" was an insult to the hardworking actors who brought these old radio characters to life. They made this one of the funniest shows in the history of television. (That says a lot in that television was in its infancy when the show debuted, and few shows in the almost 70 years since have come close to equaling it.) The actors themselves stated that they saw nothing racist about it. But much like those that would rename the Washington Redskins in spite of the majority of Native-Americans having no issue with it, a vocal but small minority maintained its stance and CBS caved in to them.

By the forced cancellation of "Amos 'n Andy" (as well as "Beulah" on another network) and eventual mothballing of the show, the critics brought the careers of these artists to an end. They also assured that another black-oriented program (the variety program "The Nat King Cole Show" notwithstanding) would not appear until 1968, when the aforementioned "Julia" hit the small screen. Even then, the majority of the supporting cast of that show was white.

Shows with African-American casts that have appeared since 1968 have, for the most part been strained and poorly written ("Sanford & Son" being the possible exception) or of the "innocuous/quaint" category ("The Bill Cosby Show", "The Cosby Show"), as writers have been so careful not to offend that they have also made sure not to be funny. ("The Cosby Show" even failed in its later years to be innocuous and quaint, as it decided to use the platform to preach.) It is truly a tragedy that the executives at CBS still can't get past a protest by a handful of people 50-60 years ago, and won't release this classic series for all of a new generation to enjoy. And it's also a tragedy that 50-60 year old political correctness is still impacting the medium today. A sitcom is just a sitcom, and it doesn't have to be a comment on society. Sometimes it can just be entertainment.

A GREAT American CLASSIC

[ARTIEKERN · 10/10 · 26 February 2007]

This is one of the funniest TV shows of all time.It is a shame that it was taken off in 1963.I was about 10 when I began watching the re-runs.I love them just like Abbott & Costello,laurel&Hardy or Ralph & Norton.They made me laugh hysterically and I wouldn't have cared if they were all green!In 1 show they go before a judge and the judge is black,.they by mistake remove clothes from a wrong apt and he's the Chief of Police,.he's black..Kingfish's Uncle comes to visit and he's a successful wealthy businessman from the South.This is simply one of the greatest shows with a BRILLIANT cast of the most talented people..'GOD BLESS'them all!!

Funny stuff!

[dixie-18 · 10/10 · 12 October 2002]

This was ( and still is) a funny show. It was removed from the air waves because the NAACP felt is was degrading. The truth is, it was not degrading to Black folks. The NAACP has managed to keep it off the air to this day. It is possible to rent some of these shows at local video stores. If you want to laugh, just rent them. They offer a timeless brand of humor, just as I Love Lucy & The Andy Griffith Show. Sadly, they are banned from modern television. The actors on this show were comedy legends. The people who like to rewrite history love to say that Julia was first TV show with blacks, yadda, yadda, yadda.... It gave everyday, regular work to loads of Black actors, who never had it before or after. Even Jesse Jackson pronounced it as non-racist in the PBS documentary "Amos 'n' Andy: Anatomy of a Controversy"(1986). If Jesse Jackson himself says it is not racist, then what more can be said?

The Great Ones

[chasful · 10/10 · 4 November 2007]

I vividly remember my Dad bringing home a Pepsi cola and a Baby Ruth candy bar for me as we settled to watch Amos 'n Andy. Amos 'n Andy was far more than a TV comedy show. It was a place we as a family gathered and laughed together. My Dad's favorite character was Kingfish's mother-in-law. My Mom's favorite character was Lightnin'. My brothers and I were divided between the Kingfish and Andy. Whoever any one liked the most, they all were a unique "team" that probably had no idea what they were doing to America and have often wondered how many millions of Americans were laughing all over the country at the same time and enjoying entertainment by masters of their craft.

Tim Moore, Alvin Childress,Spencer Williams, and the rest of the cast are of the the great ones. They had no agenda. It was pure entertainment from some of the greatest talents we will ever see. I for one am so glad that I came along and actually laughed because of their God given ability to make people laugh. In the words of Tiny Tim, "God Bless Them Everyone." They are missed.

C.A. Fulghum Pinehurst, NC

one of the 5 funniest sitcoms ever

[bmcelhaney · 10/10 · 4 September 2017]

I grew up in the 50's and was in 1st and 2nd grade when this series was on. It was so funny and I'd rush home from school every afternoon to see it. It wasn't on in the evenings.

I had black friends then that I played with. And they'd watch it with me and we'd root for Andy to kick Kingfish's butt. We all thought Amos was admirable.

Then it went off.

Amazon though does have the series on DVD and I ordered it a few years ago and laughed just as much. It's in black and white and might appear to today's sitcom tastes to lack refinement or polish. But it's still entertaining and never once has it given me a prejudiced opinion of blacks anymore than All in the Family gave me the same negative about whites.

Out of curiosity, at lunch one day I asked a black co-worker who was about 20 years younger than me if he'd ever seen it and did he have a problem with me, his friend, watching it and finding it funny? He had not seen it and asked to borrow my DVDS and then he'd give me his opinion.

The next day he ate with me again and asked if he could keep the DVDS for a while longer. He said he and his wife watched four of the shows the night before and roared. He wondered if I would mind him loaning them to some of his other black friends. I did not object.

In the two years following, while we worked, he and I often repeated lines back to each other that we found especially funny. And anytime either of us would make a goof up, the standard reply was "Holy mackerel Andy".

The NAACP was being ridiculous in panning the series. It was great and I believe it would be a number 1 rated show today if anyone like Norman Lear would bring it back.

While it may make us very uncomfortable today, it's a shame the show is almost totally forgotten.

[planktonrules · 7/10 · 25 July 2012]

Back in the late 1920s, two white guys had a huge hit with the radio version of "Amos 'n Andy". The idea of two white guys doing this is very racist when you think about it, but back in the day folks (black and white) accepted this and the show was one of the most popular of the time. The duo even made a movie ("Check and Double Check")--in black face! It was simply dreadful--unfunny and a bit nasty.

By the 1950s, there was a dilemma. While the radio show was popular, folks were clamoring for a TV version and the network decided to relaunch the show with an all-black cast. And, for two years, the show was very popular and was occasionally seen in syndication into the 1960s. However, by this time, people were not comfortable with the show. After all, two of the main character (Andy and the Kingfish) were amazingly stupid and shiftless--and when the show was on TV, this was one of the only depictions of blacks in America! Now had the show been on when other, more realistic, depictions of blacks been on TV, I doubt that people would have felt so upset--but the only other show with a black main character at the time was "Beulah"--a black maid! Because of this and changing sensitivities in the country, the show was essentially shelved--only to be seen, rarely, on video in the 1980s. It is also available on DVD--but you won't find it on Netflix or Hulu.

It's really a shame, as although I would definitely agree that the show has offensive aspects, it seems extreme to simply bury the show and pretend it didn't exist. First, you lose a part of your history when you do this. Second, although in some ways stereotypical, the show had a couple things going for it--it WAS very funny (in a "Car 54" sort of way) and not all blacks on the show were idiots or crooks--and the supporting players were almost all decent and industrious folks. I would LOVE to see the show distributed more widely--with some sort of a prologue explaining the context for the show and how times and attitudes have changed. It's a shame that Tim Moore and Spencer Williams (the Kingfish and Andy) have been lost in the process--as both had a great knack for comedy and their contributions should not be ignored.

For more on the mixed feelings about this show, try watching the George Kirby documentary "Amos 'n Andy: Portrait of a Controversy".

Beulah for President

[caspian1978 · 9/10 · 26 September 2015]

The Beulah Show showcased a black servant woman who served her white family in early 50's suburbia America. She ate her meals in the kitchen and always kept in her place. She knows the answers, but nobody every asks her the question. This sums up her existence. The NAACP says Amos n Andy is racist toward African Americans. I will agree to a point. For both an audience member from the 1951 and 2015. Then again, let us ask ourselves the question, what is positive about the depiction of the African American in Amos n Andy? For starters, no white characters on the show call any of the black characters on the show N*gg*r. More importantly, no black characters call other black characters N*gg*r. That alone is evidence to the debate. What else does Amos n Andy showcase in 50's Harlem? We see a community of Black owned businesses. Black families that own homes and run organizations. Black lawyers, doctors, police officers and more. We do not see black pimps, prostitutes or homeless. No drug pushers and no ignorant servers. Black women are depicted as strong wives and mother-in-laws. They speak their minds and run the family. Does Amos n Andy showcase early African Americans as ignorant? Four of the characters are depicted as very gullible if not down right dumb. Andy, Kingfish, Lightning and Calhoun are easily depicted in a negative light. Then again, are they because they are black? I say no. Amos n Andy can be considered a negative depiction of certain black characters, but as a whole, there is a strong defense against this. The Christmas episode alone shows the early 1950's American audience that the "negro" was a proud, Christian, loyal and respected member of the modern community. Granted, people tuned in to see Andy being taken advantage of time and time again by Kingfish as they both mispronounce words as they show their ignorance and lack of character. Then again, twenty years later we saw this in Archie Bunker in All in the Family. Many traits in Kingfish can be seen in Archie Bunker, Ray Barone and Homer Simpson. Amos n Andy has left a significant mark in American television. It showed its early audience that Blacks could act. It stood the test of time while other "white" sitcoms have disappeared with lack of an audience. Its story line, subject matter and characters are still entertaining. I see Amos n Andy as a milestone. Was it racist? At times. But a more important question one should ask is, was it influential? You be the judge.

The TV Show Takes The Rap For Radio

[bkoganbing · 6/10 · 26 June 2008]

I don't think I've seen any Amos 'n Andy Shows for over 40 years now, but I still remember them from television and the history behind them. Early television was stuck for creative programming and what better programming than to bring successful radio programs over to television. There certainly was no more successful radio program than Amos 'n Andy.

A couple of average vaudevillians who did a blackface act called Sam 'n Henry named Freeman Gosden and Charles Correll sold a radio program based on their act. They just changed the names and it became Amos 'n Andy, the better for alliteration. This was in the middle of the Roaring Twenties and it was the most successful of radio programs during radio's golden age.

If you were to look at television Amos 'n Andy and contrast it with something like Sanford and Son, you'd find a remarkable lot of similarities. On television Amos got into the episodes, but mostly functioned as narrator as the character Kingfish really starred in the series. Every week this Fred Sanford like character had all kinds of plans and it usually involved getting his Lamont like pal Andy swindled in some manner.

This Sanford was not a widower, he lived with his Elizabeth who is not the saintly figure Fred makes her out to be. Sapphire was at her wit's end with her lazy husband. George Stevens was Kingfish's straight name and he also lived with an Aunt Esther in the person of Sapphire's Momma, not a woman to cross as I remember.

The men hung out at the Mystic Knight's of the Sea Lodge probably to stay away from the wives. Except Andy who was a confirmed bachelor. They also included a shyster lawyer Algonquin J. Calhoun who I remember actually got to court in one episode and we learned he was disbarred.

I daresay you could have taken the plot of any given Amos 'n Andy television episode and have rewritten it for Sanford and Son. They may have done just that in fact.

Still though Amos 'n Andy with its origins in vaudeville blackface has born a stigma that it can't erase. I really feel if Amos 'n Andy had been an original television creation it would not have the stigma it has today.

The Kingfish with his never ending get rich quick schemes that involved duping the hapless Andy every week and his henpecked home life that W.C. Fields never saw the equal of was a pretty funny show. I knew it was even in my single digit years. The chemistry between Tim Moore as Kingfish and Spencer Williams as Andy was evident even for a little kid. The Kingfish was a funny guy, but he was a loser and I sympathized with Ernestine Wade as Sapphire for being stuck with this lunkhead. And no one should have had the mother-in-law from hell Amanda Randolph.

One of these days I'll see some of those episodes with Sanford&Son side by side and test my theory.

Mixed Feelings

[JoyceTerry730 · 4/10 · 27 March 2008]

I am a woman of color, and remember watching the Amos & Andy Show as a young child. The adults in my family thought the characters were funny and seemed to enjoy the show. I did not see the humor in the characters and thought they were plain stupid. I did not see the harm in the show, as these characters were unlike anyone I knew and it did not occur to me that they supposedly represented the whole population of 'colored people' at all! I do not know who decided that the people of color needed spokespersons and organizations, that represented the whole population of 'colored people' or who decided we were colored, Negro, Afro-American, African American, or Black people, for that matter.

In my life time, I have met so-called white, yellow, brown, and even black people who had certain fixed ideas of how 'all' Blacks are supposed to act, think, look, and the degree of education and intelligence that they possess. That's ignorance on their part! Members of a group, such as so-called minority groups, should not have to spend any part of their lives proving to other group members, their value and worth as human beings; yet it happens and happened. As a person or even a group member, individuals cannot allow others to define who they are, and it's a sad thing that that kind of thing had to and has to be battled. It's an interesting point that was made, comparing the 'Honeymooners' to the 'Amos and Andy Show'. I have no doubt that there are and were people who did believe characters in these shows did represent the sub-racial groups to which the characters belonged, however social education, exposure to people of different sub-racial groups, and a love for fellow humans would remedy the majority of these misunderstandings. I use the term sub-racial because we are all of one race - the human race, however somebody(ies) found it necessary to break the human race down in terms of physical characteristics and outward appearances. If people want to watch Amos and Andy, I believe they should and should have been allowed to.

One of the funniest comedies ever.

[pakhuntz · 19 January 2004]

Seeing the amos N andy show in reruns when i was 5 in the late 50's in new york, i remembered some of the funniest shows I had ever seen. Having recently obtained the 73 shows known to be in existence, I am still laughing uproariously. It is a shame more people have not been exposed to these fine actors and the hilarious sketches they perform. It is also distinguished by the first show in TV history to have blacks perform in white collar occupations such as judges, lawyers, business owners and the like. if the Kingfisher isn't one of the most talented comedians in early TV, i don't know who is. The rubbery face and big sad eyes made him perfect for this part. The kingfisher was not the main performer in the radio program, but became so in the TV series. He is really the first actor to become prominant in a TV program where he was not intended to be when the stories were originally written. much the same as fonzi became the star at Happy Days. if you do not see these most funny shows, you are missing some of the early and funniest history of TV.

Possibly funniest sit-com ever

[tootswaller · 10/10 · 24 June 2017]

I was ten when this show began and watched it without fail for the entire run. It was a a great bonding experience with my 13 year old brother. We both laughed hard and neither of us even understood how this show could be racist. The characters were funny, a bit eccentric, and sometimes dumb -- just like All in the Family and a million other Caucasion shows. Authority figures like judges were always portrayed as serious members of the community.

I later thought I could not understand how black people saw racism unless I could imagine myself as black, but the fact is the documentary "Anatomy of a Controversy" will break your heart. For most, maybe all of these African American actors, this was the best job they ever had. They did not see racism. Very very sad.

Great (and unrecognized) talent

[GeorgeSickler · 9/10 · 19 June 2013]

A number of years ago, my Dad told me about his listening to the Amos 'n Andy radio show when he was a kid growing up in Wilmington, DE.

The show was so popular that movie theaters in Wilmington would stop the film and wheel a radio onto the stage for the audience to hear the Amos 'n Andy show. Otherwise, they'd stay home so they wouldn't miss the program.

Seems to me the NAACP over-reacted. Lou Costello certainly got into as many ridiculous situations as Andy, and nobody complained about that. It was just good comedy. But as a consequence, a lot of fine actors never had a chance to get a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and reach their full potential in the early days of television.

George Kingfish Stevens

[rcbrown-02297 · 10/10 · 16 February 2022]

I just can't explain how much I love this sitcom. Maybe the first ever on TV. The PC people said this was extreme stereotyping and degrading toward American Blacks. And for many years the reels were left on the shelves hoping they would deteriorate. This series in my opinion may be the most important show in the history of television. I was very young when this series ran from 1951 to 1953. I grew up in a white neighborhood. I saw this small circle of very funny comedians. Then there were regular people;Judges, lawyers, bankers, storeowners, secretarys' etc all responsible citizens and they were all black. My very first experience with black people and it was all positive. I have the box set. Whenever I wan't to reminisce or just feel good I put it on. Tim Moore AKA George Kingfish Stevens my all time favorite character in the history of film making. I can't express in words how this series impacted me in a positive way.

I'll Save You The Time Reading The Whole Page

[skeebwilcox-575-686576 · 10/10 · 22 May 2021]

THIS is the greatest sitcom of all time.

And the sad part about it is that no one in this day and age gets to readily experience the genius of it...

Comedic genius

[torstensonjohn · 9/10 · 9 January 2019]

With comedic legends set before hand with the likes of The Marx Bros, Laurel and Hardy, The Three Stooges, Buster Keaton, Bob Hope, George Burns the audience was set in comedic tone. Along comes Alvin Childress (Amos) and Spencer Williams (Andy) and Tim Moore (Kingfish) in the COLOR comedy of "The Amos 'N' Andy show. Set in Harlem, Manhattan's predominant BLACK community this show was hilarious with great writing for the duo.

The NAACP worked tirelessly to have the show banned and excommunicated from television for it's portrayal of the black community and eventually won. The NAACP mounted a formal protest almost as soon as the television version began, and THAT type of extreme pressure was considered a primary factor in the show's cancellation, even though it finished at #13 in the 1951-1952 Nielsen ratings and at #25 in 1952-1953 respectively. It has been suggested that CBS erred in premiering the show at the same time as the 1951 NAACP national convention, perhaps increasing the objections to it. The show was widely repeated in syndicated reruns until 1966 when, in an unprecedented action for network television at that time, CBS finally gave in to pressure from the NAACP and the growing civil rights movement and withdrew the program. The series would not be seen on American television regularly for 46 more years. The television show has been available in bootleg VHS and DVD sets, which generally include up to 74 of the 78 known TV episodes.

When the show was cancelled, 65 episodes had been produced. The last 13 of these episodes were intended to be shown on CBS during the 1953-54 season but were released with the syndicated reruns instead. Another additional 13 episodes were produced for 1954-55 to be added to the syndicated rerun package. These episodes were focused on Kingfish, with little participation from Amos or Andy, because these episodes were to be titled The Adventures of Kingfish (though they ultimately premiered under the Amos 'n' Andy title.) The additional episodes first aired on January 4, 1955. Plans were made for a vaudeville act based on the television program in August 1953, with Tim Moore, Alvin Childress and Spencer Williams playing the same roles. It is not known whether there were any performances.

The comedic pairing was essential for this caliber of tv show to work, and work it did. The physical features and placement of lines was beyond it's time. The show was pure, simple and brought about a laughter that was needed in the country. TO this day in 2019 the show STILL resonates with spot on comedy and heart.

A comedy masterpiece !

[ronnybee2112 · 10/10 · 19 April 2021]

This show had a great cast and crew throughout the entire run. The episodes were all hilarious,the writing,the acting, the direction,the comedic timing were all top-notch.

As far as the show being 'racist',that is strictly in the eye of the beholder I say.

All of the very same character types could be seen on many other TV shows of the time,there was nothing unusual or the least bit offensive about any of the characters in the 'Amos and Andy show' as far as I have seen. We've all met and known people just like the characters on 'Amos and Andy'.

The episodes were all family-friendly,with basically clean humor and language throughout the entire series.

As far as I am concerned this is a truly great TV series. Don't take my word for it,everyone should watch for themselves and decide for themselves if this TV series is good,bad,or ugly !

Brilliant AND Racist

[madden-2 · 9/10 · 24 March 2007]

I fully agree that this show was exceptionally funny (at least to a then 7 to 9 year old seeing it in early syndication). The actors deserve all the accolades conferred in the comments of other posters.

However, any suggestion that the show's apparently functional black community (or Andy's typically sage response to the chaos around him) shows a fundamentally enlightened racial viewpoint misses the mark completely.

At the time, I was growing up in a working class, lily white neighborhood in Pittsburgh, separated from Homewood, a 90% black neighborhood by--no joke--a set of apparently impermeable railroad tracks. (The jazz legend, Billie Strayhorn, grew up a few houses down the street in Homewood from that of one of my best friends.) We shopped and went to school (parochial, 99% white) in Homewood, but we lived on the "right" side of the tracks in Point Breeze. We might not have had money but at least we had our superior geographical position.

We kids understood quite well that the black-run city in Amos and Andy was intended to be surreal in a way that gave mundane occurrences involving a black mayor or black police chief tremendous comedic power. It was, in fact, the 1951 version of "Toontown" in Who Killed Roger Rabbit. (Or is it the other way around?) If you lived through those years, it is hard to see this in any other light. At the time, there were no large, reasonably prosperous cities dominated and run by blacks. This was flatly inconceivable and therefore fundamentally comic to whites. I can still recall specific playground conversations about Amos and Andy that dwelt on the series' outre civic premise.

In the end, it doesn't matter a bit. One can be simultaneously enthralled and appalled by the films of Leni Riefenstahl, and equally, one can both laugh and cringe at the TV version of Amos and Andy. (I offer no brief for the radio version.) Neither should be suppressed for ideological reasons.

By the way: Others note the similarities between Amos and Andy and the Honeymooners. These are genuine, but one should not ascribe precedence to the TV version of AA. While the widely syndicated, stand-alone Honeymooners show ran for single season in 1956, the original, shorter Honeymooners sketches were part of Jackie Gleason's Cavalcade of Stars in 1951, the same year as TV's Amos and Andy first aired. If there were influences, they were likely mutual. (That leaves open the question of the influence of the AA radio show, but that would change the complexion of the argument, wouldn't it?)

The actors were like friends when I was a kid.

[mbuchwal · 1 April 2005]

When this show was attacked for being politically incorrect, I had a visceral reaction of anger, as I used to love it when I was a kid. The actors were so warm to the audience, watching the show was almost like having a personal relationship with them. As a true friend, I have to resent the harsh accusation that "Amos 'n Andy" created dangerous racial stereotypes.

The characters from the show are no more racial stereotypes than any of the other popular characters of low comedy on TV, such as Lou Costello, Baciagalupe, Ralph Cramden, Stan Laurel, Private Doberman, Uncle Tonoose, Gomer Pyle, and a host of others. Maybe the problem is that "politically correct" critics object to low comedy of any kind. Or perhaps they are irrationally blaming the makers of "Amos 'n Andy" for the fact that black actors have never gotten enough serious roles from Hollywood.

Hostile music critics have voiced similar complaints that much of blues and folk music is politically incorrect, that it demeans a race of people by creating "primitive stereotypes." In both cases, I find the criticisms offensive because vaudeville style comedy and blues singing are arguably among the greatest contributions America has made to world culture.

The critics of "Amos n' Andy" would do better to take a shot at recently made crime movies set in the ghettos of today, which contain some of the most evil and offensive racial stereotypes ever put on screen. "Amos n' Andy" never intended to offend!

The entertainment value is classic

[davhogan · 5 November 2004]

I have 78 episodes on DVD. The characters are incredibly Funny. I'm a white man & feel like most others. The show is comedy not a documentary. The humor is harmless. I don't think that the honeymooners depict a negative image of white folks. Compare the 2 shows, the constant scheming, the outfits, the lodge, etc... Most average folks in those days were real poor & related to the humor. I don't know about you, It's a shame some people are that defensive That they can't laugh at show anymore & put it in perspective with the times it was created. It should still be available on T.V. Like the other classics.I love it.

The sitcom in general

[mdeaton · 6 September 2001]

As a child, I grew up watching Amos 'N Andy shows each week as they were produced. At the time I knew I just liked the antics of "The Kingfish". He was the main star even though the title of the show only depics Andy Brown (occupation unknown) and Amos (the cab driver) as the main characters. The acting troupe were absoutely a perfect combination. Tim Moore's character of The Kingfish was brillant! I remember so many laughs. They were happy laughs, not of racism but just a child seeing a good show. I do not know who owns the rights to the shows now but I have heard that they were removed from being broadcasts again for the wrong reasons. Redd Foxx is more racists than Amos 'N Andy ever were. These shows were "A1" wholesome in my book and should be enjoyed again by the next generation.