![]() Media historian Donald Bogel notes "Neither CBS nor the programs' creators were prepared for the change in national temperament after the Second World War. Why did the Amos 'n Andy show go on to become one of the most protested of television programs? Eventually, the controversy surrounding the television version of Amos 'n Andy would almost equal that of the popularity of the radio version.Ĭontemporary television viewers might find it difficult to understand what all the clamor was about. The program's portrayal of black life and culture was deemed by the black community of the period as an insulting return to the days of blackface and minstrelsy. ![]() The basis for these characters was derived largely from the stereotypic caricatures of African-Americans that had been communicated through several decades of popular American culture, most notably, motion pictures. ![]() The adventures of Amos 'n Andy presented the antics of Amos Jones, an Uncle Tom-like, conservative Andy Brown, his zany business associate Kingfish Stevens, a scheming smoothie Lawyer Calhoun, an underhanded crook that no one trusted Lightnin,' a slow-moving janitor Sapphire Stevens, a nosey, loud-mouth Mama, a domineering mother-in-law, and the infamous Madame Queen. It was the first television series with an all-black cast (the only one of its kind to appear on prime-time, network television for nearly another twenty years). The position of the Amos 'n Andy show in television history is still debated by media scholars in recent books on the cultural history of American television.Īmos 'n Andy was first broadcast on CBS television in June 1951, and lasted some two years before the program was canceled in the midst of growing protest by the black community in 1953. The significance of Amos 'n Andy, with its almost thirty year history as a highly successful radio show, its brief, contentious years on network television, its banishment from prime-time and subsequent years in syndication, and its reappearance in video cassette format is difficult to summarize in a few paragraphs. Amos 'n' Andy was conceived by Freeman Gosden and Charles Correll, two white actors who portrayed the characters Amos Jones and Andy Brown by mimicking so-called Negro dialect. Stay tuned for the next post on April 8th: The New Kernersville Library.Like many of its early television counterparts, the Amos 'n' Andy television program was a direct descendent of the radio show that originated on WMAQ in Chicago on 19 March 1928, and eventually became the longest-running radio program in broadcast history. Photograph courtesy of the Forsyth County Public Library Photograph Collection. He was very active in little theatre work, both directing and producing plays in Los Angeles. Alvin Childress (1907-1986) was a successful stage and screen actor. Spencer Williams (1893-1969) had an impressive list of screen and director credits during his career. Pressure from the NAACP also resulted in the removal of the syndicated reruns of the program in 1966. Pressure from the NAACP, which began when the series aired in 1951, was a primary factor in the cancellation of the television series. And, thirteen more episodes were produced, focusing on Kingfish and intended to be used for “The Adventures of Kingfish,” a program that never came to fruition. Thirteen additional episodes were produced for the 1953-1954 season, but they were released with the syndicated reruns instead. In addition to Amos and Andy, other characters were George “Kingfish” Stevens, Sapphire Stevens, Ramona Smith (Sapphire’s Mama), Algonquin J. The television series, “Amos ‘n’ Andy,” was produced from June 1951 to April 1953, with 52 filmed episodes. Correll voiced the main character, “Andy Brown,” and some lesser characters. Gosden voiced the characters “Amos,” “George ‘Kingfish’ Stevens,” “Lightnin’,” “Brother Crawford,” and some dozen other characters. “Amos ‘n’ Andy” began as a radio broadcast which was written and performed by Charles Correll and Freeman Gosden in 1928. Their next stops on the tour were Statesville and Gastonia. They carry out their famous roles with talk and action. The men were on an eight-week tour of the nation’s theatres, along with Ray “Tex” Holland, billed as the “first Negro hillbilly.” When they perform on the stage, they use no props. They were staying at the home of Reverend William Franklin Stokes Jr. Better known as the television characters, Andrew (Andy) Brown and Amos Jones, in the successful television program, “Amos ‘n’ Andy,” the men came to Winston-Salem to perform at the Center Theatre. Spencer Williams and Alvin Childress came to Winston-Salem in September 1958.
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