Minstrel Shows were a popular form of entertainment for audiences before film and television existed. There were rapid fire jokes, clever patter, a lot of puns and wordplay. It was lowbrow humor for its own sake. But the target of all of the offense were Black Americans.
Minstrel Shows gained popularity in the 1830s, about the time that abolitionists began seriously pushing to end slavery in the nation. The shows were clearly a way of allowing many to continue to believe that Black people were lesser and also a method of comforting those worried about a world where "their property" could do whatever they wanted.
It's also important to know that the actors in a Minstrel Show were nearly always white performers made up in blackface to look like the characters they mocked, and the makeup was designed to be garish - exaggerating the features of the eyes and especially the mouth to enormous proportions.
Minstrel Shows had three main characters that narrated or performed for the audience. Jim Crow was a badly dressed, mentally challenged buffoon. And yes, that's where the term "Jim Crow Laws" originated. Zip Coon was a well-to-do, aspirational character who considered himself to be on the same level as white people. And Mr. Tambo was a musician, who always carried a tambourine to accent a joke or to keep rhythm when the inevitable dance numbers began.
When the concept of "Amos 'n' Andy" was created, it's very clear that it was using the basics of the Minstrel Show format, right down to the performers. Two white vocal performers did the voices of the characters on the show.
When television started and the idea of transferring this very popular radio show into a TV series happened, it was determined that they really couldn't do it in a "blackface" style. They needed to cast actual Black actors to play the parts.
In 1951, "Amos 'n' Andy" started airing on CBS and became the first television program with an all Black cast. That was something. Alvin Childress was Amos, Spencer Williams was Andy and Tim Moore was their main nemesis, Kingfish.
It's important to put this series in context with history to show what was happening. In a way, the timing of its debut matched the timing of interest in Minstrel Shows when the anti-slave movement was occurring, as the Civil Rights movement was seriously starting to gain ground as this show began.
The setting of the program was Harlem, USA. And these characters got into all sorts of predicaments based on their personality traits. Many of the scripts for the series were taken directly from the radio show and adapted for the small screen. It was stereotyping to the max as the continual messaging of how lazy and useless these characters were created most of the laughs for viewers.
It didn't help that CBS chose to premiere this program at the same time an NAACP National Convention was happening. The network got some serious blowback from Black Americans for that choice.
However, there were positives that happened because of the program, as some eventual performers were inspired to go into show business because of seeing this show. Richard Pryor, Redd Foxx and several other comedians became motivated to get involved in storytelling because of seeing this program.
Of course, if there were a more positive, less bigoted program that aired instead, I'm sure that also could have motivated them as well, but let's not walk down a path that doesn't exist.
New York plays a part because everyone knew Harlem, what it represented and why it was important. It was one of the biggest centers of Black people in the nation and there was no other location that could have created the same sort of recognition and impact as that.
Eventually, CBS bent to the pressure placed on them by the NAACP and canceled the show. But, in some ways, it set the stage for the standard format of the US sitcom that has been a staple on television for over seventy years and for that, it does deserve to make the list.
I don't think anyone needs to see "The Amos 'n Andy Shoe" now, except as a student of sociology, political science, psychology, ethics, and to learn how "entertainment" can be abusive and can have an impact on our society. In that sense, the program will always serve a purpose as a part of the history of the United States.
Minstrel Shows gained popularity in the 1830s, about the time that abolitionists began seriously pushing to end slavery in the nation. The shows were clearly a way of allowing many to continue to believe that Black people were lesser and also a method of comforting those worried about a world where "their property" could do whatever they wanted.
It's also important to know that the actors in a Minstrel Show were nearly always white performers made up in blackface to look like the characters they mocked, and the makeup was designed to be garish - exaggerating the features of the eyes and especially the mouth to enormous proportions.
Minstrel Shows had three main characters that narrated or performed for the audience. Jim Crow was a badly dressed, mentally challenged buffoon. And yes, that's where the term "Jim Crow Laws" originated. Zip Coon was a well-to-do, aspirational character who considered himself to be on the same level as white people. And Mr. Tambo was a musician, who always carried a tambourine to accent a joke or to keep rhythm when the inevitable dance numbers began.
When the concept of "Amos 'n' Andy" was created, it's very clear that it was using the basics of the Minstrel Show format, right down to the performers. Two white vocal performers did the voices of the characters on the show.
When television started and the idea of transferring this very popular radio show into a TV series happened, it was determined that they really couldn't do it in a "blackface" style. They needed to cast actual Black actors to play the parts.
In 1951, "Amos 'n' Andy" started airing on CBS and became the first television program with an all Black cast. That was something. Alvin Childress was Amos, Spencer Williams was Andy and Tim Moore was their main nemesis, Kingfish.
It's important to put this series in context with history to show what was happening. In a way, the timing of its debut matched the timing of interest in Minstrel Shows when the anti-slave movement was occurring, as the Civil Rights movement was seriously starting to gain ground as this show began.
The setting of the program was Harlem, USA. And these characters got into all sorts of predicaments based on their personality traits. Many of the scripts for the series were taken directly from the radio show and adapted for the small screen. It was stereotyping to the max as the continual messaging of how lazy and useless these characters were created most of the laughs for viewers.
It didn't help that CBS chose to premiere this program at the same time an NAACP National Convention was happening. The network got some serious blowback from Black Americans for that choice.
However, there were positives that happened because of the program, as some eventual performers were inspired to go into show business because of seeing this show. Richard Pryor, Redd Foxx and several other comedians became motivated to get involved in storytelling because of seeing this program.
Of course, if there were a more positive, less bigoted program that aired instead, I'm sure that also could have motivated them as well, but let's not walk down a path that doesn't exist.
New York plays a part because everyone knew Harlem, what it represented and why it was important. It was one of the biggest centers of Black people in the nation and there was no other location that could have created the same sort of recognition and impact as that.
Eventually, CBS bent to the pressure placed on them by the NAACP and canceled the show. But, in some ways, it set the stage for the standard format of the US sitcom that has been a staple on television for over seventy years and for that, it does deserve to make the list.
I don't think anyone needs to see "The Amos 'n Andy Shoe" now, except as a student of sociology, political science, psychology, ethics, and to learn how "entertainment" can be abusive and can have an impact on our society. In that sense, the program will always serve a purpose as a part of the history of the United States.
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