Talk:Amos 'n' Andy

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question[edit]

What is this supposed to mean: "While African American advocacy groups had protested the radio show on several occasions, progressive groups such as the NAACP were a primary factor in getting the TV show cancelled." What is the NAACP, other than an advocacy group for African-Americans?

To me, a number of parts of the article read as if they were written by someone who has the opinion that A&A is not racist, and made an attempt to write NPOV but didn't quite succeed.
I'll take my lumps for that sentence from back in the day (posted w/o an account); the point I was going for was that the protests of the radio show didn't have anywhere near the effect that the TV protests did. Chalk up the ambiguity to my clumsy self-editing on the day, but it's easy enough to fix. And for the record, I wasn't trying to say that A&A weren't racist, just that they were much more benign than other racially-based elements of pop culture from the 20s and 30s. Enwilson 16:31, 20 September 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Lead description[edit]

I largely reverted to an earlier version of the first paragraph from the recent one claiming it to be "the first original series created for radio", which it certainly was not. -- Infrogmation 17:45, 5 March 2006 (UTC)[reply]

What happened?[edit]

In three days time, a tremendous amount of research has been eliminated from this article. Is there some explanation? Pepso 15:52, 8 June 2006 (UTC)[reply]

I restored the article to 6 June 2006. Indeed, much good information was eliminated, with no justification or even explanation.—Walloon 16:32, 8 June 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Tv series[edit]

I'd like to make a seperate and deatiled page for the TV series. Would any object to that?MrBlondNYC 00:04, 30 July 2006 (UTC)[reply]

I would thoroughly enjoy a page dedicated to the TV series! These actors were absolutely genius and the show was FUNNY. Thank you! SKA1949 (talk) 16:36, 20 January 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Ridiculous[edit]

Nowhere in the entire article do the words racist or racism appear,when clearly at least the radio version of the show in its earliest incarnations was a version of minstrel show. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 74.128.108.185 (talk) 01:15, 20 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]

You can rework that opening text to further emphasize this show was within the archetype racist blackface theme used up until the civil rights movement. See Wikipedia page on Blackface :

"Blackface featured prominently in film at least into the 1930s, and the "aural blackface" of the Amos 'n' Andy radio show lasted into the 1950s.[29] Meanwhile, amateur blackface minstrel shows continued to be common at least into the 1950s."

It references Amos & Andy.
Leon Spencer, Animis Opibusque Parati 08:06, 13 April 2008 (UTC)

I reworked the opening sentence as follows with references to existing Wikipedia pages:

"Amos 'n' Andy was a situation comedy formed out of the archetype of American racism—that of the odd voiced moronic darky or coon - and popular in the United States from the 1920s through the 1950s. "

Leon Spencer, Animis Opibusque Parati 08:49, 13 April 2008 (UTC)

Hi, Leon. For one thing, I don't think I should have just deleted your sentence - it's legitimate. But I DON'T think it belongs in the opening sentence. The opening should just say it was a situation comedy, and later in the article, explore it's a being formed out of the minstrel show, and racist archetypes. In fact, I think that should be expanded, and a separate section. But the opening sentence should be bare-bones, "just the facts."Carlo (talk) 00:58, 14 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Hello Carlo. Thank you. However, the fact is Amos 'n' Andy was blackface. We can reword the opening sentence to exclude whether or not it was racial. But the fact is it was a comedy based on black racial archetypes voiced by white actors depicting the star characters - two black men.
I will reword that sentence to reach some middle ground and eliminate the word racism. -Leon Spencer, Animis Opibusque Parati 03:01, 14 April 2008 (UTC)
Reworded as follows:
"Amos 'n' Andy was a situation comedy based on racial archetypes of African-Americans and popular in the United States from the 1920s through the 1950s."
-Leon Spencer, Animis Opibusque Parati 03:10, 14 April 2008 (UTC)
I think that small change makes a big difference, and is better. Carlo (talk) 21:45, 15 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
It would be nice if it could be made more clear that the voice actors were indeed white. The lead doesn't really make this clear (a subtle use of 'archetype' still only implies that the show was an 'aural blackface'), and neither of the actors' articles say this, so going there doesn't particularly help (even so, it's worth mentioning here). Just to clarify this hugely important aspect of the show in the lead would be beneficial. K1da42 (talk) 13:10, 22 August 2008 (UTC)[reply]

DO NOT OVERWRITE EDITS Without Noting Discussion[edit]

Do not overwrite edits without noting discussion. Whether Amos 'n' Andy was blackface is not a 'point of view'. It was white actors imitating black men using odd voice characters at a time in American history when such acts were popular. That is the definition of blackface and an Archetype.

Whether or not this description 'belongs' in the first line is a 'point of view' and lacks standing cosidering that archetype was the basis of the show. It simply wasn't just a radio then television show. It was blackface.

Leon Spencer, Animis Opibusque Parati 00:43, 14 April 2008 (UTC)

And certainly if the archetype illustration by J.J. Gould of Amos and Andy because at the top of the page, the opening sentence representing the show in a similar manner is appropriate:

"Amos 'n' Andy was a situation comedy formed out of an archetype of American racism—that of the odd voiced moronic darky or coon - and popular in the United States from the 1920s through the 1950s."

There was NO more to Amos 'n' Andy. And if is perceived to have been more, such perception does not override the basis on which the show was formed - an African-American archetype - Blackface

Leon Spencer, Animis Opibusque Parati 00:50, 14 April 2008 (UTC)

That certainly wouldn't apply to the TV series, which was not blackface. It was standard sitcom fare about humorous misunderstandings, henpecked husbands, jealous wives, and so forth. The actors were all black, so it was never about whites outsmarting moronic darkies. There is really nothing in it to offend anyone. The NAACP gave the TV show a thumbs down from the time it first aired in 1951, apparently based mainly on stuff that appeared in the radio version years earlier. In this time of vulgarity and gangsta rap, what Amos 'n' Andy represent is a lost age of innocence. Kauffner (talk) 03:13, 12 November 2010 (UTC)[reply]
Funny, people in the 1950s yearned for the 'lost innocence' of the 1920s, while people of the 1920s yearned for the 'lost innocence' of the 1890s, while people of the 1890s yearned for the 'lost innocence' of the 1850s, and so on. Just read the appropriate literature of the various time periods. Some day in the future some people will yearn for the 'lost innocence' of the current time. No time past was ever 'innocent' - it's a complete illusion.PJtP (talk) 14:50, 19 August 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Racism[edit]

Most of the cultural discussion of Amos 'n' Andy for the past three decades has to do with its existence as a racist archetype, and what it says about its time-period, rather than its popularity as a program, or the show's plots and characters. This article needs to have a section devoted to this aspect of the legacy of the Amos 'n' Andy, which will likely become the most important component of that legacy as time progresses and no one is alive anymore who listened to it as entertainment.PJtP (talk) 14:50, 19 August 2012 (UTC)[reply]

I agree. "Amos 'n' Andy" was a funny show in spite of all the racial stereotypes, and many African-Americans who remember the show do so with fondness. Back in the early 80's there was a documentary called "'Amos 'n' Andy': Anatomy of a Controversy". It contained interviews with a number of African-American celebrities, including Redd Foxx and Marla Gibbs, who thought the program was funny. It even contained interviews with some of the former cast members, such as Alvin Childress and Earnestine Wade, who defended the show.97.73.64.148 (talk) 12:58, 15 October 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Still very little mention in the article of the racial content of the show or any real discussion of it. I'm sure the information is out there so why is there nothing here? 62.253.177.175 (talk) 09:07, 3 April 2015 (UTC)[reply]

IMHO Amos & Andy is not racist at all, but about the funniest comedy ever put out on TV. And it is incredible that anyone would condemn Amos & Andy for racism and then tolerate Sanford and Son, which contained very overt racism. (PeacePeace (talk) 05:02, 18 June 2018 (UTC))[reply]

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Avoid using the present tense where in time the statement will become false.[edit]

The article says something like: "All the copies are bootleg and illegal." Problem is that the verb "are" is likely to become false when copies become legal. Better to say, "As of 1998 all copies were bootleg and illegal." (The citation for the claim comes no later than 1998, which is now 20 years ago!) Since the show is now sold on Amazon, it is doubtful that those copies are illegal in 2018. So I revised the statement and provided a source that states it is sold on Amazon, though anyone can go directly to Amazon and see for self -- dreaded original research! Someone will claim that such a statement requires a secondary source as somehow superior to Amazon itself; so I gave a secondary source. BTW, the show is also offered by Hulu, but I see no point in hunting for a 2ndard source that says it.(PeacePeace (talk) 04:57, 18 June 2018 (UTC))[reply]

Ambiguous[edit]

"Rating (% listeners)" - What does this mean? Is it the percent of people in the US or of people who were listening to radio in that time slot or of CBS listeners, or what? And by 'listeners,' does it actually mean radio sets? Kdammers (talk) 04:48, 6 May 2021 (UTC)[reply]

'n vs 'n' in Amos 'n' Andy[edit]

I realize 'n' is preferred usage, in that the quote character signifies missing letters. But I'm looking at a YouTube video of an episode, and it's spelled Amos 'n Andy. ( title card is ten seconds in https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1DzEv0iKEL4 ) Shouldn't the article be renamed? Le Marteau (talk) 23:26, 28 March 2022 (UTC)[reply]

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