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Amen is an American television sitcom produced by Carson Productions that ran from September 27, 1986 to May 11, 1991 on NBC. Amen, starring Sherman Hemsley as the deacon of a Philadelphia church, was part of a wave of successful African American sitcoms on NBC in the 1980s which featured entirely or almost-entirely Black casts. Others included The Cosby Show, A Different World, and 227.

I always enjoyed the show, although I could have done without Clarence and Inga.

I always enjoyed the show, although I could have done without Clarence and Inga.


The most memorable episode is when Inga was getting romantic with george:lol:

I always enjoyed the show, although I could have done without Clarence and Inga.

One could argue it boned the fish when Barbara Montgomery left.

But overall, the series was relatively consistent (in spite of the additions of Inga and Clarence).

Yea I think the show was pretty good right up to the end.

IMO, I thought Amen btf when Thelma and Reuben tied the knot. The show just felt a little more sillier during that time.

Yea I think the show was pretty good right up to the end.


I agree with that comment. I feel the same way.

I am looking at the choices in the poll above and I see a choice that implies that
The Reverend and Thelma had sex. Is this true? Does anyone remember whether
or not this happened or if they did, does anyone know if they were married at the time??
http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/800x600q90/841/8t17.jpg (https://imageshack.com/i/nd8t17j)

They had sex after they got married. The temptation was there the episode before the wedding though. They were looking for their parents and they found themselves alone in an empty suite in a fancy hotel in Atlantic City Thelma was ready to do something but Rueben managed to get out of it and convinced Thelma as well. However, he did tell her "Don't worry...we'll be back"...they wound up at some hotel in Philadelphia though. LOL. Thelma was happy at the fact that they would be able to have sex everyday and told Rueben she was pregnant although she didn't conceive until less than a year later.

https://web.archive.org/web/20070225141752/http://jumptheshark.com/


Other Thoughts:

When Sherman Hemsley's daughter finally got the Preacher, (Clifton Davis), to marry her. I couldn't stand Clifton Davis or the daughter.
Thelma gets the Pastor. This action should have been the show's finale.
The fifth season, the one after Thelma and the reverend get married, is anticlimactic.
When Thelma and the Pastor got married. After that, it was boring. I agree with the person who said that it should've been the final show.
This show went downhill when Thelma married the Pastor. It became unbearable to watch after that.
Bumper Robinson Strikes Again! This time he's Clarence, the wannabe rapper who hooks up with the deacon. Why do TV executives keep on tormenting us with his presence?!
When Deacon Frye's homely daughter nabs her man, the show wasn't so funny anymore.
I LOVED that show, before AND after Thelma and the reverend got married!
When Thelma and the Reverend married, that's when the show took a turn for the worse. It was funnier watching man-crazy Thelma chase after the Reverend. It was not very believable either that after all those years, the good Reverend would open his eyes and fall in love with her since he tried his darndest to avoid her.
This guy Hemsley should take Hemlock. He's awful. He plays basically the same role no matter what he's in - and I must say he plays them all badly. Some little runt (Gary Coleman's father?) ranting & raving always trying to "get over" on people. The gay neighbor on the Jeffersons should have infected him. How do these no talent bums get job after job?
Velma (Thelma?) was the absolute ugliest, nastiest, most annoying person on television. I started watching this show on Saturday nights when I was like 8 yrs old. I convinced my parents that I loved it so they would let me stay up until 10PM. After about 3 episodes, I realized it wasn't worth the torture of having to watch and listen to Velma in order to stay up late. Amen jumped the very second that some moron decided to cast this woman!
This show JTS when Rolly Married Leona, Thelma's aunt. My god, two 80 year olds trying to resume an active sex life is just nasty to watch. While Leona is a tv favorite on other shows, pairing her up with Rolly was just messed up, especially with the Thelma/Reuben relationship hiatus. I would have rather seen the Hedabrink sisters have a incestuous relationship.
It jumped the shark right when Thelma and Ruben got married. It was funny when she wanted to date him, and it was still funny after they started dating because she wanted to marry him. But when they got married it just wasn't as good anymore.
It really doesn't fit the typical new kid in town category, but slides somewhere around there. Does anyone remember the episode when Thelma was trying to adopt this girl who was about 9 years old or so. And the girl gave her a fit, throwing tantrums and screaming so loudly that they put her in a room by herself. And all of this was because she didn't want the type of soda they had. Then Thelma starts crying, feeling all sorry for herself, doubting her abilities to raise a child and handle responsibility. Then the little girls comes out of the room and says something like, "That's okay, Thelma, I'll take a coke." And you would assume that the child would become part of the cast, but that's the first and last time the character is seen or mentioned.
Have black congregations in this world yet recovered from the assinine reputation of this annoying, silly ass show? Firstly I know people can be deeply religious despite appearing gruff onthe outside and all that, but the Hemsley character (Jefferson revisted) was a Deacon????? This is a position of service and gentlenss in theory, as a leader in a congregation, why on earth is that up tight complainer a deacon? Secondly, I would like to say "Amen" to all of those who say Thelma was the worst part of the show. He insessant whining and whimpering had no comic value at all. I never really cared if she married th Preacher or not, her whining remained constant before and after and it grated my very nerves. There were two time the show got more annoying than her..the first was already mentioned, that screaming brat that was far too old to throw a tantrum like that over nothing. I wanted to choke her. Secondly, does anyone else remember the episode when some 12 year old "prodigy" reverend or some such crap showed up, and the Reverend was jealous of him, and the two get into some can of Sermon face off, where one would shout and holler about Jesus, and the other tried to top him? Boy was that stupid.
I agree with the earlier poster -- Thelma was one of the loudest, most obnoxious characters on television. The Reverend was smart, competent, and handsome, and he should have been able to do a lot better than this screeching harpy.
I don't see why every one else didn't like this show. I loved it. Deacon Frye always got himself into some kind of predicament like the episode in which the townspeople sued the church for selling them some contaminated food and one of Deacon Fry's lawyer tactics was to eat the spoiled food and he got sick himself. This episode was gold. I agree that Thelma whined to much but the constant comical jeers that Rolly made at everyone made the show worth watching.
Worst laugh track in the history of television - even worse than Married With Children - but at least it takes your mind off the stupid plots and horrible acting by Hemsley.
This show was decent at best, although I got tired of her always yelling daddy, or Ruben. Her voice really got to me after a while, and I grew to not like her. I also wondered why she liked the reverend, but I found it funny, that he wasn't really interested in her, but finally gave in.
Around the time Thelma got married, cheapy Deacon Frye all of a sudden balls out and gets a maid??? Its bad enough Thelma is Pregnant, Roz Ryan can't quit singing, and all of these Very Special moments keep coming. Take me back to the good old days of the deacon dressing up like james brown for the church show.
I agree with others. This show definitely jumped the shark when Thelma married Ruben. It became anti-climatic. The series should have gone on longer with Thelma trying to chase the Rev., culminating in a series finale where Thelma and Ruben get married. Overall this was a decent show, not great but I enjoy it. Hemsley isn't very believable as a church deacon but he is funny none the less. I think the funniest character, however, is feisty Rolly Forbes. That guy has some of the best one-liners in sitcom history. Some of the better episodes: Amelia's gambling problem, a rich widow pursues Ruben, Amelia saves the deacon's life. The first season is pretty good. Around 1990 the series started going downhill.
Black folks shouting and carrying on in stereotypical situations...now where have we seen this before??? How did Sherman Helmsley keep getting work on national tv? It may take the African-American image another generation to fully recover. Clifton Davis was supposed to be a real man of the Church. How could he act in this atrocity? It made everyone out to be buffoons.
After Bumper became the bump on Deacon's Frye's forehead, I just couldn't take it anymore. It's like they had to hurry up and marry Thelma off to finally give the audience a diversion of Bumper's off character throwing the show off balance. He made Roz Ryan sing EVEN MORE!!! I mean c'mon, Bumper came, Rolly started getting laid, then Thelma, and then end of show.
The episode when MC Hammer stopped by to extol the virtues of staying in high school was, well, preachy! I'm sure that MC Hammer is proudest of his High School diploma, rather than his platinum sales award for "Please Hammer Don't Hurt 'Em". I would be too.
The entire premise of Amen summed up in one sentence: George Jefferson finds religion.
AMEN was a decent NBC sitcom that depended heavily on the comic gifts of Sherman Hensley and the charm of Clifton Davis. Personally, I found Anna Maria Horsford a little over the top sometimes but I could tolerate her. The show jumped the shark when Thelma got left at the alter and she joined the army. That was stupid. It was difficult to invest in the show after that.
I LOVED Amen. I used to watch it every Saturday night when I was a kid. Sherman Helmsley was a terrific actor. The characters were great.
Bumper Robinson. Should I say more??? Yes, I will. If the U.S kept up with unemployment rate of actors only, there would be a huge spike in unemployment when Bumper is added to a show. One person hired causes hundreds of people to lose a job a year later, and sometimes, within a season. I say that they should give him his own reality shows called "Bump You Off", where cameras follow him as he goes on Hit TV sitcoms, get them cancelled, and the Grand Finale??? You guessed it, his own reality show would get the AX. Would be a great piece of work.
To me, this show JTS when the Deacon slept with the Minister's mother, and the minister had no public, negative reaction to this affair. I'm not naive; I know this happens in life and on TV. But is it asking too much to show some balance in a show that is supposedly about religion?
opening credits don't you dare even think of parking in the space reserved for the deacon according to the sign at his parking space. everyone is equal and important and loved if your Christian-your just more important or not depending on the local religious elders judgment of you.

https://web.archive.org/web/20070225141752/http://jumptheshark.com/


Other Thoughts:

When Sherman Hemsley's daughter finally got the Preacher, (Clifton Davis), to marry her. I couldn't stand Clifton Davis or the daughter.
Thelma gets the Pastor. This action should have been the show's finale.
The fifth season, the one after Thelma and the reverend get married, is anticlimactic.
When Thelma and the Pastor got married. After that, it was boring. I agree with the person who said that it should've been the final show.
This show went downhill when Thelma married the Pastor. It became unbearable to watch after that.
Bumper Robinson Strikes Again! This time he's Clarence, the wannabe rapper who hooks up with the deacon. Why do TV executives keep on tormenting us with his presence?!
When Deacon Frye's homely daughter nabs her man, the show wasn't so funny anymore.
I LOVED that show, before AND after Thelma and the reverend got married!
When Thelma and the Reverend married, that's when the show took a turn for the worse. It was funnier watching man-crazy Thelma chase after the Reverend. It was not very believable either that after all those years, the good Reverend would open his eyes and fall in love with her since he tried his darndest to avoid her.
This guy Hemsley should take Hemlock. He's awful. He plays basically the same role no matter what he's in - and I must say he plays them all badly. Some little runt (Gary Coleman's father?) ranting & raving always trying to "get over" on people. The gay neighbor on the Jeffersons should have infected him. How do these no talent bums get job after job?
Velma (Thelma?) was the absolute ugliest, nastiest, most annoying person on television. I started watching this show on Saturday nights when I was like 8 yrs old. I convinced my parents that I loved it so they would let me stay up until 10PM. After about 3 episodes, I realized it wasn't worth the torture of having to watch and listen to Velma in order to stay up late. Amen jumped the very second that some moron decided to cast this woman!
This show JTS when Rolly Married Leona, Thelma's aunt. My god, two 80 year olds trying to resume an active sex life is just nasty to watch. While Leona is a tv favorite on other shows, pairing her up with Rolly was just messed up, especially with the Thelma/Reuben relationship hiatus. I would have rather seen the Hedabrink sisters have a incestuous relationship.
It jumped the shark right when Thelma and Ruben got married. It was funny when she wanted to date him, and it was still funny after they started dating because she wanted to marry him. But when they got married it just wasn't as good anymore.
It really doesn't fit the typical new kid in town category, but slides somewhere around there. Does anyone remember the episode when Thelma was trying to adopt this girl who was about 9 years old or so. And the girl gave her a fit, throwing tantrums and screaming so loudly that they put her in a room by herself. And all of this was because she didn't want the type of soda they had. Then Thelma starts crying, feeling all sorry for herself, doubting her abilities to raise a child and handle responsibility. Then the little girls comes out of the room and says something like, "That's okay, Thelma, I'll take a coke." And you would assume that the child would become part of the cast, but that's the first and last time the character is seen or mentioned.
Have black congregations in this world yet recovered from the assinine reputation of this annoying, silly ass show? Firstly I know people can be deeply religious despite appearing gruff onthe outside and all that, but the Hemsley character (Jefferson revisted) was a Deacon????? This is a position of service and gentlenss in theory, as a leader in a congregation, why on earth is that up tight complainer a deacon? Secondly, I would like to say "Amen" to all of those who say Thelma was the worst part of the show. He insessant whining and whimpering had no comic value at all. I never really cared if she married th Preacher or not, her whining remained constant before and after and it grated my very nerves. There were two time the show got more annoying than her..the first was already mentioned, that screaming brat that was far too old to throw a tantrum like that over nothing. I wanted to choke her. Secondly, does anyone else remember the episode when some 12 year old "prodigy" reverend or some such crap showed up, and the Reverend was jealous of him, and the two get into some can of Sermon face off, where one would shout and holler about Jesus, and the other tried to top him? Boy was that stupid.
I agree with the earlier poster -- Thelma was one of the loudest, most obnoxious characters on television. The Reverend was smart, competent, and handsome, and he should have been able to do a lot better than this screeching harpy.
I don't see why every one else didn't like this show. I loved it. Deacon Frye always got himself into some kind of predicament like the episode in which the townspeople sued the church for selling them some contaminated food and one of Deacon Fry's lawyer tactics was to eat the spoiled food and he got sick himself. This episode was gold. I agree that Thelma whined to much but the constant comical jeers that Rolly made at everyone made the show worth watching.
Worst laugh track in the history of television - even worse than Married With Children - but at least it takes your mind off the stupid plots and horrible acting by Hemsley.
This show was decent at best, although I got tired of her always yelling daddy, or Ruben. Her voice really got to me after a while, and I grew to not like her. I also wondered why she liked the reverend, but I found it funny, that he wasn't really interested in her, but finally gave in.
Around the time Thelma got married, cheapy Deacon Frye all of a sudden balls out and gets a maid??? Its bad enough Thelma is Pregnant, Roz Ryan can't quit singing, and all of these Very Special moments keep coming. Take me back to the good old days of the deacon dressing up like james brown for the church show.
I agree with others. This show definitely jumped the shark when Thelma married Ruben. It became anti-climatic. The series should have gone on longer with Thelma trying to chase the Rev., culminating in a series finale where Thelma and Ruben get married. Overall this was a decent show, not great but I enjoy it. Hemsley isn't very believable as a church deacon but he is funny none the less. I think the funniest character, however, is feisty Rolly Forbes. That guy has some of the best one-liners in sitcom history. Some of the better episodes: Amelia's gambling problem, a rich widow pursues Ruben, Amelia saves the deacon's life. The first season is pretty good. Around 1990 the series started going downhill.
Black folks shouting and carrying on in stereotypical situations...now where have we seen this before??? How did Sherman Helmsley keep getting work on national tv? It may take the African-American image another generation to fully recover. Clifton Davis was supposed to be a real man of the Church. How could he act in this atrocity? It made everyone out to be buffoons.
After Bumper became the bump on Deacon's Frye's forehead, I just couldn't take it anymore. It's like they had to hurry up and marry Thelma off to finally give the audience a diversion of Bumper's off character throwing the show off balance. He made Roz Ryan sing EVEN MORE!!! I mean c'mon, Bumper came, Rolly started getting laid, then Thelma, and then end of show.
The episode when MC Hammer stopped by to extol the virtues of staying in high school was, well, preachy! I'm sure that MC Hammer is proudest of his High School diploma, rather than his platinum sales award for "Please Hammer Don't Hurt 'Em". I would be too.
The entire premise of Amen summed up in one sentence: George Jefferson finds religion.
AMEN was a decent NBC sitcom that depended heavily on the comic gifts of Sherman Hensley and the charm of Clifton Davis. Personally, I found Anna Maria Horsford a little over the top sometimes but I could tolerate her. The show jumped the shark when Thelma got left at the alter and she joined the army. That was stupid. It was difficult to invest in the show after that.
I LOVED Amen. I used to watch it every Saturday night when I was a kid. Sherman Helmsley was a terrific actor. The characters were great.
Bumper Robinson. Should I say more??? Yes, I will. If the U.S kept up with unemployment rate of actors only, there would be a huge spike in unemployment when Bumper is added to a show. One person hired causes hundreds of people to lose a job a year later, and sometimes, within a season. I say that they should give him his own reality shows called "Bump You Off", where cameras follow him as he goes on Hit TV sitcoms, get them cancelled, and the Grand Finale??? You guessed it, his own reality show would get the AX. Would be a great piece of work.
To me, this show JTS when the Deacon slept with the Minister's mother, and the minister had no public, negative reaction to this affair. I'm not naive; I know this happens in life and on TV. But is it asking too much to show some balance in a show that is supposedly about religion?
opening credits don't you dare even think of parking in the space reserved for the deacon according to the sign at his parking space. everyone is equal and important and loved if your Christian-your just more important or not depending on the local religious elders judgment of you.


I remember all of those things well especially when the Jump the Shark website was hot and everyone participated in it.

Amen did have a shifting in the storylines and dialogue. It went from a series that relied on physical comedy from Sherman Hemsley and occasional others participated in stunts (Reverend and Deacon were on the ledge; Thelma, Reverend and Deacon caught in the dough in the kitchen; Thelma and Reverend trying to save a suicide jumper on their honeymoon night and Deacon-Inga in the pool).

Hemsley had the most stunts in the first three seasons from the cat episode, bear licking his foot, being body slammed by Nell Carter, having his clothes ripped off by Telma Hopkins, having a boa constrictor crawl around his neck/body, being swung in a hospital bed when he injured his ankle, crashing into the wall of the courtroom, being sprayed by a skunk and being tossed in the mud by a security guard. Towards the end, his stunt work went away either he was tired of it or producers didn't want to increase his salary to keep doing them. Like with Lucille Ball, there were plenty of more stunts we could have had Sherman doing. He later recalled that he enjoyed acting with the animals in an interview with a local paper in Philly before he died. He recalled that the animals were unpredictable and you had to let them lead.

In the later seasons, it was a regular sitcom but the writing stayed consistent. Hemsley credited the writers of Amen and Jeffersons for their part in making the show work and he criticized the writers of Goode Behavior, his short lived 90's sitcom (only show he starred in that flopped).

Thelma was the shark jumper for me. She was entirely too old too act like a little girl. She carried on like a fat, unattractive woman who could not get a man. I think if Thelma was a college student (community college or just recent high school grad who lived at home), more could have been done to create storylines

Thelma was the shark jumper for me. She was entirely too old too act like a little girl. She carried on like a fat, unattractive woman who could not get a man. I think if Thelma was a college student (community college or just recent high school grad who lived at home), more could have been done to create storylines[/QUOTE]


Well...that was the formula for the show...the WHOLE formula...with the father and the church being second. So...how could that be a shark jumper for you? You must have just not liked the show at all.

The show never jumped.