Wasn't this show Stereotypical

[°Bubbly Blonde°]

Isn't it though? It isn't like todays shows people call stereotypical, cause Black people dont like this show. Plus it's in the 50's when most Blacks were being oppressed. JMHO.

[Sean Snow]

Well, no one ever made a fuss of it until the 60s. Isn't "I Love Lucy" sterotyping Cubans? "Sanford & Son" and "The Jeffersons" blacks? Or how about Chicanos on "Chico & the Man"? I think it's blown way to far. Might as well keep all shows off, because all shows use some sort of sterotypes.

[°Bubbly Blonde°]

Originally posted by Sean Feeney Snow
Well, no one ever made a fuss of it until the 60s. Isn't "I Love Lucy" sterotyping Cubans? "Sanford & Son" and "The Jeffersons" blacks? Or how about Chicanos on "Chico & the Man"? I think it's blown way to far. Might as well keep all shows off, because all shows use some sort of sterotypes.

Yes, but these shows don't show people as total bafoons as Amos n Andy depicted African Americans. I saw this show once on someone's video tape, and these shows depict them as people who can't talk when my b.friend is African American(well actually half African American, half Irish, but she goes by Black) and she said that doesn't represent her at all, and it was offensive. And I saw one person who was white in Black face on this show once! These shows depicted them as TOTAL idiots, unlike the above shows. Also, African Americans find great offense in these shows, unlike Cubans and African Americans in Lucy and Jefferson and Sanford and Son. African Americans love the Jeffersons and even All in the Family, because it isn't making fun of them, in all in the f. it is making fun of Archie, and they find Archie to be quite amusing.

[Freidym Rains]

Amos 'n' Andy was a great sitcom! I loved those people playing those parts. I never had a thought of the fact that they were black. They made me laugh, and I had enough sense to know they were only playing a part. This business of them being "stereotypical" comes from the left in this country, who always have something to whine about! Get a life and have a laugh---it will prolong your life!
~Freidym~

[°Bubbly Blonde°]

Originally posted by Freidym Rains
Get a life and have a laugh---it will prolong your life!
~Freidym~

Yeah, I HAVE a life, thanx Just be glad you didn't say all that to my face, other wise I wouldve shoved this keyboard Im tpyin on, or any other object, up your ass! "haha", aint that funny!!?

[joan davis fan]

Originally posted by tcbubblegrl

Yes, but these shows don't show people as total bafoons as Amos n Andy depicted African Americans. I saw this show once on someone's video tape, and these shows depict them as people who can't talk when my b.friend is African American(well actually half African American, half Irish, but she goes by Black) and she said that doesn't represent her at all, and it was offensive. And I saw one person who was white in Black face on this show once! These shows depicted them as TOTAL idiots, unlike the above shows. Also, African Americans find great offense in these shows, unlike Cubans and African Americans in Lucy and Jefferson and Sanford and Son. African Americans love the Jeffersons and even All in the Family, because it isn't making fun of them, in all in the f. it is making fun of Archie, and they find Archie to be quite amusing.

Many Blacks were also offended by Good Times. I remember when our local tv station started carrying Good Times there were actual protests. Mainly because of the "JJ" and "sweet daddy" characters.

I have never seen a full Amos & Andy tv show, though I have heard tapes of the radio A&A. Interesting that, during the radio days of Amos, America came to a stand still so they can catch this show of two white guys playing two black guys. Stores closed, theatres played the audio over their sound systems, people just stopped what they were doing so then can catch the show. Unreal !!!

Another show that should be talked about here is Beulah. The show about a black maid, I saw a tape of it years ago and I thought that was racist. Same thing with the old Blondie & dagwood films from the 40s. In both cases the black characters acted "stupid", spoke in such broken english "..yessem buss", I dunno doggie need go-a huntin'", "somebod bawl for Beulah".
And the characters, in a Blondie film one black character was so scared of Daisy that he crashed his bike and then started talking in such bad english, who could understand?

People talk about the 40s and 50s the good ole days but to many out there, they were not.

[TJL]

"As to whether the progeam was in fact racist, there was no agreement on that. The creators certainly didn't think so, and actor Alvin Childress (Amos) was quoted as saying 'I didn't think it harmed the Negro at all...actually it showed the Negro with profession and businesses like attorneys and store owners, which they never had in TV or movies before.' Others pointed out that the situations were no different than those found in many comedy programs with white characters. Nevertheless, the humor certainly derived from the fact that these were shiftless, conniving, not to bright African Americans. The very stereotype that had so long been unfairly applied to an entire race were used throughout (the series). As a result. it is unlikely that Amos and Andy will ever be seen on TV again."

- from "The Directory To Network Prime Time TV Shows"

[Twilight_Trekker]

Boy, Are you misinformed. Black people are the strongest defenders of Amos N Andy & thats a fact. I've spoken with lots of blacks about the show & none had anything bad to say about it.

[TonyT]

Twilight,
You are absolutely correct....though many black Americans find the show distastefull...just as many loved it. Like it or not racism has been a big part of our American history, and many Americans over the decades just took it in stride and made the most of it ...red yellow black and white. I wish I had a nickle for every "****** joke" we laughed at in the black community growing up in the 50's and 60's...as I know my father and grandfather did in the decades before. I know too for a fact that many an Itallian laughed at the "wop jokes" they were told in their neighborhoods...as I suspect many other ethnic communities did also. Bottom line is that our country has evolved a great deal over the decades, and I for one believe that this great diversity our country has only makes most of its citizens stronger.

WHAT A GREAT EXPERIENCE GROWING UP IN AMERICA!

[vedastone]

I have been reading these viewpoints about the stereotyping in Amos and Andy with great interest.

There definitely was stereotyping in the show, but it was not the only focus or the only source of humor. As others have said, stereotyping exists in many shows and movies that are accepted as fit for watching. The quality of the show and its place in history as having an all African American cast should be mitigating circumstances when considering whether it is fit for the public to watch.

I don't believe that A&A treats all African Americans prejudicially. There is no denying that some of the characters were stereotypically depicted, for example, Lightin' and to some extent Andy, but Amos certainly wasn't depicted that way, and it could be argued that even the Kingfish was generally portrayed as being quite clever and intelligent, if a bit dishonest. This is not stereotyping - when Caucasian characters on TV are con men, for example, no one seems to consider that to be prejudicial.

As a contrast, just look at some of the movies from the 30s and 40s. I just watched the movie "Topper Returns", from 1941. Here are some facts about that movie:

1) there was only one African American character, Eddie "Rochester" Anderson
2) he was of course a servant (a chauffeur)
3) he was the continual butt of racist jokes, mainly concerning his fear of ghosts and dead bodies
4) there was no other dimension to his character other than his irrational fear

If you think about the above four points, you will see that not one of them applies to A&A:

1) the whole cast was African American
2) they had all kinds of occupations, including professionals
3) there were no racist jokes from Caucasians, directly or by comparison
4) all the characters on A&A have more to them than their stereotypical dimensions

So, I am trying to say that I admit A&A was to an extent stereotypical, but it was grossly unfair to have it banned from TV while allowing movies and other TV shows that contain elements that are far more racist.

[Zoneboy]

Lets clear the air on one thing right now. Amos & Andy, was never banned from tv. It was removed from syndication by CBS due to pressure from the NAACP. As a matter of fact, it aired briefly in Atlanta during the early 80's on TBS. Also it has been rumoured that Bill Cosby bought the rights from CBS in order to prevent anyone from ever seeing it. This is nothing but an urban legend theres no truth to it at all.

[vedastone]

OK, you have cleared the air. A&A was not banned. But something has kept it off the air (early-eighties-brief-run-on-TBS exception noted). A&A is apparently carrying some stigma that many other TV shows and movies with racist elements do not carry.

[Zoneboy]

That something is the NAACP & CBS. I only mentioned "Clearing the air" because almost everyone assumes that this show was banned and technically, it has been but in countries other than the United States. Unless I misunderstood your last sentence, I don't recall anything racist about A&A. Archie Bunker & Fred Sanford were racists. Fred, made fun of every race there was including his own and theres a few episodes in which the N. word was used.

[vedastone]

Right, Archie Bunker and Fred Sanford's type of racism was totally absent from Amos & Andy. There were no racist characters at all on the show.

But I believe that the answer to the question which is the title of this thread "Wasn't this show stereotypical" has to be "yes, at least to some extent". Just look at Lightnin' for example - the character was a dim-witted slow-reacting shuffler, just like many of the stereotypical representations of African Americans in the movies of the thirties and forties. This type of portrayal can be and is considered racist by many people.

However, it can be argued that stereotypes of genders, races, religions, occupations, ages, and sexual persuasions are commonly found in many movies and TV shows, and it is quite debatable whether such stereotyping is equivalent to out and out racism, sexism, ageism, etc.

Concerning A&A, for me the most interesting point is the phenomenon of how the show has been singled out, given a bad reputation, and indeed, generally kept off TV for allegedly being racist (and/or stereotypical) while other shows (and movies) with seemingly more objectionable features have escaped such penalties.

[W.J. Griffin]

That "Amos 'n' Andy" is stereotypical, there is no question. But is said stereotyping the reason this show is kept off the air for so many years?

Consider that many shows made during the dawn of the tv era, and that are still being shown today contain images that today we would find "politically incorrect" (let me say at the outset that I am no fan of the current "pc" insanity that seems to grip our society. However, I will be using these terms as an illustration of my points.) "I Love Lucy", "I Married Joan", "My Little Margie" and "December Bride" depict women as childish bubbleheads whose realationships with their men are of the most demeaning sort (I can't see the spouses of "Everybody Loves Raymond" or "King of Queens" putting up with the treatment Joan Davis's character had to endure in "I Married Joan"); "Life With Luigi" was a definite misrepresentation of the Italian-American experience; "The Life of Riley" and "The Stu Erwin Show" gave American manhood a black eye in public opinion (the apex of which is, ''The Honeymooners"); and don't get me started on "The Beverly Hillbillies". And yet, these programs are still being previewed on local and cable networks, or readilly availiable on video and DVD in pristine copies and definitive collections.

So why is "The Amos 'n' Andy Show" singled out? Especially when more recent programs featuring African-American characters have been more controversial in reference to race (witness the criticism that surrounded "Martin", "Malcolm and Eddie", and "The PJs")?

Bad timing.

For years, "Amos 'n' Andy" had played on the radio in a more innocent (or unenlightened, considering your point-of-view) age, beloved by people of all stripes. But the television version had the misfortune of premiering at the dawn of the civil rights movement, and its contiued exposure became a sore point with many young Black protesters, and a major embarrassment for the show's owners, CBS. And being a corporate entity, CBS's embarrassment was reflected in the bottom line.

So, within the midst of protests and freedom rides and inner city race riots, the show was quietly withdrawn from syndication, and, except for a few instances, never to be seen over the airwaves again.

So why, nearly a half-century after the fact, is A&A confined to the dustbin of memory while many other programs from the same era, equally offensive, are still being shown? You'd think that now, with more shows featuring a wider spectrum of the Black experience, we'd be able to handle "Amos 'n' Andy" in the new millenium, even with the unresolved racial issues that still plague oursociety, right?

Well, one could claim it's those "unresolved Issues", but other, more controversial shows are still seen on a daily basis ("All In The Family" or "The Jeffersons", anyone?) Then again, it might be that CBS still hasn't figured a way to make a profit from this show without the inevitable firestorm that would surely erupt at its re-emergence. Maybe it's the fear that a revival would open the floodgates to a wave of formerly intolorable behavior thought long-dead.

Whatever the case, an "Amos 'n' Andy" revival would undoubtedly be an unforgettable event.

Thank God for the VCR.