The significance of Amos ’n’ Andy, with its almost 30-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 videocassette format is difficult to summarize in a few paragraphs. The position of the Amos ’n’ Andy show in television history is still debated by media scholars investigating the cultural history of American television.

Amos ’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. 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 20 years).

The program 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 whom no one trusted; Lightnin’, a slow-moving janitor; Sapphire Stevens, a nosy loudmouth; Mama, a domineering mother-in-law; and the in famous Madame Queen. 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 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. Media historian Donald Bogle notes, “Neither CBS nor the programs’ creators were prepared for the change in national temperament after the Second World War. . . . Within Black America, a new political consciousness and a new awareness of the importance of image had emerged.” Though hardly devoid of the cruel insults and disparaging imagery of the past, Hollywood of the post–World War II period ushered in an era of better roles and improved images for African-American performers in Hollywood. For the first time in the medium’s history, American motion pictures presented glimpses of Black soldiers fighting alongside their white comrades; Black entertainers appeared in sequined gowns and tuxedos instead of bandanas and calico dresses. Black characters included lawyers, teachers, and other contributing members of society.

Post–World War II African Americans looked upon the new medium of television with hopeful excitement. To them, the medium could nullify the decades of offensive caricatures and ethnic stereotyping so prevalent throughout decades of motion picture history. The frequent appearance of Black stars on early television variety shows was met with approval from Black leadership.

African Americans were still exuberant over recent important gains in civil rights brought on by World War II. They were determined to realize improved images of themselves in popular culture. To some, the characters in Amos ’n’ Andy—rude, aggressive women and weak Black men—were offensive. Neither the Kingfish nor Sapphire Stevens could engage in a conversation without peppering their speech with faulty grammar and mispronunciations. Especially abhorred was the portrayal of Black professionals. Following its 1951 summer convention, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) mandated an official protest against the program. The association outlined a list of specific items it felt were objectionable: for example, “every character is either a clown or a crook,” “Negro doctors are shown as quacks,” and “Negro lawyers are shown as crooks.” As the series appeared in June 1951, the NAACP appeared in federal court seeking an injunction against its premiere. To network executives, the show was harmless, not much different from Life with Liugi, The Goldbergs, or any other ethnically oriented show of the times.

Moreover, the denunciation of Amos ’n’ Andy was not universal. With its good writing and talented cast, the show was good comedy, and it soon became a commercial success. The reaction of the Black community toward this well-produced and funny program remained divided. Even the Pittsburgh Courier, one of the Black community’s most influential publications, which had earlier led in the protest against the motion picture Gone with the Wind, defended the show in an article appearing in June 1951.

In 1953 CBS reluctantly removed the program from the air, but not solely because of the efforts of the NAACP. As mentioned, the period featured a swiftly changing climate for race relations in the United States. Success in the southern market was important to major advertisers. In an era when African Americans were becoming increasingly vocal in the fight against racial discrimination, large advertisers were reluctant to have their products too closely associated with Black people. Fear of white economic backlash was of special concern to advertisers and television producers. The idea of “organized consumer resistance” caused advertisers and television executives to avoid appearing in favor of rights for African Americans. One advertising agency executive, referring to Black people on television, noted in Variety, “the word has gone out, ‘No Negro performers allowed.’”

Even with so much contention looming, the Amos ’n’ Andy show remained in syndication well into the 1960s. Currently, videotape cassettes of the episodes are widely available.