Amos ‘n’ Andy: Television’s first Black sitcom

The NAACP had issues with the Black representations of Amos (Alvin Childress) and Andy (Spencer Williams) pictured here in a 1951 episode of Andy in Amos ’n’ Andy (CBS/Wikipedia). by Donald James June 28, 1951, proved to be more than just another hot summer night of programming for the relatively new medium called television.& The date marked the CBS debut of& Amos ‘n’ Andy, a situational comedy (sitcom). & The outrageously funny but controversial program was the first ever television sitcom with an “all-Black” cast, making it the forerunner to Black television sitcoms aired over the past seven decades. Set in Harlem, New York,& Amos ‘n’ Andy& focused on the life of George (Kingfish) Stevens (Tim Moore), who had a knack for schemes to make fast and easy money.& As leader of the Mystic Knights of the Sea Lodge, Kingfish’s antics often involved his lodge brothers, specifically Andy Brown (Spencer Williams, Jr.), his best friend.& Although Andy was the perennial “sitting duck,” the gullible, cigar-smoking, derby hat-wearing rotund brother of the lodge kept coming back for more, earning the dubious words from the Kingfish, “You big dummy!” The so-called “brilliant schemes” often landed Kingfish in hot water, especially with his...