"Amos 'n Andy" was an extremely popular radio and television show that is all but forgotten today. Why? Well, back in the radio days, the parts were all played by white actors pretending to be VERY stereotypical black men...and I am sure some folks were horrified by it. Then, in the early 50s, they decided to bring the show to TV but realized they needed to find a new, all black cast*. These TV shows were later attacked in the late 50s and 60s...not so much because the shows were obviously racist but because they were among the ONLY images on television...and the leads in the show were pretty much idiots. I can understand the concerns and am glad such images would later become the exception...not the rule. Because of this controversy, the show hasn't been shown on TV in decades and it's difficult to find the show even on video or DVD. Fortunately, I was able to recently get a DVD collection of the shows...and they are quite funny when understood in their context.
This episode presents one of the show's most problematic characters, Lightning. In many ways, he's like a TV version of Steppin' Fetchit. I can easily see how this would be offensive. But, aside from his terrible stereotypically bad image, is it worth seeing? Perhaps...if you can look past Lightning and understand the historical context of the character (people actually thought this was funny back in the day...today it would mostly elicit horror in audiences).
This episode features several white actors who play evil counterfeiters (Will Wright and John Hoyt). Unfortunately, Andy and the Kingfish think they've struck it rich when they discover the counterfeit money. Also unfortunate is that the police are NOT thrilled about this! But most unfortunate is that Andy and the Kingfish BOTH think the counterfeiters are the police and spill their guts to them!!
*The white actors from the radio DID make a movie, "Check and Double Check" and seeing these white guys in black-face is horrific! It's also not the least bit funny.
This episode presents one of the show's most problematic characters, Lightning. In many ways, he's like a TV version of Steppin' Fetchit. I can easily see how this would be offensive. But, aside from his terrible stereotypically bad image, is it worth seeing? Perhaps...if you can look past Lightning and understand the historical context of the character (people actually thought this was funny back in the day...today it would mostly elicit horror in audiences).
This episode features several white actors who play evil counterfeiters (Will Wright and John Hoyt). Unfortunately, Andy and the Kingfish think they've struck it rich when they discover the counterfeit money. Also unfortunate is that the police are NOT thrilled about this! But most unfortunate is that Andy and the Kingfish BOTH think the counterfeiters are the police and spill their guts to them!!
*The white actors from the radio DID make a movie, "Check and Double Check" and seeing these white guys in black-face is horrific! It's also not the least bit funny.
