Off Air

Amos ‘n’ Andy was a cultural institution and a national phenomenon. In both structure and content, it helped define the early histories of both radio and television.

It was, perhaps, made for the Great Depression, with its themes of the scarcity of and difficulty of earning and keeping money. And it was always fighting against the passing of each year, as its depictions of Blacks, always controversial, grew increasingly outdated.

Amos ‘n’ Andy was pulled from the air in 1955, though it morphed into The Amos ‘n’ Andy Music Hall. The radio presence of Gosden and Correll and their two characters remained until 1960.

The TV show, The Amos ‘n’ Andy Show, debuted in 1951 and was produced only until late Spring of 1953. It remained in syndication until 1966. One of the chief causes of its cancellation, amid, a dip in ratings, was outcries, chiefly from the NAACP, concerning the show’s depiction of its Black characters.

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