AMOS 'N ANDY GUEST BOOK


Entry #:127

Entry Date: 2014-10-03 09:53:10

Name: Houston Freeburg
Site Rating: 10
Visitor Comments: I am SO GLAD I got yours instead of my feeble attempt at a makeshift, inaccurate duplicate.
It is absolutely stunning! 

I am a 59 year old retiree, who grew up watching A & A promptly at 6:00p every weekday night in the 60s. Just in the past couple of years, I’ve managed to get the bootleg dvd set.

Now my goal is to get a full Kingfish wardrobe, complete with double breasted vest, tie, and fedora.

You have brought a lot of cheer to this fan. 
Certainly nothing to be regusted at.

Kind regards,

Houston Freeburg

Entry #:126

Entry Date: 2013-06-10 16:46:53

Name: Kit
Site Rating: 10
Visitor Comments: 

A lot of folks on this forum talk about the old NAACP protest about this show. This is all fairly ancient history by now. As for demeaning portrayals of Black people, how can anything get more negative and demeaning than the Gangster Rap movies (Menace II Society, Boyz in the Hood), music videos and songs? Each episode of Amos and Andy generally had a balance of characters. In the TV show, Amos was more of the straight man, the Voice of Wisdom. Amos was a hero. Sapphire was the good woman doing the best she could despite her rascally husband. 

Amos and Andy was a classic. The TV version was superbly cast and performed. It is one of the few shows that I watch again and again. I still laugh at the gags. Frankly I find the show more amusing than Seinfeld. Tim Moore, portraying the Kingfish could impart a million words of description in just one quick, funny face of his. He was just as good as Jim Carrey. Moore and Carrey were/are great at physical comedy.

Johnny Lee as Algonquin J. Calhoun puts me in stitches. Spencer Williams, Ernestine Wade, Nick Stewart, they were all at the top of their game.

Rather than wasting time wondering or hoping if CBS will release their vaults of the original episodes, perhaps independent studios and acting troupes can re-do old episodes, perhaps from the older radio show, or even write new episodes. Perhaps the material can be updated, but I, for one, would like for any modern version not to use curse words or to endorse in any way violent imagery from the Rap Gangster genre.

If Black folks can be the movers and shakers of any such new material, my hat is off to them.

Freeman and Gosden created a winner with their radio show, the TV show with its Black cast did a fantastic job, and if any modern revival takes shape, I'd love to see it. 

Entry #:125

Entry Date: 2013-03-23 17:45:50

Name: Dwight
Site Rating: 10
Visitor Comments:   Hillarious.  Funny.  Reminds me of the good old days of humor.

Entry #:124

Entry Date: 2013-03-07 20:19:59

Name: R.B.
Site Rating: 10
Visitor Comments:   This show was too funny!  Watched it in the lat 50's and looked forward to getting home in time to have a good laugh.  It's unfortunate that the actors talents were not recognized for just that - talent.  I guess it's like the saying, in the right place at the wrong time... the timing of their talent could not be appreciated as it is today.  These guys were college graduates, members of fraternities, owned their own business outside of acting... in other words they had a lot on the ball but was supressed from expanding their gifts because of the limitations imposed on people of color.  I love them and will keep them alive inside.

Entry #:123

Entry Date: 2013-02-25 23:46:53

Name: Regena Towles
Site Rating: 10
Visitor Comments: I was young and living in Detroit when the "Amos n Andy Show' aired.  I remember laughing so hard... and I still do!  I spent almost 40 years looking for VHS/DVD's and found a complete set on-line.  It is now my Saturday afternoon entertainment.  It's a shame these comedic geniuses did not live long enough to see how much their talent is appreciated.  If we can find humor in "Good Times", "Beverly Hillbillies", "Sanford and Son", "The Wayon's".... then we should revel in the humor these great actors brought to TV.  I will always cherish their memory.

Entry #:122

Entry Date: 2012-12-30 18:10:07

Name: Kit
Site Rating: 10
Visitor Comments: I am NOT re-gusted! This is a marvelous tribute to a fantastic radio and TV series and to the remarkable actors who brought them to life on the TV screen.   

Entry #:121

Entry Date: 2012-06-04 20:10:21

Name: Richard
Site Rating: 10
Visitor Comments:

  I have some questions about the back story. Much of this would probably go back to radio. 


   First, is it the case that Andy is a silent partner with Amos, meaning he received a part of Amos' earnings? Or did Amos buy him out at some point? I am aware they were partners in the business to begin with. 


   What is the nature of King Fish'es costume? The best I can make out, it is an old Western getup. Was the Kingfish originally a Buffalo Cowboy? 


Entry #:120

Entry Date: 2011-01-10 17:06:56

Name: Edmund
Site Rating: 10
Visitor Comments:

Last year I ordered 72 of the available episodes on DVD and


have really gotten a kick out of them, brought back memories.


I hadn't had the chance to see any of them since A & A was taken off the air in Los Angeles in May 1963. I am


glad there were collectors who were able to preserve and save most of the episodes to be available in bootleg since it is not likely CBS will ever authorize a release of the originals.  Hilarious comedy everyone can enjoy.


Entry #: 119

Entry Date: 2011-01-07 18:13:16

Name: Jack
Site Rating: 10
Visitor Comments:

 In the early fifties as a young child I regularly watched Amos and Andy as most people in that era did. I hadn't seen the series in close to sixty years until the other day when I saw a few episodes at the home of an acquaintance.


 These shows were really good! This is true American slapstick comedy! Racism? Not really, just comedians who happen to be black portraying middle class people living their lives, hoping that tomorrow will be better by working today. That is, except, of course, for The Kingfish who always has some scheme.


 We need to lighten up and enjoy this wonderful comedy.


Entry #: 118

Entry Date: 2010-12-22 13:58:36

Name: Al
Site Rating: 10
Visitor Comments: Who would you rather have as your neighbor, Bill Cosby or Any Brown? Bill Cosby or Algonquin Calhoun?
Al Sharpton or the Kingfish? Jesse Jackon or Amos?

I think you know where I'm going with this one. Long live the Kingfish, long live Andy Brown, Long live Amos n'Andy. 

Entry #: 117

Entry Date: 2010-12-16 16:20:36

Name: Dan Francis
Site Rating: 10
Visitor Comments:

I grew up with these characters and enjoyed every minute of their radio shows... I never saw bias or racism in the shows, and if it was there, then it was brought on bigots and racists themselves for their own agenda. 


I grew up in So. Illinois, maybe I was naive - but I loved the shows as good humor. We should all laugh more with guys like Amos and Andy and Kingfish.


Entry #: 116

Entry Date: 2010-12-10 00:54:56

Name: kev
Site Rating: 10
Visitor Comments: Good and clean comedy

Entry #: 115

Entry Date: 2010-07-02 15:47:15

Name: thomas williams
Site Rating: 10
Visitor Comments: this thing is hotttt

Entry #: 114

Entry Date: 2010-05-11 17:28:37

Name: Cort
Site Rating: 10
Visitor Comments: Canada Dry..

Entry #: 113

Entry Date: 2010-05-08 06:11:33

Name: just me
Site Rating: 10
Visitor Comments:       You can watch Amos and Andy over again and still laugh that is good comedy so stop making these old dumb shows and bring back the old comedy shows and lets laugh together

Entry #: 112

Entry Date: 2010-02-18 00:19:57

Name: Sapphire
Site Rating: 10
Visitor Comments: Amos, Andy and the Kingfish are like my 3 best friends!I really care about the characters (and actors) on the radio and the television program. NOTHING today compares with this classic comedy. Long live Amos 'N' Andy!!  

Entry #: 111

Entry Date: 2010-01-12 16:50:32

Name: Jim K
Site Rating: 10
Visitor Comments: My grandmother in Chicago, played the piano for old time silent movies and then taught members of the Chas. Correll family how to play piano. 
Jim K

Entry #: 110

Entry Date: 2010-01-11 23:06:53

Name: L Satmary
Site Rating: 10
Visitor Comments: I grew up in an all white, rather racist community. My first black friends were Amos, Andy, Kingfish, Lightin', Algonquin J. Calhoun, Saphire and Mama. I would run home to be sure I didn't miss a minute of their TV show. I had my favorites but came to love the whole cast. I am sure they played a big part in my being ab...le to accept and get along with people of all races later in life. I truly believe they helped set the stage for the the passage of civil rights laws later on. I have no doubt many who voted in Washington were also influenced by the A&A cast. Sadly the show has been attacked and censored rather than given the credit due to it.

Entry #:109

Entry Date: 2010-01-09 07:58:03

Name: Diana Cromer
Site Rating: 10
Visitor Comments: Any body interested in starting a Amos n Andy fanclub.

Entry #:108

Entry Date: 2009-11-09 20:11:58

Name: A friend to all
Site Rating: 8
Visitor Comments:

I have never felt more blessed and excited to watch a peice of history. After watching the show in class I wrote a paper on it explaining how it showed that our dreams and goals were givien hope and showed that they were posible. I thought it portraid blacks as working members of society in honorable jobs such as police officers and judges. For that time it even showed woman working. The only thing that made me uncomfutable was how some were portraid to threated to fight if they didn't get what they want. People have to understand thats not everyone.


Entry #:107

Entry Date: 2009-08-29 19:14:36

Name: rickey mcchargue
Site Rating: 10
Visitor Comments: growing up as army brat in 60's my dad an me would watch Amos an Andy every nite after dinner.It was no different than any other sit com of the period.look at the cowboy's an indians movie the indians were the bad guy.Or maybe some of the black movies of the 30's.How bout the hip hop videos now not much left out on them anyone upset bout that.or the music ho's this ho's that.Kinda seems like pharisee's know no color.Besides most blacks think only MLK did everything on the civil rights issue sad.most have no history of reading bout black history.peace

Entry #:106

Entry Date: 2009-08-15 02:23:55

Name: Shane
Site Rating: 10
Visitor Comments:   I watched the Amos and Andy Show when I was a kid growing up in Georgia. It was one of the funniest shows that has ever been on television. They just don't make 'em like they used to.

Entry #:105

Entry Date: 2009-05-25 20:04:06

Name: Leo Bacigalupo
Site Rating: 10
Visitor Comments:

I believe Amos&Andy should be brought back,it's way better than most comedies and I don't think it demeans black people(if thats why they won't put it back on the air).The "black"shows on now are far worse.


They were the funniest guys and they are still fun to watch.The younger generations would get a kick out of them.


Bring them back!!!!!!!!


Entry #:104

Entry Date: 2009-04-19 14:54:13

Name: Michael faye
Site Rating: 10
Visitor Comments: I just cannot believe that a small group of ignorant people had the power to control the airwaves. This is by far better than any of the stupid unfunny sit coms with bad writing and laugh tracks that come on even at the straight lines. The American humor standard has fallen to the depths. This is exactly like the famous police brutality movement of the 60s. the result was a boring set of scripts for police shows like the later set of Dragnet episodes in which there was nothing but talking and no action. Everybody just "has" to get their way and force it on everybody else. Amos N Andy is real comedy that will never be duplicated.

Entry #:103

Entry Date: 2009-04-01 23:03:38

Name: Sam Smith
Site Rating: 10
Visitor Comments: 

Entry #:102

Entry Date: 2008-11-17 17:05:23

Name: Jack
Site Rating: 7
Visitor Comments:

My grandfather was born in 1937 and I have heard him say on several occasions "Holy Mackerel, Andy!" but I never inquired with him as to what this meant. I asked my Dad (born in 1961) about this interjection and he didn't even know. and when I just typed it into a search engine I found my answer on this website. He probably listened to the radio show growing up, I imagine (he was too poor growing up to have TV). I have actually listened to 2 episodes of Amos n' Andy from 1948, the radio show. (Unfortunately, Kingfish does not say "Holy mackerel, Andy!" in either program).From the two episodes I have listened to, it doesn't seem to portray African Americans any more negatively than more recent shows. For example, take the show "Family Matters", produced in the early 90's. It has a mostly black cast, and virtually all of the characters have their own hang-ups, weaknesses, and idiosyncrasies that make people laugh, but I've never heard anyone say that it is a racist show. I think that people, in large part, see what they expect to see in programs like these. I think that simply knowing that these programs were produced by whites during the pre-civil rights era predisposes people to "see" racism in it, even if there is none. Also, I think that at the time it exposed white people to positive aspects of African-American culture, for example, the moving Negro spirituals that were sung during some of the breaks in the program. I myself got a few laughs out of the antics of Amos, Andy, and the Kingfish, and I found the humor to be much cleaner and less bawdy than most sitcoms on television today.


"I is going to end this guest book entry now"


Entry #:101

Entry Date: 2008-07-28 21:02:39

Name: Glenn Myers
Site Rating: 10
Visitor Comments:

As a kid growing up New York City in the 1950's and 60's, the Amos & Andy Show was 'must see TV" for our family.


At the time, we never though of the show as being stereotyped, we just found the show funny and one of the only shows on TV with black people in it.


In retropspect, I do not think the Amos & Andy Show is any more stereotyped than black comedies made 50 years later.


I am looking forward to ordering DVDs of the show for the memories it brings back to me.


 


Entry #:100

Entry Date: 2008-06-04 05:10:15

Name: T.D.Foster
Site Rating: 10
Visitor Comments:

I haven't seen these films for several decades but they are just as amusing as when I first viewed them.Great actors,the plots of each episode border,sometimes,on shakespearian wit and humour.How anyone,black or white could be uupset by these films is quite beyond me.Poor,put upon Sapphire,Kingfish,the rottenest man in creation but,nevetheless,always getting a well-earned come-uppance.Unforgettable.


    


Entry #: 99

Entry Date: 2008-05-13 11:09:28

Name: Steve Williams
Site Rating: 10