Pop Culture Retrospective Episode #62 - Black Sitcoms/Sitcoms led by Black Actors from the 80s and 90s Part I

If you’ve been listening to the Pop Culture Retrospective Podcast for any length of time, then you’ll likely know that my sister and I grew up with parents who thankfully were supportive of, and encouraged us to, listen to music performed by black artists.  You’d also likely know that we were raised by Oprah and the soundtrack to our adolescence was filled with a lot of music, especially hip-hop.  We watched many movies with characters played by black actors.  We were forced to watch Soul Train every weekend with my Dad, I say that lovingly though.  So when devoted listener Preston suggested I do a show about the rise of black actors in sitcoms in the 80s and 90s I knew he was on to something.  So, in honor of Black History month, we are going to take a look back at some of the most popular and often times, groundbreaking sitcoms led by black actors or ones that had black actors in a lead role on this week’s episode.  I was so overwhelmed (in a good way) by what I have learned along that way that this will be a two-part episode, but let’s get to part 1, shall we?  Grab your tube TV, have a seat on your shag carpet or perhaps your floral patterned coach, here we go!

Hello and thank you so very much for tuning in to the Pop Culture Retrospective Podcast, a show inspired by, and in memory of, my big sister Rebecca and her love for all things pop-culture, especially the people, places and things of the 80s, 90s and early 00s.  My name is Amy Lewis and I am your captain aboard this pop culture time machine. You are tuning in to episode #62:  The Rise of Black Sitcoms in the 80s and 90s, Part 1. On today’s show we will be discussing Diff’rent Strokes, Gimmie a Break!, 227 and Amen.  On Part 2, we will take a look at:  The Cosby Show, A Different World, The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air and Family Matters.   

Because I want to make sure to pay homage to the importance of what happened in the 80s and 90s, I felt it was important to start the show by sharing some information with you.  I found a really interesting article from the Atlanta Journal Constitution from February of 2020.  Here is a bit of an excerpt from an article by Kiersten Willis:  Black representation on TV has transformed over the last century. But the biggest change arguably came in the 1990s.  After the Jeffersons and the Huxtables in the ‘70s and ‘80s, a whole host of black families and friendships burst onto the small screen. Moesha Mitchell and Carl Winslow shared the hilarity and frustration of Los Angeles teendom and Chicago family life, respectively. While Khadijah James and Martin Payne exposed life with pals in Brooklyn and Detroit. And who can forget about West Philadelphia’s Will Smith moving in with his auntie and uncle in Bel-Air?  “The portrayal of blacks in the ‘80s and ‘90s, you begin to see an expansion of our identity,” Gil Robertson, journalist, author and president of the African American Film Critics Association, told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “Whereas back in the ‘70s or back in, certainly, earlier periods, African American identity was pretty one-note. In the ‘80s and the ‘90s you started seeing people in TV with different personalities outside of being either a person’s sidekick or being the token black person. You started to see a truer representation of black people.”  Before the ‘90s, there wasn’t much of a difference in what black and white audiences were interested in viewing. A 1996 BBDO Report on Black Television Viewing showed that in the 1985-86 season, 15 of the top 20 shows among black viewers were in the top 20 for white viewers. During the final decade of the 20th century, however, black audiences were gripped by television focusing on relatable life experiences of black people. Yet after Y2K, many of these shows began to disappear. By 2005, talks began for UPN and The WB to merge. By Sept. 2006, The CW network debuted. With it, many black shows fell to the wayside as the new network focused on TV deemed fit for more mainstream audiences. 

Post-‘90s sitcoms like “Girlfriends” and “The Game” soon ended, or in the case of the latter, moved to networks like BET.  “A real pattern emerged where if you’re a close watcher of stuff, you can see that blackness was being used as a way to keep these networks propped up and solid until they got a hit with some show that reflected the mainstream,” Robertson said, referring to Fox, UPN and The WB. “That happened over and over and over again with all three of those networks. Fox had … just a real robust lineup of black content. And the unfortunate thing about it is once the networks took flight, they became established off of the black talent, then they sorta just tossed the shows aside.”  Statistics, however, say there’s demand for more black faces on the small screen. But it’s not just representation that viewers want today. A 2019 study from Horowitz Research revealed seven in ten black viewers wished to see more TV shows and movies showing the diversity of the black American experience.”  End quote.

I can only imagine how it has felt for people of color to not see themselves on TV all that much, then see this sudden rise of some fantastic shows, but then have that representation fade away.  That’s why we are going to take a look back at golden age of TV when shows with black characters could be found all over TV.  And we can hope that one day, we can watch a consistent lineup of TV shows led by people of color.  Representation matters, today as much as it did 30 or 40 years ago. And before we get into today’s show, I do want to make sure to mention that we are going to be touching on some more serious topics like substance abuse, sexual assault and racism on today’s show so this may not be appropriate at times for younger listeners, just FYI.  Back to the show. The shows we are discussing today will go in order from when they were released, starting with the earliest.

We begin our journey with Diff’rent Strokes. Diff'rent Strokes - theme song (longer version)  Did you know that the theme song to Diff’rent was written by non other than famed TV Dad, Alan Thicke?!  Yep, the Dad from Growing Pains also wrote music for TV shows.  Impressive, am I right?  Anyhoo, the premise of the show was that a wealthy white family from Manhattan, the Drummonds, took in two little black boys from Harlem.    Their mother was a housekeeper for the Drummonds and she asked Phillip Drummond to take care of her kids before she died.  So, he along with his daughter, Kimberly, agree and take the two boys under their wings.   The show aired from 1978-1986.  The show starred Conrad Bain, the rich, tough but fair Dad, Phillip Drummond.  Dana Plato played Phillip’s teenage daughter, Kimberly.  She was an enthusiastic and light-hearted character.  Todd Bridges played Willis Jackson, the more impulsive, too-cool for school older brother to Arnold Jackson, played by Gary Coleman.  Arnold was certainly the star of the show, he was cute, funny, and charismatic.  The show ran on NBC until 1984 then it moved to ABC where it lasted just 2 more seasons.  DS was pretty progressive for it’s time because if often showed black and white people being affectionate toward each other.  It was one of the first TV shows to feature an interracial family.  Apparently, the show received a lot of hate mail from people who were racist and hated seeing those interactions.  Diff’rent Strokes proved to be pretty popular so thankfully, acceptance prevailed.  Many famous people made guest appearances on the show like Kareem Abdul Jabar, Forest Whitaker and a young Janet Jackson who would go on to date Todd Bridges for a period of time, that lucky duck.  She played a character named Charlene DuPrey.  I believe Nancy Regan was on an episode during her Just Say No Campaign, which allegedly helped Todd Bridges work to quit abusing substances which he struggled a lot with.  

The show was originally titled “45 Minutes from Harlem” but thankfully the name was changed.  At first the show started off with pretty cheesy episode subjects but as time went on they touched on more serious topics like drug use, crime and alcoholism.

A lot of this was done through those “special episodes” that became typical in the 1980s.  Like the “Special episode” of Punky Brewster where Punky’s best friend gets locked in an abandoned refrigerator or ice chest.  So thankfully I learned a lesson very early on, never climb into an abandoned refrigerator Amy, just don’t do it!   

Conrad Bain who played Phillip Drummond was born in 1923 and lived until 2013.  He got his start in acting while he was in high school.  Before DS he starred in Maude opposite Bea Arthur who you may remember from a little show called Golden Girls? Following his role on DS, he was a guest star on shows like the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.  He was 55 years old when he started playing Mr. Drummond. 

Dana Plato who played Kimberly Drummond was born in 1964. Like Coleman who you will learn more about in a moment, she was adopted in real life.  She was a talented figure skater and starred in several made for TV movies before landing the role of surrogate sister to Arnold and Wilis in the late 1970s.  She was written off of the show in season 6 because she became pregnant and it couldn’t be worked into the show.  Following the show, she famously battled drug addiction, leading to arrests for theft and forging prescriptions.  She died of an overdose on Loritab when she was just 34 years old and in recent years it has been ruled a suicide.  Her son also died by suicide in 2010.  I find myself often wondering what could Plato’s life be like now if she didn’t suffer through so many addiction issues.  It has always upset me for as long as I can remember.  I guess we will never know the answer and I am super bummed that we won’t.  

Gary Coleman was born in 1968 in Zion, IL and had a serious kidney disease which stunted his growth.  He was born to a woman who was sadly homeless, but thankfully he was adopted. He got his start in commercials, including one for a bank in Chicago which led to his discovery Harris Bank with Gary Coleman (Commercial, 1977).  In the commercial, he is carrying around a lion stuffed animal for Harris Bank and my Grandma aka Obachan definitely had one of those! Girl loves her stuffies.  He soon landed the coveted role of Arnold in Diff’rent Strokes. In the first season when he was 10 years old, he played a 6 year old.  On the first episode I believe, Coleman uttered the classic phrase “Whatchu talking about Willis” which became his trademark catchphrase. Gary Coleman: 1968 - 2010   Eventually, he would grow tired of saying this so much that he demanded it be taken out of the script in later episodes.  Years after the show he refused to say it while out in public.  Because he could not break his persona of Arnold Jackson, Coleman had a rough adulthood.  His physical health never really improved and he sort of developed a hard exterior because I don’t think most people saw him any differently than his role of Arnold. He only reached 4 foot 7, but he was a grown man in a child’s body which people just couldn’t wrap their heads around. His parents essentially stole all of his earnings from his early career so he had to take on odd jobs like being a security guard to make ends meet.  He died of a brain hemorrhage in 2010.   

Todd Bridges was born in 1965.   Bridges had an incredibly painful childhood which I was not aware of.  He grew up with a father who was physically abusive toward his mother and he was also sexually assaulted as a child. While watching an episode of Sanford and Son as a child, he was taken aback by the humor and talent of Red Foxx.  I imagine the thought of acting and being someone else could have been a comfort to Bridges.  At that point, he told himself he wanted to become an actor. 

Like Coleman, he got his start in commercials like one for JELL-O.  He would go on to star in the Love Boat and even made a guest appearance on the Facts of Life, which was a spin-off of Diff’rent Strokes if you can believe that.  As I mentioned previously, Bridges struggled with significant substance addiction issues but thankfully has now been sober for decades. He owns a production company with his brother and continues to act.  He also does a lot of speaking engagements around substance abuse prevention. He is the only original surviving cast member of Diff’rent Strokes. I heard him talking about being sober for 20 years and his family and it was very uplifting.  Glad to hear he is doing well.  Here is a snapshot of some of the show’s episodes.

In season 1, episode 9, there was an episode called “Retrospective” the family gathers around the Christmas Tree and reminisces about how life has changed since Arnold and Willis joined the family. In season 2, episode 6, there was an episode called “Arnolds Hero” in which Willis and Kimberly tell Mohamad Ali that their little brother is dying and his last wish is to meet him.  In Season 3, episode 4, we can see the show starting to take on more serious topics.  In this episode for example, the kids are preparing for a big birthday party for Mr. Drummond who is turning 50, but he is seriously injured by a drunk driver while he is driving.  

I don’t have memories of watching Diff’rent Strokes when it originally aired that I can recall, however I do distinctly remember watching this show probably hundreds of times when it was on in re-runs. No matter what you felt about the show, I have to give it credit for showing a multi-racial family and how much I (and millions of other people I’m sure) loved watching Gary Coleman.   

Next, we have probably my favorite show on this list, Gimmie a Break! Gimme a Break Theme Song Intro Gimmie a Break! Ran from 1981-1987 on NBC.  The main character was named Nell, who was played by the painfully talented Nell Carter.  You will learn why I refer to her as such in a few minutes.  The premise of the show is that Nell looks after the Kanisky family after her friend, the matriarch of that family passes away.  As a favor to her good friend, Nell agrees to take care of Carl Kanisky who is now-widowed husband and his 3 daughters:  Katie, Julie and Samanta.  I didn’t realize this but the Kanisky family (which I was apparently oblivious to at the time) was Polish of course and Gimmie a Break was the first time a Polish family was ever the centerpiece of a sitcom.  And you can bet your accordion I’m Polish and proud of it! Säkkijärven polkka  As the show carried on, Producers really tried to push the premise of Nell coming to help the family because her friend passed away.  However, many critics felt that Nell was a stereotypical black character serving as a white family’s maid.  I can see why people made that interpretation, but I appreciate the people behind the show’s creation making sure her character had other professions as the show carried on.  

Nell Carter played the role of Nell Harper on Gimmie a Break! Nell was a very charismatic, blunt and physically comedic character. She was born Nell Rudy Hardy in 1948 in Alabama.  

She learned she loved singing at an early age and ended up singing in choirs and eventually on the radio.  If you listen closely to the theme song you can tell that it is none other than Carter singing.  Put on some headphones and you will really hear how incredible her voice was.  I can only listen via YouTube clips which isn’t great quality and she still sounds fantastic.  She was truly an artist, but a troubled one as well.  Her young life was plagued with many hardships.  

For one, her father died in a tragic accident and she was the victim of a sexual assault at gunpoint.  Somehow though, she managed to find her voice through acting and singing.  In the 1970s she appeared on Broadway and on Soap-Operas.  For most of her life, Carter struggled, in the spotlight no less, with her weight.  At just 4 foot 11, any gains or losses were quite obvious and the subject of scrutiny.  Another thing I learned about Carter which just broke my heart is that her brother died of AIDS and that she struggled with substance abuse including alcohol and drugs like cocaine.  Some of her younger co-stars were aware of there being cocaine on the set and Carter went to rehab during the show’s run, including one initiated by Liza “Liza with a Z” Manelli.  She also struggled with diabetes which was certainly exacerbated by some of her other difficulties.  In 2003, Carter passed away due to complications from her diabetes.  

Carl “Chief” Kanisky the tough no B.S. patriarch of the family who was played by Adolphus Jean Sweet.  Sweet was born in 1920 and passed away in 1985 during season 4 of the show. One of the most incredible things I have ever learned about an actor since I started this show is  the story of how he became one.  He was shot down in WWII and was then a POW.  He got into acting because at the POW camp he and other soldiers put on skits.  That is unbelievable to me.  He taught drama at the college level and then went on to star in dozens of movies.  As I mentioned, he died during season 4 of the show of stomach cancer. Nell Carter gave his eulogy.  

Kari Michaelson played the role of Katie on the show.  She is sort of the stereotypical blonde character so prevalent in the 1980s. She’s sort of ditzy, doesn’t end up going to college and is boy-crazy.  Michaelson beat out Helen Hunt for the role of Katie.  She grew up performing on broadway and had a pretty extensive acting career before GAB.  Eventually Michaelson retired from acting and now works as a motivational speaker.  

Lauri Handler played the role of Julie Kanisky.  Julie is sort of the smart one in the family.  She likes to write and focuses on her schoolwork.  She started modeling as an infant, then got into commercials.  At the age of 12 she decided to take the role of acting seriously.  She actually has a website LauriHandler.com  She also has a YouTube channel where you can see her acting in some commercial type pieces.  It was from her website that I learned she has had guest spots on television shows like ER, Without a Trace, and Strong Medicine.    

Lara Jill Miller played Samantha, the youngest daughter and token tomboy on the show.  Her first acting gig was on Broadway with Dick Van Dyke.  Impressive.  Following her role on Gimmie A Break, she became a lawyer and has provided her voice talents to shows like Curious George, Clifford and Doc McStuffins.  Her voice today as an older woman sounds almost the same as it did when she was a teenager.    

Each episode of GAB followed a pretty typical sitcom format….show starts out positive, a challenge comes up, challenge is surmounted and all is well again.  Here are a few episode examples and you’ll note that some of these would NEVER fly today.  And there are ones I am leaving out because I don’t know how to accurately describe it without cringing.  

Anyhoo, in Season 2, episode 12 was titled “Love Kidney.”  Uncle Ed gets sick while playing the accordion and falls into the fish tank.  Uncle Ed needs a kidney transplant and the Chief agrees to give it to him.  His daughters panic and don’t want him to do it and he does anyways and they get over it. What is it with that family and that god forsaken fishtank?  I mean first Nell ends up vacuuming up the water accidentally one day while cleaning the house and then their Uncle falls in while playing the accordion?  You bet your perogi that family be crazy.   

On the very next episode entitled “Julie Smokes”, well you can guess what happened but I will tell you anyways.  Chief finds Cigarettes and discovers Julie is smoking when he catches her in the act.  He then proceeds to hit her.  So she goes to live with her Grandmother and Grandfather.  The girl's mother and the Chief’s wife died of lung cancer so Julie sort of accepts this as his rationale behind hitting her.  He was grieving and angry that Julie would do something that killed her mother so why not just smack that pack right out of her cold, bloody hands.  Or maybe that’s not a great solution.  What do I know, I’m just a parent.  Anyhoo, she goes back to living at home. He agrees to quit smoking.  Yikes. End of episode. 

In Season 3, a show entitled “The Gun” which was episode 17, aired.  In the show, Joey, played by Joey Lawrence who joined the show a few seasons in as a foster child, finds a gun while looking through some old photo albums.  He accidentally shoots Nell in the foot.  He is not able to talk to her and apologize until one day when they are in her car.  When Nell starts up the engine it backfires creating a loud noise that reminds him of his careless act of violence and he is then able to apologize.  And scene.  I cannot make this crap up, I swear. 

As the show carried on for a few seasons and after Dolph passed, GAB sort of lost it’s magic.  They tried moving the show to a different location.  They fired all of the daughters after season 5 because they were apparently too old for the show and ratings dropped.  In 1987 NBC said Gimmie a Break from this show, permanently and the show went off the air.  The show ran on reruns for some time which is how I know I saw many of the episodes.  And sure, GAB wasn’t some spectacular show, but I think it’s hard to argue how talented Nell Carter was, may she rest in peace.  One thing I was curious about was how old Nell Carter was during the show’s run.  I came to find out that she was in her early 30s when the show started and when it ended she was roughly 38.  So I am older than Nell Carter was when she was on that show.  When I read that, I was like Gimmie a Break!  You’ve Got to be kidding me!  Did anyone else learn how to do the shimmy or the shimmy dance as a result of watching Gimmie a Break or the intro?  I really, really want a shirt that says, I learned how to shimmy, thanks to Gimmie.  I’m not kidding.  If you think you can make that happen, please email me:  amy@popcultureretrospective.com 

I just wanted to take a quick break to tell all of the wonderful listeners of the show that I have a new subscription program called the Pop Culture Retrospective Superfans! 

If you have been enjoying the show for a while and love the content, please consider becoming a supporter of the program.  Believe it or not, podcasting is not free.  There is a lot of overhead to host the shows, run a website, have the appropriate equipment, and more.  

I devote literally hours of work to each episode between researching recording and editing which I absolutely love doing, but after almost 3 years of doing the show, I am stepping out of my comfort zone and starting this new program to help ensure the show continues for years to come! The PCRP Superfans Program will officially be launching on March 1st, my birthday.  Each month subscribers will get access to an exclusive episode, early access to regular shows and more! You can learn more about the program by visiting my website www.popcultureretrospective.com and click on the Subcribe and Support the Show tab at the top.  I’d like to thank the people who have already subscribed:  Preston, Bruce and Karen.  Thank you for your support.  Your monthly contributions go directly back into the show.  Thank you for considering it, now, back to the podcast! 

Our next show is 227 which, yet again, had an awesome theme song.227 Theme Song [later version]   I distinctly remember singing the last few lines of the song with my sister all of the time.  “I mean no place child, whoa!”   227 ran from 1985-1990 and was set in Washington, DC.  It was based on a play that was set in the city of Chicago.  My dad LOVED 227 but I imagine he would have been pissed if he knew it was originally based in Chicago. We watched this show religiously because my dad loved it so much.  And I don’t blame him, it was an awesome show! Anyhoo, as you may have guessed or remembered, the building where the characters all lived was numbered, you guessed it, 227.  

The show was essentially created to put Marla Gibbs into a starring role.  She had previously starred in the Jefferson’s where she played a maid and was definitely a breakout star of the show.

Helen Martin played Pearl Shay a wise-cracking, sassy and relatively good-natured older neighbor of the Jenkin’s family.  They were the primary focus of the show.  Marla Gibbs played Mary Jenkins, who was sassy as well and very blunt and to the point.  Gibbs was born in 1931 in Chicago and attended business school.  She worked for United Airlines and acted in black theatre shows before landing a role in the Jefferson’s.  Marla is also a talented singer, she actually sang the theme to 227!  She has also released several jazz albums. When I learned that it made me love the already awesome theme song even more.  Oh and she also co-produced the show! More recently she has appeared in several episodes of Scandal and Days of Our Lives.  Marla has been a consistent presence on television screens for decades and we are better for it!  Mary Jenkins was married to Lester who was played by Hal Williams.  Lester owned a construction company. Hal Williams was born in 1938.  He was a postal worker and corrections officer before he got into acting.  He starred in Sanford and Son prior to 227 and also had a role on Gimmie a Break.  More recently he has starred in A Black Lady Sketch show in 2019. The Jenkin’s couple have a daughter named Brenda who is played by Regina King.  She was boy-crazy but also very academically focused. Regina King was born in 1971 to a mother who taught special education and a dad who was an electrician.  227 was her breakout role.  Following 227 she has had amazing success.  She starred in Friday and the Boondocks.  She is also an academy and emmy award winner.  She has directed episodes of Scandal.  She is only the second black woman to be nominated for a golden globe for best director. 

The landlord of the building is woman named Rose Holloway who was played by Alaina Reed Hall who was born in 1946.  She is the wise woman of the building and is Mary’s best friend.  Hall was a beloved actress on Sesame Street, she was the younger sister to Gordon which I completely forgot about.  She was an absolute STAPLE on that show when I was a kid.  

She also starred in the gut-wrenching film “Follow that Bird” where Big Bird gets kidnapped and is forced to perform in a circus (I’m not kidding).  Does this ring a bell to anyone? My sister and I watched that movie hundreds of times.  She is so endearing during that movie and sings a song called “One Little Star” that will really pull at your heartstrings if you remember the movie. She and Big Bird (and some other characters) sing it back and forth as they are all looking for Big Bird and he is trapped in a cage at the circus.  

I cannot bring myself to watch this because it will make me sob in the fetal position while holding a framed photo of my sister, but I will put a link to the video in the show notes. Sadly Hall died of breast cancer in 2009.  She had 2 children, I wonder if they find any comfort by listening to “One Little Star.”  The thought of that makes me want to get into the fetal position and cry while holding a framed picture of my sister.  Ugh, here I go again! Anyways, another neighbor was the infamous Sahndra Clark played by the hilariously talented Jackee Harry.  Harry was born in 1956 and grew up in New York City.  She was actually a high school teacher for a few years before becoming an actress. Her character on the show, Sahndra is hysterical, I think she is part of the reason why my dad insisted on watching the show because it was so hard not to smile when she walked into a scene.  Sahndra is a bit of an air head but she has a good heart.  Jackee was the first African American to win a primetime emmy for outstanding supporting actress in a comedy series.  After 227 she starred in Sister, Sister and Lady Bugs opposite Rodney Dangerfield and Jonathan Brandis.  I loved that movie and she was hilarious in that too.     

As you can probably guess, the show followed the standard sitcom storylines but it was done so well it definitely stands out compared to other sitcoms of it’s time.  Here are a few of the episodes:

In Season 2, Episode 1 in an episode entitled “Wheel of Misfortune” Mary and Sahndra end up on Wheel of Fortune.  A young Pat Sajak and Vanna White appeared in the episode of course.  

In Season 4, episode 4 Sandra’s cousin Conchita comes to visit.  Conchita is played by Jackee as well.  Conchita brings her fiance along for the trip but she isn’t so sure she wants to marry him.  Hilarity ensues and of course, Conchita realizes that she does in fact want to marry her fiance and they tie the knot. On May 6, 1990, 227 aired its very last episode.  

In Season 5, episode 7 in an episode entitled “Video Activity” Bobby Brown is at Brenda’s high school filming a music video.  Brenda does something a bit dishonest so that she can qualify to be an extra in the video.

The final show we will be looking at today will be Amen, another favorite of my Dad’s and also my Grandfather's.  We used to watch this show all of the time at my grandparent’s house. 

 I imagine my Dad and Grandfather bonded over this show because of my family being Catholic on that side, so they spent a lot of time at church in the 50s and 60s.  And I did a lot in the 90s which I was not happy about, you can ask my mom.AMEN - Opening Theme Song Credits - ( 1986 - 1991 ) Once again, NBC was the network responsible for putting this show and other black sitcoms on the air and on the map.  Amen ran from 1986-1991 and a total of 110 episodes.  

The show follows the adventures and mishaps of lead character, Ernest Frye played by the brilliant Sherman Hemsley who had just finished a long run on the Jefferson’s.  He is a greedy lawyer and also a stubborn church Deacon.  The Deacon really despises anyone who disagrees with him.  He is a widower and lives with his naive and somewhat lost older daughter, Thelma Frye. Thelma is in love with Reverand Ruban and pretty much gushes over him in every episode. Part of Ernest’s stubbornness over the church has to do with the fact that his father founded the first community church of Philadelphia and he wanted to keep a close eye on it.  

In the opening credits you get a hint of Ernest Frye’s attitude when you see him pull into a parking spot at the church which has a sign that reads:  “Reserved for the Deacon, don’t even think of parking here!”  You also get to see Sherman Hemsley do double dutch with a few girls outside of the church which was a moment I always loved watching.

Sherman Hemsley was born in 1938 in Philadelphia, where Amen was set.  His mother worked in a lamp factory and he didn’t know his father growing up.  He dropped out of high school and joined the Air Force and was in the service for 4 years.  When he got out of the military he became a postal worker and studied acting at night.  He moved to New York City and the rest is sort of history.  Hemsley sadly passed away in 2012 due to some supposed complications from lung cancer.  

Anna Maria Horsford, born in 1948 in New York, played Thelma Frye, Ernest’s 30 something daughter. Horsford started acting at a young age and surprisingly, she was only 10 years younger than Sherman Hemsley when the show was on, yet he played her dad. Horsford has continued to act following her time on Amen.  Most recently she appeared in Madea’s Family Christmas.  

Clifton Davis, born in 1945 in Chicago, played the role of the also naive and optimistic Reverand Ruban.  He actually has an impressive musical background, he wrote the lyrics for “Never can say goodbye” for the Jackson Five.  After being on Amen, he has continued to act and put out albums.  Coincidentally, he is an ordained minister in real life.  

Rolly Forbes played the role of Jester Hairston, he is a wise soul and older member of the church.  He tries to knock sense into the Deacon during most of the episodes.  He actually studied at Julliard and had an extensive background in radio, tv and music, including being a composer prior to joining the cast of Amen. He wrote the theme song for Amen! He was born in 1901 (same year as Walt Disney) and passed away in 2000.  

Here are few examples of episodes:

Season 3, episode 3 was entitled “Look at Me, I’m Running.”  The Deacon decides to run for office and thankfully he gets help from the church.  

In episode 19 of the same season entitled “First Community Talent Show” the church holds a talent show for charity.  

In season 5, episode 13 in an episode entitled 3 men and a hammer, Frye asks the reverend to give a certain sermon and this inspires another character on the show named Clarence to drop out of school so he can become a rapper like his hero MC Hammer.  Frye tries to get in to see MC Hammer to try and get him to talk to Clarence but he isn’t able to so he dresses up like a fan.  

As you can tell, most of the shows revolve around the Church.  I think that was part of the show’s appeal as I think a lot of people could relate to spending a lot of time at their church and participating in church-related activities.  I know this was a big part of my growing up.  

One of me and my sister’s favorite things to do together as teenagers and young adults was sing the hymns or songs from our church song book which could be found behind each pew.  To this today, I can still recite the lyrics to Let Us Break Bread Together and This is the Feast for Victory for Our God.  Perhaps that is why we were also so drawn to that show, or maybe it was just that there was a bit of a resemblance between Sherman Hemsley and our Grandfather. Shorter stature, mustache, hair on each side and balding on top.  You get what I am saying.  

I hope you have enjoyed this look back at part I of Black Sitcoms of the 80s and 90s.  It’s a shame that it took so long for actors who were black to get more screen time, but thankfully when it came time for these shows to shine, they really did.  The 80s and 90s were a great time to be a television watcher because there was so much unique and funny programming to choose from.  You couldn’t get too distracted while watching it, you couldn’t scroll through your phone or save it and watch another time.  You had to remember when it was on and make sure you didn’t miss it.  Watching certain TV shows together was a special pastime in my family and I imagine it was in yours, too.  

There are a few things I noticed and remembered about these shows, for 1, 3 out of the 4 shows had a widowed father in a lead role, all except 227. And 4 out of 4 shows had…drum roll please….each show had a swinging or swinging service door for their kitchen door.  Have you ever noticed this in tv shows, especially sitcoms?! I tried googling why that is but couldn’t find any convincing answers other than perhaps it was set up that way to block out cameras in certain shots.  Or maybe it was to easily deviate when a character was walking from one room into another.  Either way, the swinging kitchen door was a staple in pretty much any sitcom show from the 70s, 80s and 90s.  Haven’t we all learned such wonderful things since I started this podcast?  Man.   

Nell Carter once said:  “I think music and laughter are the two things that can keep you alive. Someone who is really depressed, tell them a joke, and they may come out of it for even just a moment. Or play them something.”  I think that’s exactly what each of these shows managed to do for many of the people that watched.  Coming soon will be part II of this episode. 

I hope you will join me for my next show which is going to be a bit of a surprise.  Until then BKBSAHOTYM.