Amos "n" Andy Log

http://www.midcoast.com/~lizmcl/aacast.html

(Scroll down the page to "Broadcast History.")

Complete listings for the daily serial episodes from 1928 thru 1932 are available at

http://www.midcoast.com/~lizmcl/aasumm.html

Additional years will be added to the above page as they are completed.

Joe

There are currently 42 serial shows in circulation out of 4,091 aired, most of them from the chainless-chain syndication era. There are also a few short fragments of network episodes from the 1930s, along with commercially-released bits from Victor records that were never meant for broadcast.

Joe Oliver

12/31/43 -- Mr. 1943. A fascinating, thoughtful episode with a great dramatic guest shot (literally) by Edward G. Robinson.

1/28/44 -- The $1000 Bill. This script is carefully constructed along the lines of an O. Henry short story (O.Henry was one of Gosden's favorite authors) and gives you insight into the kind of person Andy really is. The great Ethel Waters is guest, and sings a number.

4/7/44 -- The Get-Acquainted Club. An excellent Kingfish episode, with a serious angle on the Kingfish-Sapphire relationship.

11/10/44 -- The Employment Office. Jack Benny and Rochester are guests. An unforgettable moment when Jack is a fare in Amos's cab.

12/29/44 -- New Year's Eve. A worthy companion piece to the famous Xmas show.

2/4/47 -- Amos is Missing. Gosden is in the hospital for a gall-bladder operation, so Correll and James Baskett carry the show. Andy and Gabby search for Amos, with help from other NBC stars. Gos is heard over a phone hookup at the finish, and sounds exhausted.

All these episodes have funny moments, but most of them also display some of the more serious elements that were an important part of the original serial.

Some of the signficant discrepancies in the "10,000th Show" when compared against the original broadcasts:

1. When Amos and Andy left Georgia, they came first to Chicago, not to New York. They relocated to New York in August 1929.

2. Amos and Andy bought their taxicab from a Chicago used-car dealer named Jarvis for $75. They bought the car nearly a month before they met the Kingfish.

3. Amos and Andy were introduced to the Kingfish by their landlord, Fred Washington -- it was not a chance meeting on the street. Washington received a commission for bringing new members into the lodge.

4. Amos and Ruby Taylor were introduced by Sylvester (a 19-year old garage mechanic who lived across the street from Amos and Andy in Chicago), not at church.

5. Andy was not represented by Calhoun in the Breach of Promise trial -- his lawyer was a well-spoken, thoroughly professional attorney named Collins. Calhoun didn't exist in the series until 1949.

6. Miss Blue did not testify in the Breach of Promise trial -- she didn't join the series until November 1937.

7. Brother Crawford's testimony in the actual trial was very different from that given in the recreation. No mention is made in the recreation of the fact that Brother Crawford is Madam Queen's brother-in-law.

8. The outcome of the trial in the recreation has been completely changed. In the original broadcasts, a strange woman fainted in the courtroom, and Lawyer Collins assigned Amos to find out who she was and why she fainted. Amos tracked her down and learned her story -- and was placed on the witness stand at the last minute to reveal what he had learned: that the Madam had broken up the mystery woman's marriage, and had married her ex-husband. However, when the Madam and this man broke up, they failed to get a legal divorce -- and the Madam proceeded to marry once again. Although she had divorced her most recent husband, her previous marriage had never been dissolved -- making her guilty of bigamy, and leaving her with no legal grounds for a breach of promise suit against Andy.

This resolution drew heavy criticism as being not suitable for family audiences (and also drew heavy criticism from the black community), and in response to the criticism Correll and Gosden immediately dropped all mentions of the bigamy charge from future episodes. It was never mentioned again, and all future mentions of the breach-of-promise case glossed over its actual outcome.

For comparison, the scripts for all sixty-four episodes of the 1930-31 Breach of Promise storyline are available at the URL below.

Joe Oliver

All of our digitally restored CDs rent for only $1.00 each.

Check out our website for further information!

My mother was a good friend of Robert Ripley of "Believe it or Not" fame. I have many items he sent her in the period 1929-1935. One of them is a picture in a radio studio with Ripley, Amos & Andy and another person listed as "Aylesworth". Do you have any idea who Aylesworth is? I have been unable to find out a thing about him.

Thanks in advance for your help.

Frank Martin