McLeod, E: The Original Amos 'n' Andy

They were pioneers of modern entertainment: theirs was the first serial program specifically devised for broadcast, and the first to feature continuing characters. They invented the concept of broadcast syndication. At its height, their show was required nightly listening for a third of the nation. Many still remember it fondlyjust not in polite company. Amos n Andy, the creation of Charles Correll and Freeman Gosden, has been excoriated as a nightly racial slur, an unpleasant artifact of Americas racist past. Most critical evaluations are based upon the shows later television and radio episodes aired after Correll and Gosden had surrendered creative control, and ignore the bulk of their workover 4000 radio episodes, carefully penned by the actors, which differ markedly from the later works. Their legacy is undoubtedly mixed, but a close examination of those early radio scripts, many the only surviving record of a show, offers surprising insight into Amos n Andy and begs for a fair assessment of Charles Correll and Freeman Gosdens place in radio history.