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flutherother's avatar

What was the first television production with an all black cast?

Asked by flutherother (34516points) August 15th, 2018

I came across one today that was broadcast across the USA in 1960 and all the actors where black. Was this a first?

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7 Answers

janbb's avatar

What was the show you saw, @flutherother?

Jeruba's avatar

After its run on radio, Amos and Andy was broadcast on CBS television from 1951 to 1953 and continued in syndicated reruns until 1966. The cast was mostly black, but not exclusively so. Link.

I don’t know if this was the first, but it had to be one of the earliest.

RedDeerGuy1's avatar

In living color was almost all black. Only one white person.

Jeruba's avatar

Oh, and then there was The Green Pastures, a play, broadcast on Hallmark Hall of Fame in the days of live TV, in 1957 and 1959. I believe that was all black; but again, at least mostly so. Link.

(And yes, I saw it.)

flutherother's avatar

@janbb It was an episode of The Twilight Zone called “The Big Tall Wish” broadcast on 8 April 1960.

RedDeerGuy1's avatar

Fat Albert. Was all black.

LadyMarissa's avatar

Amos ‘n’ Any was originally aired in 1928 as a radio show. The actors were white pretending to be black. With its popularity, it crossed over to television in 1951 where almost ALL the actors were black. It was ground breaking at the time because there were very few blacks that had a major role in anything.

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