I don't own the release, but I can tell you it is not "legit," because there will never be a legit Amos 'n' Andy release. CBS renewed the copyrights but have apparently turned a blind eye to the bootlegs.
No, CBS did NOT renew the copyrights and as a matter of fact lost when they brought a court case against someone selling the show. They do, however, retain all of the master elements although they will keep them buried until we are all dead. As for it being a "complete" release, that is impossible because as of last count there were still about 5 episodes which had not found their way into the collectors market.
Thanks for the information; I didn't even know Nostalgia Merchant was still in business.
Back in the days of VHS, Nostalgia Merchant was one of the best sources of high quality cult and classic movies. The only other company doing the same kind of thing was the brilliant Admit One Video out of Canada.
Wasn't Nostalgia Merchant part of Media Home Video or another major? I remember them from the VHS days. While this one seems to be using the same logo, I don't know if it is the same company. Someone may have just reclaimed it after the original went out of business.
Some good stuff on their site (although the site itself is poorly organized) but they claim everything is in the public domain. So, I don't know what the quality is.
While it appears as if there are a fair number of public domain shows/episodes offered on their site (maybe most of it), there are some that are seriously questionable. The Jim Hutton version of "Ellery Queen?" I don't think so. "Honey West?" No way; the official release is coming this year from VCI Entertainment.
I believe they know many of the titles are questionable as, on the About Us page, it states that if any of the rights holders contact them, they will remove them.
Until this thread, I didn't know about the site, so I'm sure many of the companies also don't know.
The amount of grief and negative publicity they might get just does not make it worth it to them for whatever profit the show might bring. It's just not worth the trouble for them to either put it out or lease it to someone. It's a can of worms they have no interest in opening up.
Without getting into a pages long explanation, I'll give you the Cliff Notes version. It was about the only place on television where blacks were even seen, save for demeaning characters like the elevator operator on My Little Margie. Then there was the fact that some of the characters spoke in an ignorant sounding, broken English. Unlike today, where blacks speaking in giberish or "black English" is accepted and thought to be okay, back then it was looked at as something demeaning and a negative image for the race. And because there were no other black shows or important black roles on television, the only depiction of the race was this show and so they were very sensitive to any portrayal. It was not like today where there are black doctors, lawyers, cops, whatever. It was also from the era where ethnic comedies were prevalent - The Goldbergs (Jewish/Yiddish dialect), Life With Luigi (Italian dialect), Mama (Norwegian dialect). All of these kind of faded from the air by the mid-50s and were overtaken by the same generic, white, cookie cutter families living in generic, bland, cookie cutter towns. When looked at through modern eyes, Amos and Andy is far less offensive than many of the black shows that have come after it and also much funnier. But that's a war that CBS has no interest in ever revisiting.
I have never seen Amos N Andy but from what I heard, it's no more demeaning to blacks than Beverly Hillbillies is to white people. Plus, why can't they go after all this hip hop garbage out today which is demeaning and also portrays black men in a very negative stereotype.
Well, all I really think is, why would CBS care if someone else is distributing the show when they have absolutely no intention in hell to distribute it themselves? Disney is the same way with Song Of The South. So you're ashamed of it (and I don't understand why SOTS is banned now, but it was reissued in the theater in 1986 when I was a kid. After The Cosby Show came on, after Michael Jackson's Thriller, after Prince's Purple Rain, after The Color Purple, etc.... it wasn't seen as offensive in the era of MJ and Cosby, but suddenly it's offensive now?) but some people might want to see it again.
I've only seen a handful of episodes of Amos 'n' Andy (4 or 5), but happened to see the show's famous Christmas episode which was one of the most inspirational and moving television shows that I've ever seen, including Amos reciting The Lord's Prayer. I can't imagine any television show doing something like that today except, perhaps, religious programming at 6 a.m. on a Sunday morning. My limited exposure to the show was that it was very funny, but it also had a great measure of humanity. It's a real shame that this classic will likely never be seen on any sort of official release.
Although not the success that "Amos 'n' Andy" was, "Beulah" was another early 1950s series that starred an African American woman. At least a few episodes from that series (most episodes are lost) were issued on a commercial DVD last year by Alpha Video (it's been a consistent top seller for them since it was issued last Summer).
About ten years ago, I bought a VHS set of A&A that was put out by a company called Bridgestone. It might not have been legit, but it was on the shelves at Suncoast. It's a really great show, and it's a shame it will be lost to history. I'm pretty sure I read that Horace/Nick Stewart and some of the other cast members were saddened by the fact that their contributions to television history were blotted out by the controversy.
I've always wanted a set, but was a little leery of buying one off of eBay. They were going for over a hundred bucks when I looked a few years ago. If this is an established company (going by Barry's post), I'll buy it with the knowledge that an official release isn't going to happen.
One never likes to say definitely never but in this case, chances are pretty damn good that CBS will never release the show nor allow anyone access to their masters. Stranger things have happened but after over 40 years its highly unlikely CBS will have a change of heart any time soon. Too bad as this show, if it had widespread exposure, is as much of a comedy classic as The Honeymooners.
To add to Hank's concise history of the show's controversy, the other detail that likely keeps a legit "AMOS & ANDY" release from happening is that in its original radio show incarnation, Amos and Andy were played by white actors, Freeman Gosden and Charles Correll, speaking in "black" dialect. They even made a movie for RKO, CHECK AND DOUBLE CHECK, where the actors appeared in blackface makeup. Therefore, even though actual black actors were used for the TV series (with Gosden and Correll serving as offscreen writer/producers), there is definitely a lot of residual bitterness towards the characters' origin as caricatures created by white men.