10,000th Performance

For half an hour on CBS radio last week, two oldtimers reminisced nostalgically about their quarter-century on the air in the golden age of radio. It was the 10,000th time before the microphones for Amos 'n' Andy (Freeman Gosden and Charles Correll).

Introduced by the show's original announcer Bill Hay (who came out of retirement for the occasion), they brought back a few such famous characters as Lillian ("Madame Queen") Randolph and Elinor ("Ruby") Harriet, and recalled some favorite milestones from their script life: Madame Queen's breach of promise suit against Andy (". . . We was engaged 147 times in one year . . . an' it woulda been more dan dat if we'd been goin' steady"); Andy's first meeting with Kingfish-- played by Gosden (Andy: "Say, scusee me for protrudin', stranger, but ain't you got ahold of my watch chain?" Kingfish: "Your watch chain? Well, so I does. How you like dat! One of dese solid gold cuff links of mine musta hooked on your watch chain dere").

This week, radio listeners who have been going steady with Amos 'n' Andy for 25 years were still worried by the bleak --but unconfirmed -- rumor that Gosden & Correll will retire at the end of this season. But, in any case, Amos 'n' Andy will live on in TV: the TV version (alt. Thursdays, 8:30 p.m.), with Alvin Childress and Spencer Williams in the title roles, is now a CBS package.

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