Amen
Pilot
TV Flash files “Pilot” as a desk essential hour — Amen (1986–1991) on NBC, season 1, episode 1, aired 1986-09-27, 30 min.
From the desk
How this hour is filed
This leaf is S01E01: listed hour 1 of 110 in the Amen guide, first listed hour of season 1. It aired 1986-09-27 (30 min). No earlier hour is listed in this guide. Next is “The Courtship of Bess Richards” (S01E02).
Essential hour: “Pilot”. The Pilot is post-Jeffersons Hemsley in a deacon's suit: Clifton Davis as the young minister, Horsford holding the office, faith as workplace.
Viewer FAQ
Where does Pilot sit in the Amen guide?
S01E01 is listed hour 1 of 110 — first listed hour of season 1, season 1 episode 1.
When did Amen S01E01 air?
Pilot aired 1986-09-27 and is listed at 30 minutes.
Is this George Jefferson in church?
Post-Jeffersons strut, different suit. Hemsley as a deacon sparring with a young minister — church-board politics as sitcom warfare, not a spin-off of the dry cleaner.
In the series
Why this series still plays
Sherman Hemsley's post-Jeffersons strut in a deacon's suit: church-board politics as sitcom warfare, Clifton Davis as the young minister, and Anna Maria Horsford holding the office together. NBC's Black multi-cam map needed a pulpit; Hemsley brought the side-eye. Congregation comedy that treats faith as workplace, not sermon.
So about the pulpit: Sherman Hemsley kept the strut and put it in a deacon's suit, and the group chat has been in the board meeting ever since. NBC's Amen (1986–1991) is Ed. Weinberger's church-community sitcom: Ernest Frye sparring with Clifton Davis's young minister Reuben Gregory, Anna Maria Horsford's Thelma holding the office together, Roz Ryan in the mix. Pulpit as workplace. Faith as the job, not a weekly sermon from the writers. (I said spoiler-free. I lied a little — the board fight is the show.) Lana…
Filed against
- Sherman Hemsley as Ernest Frye
Sherman Hemsley’s George Jefferson took Lear’s living-room fight to a deluxe apartment in the sky — Isabel Sanford, Florence’s dignity, a theme that still sells real estate — then strutted Amen in a deacon’s suit as church-board warfare.…
- Clifton Davis as Reuben Gregory
Clifton Davis played Reuben Gregory on Amen — Sherman Hemsley's post-Jeffersons strut in a deacon's suit, church-board politics as sitcom warfare, Anna Maria Horsford holding the office together. NBC's Black multi-cam map needed a pulpit;…
- Anna Maria Horsford as Thelma Frye
Anna Maria Horsford’s Thelma Frye held Amen’s church office together — Sherman Hemsley’s post-Jeffersons strut in a deacon’s suit, Clifton Davis as the young minister, NBC’s Black multi-cam map needing a pulpit. Congregation comedy as…
- Roz Ryan as Amelia Hetebrink
Roz Ryan's Amelia Hetebrink kept Amen's church office from becoming only a deacon's strut — Sherman Hemsley's post-Jeffersons side-eye, Clifton Davis as the young minister, Anna Maria Horsford holding the desk. Congregation comedy as…