The Black and White Minstrel Show

[henry]

Last christmass BBC 2 showed a series "That was the week we watched".In the 1967 programe for 24-26 june,The Black and White Minstrel show was featured,however the BBC has not kept the programe for that week.The host seemed to be Dai Francis rather than Leslie Crowther, can anyone identify which programe was shown.
Incidentally todays attitude by the BBC towards the shows racial aspect is nothing short than outragious stupidity,despite the programe being the most popular of its time in the 50s and 60s

[Sue Briquet]

I agree with Henry that the current odour in which the show is held is ridiculous. The theatrical domino of blackface is no more "racist" than the excessively white make-up, offset by large red lips, which has been sported by clowns for generations. I feel sure that the millions of people, myself included, who used to enjoy this cheerful show never had the thought cross their minds that these Harlequin-like characters were meant to ridicule black people, because, of course, they weren't!
Other casualties of today's misguided, over-sensitive attitudes are the films of Al Jolson and Eddie Cantor which, if they are shown on TV at all, are confined to the early hours of the morning when few are watching!

[H Hartley]

Have to agree . The test would be to ask any white person if they associated Afro-Caribbeans in the show they watched and the answer would be no as the minstrel show was pure escapism and pantomime.
However that does not mean the origins of blacking up white people (before Jolson turned it into an art form)did not have racial overtones and this must not be over looked or forgotten.

The popularity of the minstrel show on the BBC was IMHO more to with the dull unimaginative programming
of the Cotton family who dominated the BBC at one time. In other words like the the carry on films, its forced down our throat until we eventually start enjoying it.

[Andy Henderson]

I've got the final show on tape (from a crumbling off air!). It isn't the Minstrel aspect that is a problem. It's the jokes. Keith Harris has a puppet python who tells him something along the lines of the other snakes don't like him beacause he's a 'Puff' Adder (as in 'Cream Puff'). Meanwhile, another puppet is a leprechaun who makes the 'Lucky Charms' commercials seem quite realistic in depiction of native Ireland. Every 'thick' 'Paddy' etc etc joke is dragged out. There is also the issue of the 'Warty Mellon', 'God's Chillun' type scenarios which sometimes appeared. If you were in a minority group, there were jokes aplenty. The strange thing was that they weren't the more sophisticated humour of say 'Round the Horne', but crude an obvious like an adult version of the Beano, or an early Viz. It is also incredibly naff by todays standards. The orchestrations of quality songs were reduced to readers digest easy listening pap. The camerawork is uninspired and there are buckets of fake pathos. Plenty of greasy hair cream and flares too!

[H Hartley]

I dont remember seeing a whole show, but didnt realise it was as bad as that naff wise. I should imagine it was one of those shows which the BBC staff just sleepwalked through, because old Billy and son thought it was the dog's dinner.

Harrowgate film and TV museum i believe has an epiosde on view to the public

[Laurence Piper]

Sue Briquet?!? Thought handles weren't supposed to be used any more!

[Sue Briquet]

I've seen several of these shows again in archive copies and am impressed by how slick they are. Unless I'm mistaken, they went out live every week and this was a test of real professionalism.
As for the unsophisticated humour, well that, surely, was part of the minstrel tradition. Such jokes as,
"Today I heard something which really opened my eyes.
What was it?
An alarm clock."
and,
"Do you know what the difference is between a girl and a horse?
No.
Whew! I bet you've had some peculiar dates!"
were being told in minstrel shows long before the TV show was screened. Personally I find them more amusing than the sort of bodily function/sanitary towel "humour" dispensed by the likes of Jo Brand, Alan Davies, Graham Norton and others these days.
Also, I wonder, was the reputed poor programming - (and was it so poor?) -in the Cotton era really responsible for The Minstrels' success. Certainly it was a popularity which stayed with them in a show which ran for years in London's theatreland. Was there no competition there either? I doubt it.

[Andy Henderson]

It started off as a very slick entertainment. Somewhere along the switch to bbc-2, it went off the rails and the humour became more suited to adult programming. The one I saw was recorded and was bereft of quaint mistrel jokes.

[Laurence Piper]

Mistrel jokes? Jokes about windy weather conditions in southern France and beyond, Andy?

[Henry]

Its good to see a positive response for one of my favourite programes,dont forget it won the Montreux prize in 1965 thanks to George Innes production,but the most remarkable effort must be given to George Mitchell.George picked out all the songs and re-orchestrated all of them,strung them together in only one week!!.a feat matched by Spike Milligan writting a Goon Show a week.Yes the show did deteriorate in the end,it was a mistake to bring on keith Harris and Pam Ayres,but what a difference to the 60s shows with George Chisholm and Semprini,also Crowther who was not a bad singer and pianist.Although the BBC are unwilling to concede publicaly it was the most watched show of the time,its sickening that George Mitchell went to his grave thinking he was a racialist,instead,The Black and White Minstrel Show should be one of televisions triumphes,alongside Dr Who,The Avengers,I Claudius,The Forsite Saga etc.

[Simon Mclean]

You'd certainly never realise just how massive the Minstrels were, looking at accounts of TV history - it tends to be swept under the carpet, or treated as a brief unpleasant episode in BBC history.

It may be a bit of an embarrassment, but in the interests of accuracy it should be discussed, and not just in a 'Gasp! How shocking!' kind of way.

The only real clue as to how popular they were is the number of Minstrel LPs clogging up charity shops!

[Andy Henderson]

'Mistrel jokes? Jokes about windy weather conditions in southern France and beyond, Andy?'

My goodness Laurence! You should be on the stage (scaffold?) with that razor sharp wit! ;-)

[Laurence Piper]

...and not at all blunted by the apathy of TV archives either! Gasp!