History Series / Amen

* CitizenshipMarriage: Deacon Frye fakes a marriage to Inga so she could fool an INS agent and stay in the country. [[spoiler: The INS agent was really a messenger from her attorney's office; he was bringing a letter telling Inga that she received a six-month extension on her visa.]]

%% * GettingCrapPastThe Radar: Due to overwhelming and persistent misuse, GCPTR is on-page examples only until 01 June 2021. If you are reading this in the future, please check the trope page to make sure your example fits the current definition.

* TeenPregnancy: A young member of the choir is pregnant and Reverend Gregory tries to kick her out. Surprisingly, Deacon Frye defends her [[spoiler: after he delivers her baby]]. He also convinces the baby's father to marry her in a later episode.

* WhyDidItHaveToBeSnakes: Deacon Frye has a fear of snakes and overcomes it by [[spoiler: being locked in a room with one that's in a tank-- until it escapes and wraps itself around him!]]

* HeyLetsPutOnAShow: The “talent show” episodes in the third and fourth season, plus the fund-raising telethon in the series’ two-part finale.
* HollywoodDateless: Thelma, who despite constantly complaining about her lack of a social life, actually dates a decent amount of men, nearly marrying one--and that's one of ''several'' who wanted to make her his wife--before getting together with Reverend Gregory.

-->''"Turn on the light from Heaven, Lord''
-->''Shine on me, shine on me"''

-->''"Shine on the light from Heaven, Lord''

A pleasant, somewhat forgotten 1980s sitcom on Creator/{{NBC}}, one of several of the era to feature all-black casts. It lasted from September, 1986 to May, 1991. A total of 110 episodes in five seasons. Set in an urban Philadelphia church, it starred Creator/ShermanHemsley as Deacon Ernest Frye, an attorney with a considerably lacking sense of ethics, and Clifton Davis as the Rev. Reuben Gregory, a young, naive and idealistic minister. Another cast member was Anna Maria Horsford as Frye's 30-something spinster daughter, Thelma.

* CelebrityStar: Music/MCHammer in the episode "Three Men And A Hammer", playing [[ActingForTwo both himself and the flamboyant Reverend Pressure]], encouraging Clarence not to drop out of school.

* ChuckCunninghamSyndrome: Inga, Cassieta, Jeanette, Lorenzo (the choir director)

* DeadpanSnarker: Rollie (Jester Hairston) is a textbook example. Many of the funniest lines are his pithy, sarcastic asides and reactions.

* TheFriendNobodyLikes: Ernie. Neither Cassietta, Amelia, or Rollie ever seem to have anything nice to say about him, but they all hang out quite regularly.

[[quoteright:200:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/ages_7829.jpeg]]

A pleasant, somewhat forgotten 1980s sitcom on Creator/{{NBC}}, one of several of the era to feature all-black casts. It lasted from September, 1986 to May, 1991. A total of 110 episodes in five seasons. Set in an urban Philadelphia church, it starred Creator/ShermanHemsley as Deacon Ernest Frye, an attorney with a considerably lacking sense of ethics, and Creator/CliftonDavis as the Rev. Reuben Gregory, a young, naive and idealistic minister. Another cast member was Creator/AnnaMariaHorsford as Frye's 30-something spinster daughter, Thelma.

* LeaningOnTheFourthWall: The opening credits are Ernest pulling into the parking lot and walking through the church sanctuary. In the pilot episode, the action picks up with him continuing his walk into the church offices.

A pleasant, somewhat forgotten 1980s sitcom on Creator/{{NBC}}, one of several of the era to feature all-black casts. It lasted from September, 1986 to May, 1991. A total of 110 episodes in five seasons. Set in an urban Philadelphia church, it starred Creator/ShermanHemsley as Deacon Ernest Frye, an attorney with a considerably lacking sense of ethics, and Creator/CliftonDavis as the Rev. Reuben Gregory, a young, naive and idealistic minister. Another cast member was Creator/AnnaMariaHorsfold as Frye's 30-something spinster daughter, Thelma.

A pleasant, somewhat forgotten 1980s sitcom on Creator/{{NBC}}, one of several of the era to feature all-black casts. It lasted from September, 1986 to May, 1991. A total of 110 episodes in five seasons. Set in an urban Philadelphia church, it starred Sherman Hemsley as Deacon Ernest Frye, an attorney with a considerably lacking sense of ethics, and Clifton Davis as the Rev. Reuben Gregory, a young, naive and idealistic minister. Another cast member was Anna Maria Horsford as Frye's 30-something spinster daughter, Thelma.

--> "I didn't know my mother very well, but I'm certain she would be as ''disgusted'' with you two as I am!"

* YesVirginia: In the ChristmasEpisode "Miracle on 134th Street", Frye must defend a department-store Santa against an assault charge--he punched a man who was ridiculing him. Despite initially thinking that the man is bonkers, Frye comes to believe that he is in fact, truly Santa Claus and decides to use ''this'' as his defense. Sure enough, his identity is proven in court after reading a letter that the prosecutor wrote to him as a young boy. At the end of the episode, Frye receives a train set that he had always wanted, [[MaybeMagicMaybeMundane apparently as a reward for being "good"]].

* YouLookFamiliar: The actor John Hancock who originally played in the pilot episode as the first Reverend of the church who quits and leaves Philadelphia because of being fed up with Deacon Frye, returns as a completely different character for Season 5 for two episodes. This could be considered an example of RecastAsARegular, however the character he played in Season 5 was only a recurring character and did not become a part of the main cast.

* GettingCrapPastTheRadar: A widowed man begs the Reverend and the Deacon to help him find a new wife, because it's been a long time since his wife died, and he has "''very strong needs''". Later, after Thelma and Reuben marry, he apparently deals with a bout of impotency. Never stated outright, of course, but his uneasy rebuffing of her advances hint at it pretty strongly.

** Reuben's backstory includes a fiancee who did this to ''him'', thus explaining his reluctance to propose to Thelma. And earlier in the series, Rolly nearly does this to his fiance after some OutOfContextEavesdropping that makes it sound as though she's bad-mouthing him.
* SassyBlackWoman: The Hettabrink Sisters, Thelma

* SecondLove: Thelma to Reuben given his fiancee ditching him on their wedding day.

* AesopAmnesia: Thelma and Deacon Frye are the most egregious offenders.

----
!! Episodes of this series provide examples of:
* TwentyFourHourPartyPeople: The 15 or so people that we've never seen before who attend Thelma's bridal shower.
* ArmedFarces: A six-episode arc in the fourth season has Thelma joining the Army, with [[HilarityEnsues predictable results]], despite initially presenting herself as a very competent would-be soldier.
** Thelma was a very competent soldier--she made it through basic training--and most likely would have had a decent military career (and a man who didn't need more time to marry her) if marrying the reverend wasn't her all-consuming life's goal.
* BearsAreBadNews: In one episode, Frye injures [[AgonyOfTheFeet his foot]] while on a hiking retreat. While he's resting it in his cabin, a bear shows up and starts licking him (or more specifically, his injured foot) for [[RuleOfFunny no apparent reason]] until Thelma chases it out.
* ClassReunion: Thelma
* DisguisedInDrag: Reuben and Ernie (mustache and all) dress as [[PaperThinDisguise very unconvincing]] female recruits in order to sneak into Thelma's Army camp.
* FunnyBackgroundEvent: One of the performances during the telethon is a duet of "Endless Love" between Thelma and Reuben. When he sings, the screen behind him shows the amount of donations rising--$800, $900, etc. But when she sings, the amount drops to the point that he has to wrestle away the microphone lest they lose everything.
** In another episode, as the panicking group is trapped in Thelma and Reuben's apartment during a fire, Rolly can be seen reading the paper as calmly and leisurely as if this were a lazy Sunday afternoon instead of a life and death situation.
* HeyLetsPutOnAShow: The “talent show” episodes in the third and fourth season, plus the fund-raising telethon in the series’ two-part finale.
* PassiveAggressiveKombat: ''Santa Claus'' of all people does this to Reuben's mother when she asks him if he remembers what she asked him for when she was a little girl.
--> "I'm afraid I don't. But that was an ''awfully'' long, ''long'' time ago."
** The FridgeBrilliance of this moment is that this is likely his way of punishing her for her own tendency to display this trope to her daughter-in-law Thelma.
* OnOneCondition: An elderly parishioner dies and leaves her successful restaurant to the church. They can use some of the profits for church projects, if they keep the restaurant open. HilarityEnsues
* ScrewTheRulesIHaveMoney: A very rich parishioner offers the church a huge amount of money if Reverend Gregory finds him a woman to marry. Of course he refuses to help and Deacon Frye gladly offers up Thelma.
* TeenPregnancy: A young member of the choir is pregnant and Reverend Gregory tries to kick her out. Surprisingly, Deacon Frye defends her [[spoiler: after he delivers her baby]]. He also convinces the baby's father to marry her in a later episode.

* WholePlotReference: The abovementioned episode "Miracle On 134th Street" is obviously based on ''Film/MiracleOnThirtyFourthStreet''
** The final minutes of "Unforgettable" are clearly based on ''Film/{{Casablanca}}'', with Ernie urging Claire to return to ex-boyfriend.
* WhyDidItHaveToBeSnakes: Deacon Frye has a fear of snakes and overcomes it by [[spoiler: being locked in a room with one that's in a tank-- until it escapes and wraps itself around him!]]