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''Amen'' is an American Television Sitcom produced by Carson Productions that ran from September 27 , 1986 to May 11 , 1991 on NBC . The African American Sitcom starred Sherman Hemsley (of '' The Jeffersons '' and '' All In The Family '' fame) as Deacon Ernest Frye , the head of the First Community Church of Philadelphia . Deacon Frye was often dishonest and frequently got into trouble with his many harebrained schemes. Anna Maria Horsford played Deacon Frye's thirty-seven-year-old Spinster daughter, Thelma Frye . Reverend Rueben Gregory , played by Clifton Davis , was the new, young Pastor of First Community Baptist Church, and also the object of Thelma's affection. The two eventually married during the fourth season, despite the fact that the Reverend and Deacon often butted heads and in the last episode in 1991 , Thelma gave birth to a child. The cast also included Jester Hairston as Senior Citizen Rolly Forbes , who often acted as the voice-of-reason. Davis and Hairston had previously worked together, playing Clifton and Wildcat on the 1970s Sitcom , '' That's My Mama ''. The show also starred Comedian Roz Ryan and Barbara Montgomery as Amelia and Cassietta Hetebrink , a pair of chattering sisters at the Church . Also appearing on the show was Leola Henderson (played by Rosetta LeNoire ), Rolly's love interest and eventual wife. After portraying Leola Forbes for two seasons, LeNoire left the show to star in the hugely successful Sitcom , '' Family Matters '' as Grandma 'Mother' Estelle Winslow. LeNoire was replaced by Montrose Hagins who played the character from 1989 until the series' end in 1991 . For the third and fourth seasons Elsa Raven and Tony T. Johnson joined the cast, with Raven as Swedish Housekeeper Inga, and Johnson portraying Chris, a young boy that lived next door to Deacon Frye. A running gag at this time was Chris coming over to the Deacon's house and saying a smart-alecky comment that would cause one of the adults to pick him up and put him out of the house. Raven and Johnson were dropped from the show in 1990 , with no explanation given for the disappearance of their characters. (See Chuck Cunningham Syndrome .) Barbara Montgomery left the series in 1990 to star on ABC 's '' Married People '', but there was no explanation of her character's absence on the show. In the fifth, and final season, Bumper Robinson joined the cast as Clarence, a young street kid and mentoree of Deacon Frye. ''Amen'' was part of a wave of successful sitcoms on NBC in the 1980s which featured entirely or almost-entirely Black casts. Others included '' The Cosby Show '', '' A Different World '', and '' 227 ''. CAST
THEME SONG The show's theme song ("Shine On Me") was performed by Vanessa Bell Armstrong and written by Andraé Crouch . TRIVIA In real life, Clifton Davis is an ordained Seventh Day Adventist minister. RATINGS RANK ''Amen'' was quite successful in the Nielsen Ratings during the course of its 1986 - 1991 run. EPISODE LIST ''Main article: List Of Amen Episodes '' RERUNS/SYNDICATION Repeats of ''Amen'' currently air on the TV One network. The syndication rights to the series are currently owned by NBC Universal . On , 2007 , the series returned to the ION Television network schedule, airing weekdays at 7 PM Eastern, 6 PM Central. ION Television dropped ''Amen'' with the last showing on June 22, 2007. REFERENCES EXTERNAL LINKS
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