TLDR: Amen brought Sherman Hemsley back to network television just one year after leaving The Jeffersons, this time set in his own real hometown. His costar’s own life took an even more dramatic turn before the cameras ever rolled, becoming an actual minister before he ever played a fictional one.
Amen premiered on NBC on September 27, 1986, produced by Johnny Carson’s Carson Productions and set deliberately in Sherman Hemsley’s real hometown of Philadelphia.
The show ran five seasons and 110 episodes through May 1991, part of a wave of successful NBC sitcoms built around predominantly Black casts that also included The Cosby Show, A Different World, and 227.
It Was the First Hit Sitcom Built Around a Black Church
Hemsley played Deacon Ernest Frye, an attorney with a considerable disregard for legal ethics, opposite Clifton Davis as Reverend Reuben Gregory, a younger, idealistic minister the deacon regularly clashed with.
Jet magazine described the show at the time as capturing “the political as well as humorous side of this centuries-old institution,” a genuinely rare focus for network comedy at the time.
Clifton Davis Had Actually Become a Minister Before He Played One
Davis has spoken candidly about a genuinely difficult period in his life before Amen, describing years as a heavy cocaine user who nearly died from an overdose.
He’s said a family intervention, with relatives holding an all-night prayer vigil for him, marked the real turning point. “I knelt down and prayed, and my life began to change from that moment on,” he said.
In 1981, Davis left Hollywood entirely, earned a Bachelor’s degree in Theology and a Master’s degree in Divinity, and became a licensed minister, serving as assistant pastor at Loma Linda Seventh Day Adventist Church in California throughout the show’s run.
He returned to acting specifically for the role of Reverend Gregory, a genuine case of his real life directly informing the character.
Davis has kept working steadily since, including a run on CBS’s Madam Secretary and a 2024 casting in the soap opera Beyond the Gates, alongside a real songwriting career predating all of it: he wrote the Jackson 5’s number two hit “Never Can Say Goodbye” in 1971.
His Costar Built a Long Career of Her Own Afterward
Anna Maria Horsford played Thelma Frye, the deacon’s daughter, across the show’s full run.
She continued working steadily afterward, including a lead role on The WB’s The Wayans Bros. and a dramatic turn on FX’s The Shield, along with guest appearances on shows including The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air and The Bernie Mac Show.
Sherman Hemsley Never Explained the Ending Quite the Same Way Twice
In a later interview, Hemsley offered his own theory for why the show ended when it did, tying it directly to the show’s production company. “Because it was Johnny Carson’s show, and since he was leaving NBC that year, he just took everything with him, including the show,”
Hemsley said, though the exact reasoning behind the cancellation has never been definitively confirmed elsewhere.
You can read more about Hemsley’s fuller career, including his years on The Jeffersons, in our full guide to that show.
Amen, Frequently Asked Questions
Was Clifton Davis a real minister before Amen?
Yes, he became an ordained minister in the early 1980s, years before being cast as Reverend Reuben Gregory, following a personal turnaround from cocaine addiction.
Why was Amen set in Philadelphia?
The show was deliberately set in Sherman Hemsley’s real hometown.
Did Clifton Davis write any famous songs?
Yes, he wrote the Jackson 5’s number two hit “Never Can Say Goodbye” in 1971, years before his acting career on Amen.
Why did Amen get cancelled?
Sherman Hemsley suggested the show’s cancellation was tied to Johnny Carson, whose production company made the show, leaving NBC that year, though the exact reasoning has never been definitively confirmed.
