The Black and White Minstrel Show was a British television series that ran from 1958 until 1978. It was a weekly light entertainment and variety show presenting traditional American 'Deep South' and Country songs, as well as show and Music Hall numbers, usually performed in blackface, and with lavish costumes. 1958 was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 1978 was a common year starting on Sunday (the link is to a full 1978 calendar). ... A variety show is a show with a variety of acts, often including music and comedy skits, especially on television. ... Music Hall is a form of British theatrical entertainment which reached its peak of popularity between 1850 and 1960. ... This reproduction of a 1900 minstrel show poster, originally published by the Strobridge Litho Co. ...

The show was first broadcast on the BBC on June 14, 1958. It began as a one-off special featuring the male Mitchell Minstrels (after George Mitchell, the manager) and the female Television Toppers dancers in 1957. It was popular and soon developed into a regular 45 minute show on Saturday evenings, featuring both solo and minstrel pieces (often with extended segueing) as well as "comedy interludes". It was produced by George Inns with George Mitchell was musical director. The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) was formed in 1927 by means of a royal charter. ... June 14 is the 165th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (166th in leap years), with 200 days remaining. ... 1958 was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... George Mitchell (27 February 1917-August, 2002) was a Scottish musician, best known for having devised the long-running Black and White Minstrel Show. ... 1957 was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The minstrel show, or minstrelsy, is an indigenous form of American entertainment consisting of comic skits, variety acts, dancing, and music, usually performed by white people in blackface. ... In music, segue is a direction to the performer. ...

Audiences regularly exceeded 16 million. The Mitchell Minstrels also had a stage show which ran for 6,477 performances from 1960-1972. The show won a Golden Rose at Montreux in 1961 for best light entertainment programme and the first three albums of songs (1960-1962) all did extremely well, the first two being long-running number ones in the British album chart. 1960 was a leap year starting on Friday (link will take you to calendar). ... 1972 was a leap year that started on a Saturday. ... The Rose dOr (or Golden Rose) is a highly prestigious television award, given annually since 1961 at the Festival Rose dOr in spring each year. ... Montreux is a resort town in the Canton of Vaud, Switzerland, on Lake Geneva with a population of 22,897. ... 1961 was a common year starting on Sunday (link will take you to calendar). ... 1960 was a leap year starting on Friday (link will take you to calendar). ... 1962 was a common year starting on Monday (link will take you to calendar). ...

While the show was being made in (genuine) black-and-white, the 'blackface' was actually red make-up shot through filters, so appearing solid black. The show moved to colour in 1967. Black-and-white (or variations including Black and White) can refer to a general term used in photography, film, and other media (see black-and-white). ... 1967 was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

The show was attacked as racist, a "cultural obscenity", by some, from the early 1960s. However the programme was not generally perceived as racist at the time by people outside the United States, and it was sold to many parts of the world, including many African countries. Under increasing pressure the show tried a 'whiteface' variant in the 1970s with a resulting loss in viewing figures. Towards the end of the run the black British comedian Lenny Henry, just starting his career, appeared in the stand-up comedy slots. Early in his career, Don MacLean was a minstrel. The last show was on July 1, 1978. Its cancelling was part of a wider reduction in variety programming on British television. The 1960s, or The Sixties, in its most obvious sense refers to the decade between 1960 and 1969, but the expression has taken on a wider meaning over the past twenty years. ... This article provides extensive lists of events and significant personalities of the 1970s. ... Lenny Henry, CBE (born Lenny Hinton on August 29, 1958 in Dudley, West Midlands) is a British entertainer, whose family moved to the UK from Jamaica in the 1950s. ... Richard Pryor hits the money line A stand-up comedian or stand-up comic is someone that performs in comedy clubs, usually reciting a fast paced succession of amusing stories, short jokes and one-liners, typically called a monologue. ... Don MacLean is a British comedian, born 11th March, 1944, who hosted BBC television series Crackerjack with Michael Aspel, Peter Glaze, and Jan Hunt in the 1970s. ... July 1 is the 182nd day of the year (183rd in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 183 days remaining. ... 1978 was a common year starting on Sunday (the link is to a full 1978 calendar). ...