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Mama's Family is an American television sitcom that premiered on NBC on January 22, 1983. It ended its run on that network in May 1984 when it was cancelled, but NBC would continue to air reruns until September 1985. In June 1986, Mama's Family returned in first-run syndication, where it aired for an additional four seasons, ending on March 12, 1990. Mama's Family is a spin-off of a recurring series of comedy sketches called The Family, which appeared on The Carol Burnett Show. Vicki Lawrence as Thelma "Mama" Harper Ken Berry as Vinton Harper Dorothy Lyman as Naomi Oates Harper Carol Burnett as Eunice Higgins Harvey Korman as Ed Higgins & host Alistair Quince Rue McClanahan as Aunt Fran Crowley Betty White as Ellen Harper Jackson Eric Brown as Vinton "Buzz" Harper, Jr. Karin Argoud as Sonja Harper Beverly Archer as Iola Lucille Boylen Allan Kayser as Bubba Higgins The show, set in the small town of Raytown, revolved around a typical squabbling family, headed by Thelma Harper — a buxom, blue-haired, purse-lipped, 65-year-old widow, who is loudmouthed and outspoken. Living with Thelma originally was only her uptight spinster sister Fran, a journalist for a local paper. Thelma's son, Vinton (whose wife, Mitzi, had left him to become a cocktail waitress in Las Vegas, Nevada) and his two children, Sonja and Buzz, moved in with her later. 
During the first season, Vinton forged a relationship with the Harpers' flirtatious next-door neighbor Naomi Oates (whom Thelma had a distaste for), and soon married her. After selling her house and losing the money in a bad business deal Naomi and Vint are forced to move into Thelma's basement, where they remain for most of the show's run. Also seen on a recurring basis were Thelma’s two daughters: the snobbish Ellen (Betty White), and the ornery Eunice (Carol Burnett). Harvey Korman, who directed many of the earlier episodes, made featured appearances as Eunice’s husband, Ed Higgins. During the eleventh and final season of, "The Carol Burnett Show" (1977) the Ed Higgins character was written-out of "The Family" skits, having left Eunice. Korman also appeared at the beginning of each episode as the stuffed shirt Alistair Quince, who would soberly introduce the program in the style of Masterpiece Theatre. These monologues were cut out of the later syndicated reruns and the subsequent DVD release of the first season.After Mama’s Family was cancelled by NBC in 1984, it moved to first-run syndication in 1986. Major cast changes occurred during the convert, with only Vicki Lawrence (Thelma), Ken Berry (Vinton), and Dorothy Lyman (Naomi) returning as regulars from the NBC run. Eric Brown and Karin Argoud, who played Buzz and Sonja in seasons one and two, did not reprise their roles; their characters, though mentioned briefly in the first episode of the third season, were never to be spoken of again. During Mama's Family's hiatus, Rue McClanahan (Aunt Fran) and Betty White (Ellen Jackson) had both gone on to star in the NBC sitcom The Golden Girls, rendering them unavailable to return, although White returned as Ellen for one episode in 1986. Carol Burnett and Harvey Korman, meanwhile, did not reprise their roles either, resulting in their characters (Eunice and Ed Higgins) being written as having moved to Florida. 
To fill the void, Allan Kayser was cast as Thelma’s delinquent teenaged grandson, Bubba Higgins (Ed and Eunice's often mentioned, but never seen, young son from the "Family" sketches on The Carol Burnett Show), who was ordered to stay with the Harpers after being released from Juvenile Hall, and placed on probation. Also added to the cast was Beverly Archer, who played the new character of Iola Boylan, the family’s prissy neighbor; she was known for her catchphrase: "Knock, knock!" As the series continued, more new characters were sporadically brought in to evoke comedic situations.The syndication years saw far less bickering than the NBC years, and particularly The Family sketches. One reason for this is possibly due to the Naomi and Vinton characters becoming far less serious and more dimwitted. Rather, Mama was represented as more of the leader of the family throughout the show's syndication years. A recurring theme throughout the fifth season of the show's syndicated years was Naomi's desire to become a mother. Following through with this, the penultimate season concluded with Naomi's announcement that she was pregnant. Preparation for the baby became a central theme of the sixth and final season. The series finale featured Naomi giving birth to a baby girl, who was named Tiffany Thelma. --taken from Wikipedia If you would like to contact me, please e-mail me at trentlee38@yahoo.com. |