Mama’s Family

Two words OP:

Bubba and Iola.

It's on in an hour and a half.

Where, r2?

Everyone talks about the Bubba Bulge, but I think he had a cute ass.

Catchy Comedy, r3.

Every version!

Catchy Comedy cycles through both versions. But I prefer the second. I don't like Buzz and Sonja.

I thought I didn’t like Mama’s Family because I had only seen the network version. The syndicated version was a riot! They finally found the balance that made a successful sitcom.

Betty White and Rue McClanahan’s talents were underused because the writing just wasn’t there.

The Harper clan of Raytown was one step above trailer park trash.

I wanted Buzz to come back and be Bubba’s bitch bottom

Buzz had a cute lil ass on him.

Bubba had the bulge and was dreamy.

Here’s a podcast interview with Buzz actor Eric Brown. It’s an interesting listen

Allan Kayser on his Bubba Bulge:

I always wore 501s and to this day it’s my pants of choice. I get comments about those jeans all the time, but there’s really not that much going down there. Maybe the camera adds, you know, 10 pounds? [Laughs] They weren’t that snug. Maybe they just fit right? 501s fit me perfectly.

Today is the two-part Mama for Mayor.

Buzz was a nonentity and Karin Argoud looked too old to be playing a high school student. Bubba was better as he had a backstory.

Buzz and Sonja were dull and added nothing. It wasn't Rue McClanahan's finest half-hour, because of the weak writing, but "The Golden Girls" was around the corner. Ken Berry's character lost quite a few IQ points between the network and syndicated versions.

[quote]Everyone talks about the Bubba Bulge, but I think he had a cute ass.

It was the end of the time when they actually understood how to tailor jeans for a guy's body.

[quote]I thought I didn’t like Mama’s Family because I had only seen the network version. The syndicated version was a riot! They finally found the balance that made a successful sitcom.

The syndicated version toned down Mama's abrasiveness, and unhappy nature. Dumbing down Vint and Naomi also worked. The network version was too much dysfunction and drama added into what was supposed to be a sitcom.

I also preferred the syndicated house better. The network house was like an oversized barn.

I hated the show.

R19 = Russell Hitchcock of Air Supply

Is it just me or was Mama meaner and dumber in the network version? She was just a non-stop crank. She seemed a bit more likable in the syndicated version which was more cartoonish.

They made the house smaller for the syndicated episodes. I wonder who was really behind the retooling of the show after it was canceled. They did a great job lightening it up and coming up with a smaller quirkier cast. The network eps were just depressing.

What other older people/character-led shows were there in the 80s? Mama’s Family, The Golden Girls, Murder, She Wrote, Columbo, Matlock, Here’s Lucy. Any others?

Father Dowling.

They only ended the show because they had 100 episodes, which is what you needed for syndication. They made their own hours and did what they wanted when they switched to syndication. I think they might have been the first syndicated sitcom and it was a hit. The network show was a dud. Go figure. Betty White came back for one syndicated Mama’s Family episode and Rue was killed off. Rue hated Mama’s Family and loathed Vicki Lawrence.

Betty and Rue rarely brought up that they had worked together before in Mama’s Family before Golden Girls. They acted like they just met each other in passing.

[quote] The network eps were just depressing.

The Family sketches on The Carol Burnett show were truly dark if one looks beyond the comedic aspects. They provided a glimpse into the dark corners of human behavior.

R27, I was going to say that they were trying to stay with the depressing Family sketches but the network eps were even darker. Badly lit sets. The DVDs are interesting as Harvey Korman, who directed the show, originally opened each episode.

For more Bubba bulge, he was in a movie called Hot Chili that aired every now and then on USA Up All Night. I can't find it streaming anywhere, but there was a scene with him him in tighty whities.

R23, Here’s Lucy was in the late sixties and early seventies.

Life with Lucy was in the eighties - and it was a NATIONAL SENSATION.

To me, Vint and Naomi are what made the show great. And N's antics at the Food Circus always made for a laugh. I too dislike Vint's kids. Both ugly, and perpetual pissed off.

Mama's Family is on the Logo channel all day on Fridays and Sundays.

[quote]What other older people/character-led shows were there in the 80s? Mama’s Family, The Golden Girls, Murder, She Wrote, Columbo, Matlock, Here’s Lucy. Any others?

Later, in the '90s, there was "Diagnosis: Murder" with Dick Van Dyke.

Fran was originally written to be the one that frequently clashed with Mama, but Carol Burnett saw Dorothy Lyman as Opal on All My Children and created Naomi.

Carol Burnett’s divorce from Joe Hamilton who was the EP of mamas family was getting ugly and she only appeared in one episode and did a voiceover for another.

[quote]but the network eps were even darker

What did you find so dark, r28?

[quote]but Carol Burnett saw Dorothy Lyman as Opal on All My Children and created Naomi.

I doubt Carol created her. The story goes that both Vicki and Carol were huge fans of All My Children and got her for the show.

Dorothy Lyman is two years older than Vicki Lawrence.

I loved Dorothy Lyman on All My Children - the only time I ever watched that drippy show.

Once when some talk show had the cast on - Lyman talked about how hectic her schedule was flying back and forth between NYC and LA doing both shows.

Lawrence said: "Yea.....that's why we called her AMC.....All My Cash."

Bubba went nude in a movie too. He now has grandchildren. He married a woman from Raytown. No, really. Here’s a great interview with him. He basically left Hollywood and did every job imaginable and moved around the country. They have a photo of him delivering packages.

Bubba nude.

Vicki Lawrence put him in those jeans.

And probably got him out of them, too.

I rubbed my dick many a time while looking at the Bubba Bulge!

Who owns the rights to Hot Chili and can we petition for a 4K restoration? I need nude Bubba in hi-def

Damn I cant find that Hot Chili ever got a home video/DVD release. And it's not available on Amazon.

R34 Wrong.

Carol did a few episodes of the network versions. After that, she fell out with Joe Hamilton. The syndicated version happened two years later. Carol never appeared on the syndicated version at all, because she was angry that Vicki did it with Joe. Betty While only appeared once on the syndicated version.

I liked the network version better because Eunice was on it from time to time. The syndicated version came off as low rent.

Incidentally, Dorothy Lyman directed half of THE NANNY's episodes (74 out of 146) mainly from Seasons 2-5.

Poor Iola never got her cherry busted. Sigh.

[quote]I liked the network version better because Eunice was on it from time to time.

A little Eunice went a long way. I find the original "Family" sketches from "The Carol Burnett Show" pretty unwatchable now. But then, I find a lot of the sketches from the original variety show pretty unwatchable now, with the exception of the better movie parodies.

R46 not wrong.

Carol appeared in s handful of episodes in the first season, and on the first episode of season 2 and did a voiceover for the mamas birthday episode. Betty White ended up getting written in a few more shows because of it.

Dorothy Lyman as Opal Gardner was a hoot!

R50 yes wrong. You said Eunice was only in one episode of season 1. She was in a few of them. Dummy.

[quote]and did a voiceover for the mamas birthday episode.

That episode was on today. Vicki really shines in it.

They should do one now. Of course Mama needs to be a ghost, but it could be funny.

Let's see. Eunice shows up:

At Vint and Naomi's wedding Part 1 and Part 2

Making Gooseberry jam with Mama, Ellen and Naomi.

Having positive thoughts at the Pepper Pot Playhouse with special guest star Gloria DeHaven.

Landing in "the jug" with Mama and a very funny hooker.

Is that it? Seems like there should be more.

Did Dorothy Lyman ever not play white trash? She seems to be a lesbian today.

Hot Chili is available to watch in full on YouTube for free.

R56 how does she seem to be a lesbian today? Just because she hasn't remarried after her second divorce?

I always wondered why Dorothy didn't direct more after getting good notices for A Coupla White Chicks.

Coming soon to a theater near you?

R55 oh yeah. The Gooseberry jam episode with Eunice was season 2 too.

Do you stand corrected R50?

Mama's family reminded me of the sleepy Little suburb I grew up in and around and my aunt earlene sort of took the mama roll in our family and that she was sort of a mafia don. She was consulted with about pretty much anything mainly because she was the only one that really seemed to have any money and owned a house.

Anybody down on their luck could just go crash at earlenes. in fact that's where my dad first went after my mom kicked him out we ended up there ourselves a few years later after my mom had abandoned us briefly and then kidnapped us back from my dad with a new stepdad and pregnant.

She also always had some sort of scam going or dealing in stolen goods such as lawn mowers and Nintendo's that have been stolen and she would fence. She was also someone you could go to that would trade your food stamps for cash usually I think like 50 cents on the dollar.

heinous

R46/52 rimmed Aunt Effie after she ate a few of Merv Griffins famous chili dogs.

R58, she lives with a woman and posts as a couple.

R60, link doesn’t work.

R62, were you the banjo player in Deliverance?

Ms Lyman didn’t just turn gay. You don’t just turn gay, Rose.

Speaking of Carol Burnett, I happened to tune in to Catchy Comedy earlier tonight just in time to catch my least favorite recurring Burnett sketch of all time, Boss Tudball and Mrs. Wiggins. I saw enough of it to make an interesting discovery: Carol Burnett is actually more unwatchable in this sketch than Tim Conway is.

Dorothy's next play can be A Coupla White Chicks Sitting Around Lezzing.

All they did was SCREAM at each other all the livelong day.

Who did, r71?

I'll bet the neighbors are just LOVIN' this!

IT'S BACK ON!!!

The entire show is available to stream for free through Pluto in the US.

Do you know what my cunt of a cousin did to me when I was younger? The summer before my freshman year of high school, I had the opportunity to spend time with her and her husband. Naturally, I brought my VHS of Mama's family with me, and the crazy bitch took it and put it in a lock box. I had to ask permission to watch it.

Why, r76?

I still do not know to this day, r77, she wanted to watch The Fresh Prince instead? She couldn't stand the reflection in the mirror that our family WAS Mama's family, and she was one of Ellen's unseen daughters, a seething hatred of Vicki Lawrence? An answer she can only make peace with on her deathbed.

I always loved all versions starting with the Eunice skits on the Carol Burnet show. Loved the TV special, have watched it probably about 100 times. The inconsistent characters names/kids etc. has to be abandoned - the only central character seems to be Mama. It was always good writing and direction. My favorite was when Midge Gibson (Joanne Woodward) visits.

Joanne was great as Midge, but I can't help but wish that Elizabeth Montgomery played her. Apparently she and Carol were close friends.

I tried watching this stupid show and couldn't make it past 5 episodes.

I don't think Carol Burnett did the voiceover of Eunice in the syndication episode(s). She is not credited with anything beyond season two. I believe it was either Vicki Lawrence or another actress who did the voiceover. Carol was very angry with Vicki during this period and stopped talking to her due to Vicki working with her ex-husband.

Carol eventually forgave her. I think she realized that Vicki had no talent and could only play Mama and softened her stance on Vicki betraying her.

That said, I know two different people who worked with Vicki. One in the 1980s and one in the 1990s. One described her as a cunt and the other was nicer, and said, "she wasn't pleasant to work with." I've mentioned this before on other threads and having worked with celebrities, the nastiest ones I worked with are those with limited talent who got lucky with a single role or type of role.

Rashomama ep was probably the best ep

My favorites are the film noir detective story takeoff and the one where Naomi has amnesia and Thelma makes her believe she's the perfect homemaker.

I think the only voiceover of Eunice in the syndicated show was bubbas graduation and that was another actress. The actresses that played younger Eunice in the network and syndicated shows were just about perfect, so was Nikki Coc playing little Iola.

I guess carol’s interpretation at the time was that Vicki betrayed her,. Carol asked her about doing a syndicated show of the family characters but Vicki had already signed with Joe Hamilton who owned the Mamas family show. I’m sure part of the deal was that Vicki would get a good share of the back end. It paid off, between the network and syndication the show went over the magic number of 100 episodes and has been in regular reruns for 35 years.

My favorite episode is when Bubba is videotaping interviews with the family but the camera goes on the fritz, making the stories scandalous.

r86 I like that one too! Also the one where Bubba, Mama, and Iola imagine what their lives would be if they were married.

Vicki had a hit singing career. It’s unfair to say she’s one note or has no talent.

If Vicki has her own private plane than clearly she must have done very well for herself on Mama's Family and her music career.

*One* hit record does not a music career make.

Rashomama is a spectacularly good episode but interestingly, they don't give us the "real" account of what happened. Naomi's version is probably closest.

[quote]but interestingly, they don't give us the "real" account of what happened

That's the whole point.

R92, on these sitcom Rashomon's, they will always give a final definite example of what actually happened and how it contradicts the other stories, i.e. the All In the Family Episode where Archie claims he was taken advantage of by workers in his home. Also, Maude had one where her punchbowl is broken.

Carol tells how Maude's punch bowl is broken.

That's nice, r93, but Roshomon does not. That's the point.

Vicki doesn’t have a plane and she didn’t have a singing career.

The network episodes are terrible, which is why the show was canceled. Harvey Corman, who directed the show, originally introduced each episode.

R97 is not R28.

Corman is the kiss of death for any project.

[quote]Rashomama is a spectacularly good episode but interestingly, they don't give us the "real" account of what happened. Naomi's version is probably closest.

Catchy Comedy is having a "Mama's Family" marathon all day today, and I just saw this episode for the first time, before they moved on to the syndicated episodes, which they did fairly quickly.

[quote]Harvey Corman, who directed the show, originally introduced each episode.

Not to be confused with B-movie producer, Roger Korman.

R95, this is a sitcom and that's the sitcom formula. BTW, Mama doesn't have her chance at telling the story.

LoL, your two examples doesn't make it a sitcom "formula", r102.

In your court R103. Name other sitcom episodes where Rashomon is the approach and they don't reveal what actually happened.

Have it your way, r104, it's seems important to you.

On the Good Times Rashomon episode Penny’s version is the truth.