Ok, let's talk about Aunt Fran. What are everybody's favorite moments and one-liners? I think my favorite is in the episode "Mama's Boyfriend":

"Well I followed the directions...45 degrees for 350 minutes!"

:lol:

There's so much more, but I can't think right now, so everybody, discuss!

I love the episode when Aunt Fran gives everyone lemonade back at the house after the school dance, where the theme was supposed to be PUNK. And Sonja asks "What is this?" and Aunt Fran goes "It's lemonade" and Sonja goes "Why is it pink?" and Aunt Fran goes "I guess it's PUNK LEMONADE!"

It's not THAT funny, but it's the way Frannie says it. Like she's trying to hold herself back from uncontrolable laughter, that makes me crack up every time.

One of my favorite Aunt Fran moments comes from the "Alien Marriage" episode. Mama says, "Zenada, sit-a sit-a." And then Fran says, "Thelma, she's a Portugese, not a Pekinese!" That's my favorite part of that episode. :lol:

I liked when Naomi first started appearing and whenever she would look at or start to walk towards Aunt Fran, Aunt Fran would get all nervous and fidgety and try to get away as fast as she could!:lol:

I also liked when Fran was trying to repeat what Mama had told her over the telephone so she could tell off her boss, and she got it all mixed up, "Well, if you would just eat your dessert, you wouldn't need to be hankering for meals at home!"(I know that's not right, but I can't remember exactly what she said right now, but it was just funny how she said it)

It's gotta be the episode "Fran's Dress", which is one of my favorite episodes. The way she comes down those stairs with the "new" dress on is priceless and her comedic timing was perfect.

Fran: It just doesn't hang right...

I love this episode!

It's so great to see all the Frannie love here...she was one of the most consistent laugh-getters in the NBC years. She sadly devolved from original character concept to a generally "peripheral" family member, but Rue did a fantastic job of making the most of what she had!

Vicki Lawrence herself said of Rue's comedy on Shop With NBC (when promoting the box set), "And if you watch her, you'll see that she never missed one opportunity to squeeze everything she could out of a line!"---and she was right!

I haven't seen any of the NBC-era shows in years. I know Rue reportedly was not very happy with the role.

I haven't seen any of the NBC-era shows in years. I know Rue reportedly was not very happy with the role.

Yup, in fact, Aunt Fran wasn't actually supposed to be a prissy character, but was instead supposed to be more sexually active, sort of akin to her later character of Blanche on The Golden Girls. Unfortunately, however, the producers were just so impressed with Dorothy Lyman's performance as Opal on All My Children, that they decided to make her character, Naomi, be the sexpot.

Yup, in fact, Aunt Fran wasn't actually supposed to be a prissy character, but was instead supposed to be more sexually active, sort of akin to her later character of Blanche on The Golden Girls. Unfortunately, however, the producers were just so impressed with Dorothy Lyman's performance as Opal on All My Children, that they decided to make her character, Naomi, be the sexpot.

Rue actually never mentioned anything about "sexiness", she just said she was to be Mama's main foil, the main conflict. But then the producers created Naomi for Dorothy instead and she became Mama's main conflict.