I'm sure this has been asked before but how come Mama's Family hasn't come to DVD?

Is there some sort of rights issues or something that is holding it back from coming to DVD?

Or does NBC just not wanna put it out?

:confused:

There are none that I know of (since MF didn't center around music). Warner Bros. owns the rights to MF from what I know. Currently, Warner Bros. is having their 50th anniversary this year and plans to put out a bunch of new titles. Not all of them have been announced, so I am hoping one of those will be MF...we can only hope.

Also...currently, the standings for MF on TVShowsOnDVD.com is looking REALLY good. Its standings are a lot higher than what it originally was when the thread (the one about getting it on DVD that is stickied on this board) was started in mid-2003.

I hope it does get released onto DVD!

I used to watch it when I was little...well I think I did because when I stayed up to watch some over the summer on TBS I recgonized the theme song...my mother has been a fan of it ever since it first came on.

I think it's very deserving to be on DVD! :cool:

You speak for everybody else here with that statement! I agree wholeheartedly with you 100% there. :D When it happens, it better be packed with a lot of cool stuff! (including the 5 lost eps) I'll settle for nothing less! ;)

I was born between MF's NBC and syndicated years (I was about 10 months old when Mama's Family returned to syndication in 1986) so I very vaguely remember seeing some of the MF episodes when they first aired. I remember a lot of the TV shows that were on back then, because my parents were huge fans of the TV shows that were on in the 80's and carried on into the 90's.

It's nice to see you 'round those parts! :D

Hey...I just realized we're both Leos! Rock on! :cool:

I wish it would come to DVD because odds that TBS will keep the show on the air is slim. TBS never keeps shows for long, and MF has been on TBS for nearly 10 years. I don't know if TVLAND or any networks would pick it up.

Hey...I just realized we're both Leos! Rock on! :cool:
:cool:

I read somewhere that Mama's Family is considered to have a big following from Senior Citizens whom Warner thinks don't own DVD players and think that if they release the show on DVD it won't sell :mad:

I read somewhere that Mama's Family is considered to have a big following from Senior Citizens whom Warner thinks don't own DVD players and think that if they release the show on DVD it won't sell :mad:
I saw something like that posted by someone on another Mama's Family message board, maybe the same one you saw it on. I take that with a grain of salt. I don't think the people at Warner are stupid enough to really think something like that, ...are they?

I saw something like that posted by someone on another Mama's Family message board, maybe the same one you saw it on. I take that with a grain of salt. I don't think the people at Warner are stupid enough to really think something like that, ...are they?
I highly doubt it. Everybody thought old fogies only watched The Andy Griffith Show and look - the first season is on DVD now. They've (not WB) released some TV shows I've never even heard of - "My Big Fat Greek Show" or something like that. It was on for only a season or so and it's on DVD. WTF?

"The Family" was a hugely popular skit on "The Carol Burnett Show" and it had great numbers when it eventually spun off and went into syndication. WB would be making a HUGE HUGE HUGE mistake if they never released it to DVD. I want the first season on DVD by the end of 2006. That should give WB enough time to get their act together and do something right for once. ;)

If what they said is true then why is The Golden Girls out on DVD?

If what they said is true then why is The Golden Girls out on DVD?


Yeah I agree.

Maybe Warner will surprise us and release Mama's Family on DVD for the 50th anniversary celebration. I think it would be cool if there was a way to contact Vicki Lawrence maybe she could help get the show out on DVD. It can sometimes help when stars express interest in seeing their show on DVD :)

Yeah I agree.

Maybe Warner will surprise us and release Mama's Family on DVD for the 50th anniversary celebration. I think it would be cool if there was a way to contact Vicki Lawrence maybe she could help get the show out on DVD. It can sometimes help when stars express interest in seeing their show on DVD :)
I had my chance to talk to her about that in October and I couldn't talk to her about it then! Too many other people waiting in line behind me to meet her. :mad:

I had my chance to talk to her about that in October and I couldn't talk to her about it then! Too many other people waiting in line behind me to meet her. :mad:
Maybe one of the other people in line asked her about it

Maybe one of the other people in line asked her about it
Doubt it. Like I said in another thread...When I saw her in October, 9,000 people turned out to see her (it was a HUGE venue and she was playing at a national festival - the Norsk Høstfest). They ushered groups of like...30-40 people (I think) at a time to meet her. I was in the 2nd group, and I had to wait for about 45-60 minutes before it was my turn to meet her. =/ So, if I had to guess...maybe about 300 people got to meet her that night. I was lucky to even talk to her at all, other than her asking me for my name when she was signing a picture for me.

I guess all we can do is just keep voting......:)

Well, I just checked on the WB 50th anniversary promotion thing, since WB has the rights to MF...I don't see MF on the list of DVD releases for throughout the year! Damn you, WB! :soapbox:

http://www.tvshowsondvd.com/newsitem.cfm?NewsID=2701

I guess all we can do is just keep voting......:)


You do know you can only vote once? :)

And Allison, Pav said he didn't think that was all of the shows that were to be released, that he thinks there might be a few more not on their, check the 2005 TV DVD Release List, he mentions it there :)

This post is pretty lengthy, but I think after reading you may come to a better understanding, as did I, about a

strong possibility as to why "Mama's Family" has not yet been released on DVD.

Most television shows on DVD at least get Season 1 to test the water's and see how sale's do. While "Mama's Family"

may have had a bumpy road in it's time on the air, the point is company's are interested in what the consumer will

buy, and the best way to do this is make it available and see what sells and what doesn't. But "Mama's Family" hasn't

even gotta THAT much of a chance. So the question is "Why?" and I think I may be able to explain it.

First, what we need to do, is find out why TBS stopped airing the episode "Gert Rides Again." While it may not seem

like one has to do with the other, I have a theory that may change your thinking.

It starts with the television program "School House Rock!", trust me, it'll all make sense, just keep reading. First

we must start from the beginning.

In 1979, a short called "The Weather Show" was produced by the Schoolhouse Rock! Team. It was part of the Science

section of Schoolhouse Rock's educational musical shorts. The thing is however, that this particular short, never

aired on television. Instead, it sat around for eight years, until 1987, to be exact. In 1987, Golden Book Video

released 4 VHS tapes of "Schoolhouse Rock!", "Grammar Rock!", "Multiplication Rock!", "Science Rock!" and "History

Rock!". Cloris Leachman, best known for her roles in "Young Frankenstein" and "The Facts Of Life", was our host, along

with a group of children who sang brief intro's and outro's to some of the shorts, throughout all four tapes. The 4

VHS tape collection was in fact not complete at it's time of release, three songs "The Good Eleven", "Little

Twelvetoes", and "Three-Ring Government" were all omitted for one reason or another. What's important though was that

"The Weather Show" was in fact to make it's debut on these video tapes.

The final verse of "The Weather Show" is as follows:

That's the weather folks,
You got your money's worth.
Hot or cold or soakin' wet,
Hey, how lucky can you get?
The weather show's the greatest show,
The greatest show on Earth!
(Loud Thunder Clap)
Yes Sir!

Now, sometime between 1987 and 1995, Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus began to have a problem with the last

line "The greatest show on Earth!", since the copyright to use such saying belonged to them. So they filed a lawsuit

against the School House Rock! crew. Whatever came of the case, I'm not 100% sure. But it did lead to "Schoolhouse

Rock!" removing "The Weather Show" from all future releases, including the 1995 reissue of their video shorts on VHS,

and the "Schoolhouse Rock!" 4 CD boxset, which contains every other song from the series.

In 2002, Disney announced the release of "Schoolhouse Rock!" on DVD. Proudly mentioning that the "Long Lost Song: The

Weather Show" would be included in this DVD. The front cover of the two disc DVD set even went so far as to boast

"Contains every Schoolhouse Rock! song EVER!"

As a long time fan, I purchased this DVD the day it was released, and when I checked out "The Weather Show" to see how

Disney had dealt with the issue, I was in a complete state of shock. When the last verse came around, this is how it

went:

That's the weather folks,
You got your money's worth.
Hot or cold or soakin' wet,
Hey, how lucky can you get?
The weather show's the greatest show,
The greatest show
(Loud Thunder Clap)
Yes Sir!

That's right, Disney just did a, in my opinion, very bad cut and paste job and removed those two little words, that

had earlier ruffled the circus' feathers.

So, what does this have to do with "Mama's Family" you ask.

Well, I always had my suspicions on why TBS had stopped airing "Gert Rides Again." I had heard of network's limiting

or all together pulling an episode of a show for being too racy, or controversial, or what have you. But "Gert" is

none of those things. Besides maybe one or two innocent innuendo's, the episode is suitable for any age. I mean, let's

be honest if TBS still airs the episode of "Mama's Family" where Iola says "I'm was a home economics major, I know how

to lay a table" to which Naomi response "Yeah, that's about the only thing", that is definitely a lot more risque than

anything "Gert" has to offer. (On a side note, the first time I heard Naomi say that line I was like "OH MY GOD! SHE

DID NOT!! just say that!..lol.) So why did TBS stop airing "Gert Rides Again", something MUST have happened for them

to all of a sudden stop showing the episode. Now, it could honestly be for a number of reason's.

The guests at the nursing home sing "Happy Birthday (To You)" to Gert. Royalties do have to be paid, no matter how

cheap they may be, for the use of that song. In fact, I'm almost sure that John Water's removed "Happy Birthday (To

You)" from the DVD release of "Pink Flamingos" because of that reason. I do remember reading that somewhere. But

anyway, the song "Chariots Of Fire" is also used when the nursing home guests play musical chairs. Perhaps, royalties

have to be paid for using the song. Mama and Gert also sing a song together in the nursing home, perhaps royalties

have to be paid for that as well. So, so far that's three songs TBS would have to pay royalties to use. But it happens

all the time especially with TV Shows on DVD that because of royalties and what have you, music has to be changed. It

could have been done rather than just cut the episode from the TBS line up completely. So, I have another theory, and

I really do believe that this may very well be the case. Perhaps, Imogene Coca's family (Ms. Coca plays Gert in the

"Gert Rides Again" episode of "Mama's Family") is seeking royalties for the use of this episode. Ms. Coca died in

2001. Was this not around the same time TBS stopped airing the "Gert Rides Again" episode of "Mama's Family"?

That brings us to the DVD release of "Mama's Family" as well. Warner Bros., if it was an issue of "how well is this

gonna sell", could do, as I said, what many other television releases on DVD have done. Where a few episodes, or just

the first season is done, and then the possible release of further seasons is based on those sales. But there has to

be something stopping TBS from airing "Gert Rides Again", and there has to be something stopping "Mama's Family" from

being released on DVD.

I mean, as a Mama's Family fan, and I'm sure a lot of you can relate, comments are made by friends, like "Why would

anyone be obsessed with Mama's Family?" and "I mean, it's okay, It's not THAT funny." But we shrug it off, knowing

that no matter how many times we see them the episodes are just as funny as they were the first time. Is that enough

to convince Warner to release "Mama's Family" on DVD? No. But I'll tell you what it.

"Mama's Family" has been airing on TBS now for years, two times a day. Obviously more than a few people are watching

otherwise, it wouldn't be on anymore. Every time a Carol Burnett special or reunion is on, it's always #1 for that

week, or at least night. And from reading the message boards, we know Vicki's Two Woman Show is always sold out. So

while we may be the only one's bold enough to admit it, there's a ton of closet Mama fans out there.

But, Disney is a billion dollar company, and for a release as big as School House Rock! they were not willing to work

out a deal, or dish out some extra bucks, and present "The Weather Show" in it's entirety. Two words, "on earth", and

that was just too much for Disney to have to deal with. So if, the problem with "Mama's Family" has to do with

royalties. I mean let's be honest, if Disney is not gonna dish out the bucks for two words, Warner is not going to

dish out the bucks for a 30 minute episode of "Mama's Family." They proved that point already, by having TBS pull

"Gert" from their line up. They can't very well do what Disney did and just cut out the problematic parts, because I

mean what good is "Gert Rides Again" with no Gert!!!

Like I said, this is just a theory, but it seems to make a lot of sense to me, and does answer two of the biggest

questions in the "Mama's Family" community which are "Why doesn't TBS show 'Gert Rides Again'" and "Why isn't 'Mama's

Family' out on DVD?"

Maybe I'm completely off the mark, but I don't think so, what do you guys and gals think?

Also, attached is a zip file which contains both the original and edited ending to "The Weather Show", so you can all

hear what it is what I was talking about in the post.

- Scott

I understand what your saying and have suspected this for awhile. the companies can get sued if they aren't careful. an example is the Disney movie "Lady and The Tramp" when it was first released on VHS in 1988 it was pulled, because Peggy Lee who voiced a character said her contract never mentioned the show being released on VHS, which VHS wasn't available when she signed her contract. This held up the movies return to video for years. there might be some copyright problems with Mama's Family.