I have recently begun research on the airdates for Mama's Family. I have confirmed the airdates for the NBC seasons are correct, all verified in TV Guide. No issue there. My concern is the airdates for the syndicated years.

First of all the book "The Complete Directory to Primetime Network and Cable TV Shows" lists Mama's Family as beginning in first run syndication in September of 1986, yet we have airdates all over the internet listing beginning in June 1986, (dates that coincidentally match the dates listed in the copyright office catalog). Something that needs to be taken into consideration is the dates in there aren't necessarily the airdates but could be the date the episode was submitted to Library of Congress

http://cocatalog.loc.gov/cgi-bin/Pwebrecon.cgi?DB=local&PAGE=First

Second of all, almost all syndicated television shows always air Fall to Spring, this is the case with: 9 to 5, It's a Living, Small Wonder etc. There is at least an exception which is Too Close for Comfort which aired Spring to Fall.

Thirdly, I've gone through old issues of TV Guide from the Wisconsin markets and I could find no episodes of Mama's Family airing during the summer of 1986. This, however is what I found:

09/27/1986 302 Farewell Frannie
10/04/1986 303 Where There's a Will
10/11/1986 305 Best Medicine
10/18/1986 304 National Mama
10/25/1986 301 Soup to Nuts
11/01/1986 309 Mama and Dr. Brothers
11/08/1986 307 Cat's Meow
11/15/1986 311 The Love Letter
11/22/1986 308 An Ill Wind
11/29/1986 310 Steal One, Pearl Two
12/06/1986 313 Where's There's Smoke
12/13/1986 306 Fly Naomi
12/20/1986 316 Santa Mama
01/10/1987 314 Desperately Seeking Anyone
01/17/1987 315 Porn Again
01/24/1987 317 Have it Mama's Way
01/31/1987 318 Birthright
02/07/1987 312 Grandma USA
02/14/1987 321 Buck Private Bubba
02/21/1987 320 Mama's Cousin
02/28/1987 322 Mama with the Golden Arm
03/07/1987 323 It Takes Two to Watusi
03/14/1987 319 Fangs Alot, Mama
03/21/1987 325 The Best Policy
03/28/1987 324 After the Fall

Now there airdates correspond better, especially if you look at when the holiday episodes (Thanksgiving: An Ill Wind and Christmas: Santa Mama) aired. Another thing, in syndication, it can ususally be thought of as "the weekend of ..." since some markets could air it on Sat or Sun.

What's also unusual about the current airdates online is the fact that it seems the episodes in syndication were first aired in production order, which is very unlikely. Almost every sitcom out there, except in the case of a serialized show like Soap or Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman, had episodes that were aired out of production order.

I've begun looking at TV Guides for the last seasons of the series and the dates online do not match as well. So my question, can anyone prove me wrong? I'm almost certain the airdates are wrong online and once one website has airdates listed for something it spreads quickly to others.

If anyone has anything to add or proof that Mama's Family actually started airing in the summer of 1986, please let me know.

Look below for the 1987-1988, 1988-1989 and 1989-1990 seasons.

Thanks for that. I remember seeing Mama's Family in the late 80s through 1992 when it aired on Fox DC. The only sure thing I remember is watching it in 1989 and seeing some of the original air dates then.

I remember thinking- this show seems a little different since I saw it when it came on in 1983 (I was only 3 then). But I got used to the change.

I enjoyed both versions, though.

Hmmm, this is pretty interesting! Who would have thunk...

I might update the episode guide I have stickied on here, if you can find out the rest of the airdates. Unfortunately, it would be really difficult to find someone who watched the syndicated version of MF, has a memory of steel and would be able to confirm the summer/fall 1986 discrepancy.

I have always thought that if a TV show was syndicated in its original run, whichever TV stations got the episodes, they could air it anytime during the day AS LONG AS IT AIRED DURING THE DAY IT WAS SUPPOED TO AIR. (I'm not yelling, btw :) ) Like talk shows that are syndicated, for instance. Hmm, good food for thought!

Well here are the additional seasons. For the 1987-1988 Season some issues of TV Guide did not list the descriptions for the episodes, so I have no idea what episode aired when. If anyone has old TV Guides from 1987-1988 and can check the missing weeks, that would be great.

Season 4

09/26/1987 0402 Educating Mama
10/03/1987 0401 Zirconia’s Are a Girl’s Best Friend
10/10/1987 0404 The Key to the Crime
10/17/1987 0410 Breaking Up is Hard to Do
10/24/1987 0406 A Big Hand for Mama
10/31/1987 0409 Flounder’s Day
11/07/1987 0407 Teacher’s Pet
11/14/1987 0408 Child’s Play
11/21/1987 0416 Mama Mania
11/28/1987 0405 Gift Horse
12/05/1987 0413 Workman’s Holiday
12/12/1987 0418 Mama Sees Red
12/19/1987 0403 A Room with No View
01/09/1988 0420 The Sins of the Mother
01/16/1988 0417 A Friend Indeed
01/23/1988 0411 I Do, I Don’t
01/30/1988 0415 Mama Gets the Bird
02/06/1988 0414 Mama’s Girls
02/13/1988 0423 Mama on Jeopardy
02/20/1988 0424 Mama Goes Hawaiian: Part 1
02/27/1988 0425 Mama Goes Hawaiian: Part 2
03/05/1988 0421 Bubba’s Double Date
03/12/1988 0412 Bed and Breakdown
03/19/1988 0422 Naomi’s Identity Crisis
03/26/1988 0419 Pomp and Circumstance

Season 5

11/05/1988 0502 Ladies Choice
11/12/1988 0501 Baby Talk
11/19/1988 0503 Naomi’s New Position
11/26/1988 0504 The Really Loud Family
12/03/1988 0505 Many Unhappy Returns
12/10/1988 0506 Found Money
12/17/1988 0507 My Mama, Myself
01/07/1989 0508 Full House
01/14/1989 0510 Bedtime for Bubba
01/21/1989 0511 What a Dump
01/28/1989 0512 Mama Bell
02/04/1989 0509 Very Dirty Dancing
02/11/1989 0514 Mama’s Layaway Plan
02/18/1989 0515 My Phony Valentine
02/25/1989 0513 The Big Wheel
03/04/1989 0516 More Power to You
03/11/1989 0517 Mama ‘in One
03/25/1989 0519 There’s No Place Like … No Place
04/01/1989 0518 April Fools
04/15/1989 0520 Reading the Riot Act
04/22/1989 0521 A Taxing Situation
05/06/1989 0522 The Mama of Invention
05/13/1989 0523 Hate Thy Neighbor
05/20/1989 0524 Dependence Day
05/27/1989 0525 Mama Takes Three

Season 6

09/23/1989 0601 Mama’s Medicine Show
09/30/1989 0602 An Affair to Forget
10/07/1989 0603 Mr. Wrong
10/14/1989 0604 Now Hear This
10/21/1989 0605 Tri-State’s Most Wanted
10/28/1989 0607 Mama Fights Back
11/04/1989 0606 A Blast From the Past
11/11/1989 0608 Psychic Pheno-Mama
11/18/1989 0609 Take My Mama, Please
11/25/1989 0611 Bubba’s House Band
12/02/1989 0610 Mama Takes Stock
12/09/1989 0612 War of the Roses
12/16/1989 0613 Mama Takes a Dive
12/23/1989 0614 Mama Gets Goosed
01/20/1990 0616 The Big Nap
01/27/1990 0617 Pinup Mama
02/03/1990 0615 Guess Who’s Going to Dinner
02/10/1990 0618 Look Who’s Breathing
02/17/1990 0619 There is Nothing Like the Dames
02/24/1990 0620 Bye-Bye, Baby!

If anyone has anything to add or proof that Mama's Family actually started airing in the summer of 1986, please let me know.



Bosch, I am pretty sure that it started during the fall of 1986. There was so much hoopla about about the return that fall. I don't remember anything about the show starting up again in the summer.

Well's I've updated the list for the 1987-1988 season, as you can see above on the list:

I've added some of the missing airdates that I was finally able to verify for the episodes:

Zirconias Are a Girl's Best Friend
A Big Hand for Mama
Teacher's Pet
Flounder's Day
Breaking Up is Hard to Do
Mama Mania

That just leaves 3 episodes in question.

I got a hold of some old TV Guides for the Flint-Lansing, Michigan Edition that actually listed descriptions of the episodes.

DONE!

All airdates have now been verified in TV Guide for the syndicated years.

I've updated the above lists.

Thanks for doing all of the research. It's appreciated. And you're right, for so many sitcoms, the production order did not always translate to the same order for airing.

Both ION and TBS used prod. number order. It always bugged me that 301 came before 302, which made no sense (Bubba was there before he was there.) When i archived the episodes on DVD I reversed them (302 then 301) but I sure wish I had this list then.

I have recently begun research on the airdates for Mama's Family. I have confirmed the airdates for the NBC seasons are correct, all verified in TV Guide. No issue there. My concern is the airdates for the syndicated years.

First of all the book "The Complete Directory to Primetime Network and Cable TV Shows" lists Mama's Family as beginning in first run syndication in September of 1986, yet we have airdates all over the internet listing beginning in June 1986, (dates that coincidentally match the dates listed in the copyright office catalog). Something that needs to be taken into consideration is the dates in there aren't necessarily the airdates but could be the date the episode was submitted to Library of Congress

http://cocatalog.loc.gov/cgi-bin/Pwebrecon.cgi?DB=local&PAGE=First

Second of all, almost all syndicated television shows always air Fall to Spring, this is the case with: 9 to 5, It's a Living, Small Wonder etc. There is at least an exception which is Too Close for Comfort which aired Spring to Fall.

Thirdly, I've gone through old issues of TV Guide from the Wisconsin markets and I could find no episodes of Mama's Family airing during the summer of 1986. This, however is what I found:

09/27/1986 302 Farewell Frannie
10/04/1986 303 Where There's a Will
10/11/1986 305 Best Medicine
10/18/1986 304 National Mama
10/25/1986 301 Soup to Nuts
11/01/1986 309 Mama and Dr. Brothers
11/08/1986 307 Cat's Meow
11/15/1986 311 The Love Letter
11/22/1986 308 An Ill Wind
11/29/1986 310 Steal One, Pearl Two
12/06/1986 313 Where's There's Smoke
12/13/1986 306 Fly Naomi
12/20/1986 316 Santa Mama
01/10/1987 314 Desperately Seeking Anyone
01/17/1987 315 Porn Again
01/24/1987 317 Have it Mama's Way
01/31/1987 318 Birthright
02/07/1987 312 Grandma USA
02/14/1987 321 Buck Private Bubba
02/21/1987 320 Mama's Cousin
02/28/1987 322 Mama with the Golden Arm
03/07/1987 323 It Takes Two to Watusi
03/14/1987 319 Fangs Alot, Mama
03/21/1987 325 The Best Policy
03/28/1987 324 After the Fall

Now there airdates correspond better, especially if you look at when the holiday episodes (Thanksgiving: An Ill Wind and Christmas: Santa Mama) aired. Another thing, in syndication, it can ususally be thought of as "the weekend of ..." since some markets could air it on Sat or Sun.

What's also unusual about the current airdates online is the fact that it seems the episodes in syndication were first aired in production order, which is very unlikely. Almost every sitcom out there, except in the case of a serialized show like Soap or Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman, had episodes that were aired out of production order.

I've begun looking at TV Guides for the last seasons of the series and the dates online do not match as well. So my question, can anyone prove me wrong? I'm almost certain the airdates are wrong online and once one website has airdates listed for something it spreads quickly to others.

If anyone has anything to add or proof that Mama's Family actually started airing in the summer of 1986, please let me know.

Look below for the 1987-1988, 1988-1989 and 1989-1990 seasons.

Those airdates you picked out only applied to your local television stations. Syndicated shows don't have set air dates. They air whenever the TV station airing them wants to air them.

Those airdates you picked out only applied to your local television stations. Syndicated shows don't have set air dates. They air whenever the TV station airing them wants to air them.

You are totally right, syndicated shows don't have set airdates and the station can air them when ever they want. However, the airdates that I "picked out" correspond not only to Wisconsin markets (Madison/Milwaukee/Green Bay) but also match with other markets, including Chicago, New York, Flint/Lansing, MI, Los Angeles, Cleveland and Boston. I am only presenting what I found, and I stress the airdates listed above should be considered *APPROXIMATE* as in some markets the series would air on Sat or Sunday, so think of it as "weekend of ..." or "Week of ..."

Really this is all we can do, get an approximate airdate for syndicated shows because it can vary and its better than nothing.

Here's a picture that can put this to rest. It states on this ad that the new season starts September 27, 1986.

I'm sorry but I am not convinced. What does that picture prove. That could have been made up.....


LOLOLOLOL. I am seriously kidding! That picture should put this whole discussion to rest. That pic is like getting the info straight from the horse's mouth.

Ooops! I realized that the pic is for KNBC TV and so in some other markets, the show could have debuted on Sunday the 28th.

I know for New York City and North Jersey and NYC suburbs, WOR 9 aired the show on Saturdays at 7:30pm.

I also think that no matter where the show was aired and despite the different time and day, I think all stations across the U.S. were required to air the same episode for that weekend.