Mama's Family Boned the Fish When... [Archive] - Sitcoms Online Message Boards

TMC

02-27-2014, 05:59 PM

https://web.archive.org/web/20070225141752/http://jumptheshark.com/

Other Thoughts:

Mama's Family jumped big time when Rue McClanahan, Eric Brown and Karin Argoud left the show and they added moronic Bubba and that pathetic sugarbeast, Iola Bolling.
About three weeks after airing! How annoying can one show be?
Long live Mama! This one never jumped and actually got better when it re-appeard in syndication after being on NBC. All the players were superb and while the writing was never gonna win any awards, in the hands of the very apt cast it was one of the funniest sitcoms around. And what about Alan Keiser (sp?) who played Bubba - was he gorgeous or what? Is somebody gonna wise up and bring this one back? If they do I hope they make sure Carol makes a few cameos...Eunice is gold!
We thought it would take forever to get that thing born.
Whose bright idea was it to spin off a series from the least-funny recurring sketch on the Carol Burnett Show? And without Carol, even! Lame, lame, lame.
I don't know how anyone could think that anything created by Harvey Korman could have jumped the shark. This show was absolutley hilarious. The whole show was perfectly cast, especially Mama Harper. The situations that they got themselves into were zany but funny. my favorites episode has to be a tie, between "The Chili Cookoff" where Mama, Naomi, and Iola all make Vinten chili, and "The Beauty Pageant", where Mama is in a Miss America for grandmothers. my ownly complaint with the show was when the writers killed off Eunince. I don't see how Carol Burnette couldn't have won an Emmy for that character. Even the theme song perfectly fitted the show's lowbrow humor.Mama's family is one of the best television shows ever, in my opinion. Cheers to you, Mama!
This show never jumped the shark! Personally, I think it got better when they added Iola and Bubba!
Well, this is one of those shows where the shark was already jumped, and they went back for a second try. The syndicated version was pretty wretched, but they really jumped the shark during the NBC run when they appeared on Family Feud. The show was officially cancelled not too long afterwards. It was like the writers said, "hey, let's put Mama on a game show! It practically writes itself!" Unfortunately, this doesn't work unless you actually have something for the character to do once the novelty of them being on a game show wears off. Then, years later on the syndicated version, they do the same plot AGAIN, on this time it's Jeopardy and they win a vacation to Hawaii (the mecca of shark-jumping) to boot. Two shark jumps in one!
Loved this show from the day it premiered in 1983 until the day it ended it 1990. I remember being bitterly disappointed when NBC cancelled it in 1984. When it was revived for first-run syndication, I was skeptical if it could be as funny without seasoned pros like Rue McClanahan and Betty White, but the new "unknown" cast members quickly made me forget about the old as they made those characters their own. This is one of the few programs that made me laugh out loud during every single episode. But like the Beverly Hillbillies, this show was looked down upon by a lot of la-dee-dah people (as Mama would say) who thought they were above the lowbrow humor. Who cares? I know whenever I need a good laugh, I can always count on that cranky family from Raytown, USA.
I loved this show. Yes, Mama went on two games shows which is a no no on television, but the show was always funny. This show us a pure classic.
The Reference that Harvey Korman created the show is wrong! Dick Clair and Jenna McMahon created the characters and the premise for the show. Harvey's involvement was from the stand point of Actor, Director and the Character Alistair Cooke the ego driven host. I can honestly say this is the least enjoyable show that Mr. Korman has been in that I have enjoyed him in. I speak openly and honestly and biased. My Father is Harvey Korman. so I can make these comments. The Eunice teleplay that my dad directed in may 23,1981 was successful from a directors involvement but as far as Ed the Character, I hated the show and the way Eunice and mama terrorized Ed. I would like to make a observation about the show though. Vicki Lawrence Should have won emmys for that Character. For a young Woman to play a role like that without the benefit of a lot of old age makeup to help the portrayer to me that is a credit to Mrs. Lawrence and a brilliant Design by Bill Mackie and Ret Turner. The Reason I loved the show it's because of the Wonderful people I have grown to Love and Respect. Carol, Vicki, Ken Berry. Betty White. Eric Brown, Karen Argoud, Dorothy Lyman Beverly Archer, Alan Kayser. As performers and as people. Ken Berry one of the most talented comedians I know. But what people don't know is How great a Hoofer Mr. Berry is. watch some of the old Musical Numbers he did on the Burnett Show. He is one of the Finest Song and Dance Men around and greatly unappreaciated and underused.Ben Vereen,Astaire,Gregory Hines,Gene Kelly.Hinton Battle.Harry Groener these are all great talents,But Anyone who has seen mr,Berry dance would have to put him up there with those other men. Sincerely, Christopher Peter Korman
You people are nuts. How can you be so negative, Mama's Family was and still is one of the greatest shows will the full cast. By full cast I mean: Fran, Mama, Vint, Buzz, Sonia, Bubba, Ellen, Eunice, Naomi, Bubba, Iola, and all your other people. I have several people that say this is and will always be #1.
I almost thought Mama had jumped in the early season, and I much prefer the newer episodes with Bubba
This was one funny show. I think it touched a bit on real life, maybe exaggerated but close to two families living together. Funniest episodes, Mama pulls her back out while Vince and Naomi have company. They all attend a formal dinner with Betty White (forgot her name ).Of course Mama takes over the show!! So funny.
I'm not one to slam people on message boards or anything, but WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU PEOPLE!? This is the most braindead, steaming pile of sh*t ever put on TV. Yes, "stupid" can be funny, but a bunch of people playing bumpkins calling each other a "dipstick" is not funny. Ugh! This show appeals to stupid Hee-Haw fans who're relieved to see people more stupid than them satirized. You should be ashamed of yourselves.
AFter Fran died, Buzz and Sonja left and Carol Burnett, Harvey Korman and Betty White stopped guest starring it started to be less funny! Beverly Archer she was hilarious
One thing I could never figure out: one day it's Vinton and Naomi and his two kids, the next the kids are gone and Bubba's moved in. Vinton's children are never mentioned again, what the hell happened? Are they playing basketball with Chuck Cunningham in television's black hole?
This show never jumped the shark!!! It was hilarious from beginning to end. I've seen every episode several times and love them all. Vicki Lawrence was incredible as Mama.
I don't think this show ever jumped, it was always hilarious, and in my opinion, reinvented itself with the new cast. I still laugh my ass off at the reruns, I could watch them all day long!
This show never jumped -- on the contrary, I like the later episodes better! I never watched this show when it was in first-run, dismissing it as stupid. I didn't know what I was missing, but I found out watching it recently in syndicated reruns! Vicki Lawrence is flawless and the whole cast works well together, particularly in the later seasons. Every one I've watched so far has been REALLY funny! Just like Mama, the show got better with age!!!
I think the show never really jumped the shark. I think it really lost a lot of credit as a great show with pretty good writing, stories and acting but I think that pretty much stopped when Bubba and Iola came on. Too much overacting and bad stories (dead-stuffed cat, chilli cook-off, etc.) I do think that Vicki Lawrence should have gotten Emmys or at least nominated. God, if she did not seem like a real old lady and act like one!! I remember my great grandmother thought she was an old lady and wondered how Mama did some dance moves without hurting herself. LOL!! But regardless it is a good show and is addicting. I used to watch it when I was younger when I ate dinner cause it came on for an hour (2 episodes, can't beat that)and no matter what episode it is I love to watch it. And yeah what did happen to Buzz and Sonja? They must be in the same place that the youngest girl from Family Matters is, you know taken off the show and never heard from again. The kid viewers must be so confused. I always thought that Buzz and Sonja went back to be with their mom in Vegas. And why did they have to kill Aunt Fran? Could they not have her be a great author and move to Hollywood? And how come Thelma was not so upset, Fran was her best friend and confidant. But Thelma only made jokes. Weird
This show jumped with Vinton's children and then the appearance of Bubba. Grandchildren were not meant to be in Mama's Family. And besides, Vinton was too stupid to even know how to make children.
"Mama" could never jump the shark! I love this show! It is a timeless classic! My favorite show was Vinton's wedding segment. Carol Burnett wants to sing at the wedding. I still laugh hysterically at that one. I like the "Iola" episodes too.
Mama's Family is the most entertaining program ever created for television-especially the later episodes with Iola Boyland and Bubba Higgins. I still plan my day around it even though I have seen each episode at least twenty times (probably a conservative estimate). It would be a dream come true for me (and a lot of other people) if the show came back!
Does anyone else really loathe the Sonia character? She was too whiney. Worse yet, Karin Argoud was about 15 years too old to play a teenage girl.
Mama's family has never jumped the shark! It was a timeless classic from beginning to the end. I liked the show because of it's family appeal and how it didn't take itself seriously. It was also great to see a married couple (Vint and Naomi) who were passionate for each other (when was the last time you saw that on tv?) One of my favorite episodes was the one where Vint and Naomi get married. The part where Eunice sings her solo and starts ranting about Mama giving the father's sapphire ring to Vint is hilarious, but I think the funniest line on that episode, and maybe the entire series is said by Aunt Effie when all hell breaks loose and everyone is standing up. She turns to (I think it's Fran) and asks, "Is this the line for the food?" Classic!
I don't think Mama's Family really jumped the shark. If it did, it was when the show got radioactively corny especially thanks to Bubba and Iola. If Iola has always been Thelma's best friend, where the hell was she when the show first started? And they made Vinton a lot dumber, he used to have some sense and wasn't such a goof. Did he start smoking hash or something? And Naomi was not that ditzy at first either. I think the show had more creditability when it was first on. But no matter what it is always watchable and entertaining. Also, I was wondering, had the show always been on NBC? I read the other comments saying that it went into syndication, does that mean it went to another network or what? It seemed to have a different look when the new cast came on there.
I don't think this show ever jumped. It promised nothing more than it delivered: check your brains at the door comedy. Week after week, with no apologies for being anything more and not attempting to be anything but, Mama's Family was one laugh after another. To the cast and writers' credit, most episodes delivered these laughs with few, if any, guest-stars. Just putting Mama, Vint, Naomi, Iola and Bubba together in a room was often cause for comedy. And even though the cast was one of the crankiest, you couldn't help liking them. And the show boasted one of the most underrated hunks of 80's TV in Allan Kayser. I think the show could have gone one season more with the addition of baby Tiffany Thelma!
"Mama's Family" will always remain one of my all-time favorite shows. I might point out that Ken Berry is from my native Quad-Cities, IA-IL, and many people are proud of this man's accomplishments. Ken played the part of Mama's dolt son, Vinton, very well. Of course, Vicki Lawrence was simply funny as the cantankerous matriarch of the Harper household. As many times as Vinton and his skeeter-dumplings, Naomi, tried to stand up to Mama for intruding on their intimate moments, she'd find a new way to meddle in their relationship. Those were the best shows, not so much for Mama's lack of respect for her son and daughter-in-law's privacy but more so for the situations which led her to interrupt a love-making session, etc. Sure, Bubba was a dolt at times, but a closer look revealed that he had feelings and wanted to make his family proud. I'm surprised there was never any reference to Buzz or Sonia, Vinton's two natural children? Did they simply move out? Were they killed ! in an accident? Did they go to school and stop communicating with their father? At least we found out about Aunt Fran's fate. Oh well, those are minor, non-JTS points. My favorite shows, aside from Mama's appearances on "Family Feud" and "Jeopardy!" (wonder if Vicki Lawrence ever appeared on these two shows to play for charity?), were when Mama's attitude softened. She was especially likeable in the episode where she sat in for Santa Claus; Mama also showed her loyalty and concern for her family--even for daughter-in-law Naomi--in many other episodes. A fine episode and recommended viewing, as reruns air on WTBS.
After 1985 (it's NBC run). Also jumped after the cute girls left. Eventually got too serious around '89!
This was a very unpopular show considering how big other sitcoms are and the major networks they are on but this was a great show. I did not care for the first few seasons to much although they do have funny moments, but the middle to ending seasons when Vinton and Naomi are married and Bubba joining the cast were great. It was true classic comedy at it's finest, nothing bad or dirty just good clean comedy. Vicki Lawrence played the part so well and you truly believed she was that old, Iola was a perfect sidekick for Thelma and Bubba & Vinton were not to bad themselves either. I don't feel this show ever jumped considering it ended at it's peak, it could have gone about two more seasons I think and still been just as funny.
I never can figure out what people have against this show. Besides myself, two people I know like it. My boyfriend hates it, my college roommates hated it, most of my friends hate it. WHY?? This show is great! Only a couple of episodes were bad, but the rest were funny as hell. Glad to see that others agree.
I've been a fan of the dysfunctional Harper family since the days of the Carol Burnett Show as part of "THE FAMILY" sketches. This series was also one of my all-time guilty pleasures. The one thing I hated was when Burnett and Harvey Korman (from the original sketches) stopped making appearances. Other than that, the show never jumped.
This show is annoying as hell. Vicki Lawrence is so obviously NOT an old lady, even in a crappy wig and support hose. Her voice is like nails scratching a blackboard (and likewise with Naomi and Eunice). I hear the first note of the theme song and I have to run, not walk, to the TV and quickly turn it off. If I don't get there quick enough I'm in for a monstrous Excedrin headache.
I love every episode of Mama's Family...they were hilarious!!! Vicki Lawrence is such a great actress. I loved when buzz and Sonia were on there and I thought they were great actors, too.... I just wish I could find more info on them on the internet now.
The characters are so annoying and stupid, I can barely handle to watch one episode. I have friends who love the show. I think you either love it or hate it...no in between.
They took one of the best written, most artistically satisfying segments of the Carol Burnett show and spun it off into something truly awful. A waste of the talents of the talented people involved. The great thing about the Eunice and Mama sketches was that they didn't have to be funny. They were exaggerated reality. They had a heart to them without banging the viewer over the head with a message. Mama's Family had none of that. The humor while clean and wholesome was boring and cliche and unfunny predictable. The special they did (it was done as a full length play if I remember correctly) after CB show went off the air ('81?) should have been the end for the characters. At least then they might have gone out with some level of dignity.
When Bubba came on I was amazed how annoying he was. I never liked his character at all. BUT, the show was so funny I still keep tuning into episodes especially the ones Bubba was not in, or had a minor role in.
Come on, this show was the best comedy made from the eighties. Sure it never dealt with major issues, but you can never want that in a show. It was a comedy meant to get a family around the t.v. and laugh. I can't stand people who say that this show is for "low brow" people, I am a straight A student and I love to relax by watching this show. Besides that, is it not obvious that Betty White and Rue McClanahan left the show to start THE GOLDEN GIRLS, besides that Buzz and Sonia went off to COLLEGE!!! What is so hard about that, but I do agree Bubba did not become a great character until the later seasons. I wish that they had let the show go past the birth of Naomi and Vint's baby, they seemed to have cancelled it in an awkward place. Oh well, this is still one of the greatest shows of all time!!
I don't think Mama's family ever jumped, but it came close. I hated how Naomi was changed in the last few seasons. The first few seasons, I really enjoyed Mama and Naomi's verbal sparring. Naomi changed after Iola and Bubba joined the cast. She didn't stand up for herself anymore. It seemed like when Mama would hurl insults at her she would just get an annoyed look on her face.
This show never jumped. I thought it got better when Iola and Bubba came on. The show were better story wise and the characters were more developed. Great show about semi-white trash living in America.
The show jumped the shark on the rarely shown Valentines' Day episode of the later seasons when everyone, INCLUDING IOLA for crying out loud, has a date except for Mama (Thelma). It was extremely out character for outspoken and extroverted Thelma to have to bumble around and pretend to have a date while prissy, shy and homely, but still nonetheless funny Iola (who was deathly afraid to go out on a date on at least two other episodes and couldn't attract a man if her life depended on it) all of the sudden had no problem whatsoever not only finding a man but going on a date as well. On another subject, there is a reason why Buzz and Sonia weren't on the later episodes. Those two insipid people who played them couldn't act if their lives depended on it. There's a reason why neither one of those actors have been on anything since (for the last 18 years!). THEY SUCK!!! And, anyone who thinks the earlier episodes are better than the later ones (OK, the Carol Burnett ones ARE good but all others stink), needs their head examined! The later syndicated shows were far superior (with the possible exceptions of Valentine's day, the homeless friend episode and when the Harper's house is almost bulldozed for a dump). Yes, the Vint and Naomi characters changed. But, that was the problem with the earlier episodes. These characters were far too serious for the premise of the show. And who cares that Aunt Fran was killed off? Rue McClanahan has said repeatedly that she hated playing that vapid, only-there-to-take-up-space-character. Aunt Fran was a waste of Rue's talent.
Mama's Family did a flying leap over the shark when they started tackling serious issues such as homelessness and illiteracy. It just took all the fun out of the show.
Though I never admit to it, I do think this show can be quite funny. However, my favorite part was in the first season when Alistair Quince (Harvey Korman) would introduce the show a la Masterpiece Theatre, "Good Evening, I'm Alistair Quince. Tonight on Mama's Family . . ."
Never jumped! I love this show, always good for a laugh. Vicki Lawrence was perfect the whole series through, but I love the show the most when Naomi and Vint stopped looking like they had wrestled with a bottle of Southern Comfort the night before! Especially Vint! Was he supposed to be an alkie? And his kids were annoying anyway! Syndication years were definitely the best. Long live Mama's Family!
I think this show never jumped. A lot of shows jump as they go along, but I think this one got better as time went on. I loved when they brought Bubba and Iola to the show. I esp. love the episode when Mama is hooked on tela shoppers. They were all great. I agree with the person a few comments up. Bubba was a hottie. Does anyone know if he has been in anything else since this show. I havent seen him. But this show is great because it was just plain funny. Most shows that dont shove messages down your throught all the time are great. Tv should be an escape from reality. We need more shows like this. Just plain good clean humor. Please Hollywood make more shows like this. Ones that, the whole family can watch and your not having sex and peoples sexual preferences pushed on you. Just plain comedy.
This show never jumped the shark, but I do think they made Naomi's character too ditzy in the later episodes. She was made so ditzy that she wasn't even funny anymore, but over all it was a good show that I have always liked.
Mama's Family is hands down, the FUNNIEST, my most favorite sit-com of all time (followed closely by "Golden Girls", but Mama wins out). This show is so under-rated when sit-coms of the 80's are reviewed. Each episode is just as funny to me the 15th time as it was the first. The show only improved in the syndication years. Vinton was much funnier as an airhead than as an "average guy" and Naomi was MUCH funnier as the supremely trashy white trash diva impressed by the tackiest things ("Honey, it has a genuine simulated vinyl interior!") Also, in the NBC shows Mama was not the loud mouthed, wise-cracking, insulting bitch she later was from '86 on. She was much more a confused, fuddy duddy, borderline senile senior. The second Mama was MUCH funnier than NBC Mama. The characters were much more developed and scripts much funnier during the second run. The subtle nuances of the actors and characters and the continuity on this show is superb. I'll bet you never noticed two nuances in the syndication years - A). THE CLOTHING COLOR SCHEMES - Mama is always wearing blue, Naomi is always wearing yellow, Vinton beige, Iola pink, and Bubba green. B). The neighboring towns they discuss are all named after assassins! Bundy - after serial killer Ted Bundy. Hinckley - after Reagan's shooter John Hinckley, and Oswald - after Lee Harvey Oswald. Whoever thought that up had one clever mind!!! Also, they're always discussing "the tri-state area". Although I heard Vicki Lawrence say Raytown was supposed to be in Missouri, I always pictured the tri-state area being Indiana, Ohio, and Kentucky. MY favorite character was always Naomi because despite the fact that she was borderline white trash, she had such high self esteem and always felt like she was dressing glamorously with her off the shoulder fiesta top, gold jewelry, high heels, and big hair. I also thought it was great she was so hot for Vinton, who let's face it, was VERY ordinary. The only complaint I have is when they tried to tackle social issues like illiteracy and homelessness, those episodes aren't very funny. But the sexual harassment episode where Mama turns the tables and harasses Naomi's perverted manager from the Food Circus is priceless! My favorite episodes are probably when Mama is addicted to KRAY teleshopper, the freeze dried kitty, when the Harpers have a yard sale selling Iola's god awful homemade crafts (whoever concocted those tacky treasures deserves an Emmy for art department), the dirty dancing episode ("Oh what the hell... Go ahead Ramon, make my day!!") and lastly when Naomi wants to become what Mama calls "a flying cocktail waitress" (i.e. stewardess). What I've noticed is that this show has universal appeal to whites, blacks, old, young, varied income levels, etc. My college dorm would watch the reruns daily from 7:00 pm - 8:00 pm. This is the ONLY show my entire family loved and we would gather around the TV faithfully to watch it and during the summer my mom would let my little brother of 6 stay up til midnight to watch it!! I was once in the terminal illness ward of a hospital (my girlfriend's mother was her deathbed) and they were playing Mama on the TV in the waiting room. Here you have all these people from all walks of life in TEARS because their loved ones are DYING, yet they are laughing hysterically through the tears at Mama. That's the beauty of "Mama's Family"!
The first two seasons of Mama's Family were hilarious. The characters were raw and real, the acting was first rate, the situations were oddball without losing that slight touch of typical family lunacy. Then syndication hit. Fran dying was bad enough. Buzz and Sonya vanishing without any real explanation was even worse. Bubba was the worst, I don't care how nice a bubble butt he had. But I could've lived with this...if the show had not made Vinton and Naomi into total morons! Naomi was supposed to be the sassy, sultry vixen who had spent all her life looking for love between sheets and finally found real love with Vint. Vint was supposed to be a middle-aged man who had tried and never really succeeded at leaving the nest, and was attempting to find his place in the world as a man and as a husband and father while coping with his insane mother. Then, suddenly, in the blink of an eye, Naomi is a pathetic ditz (even her speaking voice changed totally...shame on you Dorothy Lyman!) and Vint is a ****** who can't stop dropping heavy items on his foot or saying the dumbest thing at the worst possible time. Mama wasn't dumbed down, so I never understood why these two pivotal characters were. The only good things about the syndicated years were Vicki Lawrence as Mama, Beverly Archer's hilarious Iola, and Allen Keyser's Bubba in tight jeans and swim trunks (once, during the Hawaii 2-parter). The network years were vastly superior.
The show wasn't that bad, it was funny...but as other people have already stated, the show jumped when Vint and Naomi became absolute morons (and to top it off she got a horrible afro to go with her dropping IQ). For example, at first Vint was the somewhat-authoritive father of 2 kids but as soon as the kids left he was reduced to making slack-jawed faces and whining the same word over and over, "Mammaaaaaa!". Sure every show is entitled to one dopey character, that's where Bubba came in, but why surround Mama with an entire family of airheads? Come to think of it, even Bubba was dumbed down. When he first came on he was a rebellious hoodlum and all of a sudden he became a dim-witted jock.
This show never jumped the shark, but the character of Naomi was made too ditzy. She was made so ditzy that she wasn't even funny anymore, and I also noticed that her speaking voice changed completely. Dorothy Lyman should be ashamed of herself for letting the producers of the show dumb her character down so much. Mama was also dumbed down a little bit. She wasn't as ditzy in the first few episodes of the show either, but this was a good show, and I have always liked it.
Before it was aired. When this sketch appeared on the Carol Burnett Show, it was unwatchable. A half hour show? Ridiculous. Absolutely the worst program ever to air. It makes My Mother the Car look like Master Piece Theatre.
Mama's Family was a great, funny show that improved when Vinton's kids left. Iola was sooo funny too.
"Mama's Family" was a great show. It was good with Fran and Vinton's kids, and it got even funnier in syndication with Bubba and Iola. The four supporting characters of this run --Vint, Naomi, Bubba, and Iola-- had great chemistry with Mama. Also, to correct an earlier post, Eunice was not killed off; she and Ed moved to Florida, leaving Bubba in Mama's care. I still enjoy watching the reruns. They're hilarious and hold up well.
Mama's Family never jumped in my opinion. I started it as reruns when I was just 12. (I'm 24 now) I liked the shows with Bubba and Iola a bit better than Aunt Fran and Vint's kids, the chemistry between Mama and Iola was much better than with Fran. I loved this show so much I started making taped volumes when I was 12 but they got ruined in later years... When I found out they were re-running the show currently, I started taping again and watch the tapes at night when I go to bed. Mama's Family before bed, what could be better?
This show definately jumped the shark when Vinton and Naomi get stupid and they are always moaning while they kiss, and they are always complaining to Thelma about them sleeping in that cold basement, and wishing they'd could sleep somewhere else...geez !!! Naomi is always complaining when Vinton gets Thelma something really nice for her birthday, etc. And Naomi is always cryin' when Vinton has to work late, she even cried out loud when all Vinton did was break a finger, and her screaming voice is defineatly annoying. Vinton can't even give Thelma give the respect she deserves.
This show practically defines "guilty pleasure" tv viewing. As a matter of fact, I think the question of whether or not this show jumped the shark is moot b/c imho this show was already over the shark when it premiered. That said, Mama's Family was and still is one of my favorite guilty pleasure tv shows. And even throughout the shows schizophrenic broadcast history it essentially remained the same show. I prefer the later syndicated years b/c I'm not that familiar with the old ones(I would love to see one of the Carol Burnett pop-ins) and I loved "hottie" Allen Kayser. I actually looked forward to seeing him in his tight jeans with that cute bubble-butt and when he wasn't in the show or wasn't in my favorite jeans I'd be very disappointed. Anyway, those who are slamming people who actually enjoyed this show need to get a life. Admit it, you all have your own guilty pleasures but are apparently too pompous and self-righteous to come clean. Heh.
Well, even though Mama appeared on " Jeopardy! " and just barely made it into the final round and won a trip to Hawaii, the episode was pretty good and some what funny. But I think Mama would've had a better deal if she appeared on " Wheel of Fortune ".
When Bubba bangs that girl on the couch in the living and the condom winds up plugging up the toilet... a classic, and possibly the funniest episode... maybe a little crasser than most Mamma's families, but funny all the same... Classic moment of the episode: Iola: "Well, Thelma, you did tell him to spend more time studying botany..." Thelma: "Well, IOLA... I didn't tell him to do it while planting his seed!!!!!!!!" CLASSIC.
This was a good show; funny, not too profound but entertaining. I always wondered what happened to Vinton's kids tooo, Buzz and Sonia. Am I the only one who thought Sonia was a hottie? Whatever happened to her? Was Karin Argoud in anything else?
Am I nuts, or was this show just called "Mama" when it first came out? Did they pull a "Black Sheep Squadron" on me? Anyway, this show did a reverse jump. Vinton's kids were punks, and not funny. Betty White and Rue McLanahan were funny, but not essential. Yeah, I liked Naomi better before she became a ditz, but Vinton was better as one. Ken Berry doesn't get enough credit. I have never seen someone play a dumbass so well that you shake your head every time he speaks. Especially when he's intelligent and talented in real life. Iola added much more to the show than Betty and Rue. Bubba was funnier than the other kids. In fact, when the show was pared down to the Big Four (plus Bubba), it almost became a white trash Seinfeld. Adult ensemble comedies are always funnier than families. Kids are not as funny as people think they are. Especially these days, when kid characters on sitcoms are little smartasses who say and do things that would have gotten me a butt whipping when I was a kid. With Mama, Iola, Vint, and Naomi, and Bubba here and there, the show was more focused. Yeah, yeah, I know, it's not "Sports Night." But in spite of itself, it's funny. I would never have believed it, until my wife made me watch it. I used to cringe at the opening theme, and leave the room. But, dammit, the show's funny. Everything doesn't have to be sophisticated. Even shows that are considered to be sophisticated, like "Frasier," "Seinfeld," and "Sex and the City," actually spend a lot of time poking fun at so-called sophistication. "Mama's Family" IS a guilty pleasure. White Trash CAN be funny!
I hadn't realized that the changes on Mama's Family had to do with them leaving NBC; I thought it was just that Rue and Betty were leaving for Golden Girls and they decided to get rid of Vint's boring kids too. Anyway, it was much better after that, so it was a reverse jump. It always had a slightly over-the-top satirical tone that gave them an ability to get away with shark-jump moments like game shows and Hawaii. It's a surprisingly nuanced show and I think you may have to be Southern to pick up on some of the jokes. I have always thought that the "tri-state area" was Florida, Georgia, and Alabama. Also, they are NOT white trash except for Naomi (hence Mama's conflict with her); they are perfectly respectable middle-class churchgoers. Being noticably Southern and not stuck-up like Julia Sugarbaker does not equal being white trash.
Never jumped. Hilarious show with perfect chemistry between the cast members. Thelma always had great zingers, especially at the end of each show with the exterior shot of the Harper home.
Sure, there have been a number of sitcoms about lower-middle class (All-American) families, such as Roseanne; All in the Family; Married...With Children; Grace Under Fire; The Simpsons; etc. But Mama's Family was, unfortunately, the only one I could really relate to. Mama's "Family" was supposed to be portrayed as a Deep-South family. But as the seasons progressed, the family seemed more and more from the Southern-Midwest. Unlike other famous "white-trash" TV characters, Mama's Family fretted about the talent shows at church; Iola made drug-stash cozies for her incapacitated mother; used blue rinses as hair-care treatments; and were incredibly Protestant - even more so than the Bunkers. And even though the Harpers were good, descent people, they had many tragic flaws on their DNA programming (such as: stupidity; orneriness; pigheadedness; hotheadedness; schizoidal dissociative disorder; epilepsy; alcoholism; potheadism; bulemia/anorexia nervosa; skin cancer; Tourette's Syndrome; hedonism; Parkinson's; cleft pallet; webbed toes; third nipples; dyslexia; myopia; hair in ears; stigmatism; dandruff; obsessive-compulsive disorder; halitosis; and other unfortunate DNA effects Caucasians caused from inbreeding for too many years in the cold, snowy Northern European Alps before they immigrated to America and settled and continued inbreeding in the Southern Midwest.). Yes, unfortunately a very relatable show for me.
I read every post here and they are FASCINATING. I LOVED 'Mama's Family' on the Burnett show--recognizable characters (and character flaws) and it made you laugh out loud at tv's first dysfunctional family. I will NEVER forget this riff, which had Carol Burnett BARELY containing her laughter--Mama to Eunice: Ya got splinters in the windmills of yer mind! PRICELESS! The 90 minute special was suberb. But I don't remember watching the show AT ALL in either of its incarnations until it went into reruns. I didn't think they could top--or equal--Burnett and the 90 minute special. I grew up not far from the Ozarks, and as a kid we often made fun of the 'white trash'. This show made it OK!!! It sure did appeal to all ages, races, and classes. MAMA 1: Strengths: Vicky of course, Carol & Harvey's appearances, Betty, and the fact that Vint had some BALLS--I think Mama works best with a sparring partner Weaknesses: The gifted Rue McClanahan WAS wasted on this show, and has indeed said this was no picnic for her; Vints kids WERE played by two of the lamest actors I've ever seen (though HE had a butt as cute as Keysers) MAMA 2: Strengths: I agree the 'adult ensemble' worked well together; Keyes did have a cute butt!, Naomi ROCKED when she first showed up--she wasn't intimidated by Mama, and many of these were funny--it was a guilty pleasure Weaknesses: Naomi became shrill, Vint became a bonehead, and indeed Bubba went from *slightly* edgy to 10 IQ points above Jethro (but he still had a cute butt---did I mention he had a cute butt?) But what hurt it for me was the fact that Mama got all the funny lines and the other characters were just set ups for her jokes. It went from being an ensemble WITH a star, to a star vehicle--two DIFFERENT things. They might have gotten more mileage out of the show if they had taken a page from the MTM, Barney Miller, and Frasier books (I know Frasier wasn't on then). The stars of these shows let supporting players have the spotlight and this only helped the show, and the stars were strong enough not to be overshadowed. Yeah, Bubba and Naomi had quasi-episodes (dating, flight attendant), but those ultimately were really about Mama. Last I heard Vicky was doing Mama in her lounge act in Vegas. I saw a clip of her as Mama, rapping(!) about big booties!!!!!!!! Cue the Hillbilly - or Rap version of the Jaws music.
This definitely JTS when Aunt Fran died (Rue McClanahan left to do the "Golden Girls" series) and Buzz and Sonia were written out of the show. Fran was an interesting character that gave Mama a chance to interact with someone of her own generation. After Fran died it was just mean old Mama and her "homespun humor", her reject relatives and her obsessing over the quality and cleanliness of her material possessions. I like the characters of Bubba and Iola, I just fail to see why Buzz and Sonia were written off when they were well-developed characters who became an integral part of the show. Bubba's character could've been written in as Sonia's boyfriend instead of as the son of those two genetic misfits Ed and Eunice. Maybe then Bubba wouldn't have been such an idiot; the show already had one resident idiot - Vinton. Even though they were probably on the series longer than Buzz and Sonia, Bubba and Iola never developed into well-rounded characters. With Iola it was always "knock, knock - here's another useless piece-of-garbage arts and crafts project I made for you" and Bubba (in spite of Alan Keyser's valiant efforts) was always a little too "duhhh.." for my taste.
This show was stellar up until that stupid episode where Mama falls asleep after watching detective films, and dreams she is a private investigator and everyone in the family is a criminal. I noticed that Beverly Archer wrote this episode... so I figure it jumped when they opened up the writing to anyone in the cast who could properly articulate a sentence in English.
What the hell was the thought process behind this show? Let's take the sketch that made "The Carol Burnett" show jump the shark and expand it into a half hour sitcom? Given that this may be the first show to actually jump the shark BEFORE even being conceived.
This show never jumped! I remember how thrilled I was when it came back in first-run syndication after NBC hastily canceled this gem. The episodes got even better; the one where Mama works at a fast-food place with Bubba and ends up literally screaming at the customers still makes me LOL. I think Vicki Lawrence is brilliant. I wish they'd do a reunion and have Buzz, Sonja and Bubba together for the first time. Ever notice how they matched the set perfectly to the house used in the opening scenes, right down to the porch? The Brady Bunch and All in the Family's sets don't match their exterior shots at all!
No one in their right minds can think that Mama's Family jumped any shark. It was a bit bland at first with Vinton's dull kids, but they disappeared into the same cosmic hole that Judy from Family Matters fell into. Then they brought in Beverly Archer as Iola, whom I LOVED, and Allan Kaiser as Bubba, whom I could take or leave. I routinely stay up to 3 AM just to watch the Harpers, and my personal favourite episode HAS to be the sexual harassment episode, where Thelma pretends to lust after Naomi's boss. :) Gooooood watching.
Personally, I don't think that this show ever jumped. The funniest episode to me was when Mama got hit in the face with the pot, and Naomi, Eunice, and Ellen all had different versions of how it happened. That was so funny. "Arthurs hideaway and launderette....You tumble we dry."
The show jumped when about halfway through the syndication seasons, they decide to transform Bubba virtually overnight from a slacker, juvenile delinquent dolt into a smart, confident, knowledge yearning scholar like Theo Huxtable on The Cosby Show. If you look carefully, this is around the same time the producers decided to change Allan Kayser's photo in the opening credits from looking like a complete buffoon to super cool stud. And we're all supposed to still believe that this is Ed and Eunice's kid??
The show was doomed to mediocrity from the beginning when the show took away most of Mama's edge. On the "Carol Burnett Show," Mama was wonderfully sarcastic and angry. "Mama's Family" made her into a cute, mildly cantankerous old lady. Had the creators of the show let Mama alone, they could have anticipated the groundbreaking comedy of "Roseanne" by five years.
Vicki's book explained how this show came about both on NBC and in syndication. But what was really surprising was how Carol decided to change the characters a bit by making them Southern white trash. The writers did not like this idea at all, despite that the family sketches are the most fondly remembered parts of the Carol Burnett Show. Both the writers hated their mothers, and their first family sketch was a bipartison catharsis on both of their parts. However, the name of the show was Carol Burnett, so guess whose version was shown on TV. Very few of the NBC shows had any real zing to them, although I loved Mama and Naomi doing martial arts and the one where Mama, Naomi, Eunice, and Ellen tell different versions of what happened to Mama in the kitchen. What gets me is how true to life Mama is with her words. She reminds me of my best friend's mother, a very no-nonsense kind of lady. The scene where Bubba comments on how loud the baby is screaming is hysterical. Mama's reply: "You just remember that noise the next time you get the urge to crawl into the back seat of a car!"
I’ve only seen it in reruns, but my own favorites were the later shows after the syndication change. Frannie, Buzz & Sonya were all pretty dull, weak characters on the canvas that could only go so far. Ellen was great since she always stayed the snooty ungrateful daughter the CB Show wrote her as, but later on Betty White was lost to “Golden Girls”, unfortunately for MF. Additions of Iola, Naomi and to a lesser extent Bubba expanded the “cartoonish” cast very well. Everyone living in “Raytown” was some sort of outlandish caricature of small-town people, so “bigger-than-life” always made for success. Sure Bubba changed over time, but this was supposed to reflect how living with his “all powerful Grandma Thelma” sent him on another path. Thelma Harper needed to change too if a whole show was supposed to work. She still had those priceless conflicts with “Eunice & Ed” whenever they showed up, but after all those original segments were only 8-10 minutes long on the CB Show and would have gotten tiresome week after week. I liked how Thelma now had a vulnerable side too. Like her famous “UH-OH!” whenever she screwed up making her more human! But she still remained a classic “grouchy old lady” lots of times always referring to Vinton as a “nitwit”, others having a long list of metaphors; and one of my favorite snipes she once threw at character “Eulaylie Watkins”… “listen, you LAVENDAR DRAGON…!” The length of time it was on just weakened the quality as it happens to lots of shows, though. Otherwise pretty consistently funny.
To the above person who mentions Mama losing her edge in Mama's Family: While this is true, remember also how one-dimensional Mama was on The Carol Burnett Show. But, Eunice was the principal character on TCBS, not Mama. You couldn't build a sitcom around Mama and have her totally nasty and unlikable ALL THE TIME with absolutely no redeeming qualities whatsoever or feature other dimensions to her personality. I also agree with the above comments regarding Bubba and add that Bubba also miraculously lost his southern accent when he became "smart".
Mama's Family always sort of reminded me of a comic version of my own hometown and the people I've known all my life. I don't think it jumped at all, and the reason I feel this way is because it was never meant to be intelligent. It was what it was, and it was good at that. Great premise, great cast, and funny storylines. If only there were more shows like this, that make no apologies for being goofy, and manage to get away with it.
I have very fine memories of this show when it was on "The Carol Burnett Show." I remember, even though I was younger, I used to love it when they would do an entire episode of Eunice and Mama. When it became a regular series on NBC, I liked it a lot, but, missed Eunice. Now, when I watch it in reruns, it's still funny, but, not nearly as much as it was when Eunice was on.
Q: Take a truly sidesplitting skit that was conceived to work *as a skit,* try to elongate it in order to make a situation-comedy out of the sketch, and what do you get? A: Mama's Family How this program stayed on the air all of those years I have no idea. (shrug)
This show never jumped. It might have if the show had gone on after the birth of Vint and Naomi's baby, but luckily someone was wise enough to cancel it in time. Anyway, Aunt Fran, Sonja, and Buzz were very dull characters. The addition of Bubba and Iola greatly improved the show, in my humble opinion. However, I would have loved to see Carol Burnett, Betty White, and Harvey Korman guest star in more of the later syndicated episodes. Also, I agree with what someone said about Bubba's character change. He was much more likable as a buffoon. Oh, FYI, there actually is a Raytown, Missouri. It's located right outside of Kansas City. The Harper clans always seemed like Missourians to me (speaking as a Missouri native).
It didn't Jump the Shark. It was one of the best sitcoms out there. No show will ever come close to portraying middle small town America like Mama's Family. The cast worked well together. The one liners uh-oh, when pigs can fly, hell in a handbasket, bet the neighbors are loving this, don't leave this at my doorstep, nitwit, peabrain. To Iolas handcrafts, to Iola's knock knocks to let you know what mood she was in. To Vinton thinking he could fix things since he was a locksmith, but screwed it up. Bubba being a typical middle small town American boy. To Naomi's sexual ways thinking she was hot when she really wasn't. There will never be a show like this one again. The reason the show was stopped being made was because the producer Joe Hamilton who used to be married to Carol Brunett (why Carol Burnett left the show they got divorced and had a hard time being around each other) died of Cancer due to smoking way to much in June of 1991. On the set of the show in real life Joe had a tumor removed on his forehead due to cancer, instead of getting it fix to cover it up he used to use a paper towel to cover it. It was Vicki Lawrence's idea to stop making the show in 1990 she couldn't stand to see Joe Hamilton in such bad shape.
I don't think the show really jumped. Outside of the house and Vicki's actual age, the Harpers were toned down white trash. How the house only had two bedrooms is a mystery, as this leaves Mama and Carl in one bedroom and Vint, Eunice and Ellen in another. And in the NBC years Aunt Fran had an office, soon to be Sonia's room and Buzz had the attic. Another continuity error from the NBC years is when Mama and Buzz clean the attic and it flashes back to when Carl refused a job. Ah the attic is Buzz's room, but he certainly wasn't living in that mess. Carol Burnett gave quite a simple explanation to the southern accents, she said "I like the way they sounded." She say her own kids used to run around imitating the characters. Also Vicki while at a glance can pass as old it becomes uncomfortable to watch when she is next to a real "elderly person." Clearly she is much younger and it destroys the continuity. They should've dressed people her own age up as old people or made more of an attempt to make Mama look old. BTW did anyone notice that Mama's hair goes from being wild and unruly in the NBC period and being more stylized in the syndie years? I think it could've gone on at least another year. Can you imagine the fun Mama could've had with baby Tiffany-Thelma?
Mama's family was a GREAT show. When I was young and going out my parents used to be home and were watching it. I thought "how lame". Later years I found my friends watching re-runs of it and thought "how lame". Now I watch it all the time. Love it. Now I know what I was missing. They were all wonderful with the exception of Vint's kids. Good choice to drop them. Iola Boylan was SUPERB. Wish it was still on. It was a classic. Kudos to the entire cast. Funny, funny, FUNNY. Better than all the crap that's on today. I notice that I pay $50, a month to watch cable tv but all I'm really paying for is to get the tv that used to be free a long time ago.
How could such a wonderful show like Mama's Family ever jump the shark? The answer: It's not humanly possible. This is by far the greatest sitcom ever to be on television. It had the best storylines, the best characters, the best actors & actresses, and had more laughs in one episode than any other show on the tube today. P.S. To the crazy idiot on drugs talking about "the episode where Bubba clogged the toilet with a condom." What is wrong with you? There WAS NEVER an episode like that on Mama's Family. I know this because I've seen every single episode at least 10 times each. You are definitely on crack to think that Mama's Family would air garbage like that.
Mama's Family never did jump the shark. Mama's Family is one of my guilty pleasures, I come home after working the night shift and watch MAMA! If someone compares the network version to the syndicated version and try to tell you that the network version is superior, they do not know what they are talking about. As the series went along, the characters and storylines grew. I have nothing against the original cast, but who can sit through another episode of EUNICE! Buzz (4 stars), Sonya (1 Star), Fran (2 Stars) and Ellen (2 Stars) and Ed Higgins does not even get a single star. What I would have liked to see in the syndicated version was to meet Iola's coffin dodger parents who tied Iola down to their bottom basement level. Did'nt Bubba have a brother, in the Carol Burnett sketches a brother was mentioned. And finally, how could Mama cope with 3? ungrateful children who brains were the size of peas,and who gave her grandchildren who were smarter than their parents. Speaking of children, Alan Alda and Roddy McDowell both played 2 more of her children in the Carol Burnett sketches, and why are they never mentioned again.
I think Mama's Family jumped the shark when Mama and Naomi somehow end up in a PROFESSIONAL WRESTLING MATCH...I mean, most sitcoms have a lame two-part Hawaii episode, and a game-show episode, and introduce new characters with either no explanation or a ridiculous premise, but an 60+ woman in a wrestling ring (fake or not) JUMPS THE SHARK
What's a PRNDL?! I need an "S" for SIDEWAYS! Best episode ever!
The thing about Mama's Family is that it got better as time went on, as opposed to worse like most shows. When it first came out, it was quite boring. Vinton's kids were NOT funny, and Vinton wasnt stupid. There was just nothing going on! There were funny moments-Fran was hilarious but I dont watch the early episodes. When Iola and Bubba came around, that was funny. I will not excuse the fact that they never mentioned Vinton's kids again but this show never jumped.
MAMA'S FAMILY jumped from day one. This was just not a good idea for a series. As an occasional skit on THE CAROL BURNETT SHOW, "The Family" was quite funny and Mama was an amusing supporting character but the main character in those "Family" sketches was Eunice, not Mama and, as I've mentioned in several other posts, supporting characters should stay supporting characters. If the wanted to spin Mama off, Carol and Harvey Korman should have been part of the package as Eunice and Ed. Yes, I know Carol made a few guest appearances as Eunice but it wasn't enough. Mama was a funny character in smaller doses but this show was just too much of an alleged good thing and Viki Lawrence had to work WAY too hard for laughs. Jumped from day one, no doubt about it.
Mama's Family was awesome! I never get tired of watching the episodes. Loved the episode where mama was learning how to drive. She gets out of the car and hits the truck with her purse. Also, loved the episode where Vint tried to fix the doorbell. Loved it when she would say "Well, what the..., I bet the neighbors are just lovin this, and Uh-Oh!"
This show JTS the moment they thought they could take a great series of skits from "The Carol Burnett Show" and fashion them into a sitcom -- without the regular participation of Carol Burnett and Harvey Korman! What made the original skits so funny was the interaction of Burnett and Korman with Vicki Lawrence. When it was just Mama trying to carry the whole show, it was simply painful to watch. Rue McClanahan was annoying as ever...and Ken Berry? This guy was so boring and unfunny that he made Tim Conway look like the greatest comic who ever lived.
This show never jumped. Carol Burnett and friends were missed when they left, but at the same time Bubba and Iola (two good characters) replaced Buzz and Sonya (two very lame characters) and the show actually became better. Mama's character in skits from The Carol Brunette Show and the first season s of MF was funny as a mean old coot, but when the cast changed she became more human which was better for the sitcom format. Don't get me wrong, she could still be mean as a snake when riled. This sitcom was somewhat of a throwback, perhaps the last of it's kind in the mode of The Andy Griffith Show. There wasn't the "PHONY" element in MF there has been in more recent sitcoms like "Seinfeld", "Cheers" and especially, Friends.
I don't think this show ever jumped. The first season was slow but it got way better when Vinton's kids were gone and Bubba (hottie) and Iola came on. My favorite episode has to be the one where Thelma gets a job at a travel agency. Hilarious!!! I can't wait until they finally put this show out on DVD. I must say though that the show did end somewhat abruptly with the birth of Vinton and Naomi's baby, but other than that, I have no complaints.
Oddly enough I think this show only got better as time passed. I HATED the first episodes before Naomi became the wife and Vints brat kids were around. I'm glad they made changes or the show would have JTS early on. Good move by producers; this show is a classic and always will be!
Didn't jump the shark. Did a severe chance, without explaining, but didn't jump. How could a house that had rooms for 3 kids (if you don't count the many brothers including Tommy Smothers that they forgot about)change so. It had rooms for Mama, Fran, Buzz, and Sonia upstairs, then only had a second room for Bubba when he came on.
I believe that, for the television series, none of the other brothers existed. For the purposes of the show, it was just Vinton, Eunice and Ellen. In the flashback show, we see Mama with only her three children. So the three bedroom house originally had one room for the parents, one for Vint, one for the girls. After the kids left and Carl passed on, Mama had a room, Fran had a room and used the other as her studio. When Vint and the kids moved back in, Mama kept her room, Fran kept hers, but Sonja got the studio, Buzz got the attic while Vint, and later Naomi, got the basement. The first episode after syndication began, Vint and Naomi were looking forward to moving out of the basement upon the death of Aunt Fran. Then Bubba moved in and Mama wanted him to have something nice so she gave him Fran's room which kept Vint and Naomi in the basement (they must have forgotten about Fran's studio). Buzz and Sonja apparently went to live with their mother. Who can blame them? I really missed the interaction between Mama, Eunice and Ed, Ellen and the rest of the family. Something special was lost when they ditched the supporting cast members and whittled the cast down to its main elements.
Jumped several times. First when Fran, Sonja and Buzz left and they brought in Bubba (the son of the Carol Burnett-Eunice character) In the first run of the show, Vinton Harper had half a brain and loved his son and daughter, when the curtain went up and Fran was dead, the kids were gone and no mention after that episode was ever made of them again. Then in comes reform school reject Bubba who was dumb as a twig. May be genetic, since this was when Vinton Harper (Ken Berry character) became more stupid at every turn. He went from semi-capable to helpless fool...I think he may have been aiming for buffoon but came off as full fledged idiot. The episodes got worse and worse, Naomi became more stupid. Mama became weird. Then Naomi was pregnant and she and Vinton instead of living in the basement moved into a trailer in the back yard. Now I have a question, in the start we had Fran, Buzz and Sonja each with their own room...Fran dies and only Bubba moves in. This means there are now 2 empty rooms on the upper floor of the Harper house but Vinton and Naomi still live in the basement...and complain about it. Then of course they got that really "neato swell" trailer...what better way to get the trailer trash jokes rolling? Remind me never to move to or even visit Raytown.
IMO the show JTS shortly after the show went into syndication. As a BIG fan of The Carol Burnett Show and particularly The Family Sketches, The original NBC airings were closer to the spirit of the sketches. There was some (maybe not a lot) of drama and touching moments in the NBC versions. For example, In "Fran's Dress" Thelma expresses her fear that as she gets older she is becoming more absent minded. In the NBC versions. Vint and Naomi were not as stupid. Vint was a little scatterbrained but not as bad as he was in the syndicated version. Naomi, on the other hand, at the start was the "foil" for Thelma since Eunice was not going to be there every week. The same goes for the high strung Fran. When the series went syndicated, Vint and Naomi no longer stood up to Thelma. Even in the first couple of episodes in to the syndicated version, after Fran was killed off and Bubba was introduced, Bubba's character changed for the worse. If you notice in the first couple of episodes, Bubba was a male version of Eunice. He was always complaining and going overboard about everything. This would have been great if the writers had continued in this vein but as Bubba's hair grew from spikey to full headed his character soften too much. I wish the series had stayed closer the tone and the feeling of the CBS sketches. I still like the series but prefer the NBC episodes to the syndicated ones.