They never said what state it was. I know Raytown & all that is made up, but where do you think they lived?

Well to me it seems southern and mid-westy, so I like to think somewhere like maybe Arkansas.

Isnt there a real life Raytown near the Kansas City area?
Thats about as midwest as one can get s maybe thats where Hamilton and Company came up with Raytown.

in the episdoe where Mama learns to drive they show a couple go close up of Automoblie's License Plate and it was a Missouri plate so I'd say they live in Missouri

The only Raytown in the U.S. is in Missouri and I too saw the licence plate so I would agree that Raytown is in MO
Garrett

There really is a Raytown under Kansas City. I looked in the encyclopedia & sure nuff, it was there. :p

i looked on my map and they called it rayville. i guess it was a misprint or maybe 2 diff names? oh well. guess we will never know! but if i had to pick i would say mo

I might be a little biased but I'm also gonna have to say it was Missouri. I remember when Vicki Lawrence had her short-lived talk show in the mid 90's. There was one episode of her talk show where she had Ken Berry, Dorothy Lyman and Alan Kayser as guests. Alan Kayser then said that he actually lives in a town named Raytown and that it's located in Missouri.

Originally posted by DJM77
I might be a little biased but I'm also gonna have to say it was Missouri. I remember when Vicki Lawrence had her short-lived talk show in the mid 90's. There was one episode of her talk show where she had Ken Berry, Dorothy Lyman and Alan Kayser as guests. Alan Kayser then said that he actually lives in a town named Raytown and that it's located in Missouri.
I wish I had seen that episode. One of these days I'm going to Raytown. Maybe I'll run into Alan!!!! te he :wave:

Alan Keyser I heard before has made tv appearances on local Kansas City television. I remember reading on a Mama tribute site years ago that Keyser actually hosted Mama/Mother's day marathon on a local channel there.

They say he has very long hair now ( at least in 1998 when I read this ) and teaches class somewhere.

Bubba as your teacher !!! That should be a fun class !!!

According to Vicki Lawrence's autobiography, Raytown was based somewhat on Raytown, Missouri, a suburb of Kansas City. Vicki's mother is from Missouri, and Vicki wanted to make it similar to her home state.

Hi guys. I know this is the first time I've posted here but this topic caught my interest.
I never knew there was a Raytown, Mo.
The one thing I am curious about is they always made reference to the Tri-State area...what exactly does that mean? I'm from California and we don't have that here. LOL.

When one says " the tri-state area" it means 3 states. Just like "bi-state" means 2 states while "quad-state" means 4 states in one area.

Like the New York City tri-state area means the states of New York, Conn, and New Jersey.

In the case of Mama's Family, I assume we are talking Missouri, Kansas, and Nebraska ( or Iowa if its closer ).

I think it was somewhere in the south or the rural midwest. Or Maybe Arkansas or Oklahoma?????

Ok folks, I will tell all you need to know about Raytown, after all, I am sitting here in Raytown. Raytown is a suburb of Kansas City, Missouri, and was founded in about 1849, although it was not incorperated as a city until 1950, to prevent Kansas City, Missouri from taking it over. It most notably was famous for being the last stop on the Santa Fe Trail (as well as the California and Oregon Trails). It was named after a blacksmith, William Ray, who live, and had a shop. The town that grew up around it became known as "Ray's Town" and by 1881, was call Raytown on the maps. There are about 31,000 people living here, we have to High schools, and two fire stations. Raytown is mostly a blue collar middle class families. Perhaps on of the most intersting things here, is the Rice-Termonti House. It is one of the very few existing Homes that were along the Santa Fe Trail that still exist, and still has a slave cabin. In referance of the Bi-State area, Kansas is just about ten miles away, I myself have never heard about a "tri-state" area, if so it would then include Nebraska, about an hour and a half north of here.
Yes, this is the same place as Mama's Family, I just cannot remeber the reason why, although I have heard it a long time ago.

I recall one episode where Vint and Naomi was watching Tri-States most wanted about finding this criminal and collecting the money. Vint and Naomi said they are gonna go to the Mall and look. They never did find the criminal and get the cash. But on their tv, they were watching Tri-States most wanted.

I looked in the map today and seen no Raytown listed in Missouri or anywhere around or in Kansas City. I like to know where you people get this information at. In the show, Raytown existed. In real life, it didn't plain and simple. To me, it was only a city made up.....:mad:

Originally posted by KKEM64138
Ok folks, I will tell all you need to know about Raytown, after all, I am sitting here in Raytown. Raytown is a suburb of Kansas City, Missouri, and was founded in about 1849, although it was not incorperated as a city until 1950, to prevent Kansas City, Missouri from taking it over. It most notably was famous for being the last stop on the Santa Fe Trail (as well as the California and Oregon Trails). It was named after a blacksmith, William Ray, who live, and had a shop. The town that grew up around it became known as "Ray's Town" and by 1881, was call Raytown on the maps. There are about 31,000 people living here, we have to High schools, and two fire stations. Raytown is mostly a blue collar middle class families. Perhaps on of the most intersting things here, is the Rice-Termonti House. It is one of the very few existing Homes that were along the Santa Fe Trail that still exist, and still has a slave cabin. In referance of the Bi-State area, Kansas is just about ten miles away, I myself have never heard about a "tri-state" area, if so it would then include Nebraska, about an hour and a half north of here.
Yes, this is the same place as Mama's Family, I just cannot remeber the reason why, although I have heard it a long time ago.
What i wants 2 know is were was the show filmed??????And was it filmed in front of a Live studio Aud.????
Thanxs!

[QUOTE]Originally posted by CBSrulz
[B]
What i wants 2 know is were was the show filmed??????And was it filmed in front of a Live studio Aud.????
Thanxs!

No, it only took place here, of sorts. The Raytown they used was only based of this Raytown, MO.

Originally posted by KKEM64138
[QUOTE]Originally posted by CBSrulz
[B]
What i wants 2 know is were was the show filmed??????And was it filmed in front of a Live studio Aud.????
Thanxs!

No, it only took place here, of sorts. The Raytown they used was only based of this Raytown, MO.

I Know that what i ment was WHAT STUDIO WAS IT FILMED AT, AND WAS IT FILMED IN FRONT OF A STUIDO AUD?:rolleyes:
Dillon

Yes, it was filmed in front of a live studio audience. Vicki mentions in her book that "Mama's Family" was taped the same way "The Carol Burnett Show" was, twice in front of two different audiences, and the best of each shows were edited together to make the best possible show.

I always thought that Raytown was in the Ozarks in Missouri as well. Don't know why, maybe they mentioned it in an episode once. :)

Originally posted by TallKyGuy
Yes, it was filmed in front of a live studio audience. Vicki mentions in her book that "Mama's Family" was taped the same way "The Carol Burnett Show" was, twice in front of two different audiences, and the best of each shows were edited together to make the best possible show.
well thanks! I have another question? What Are Sydacation Years?They Have NBC years and Syndacation years??

Originally posted by 80sTrivia
I always thought that Raytown was in the Ozarks in Missouri as well. Don't know why, maybe they mentioned it in an episode once. :)

Actually, a reference never was made as to Raytown's location---the only thing we ever heard was the ever-vague "tri-state area". :confused:

Originally posted by CBSrulz
well thanks! I have another question? What Are Sydacation Years?They Have NBC years and Syndacation years??

The syndication years are the years with Bubba and Iola. See, the NBC years had Frannie and the kids and the occasional Ellen and Eunice. Then the network dropped the show after "not high enough ratings" in 1983 (every time "Mama"'s ratings started to get better, the stupid "higher-ups" moved it's time slot---grrrrr!!), and then it was resurrected for cable (syndication) in 1986.

Originally posted by TallKyGuy


The syndication years are the years with Bubba and Iola. See, the NBC years had Frannie and the kids and the occasional Ellen and Eunice. Then the network dropped the show after "not high enough ratings" in 1983 (every time "Mama"'s ratings started to get better, the stupid "higher-ups" moved it's time slot---grrrrr!!), and then it was resurrected for cable (syndication) in 1986.

O.K. I knew what years were what NBC YEARS WERE FROM 1983-1985. And the Syndication years were from 1986-1990.So what u r sayin is after NBC dropped the show Cable Channles pick it Up?Which Cable Channles pick the show up?

I always imagined Raytown being in Mississippi or Alabama.

I say Missouri too. I read Vicki's autobio.

...was that Vint and Naomi were going to manage a trailer park in Arizona. Or, as Naomi put it, to Eunice, I think, "Today is the happiest day of my life! I'm marrying the man I love. And moving a thousand miles away from his family!".

Just for kicks, I played around on Mapquest, to find how far various places in Arizona are from Raytown, Missouri. There's a little town named Houck, off I-40, that's 1062 miles away from Raytown.

So, if Raytown Missouri is it, the writers paid attention to their geography!

Missouri? Oh wow, I always thought Raytown was in Georgia.

I think it took place in Missouri:crazy:

Wow, I always wondered what state the show took place in! Nice job spotting it on the license plate...thanks! :)