It's the episode where Vint's friend Claude Canemaker tries to get him to marry some Portuguese lady so she can get a green card. In this episode, Vint is not married to Naomi, but this is episode #11, and Vint and Naomi had their wedding episodes ago, so I am very confused with this convoluted episode.

It's the episode where Vint's friend Claude Canemaker tries to get him to marry some Portuguese lady so she can get a green card. In this episode, Vint is not married to Naomi, but this is episode #11, and Vint and Naomi had their wedding episodes ago, so I am very confused with this convoluted episode.

The Alien Marriage and Mama's Silver episodes were actually flashback episodes but because the show has been edited to allow for more commercials, that explanation is missing. Originally, all of the season 1 episodes opened with an introduction by Alistair Quince (Harvey Korman), but these were all cut in syndication to allow more commercial time. In the intros to these two episodes, he explains that these are flashbacks to a time before Vint had married Naomi. The Season 1 DVDs have the complete, unedited version of these episodes, including the Harvey Korman openings.

The Alien Marriage and Mama's Silver episodes were actually flashback episodes but because the show has been edited to allow for more commercials, that explanation is missing. Originally, all of the season 1 episodes opened with an introduction by Alistair Quince (Harvey Korman), but these were all cut in syndication to allow more commercial time. In the intros to these two episodes, he explains that these are flashbacks to a time before Vint had married Naomi. The Season 1 DVDs have the complete, unedited version of these episodes, including the Harvey Korman openings.

That is so interesting to know. I never knew that Harvey Korman introduced all of the season one episodes. I would love to see that. I also never knew that Alien Marriage and Mama's Silver were just flashbacks.

Yeah, after taping those first two episodes and Vicki halted production to figure out what was "going wrong" with the show (Mama didn't feel "right" to her), they just aired those two later on and explained them through Alistair Quince as being flashbacks. I'm so grateful they did that instead of just scrapping those 2 episodes altogether!

Yeah, after taping those first two episodes and Vicki halted production to figure out what was "going wrong" with the show (Mama didn't feel "right" to her), they just aired those two later on and explained them through Alistair Quince as being flashbacks. I'm so grateful they did that instead of just scrapping those 2 episodes altogether!

Yeah, I loved the "Mama's Silver" episode. I didn't care all too much for "Alien Marriage" though.

When I used to watch the show on Fox during it's first run of re-runs, I remember they always showed Mama's Silver as the FIRST episode, followed by Alien Marriage and then Fran's Dress.....then the marriage episodes. It was funny b/c Mama mentions Vint being married to Naomi in Fran's Dress episode.

When I used to watch the show on Fox during it's first run of re-runs, I remember they always showed Mama's Silver as the FIRST episode, followed by Alien Marriage and then Fran's Dress.....then the marriage episodes. It was funny b/c Mama mentions Vint being married to Naomi in Fran's Dress episode.

They must have been showing the episodes in production order, rather than broadcast order, which is how it was usually run. "Fran's Dress" was the third episode that was produced, but the first after Vicky shut down production so that she could bring in Harvey Korman to direct and to retool the show more to her liking. My guess is that the script for "Fran's Dress" was originally written before the shut-down, and when they started up production again, they tweaked the script to include a reference to Naomi since they decided to hold back that episode to air later in the season.

They must have been showing the episodes in production order, rather than broadcast order, which is how it was usually run. "Fran's Dress" was the third episode that was produced, but the first after Vicky shut down production so that she could bring in Harvey Korman to direct and to retool the show more to her liking. My guess is that the script for "Fran's Dress" was originally written before the shut-down, and when they started up production again, they tweaked the script to include a reference to Naomi since they decided to hold back that episode to air later in the season.

It seems like Vint and the Kids Move in MAY have been shown as the second episode, come to think of it, then Fran's Dress, and THEN Alien Marriage.... B/c at that time it seems like I had the idea that Vint was NOT yet living with Mama in the Mama's Silver episode but was just visiting.

Thank you. I watched this episode yesterday on LOGO and was so confused.

Thank you. I watched this episode yesterday on LOGO and was so confused.

I too was confused for a very long time until someone answered this thread.

My favorite part from this episode is when Mama says “sit-a, sit-a”. Cracks me up everytime!

My favorite part from this episode is when Mama says “sit-a, sit-a”. Cracks me up everytime!

Haha, that is good---and I love how Fran gets such an extended studio audience laugh with, "Thelma, she's a Portuguese, not a Pekingese!" :lol:

One of my favorite parts is later in the living room in Mama's "tirade scene" where she goes to Zenada (sp) and says, "Marriage no good, Zenada. Bad---bad! Go back home, worky worky, come back next year!" LOL!! The "charades" she does of digging or whatever while goin' "worky worky" is hilarious! :rofl:

They must have been showing the episodes in production order, rather than broadcast order, which is how it was usually run. "Fran's Dress" was the third episode that was produced, but the first after Vicky shut down production so that she could bring in Harvey Korman to direct and to retool the show more to her liking. My guess is that the script for "Fran's Dress" was originally written before the shut-down, and when they started up production again, they tweaked the script to include a reference to Naomi since they decided to hold back that episode to air later in the season.

You are correct. On the imdb site it explains that "Mama's Silver" was the 1st episode taped and "Alien Marriage" was the 2nd. But NBC didn't like these 2 epsides at all, so the decision was made to halt production of the series while changes were made to the production team and the cast. The result was that Dorothy Lyman was added to the cast and Harvey Korman was added as co-director with Roger Beatty. They then decided to film an episode to show why Vint and his kids are living with Mama (Vint And The Kids Move In).

Naomi was in the "Alien Marriage" episode, though, but maybe the plan was to have her just be a neighbor for a time? Then, of course, the opening/Allistair Quince made those seem like flashbacks to when Vint wasn't married to Naomi.

Can definitely see the difference in those two episodes and the others. Vicki didn't think it was funny, so in came Harvey Korman to co-direct. And it worked.

"Fran's Dress" is my favorite of those first three shows to be filmed. It was also the first time Mama uttered 'Well, what the..." The first time audiences saw that on the show, though, was when Mama got the job at the Raytown Travel Agency. :)

The odd part is the woman was supposedly from Portugal but her relative and Buz spoke to her in Spanish not Portugese.

Mama's Family was not going to have Vint married and the mother in law live with them and be the friction. The original premise was her sister Fran was supposed to be Mama's counter character who would put her in her place. Rue signed to do the show but when shooting came around, they changed the premise and made Naomi take over the Mamas' counter punch. They would have cut Fran from the show because that character was not needed. However, Rue was under contract for the show and NBC figured to just keep her. This is why the role of Fran is odd. She just has no purpose on the show. I have always believed the Silver and Alien marriage shows were shot prior to the change. Since they were already shot, NBC aired them but the sequence never made sense.

The odd part is the woman was supposedly from Portugal but her relative and Buz spoke to her in Spanish not Portugese.

Mama's Family was not going to have Vint married and the mother in law live with them and be the friction. The original premise was her sister Fran was supposed to be Mama's counter character who would put her in her place. Rue signed to do the show but when shooting came around, they changed the premise and made Naomi take over the Mamas' counter punch. They would have cut Fran from the show because that character was not needed. However, Rue was under contract for the show and NBC figured to just keep her. This is why the role of Fran is odd. She just has no purpose on the show. I have always believed the Silver and Alien marriage shows were shot prior to the change. Since they were already shot, NBC aired them but the sequence never made sense.

Spanish and Portuguese are very similar, so if Spanish was all Buzz knew, he probably took a chance that she could understand him a bit. A Portuguese person could understand Spanish easier than English for sure.



I like to think that Fran served a similar role to what Iola does in the syndicated years. Fran was sorta Mama's "running buddy" so to speak. I started watching the syndicated episodes first in the early 90s, so when they started back over with the NBC episodes, I actually thought Fran was supposed to be Iola, just being played by a different person lol

Great post. I never thought much about the similarities between Fran and Iola but there certainly are some. Both were a good counterbalance to Thelma in their own way.
Just the way my mind works, because Fran came first, I do feel her absence when I watch the syndicated episodes. I don't miss Iola or Bubba at all during the NBC years, probably because there were more regular characters to fill any gaps.

Spanish and Portuguese are very similar, so if Spanish was all Buzz knew, he probably took a chance that she could understand him a bit. A Portuguese person could understand Spanish easier than English for sure.



I like to think that Fran served a similar role to what Iola does in the syndicated years. Fran was sorta Mama's "running buddy" so to speak. I started watching the syndicated episodes first in the early 90s, so when they started back over with the NBC episodes, I actually thought Fran was supposed to be Iola, just being played by a different person lol
Totally not true. The languages are far from similar. I know Brazilians and spouse is native speaker of Spanish. Only a few words are similar. You are missing the point. The character was from Portugal. Yet Buzz says, I know Spanish LOL. Thats like saying I speak Italian. And in the show the woman DID speak Portuguese. That part was true but character who played her uncle, spoke to her in Spanish. Just a little fact that most of America never realized.

The guy who acted is a native speaker. Most people did not catch this but its a huge mistake in the show.

I don't miss Iola or Bubba at all during the NBC years I very much preferred Bubba and Iola to Sonia, Buzz and Fran. IMO, Bubba was a much better actor than Sonia or Buzz and as for Iola, I just thought her character was funnier than Fran.

Totally not true. The languages are far from similar. I know Brazilians and spouse is native speaker of Spanish. Only a few words are similar. You are missing the point. The character was from Portugal. Yet Buzz says, I know Spanish LOL. Thats like saying I speak Italian. And in the show the woman DID speak Portuguese. That part was true but character who played her uncle, spoke to her in Spanish. Just a little fact that most of America never realized.

The guy who acted is a native speaker. Most people did not catch this but its a huge mistake in the show.


I DO speak some Italian and I KNOW that those languages like Italian, Spanish, French, Portuguese do have similarities.. I don't think it's odd that Buzz brought up the fact he speaks Spanish. Where I used to work there was an Hispanic man who spoke NO English at all, and I said, "Hey I speak Italian a little!" So he and I could communicate a LITTLE to the point where I could roughly translate to the other English speakers what he was saying.

Now, I do not speak Spanish nor Portuguese, BUT when I see them written they both look very similar to me, and I can read a great deal of Spanish just from knowing Italian and some French.

So I stand by what I say, you would get further trying to communicate with a Portuguese person in Spanish as opposed to English.

I DO speak some Italian and I KNOW that those languages like Italian, Spanish, French, Portuguese do have similarities.. I don't think it's odd that Buzz brought up the fact he speaks Spanish. Where I used to work there was an Hispanic man who spoke NO English at all, and I said, "Hey I speak Italian a little!" So he and I could communicate a LITTLE to the point where I could roughly translate to the other English speakers what he was saying.

Now, I do not speak Spanish nor Portuguese, BUT when I see them written they both look very similar to me, and I can read a great deal of Spanish just from knowing Italian and some French.

So I stand by what I say, you would get further trying to communicate with a Portuguese person in Spanish as opposed to English.
You keep missing the point. I dont want to have a debate about languages. I am simply pointing out this odd fact about this episode that few know unless you understand Spanish and Portuguese. That's all.
Buzz is not really highlighting the point either. Her uncle who supposedly is from Portugal too speaks to her in Spanish while she does speak Portuguese. I would have never known this but it was pointed out to me by native speakers of the language.
Just a little known fact about the show. It was an assumption by the producers that people speak Spanish in Portugal or they could not find another actor to play the uncle who spoke Portuguese. Or maybe just maybe they said....no one will ever know ;)

I DO speak some Italian and I KNOW that those languages like Italian, Spanish, French, Portuguese do have similarities.. I don't think it's odd that Buzz brought up the fact he speaks Spanish. Where I used to work there was an Hispanic man who spoke NO English at all, and I said, "Hey I speak Italian a little!" So he and I could communicate a LITTLE to the point where I could roughly translate to the other English speakers what he was saying.

Now, I do not speak Spanish nor Portuguese, BUT when I see them written they both look very similar to me, and I can read a great deal of Spanish just from knowing Italian and some French.

So I stand by what I say, you would get further trying to communicate with a Portuguese person in Spanish as opposed to English.

You keep missing the point. I dont want to have a debate about languages. I am simply pointing out this odd fact about this episode that few know unless you understand Spanish and Portuguese. That's all.
Buzz is not really highlighting the point either. Her uncle who supposedly is from Portugal too speaks to her in Spanish while she does speak Portuguese. I would have never known this but it was pointed out to me by native speakers of the language.
Just a little known fact about the show. It was an assumption by the producers that people speak Spanish in Portugal or they could not find another actor to play the uncle who spoke Portuguese. Or maybe just maybe they said....no one will ever know ;)

In that case it probably was just a mistake they thought no one would notice.

The first 2 episodes filmed (Mama's Silver and Alien Marriage) are special to me. In these episodes Vint's buddy Claude Cainmaker appears and always gets him into trouble. Mama is also at her most vocal in these episodes. She is screaming at Vint at the end of Alien Marriage so hard that Vicki loses her voice for a second or two. The conflict was between Mama and her son who was dragged into trouble by his friend. Mama was very much like she was in the Mama sketches on Carol Burnett. After these 2 episodes were filmed, the network put the show on hold until Vicki regrouped with Carol and Harvey and brought them in to make a transition.
These 2 episodes are some of my all time favorites from Mamas Family. I am thankful they aired them and did not scrap them all together even though when they air there are sequence issues.
Mama was very harsh in these episodes and I love it.

The first 2 episodes filmed (Mama's Silver and Alien Marriage) are special to me. In these episodes Vint's buddy Claude Cainmaker appears and always gets him into trouble. Mama is also at her most vocal in these episodes. She is screaming at Vint at the end of Alien Marriage so hard that Vicki loses her voice for a second or two. The conflict was between Mama and her son who was dragged into trouble by his friend. Mama was very much like she was in the Mama sketches on Carol Burnett. After these 2 episodes were filmed, the network put the show on hold until Vicki regrouped with Carol and Harvey and brought them in to make a transition.
These 2 episodes are some of my all time favorites from Mamas Family. I am thankful they aired them and did not scrap them all together even though when they air there are sequence issues.
Mama was very harsh in these episodes and I love it.



Mama also says "By God!" in this episode which is a little beyond what she usually says. I think she also says GD in the Wedding part 1 but "God" is edited out.... It sounds like she says, "Goddammit Eunice I have had ENOUGH!"

The first 2 episodes filmed (Mama's Silver and Alien Marriage) are special to me. In these episodes Vint's buddy Claude Cainmaker appears and always gets him into trouble. Mama is also at her most vocal in these episodes. She is screaming at Vint at the end of Alien Marriage so hard that Vicki loses her voice for a second or two. The conflict was between Mama and her son who was dragged into trouble by his friend. Mama was very much like she was in the Mama sketches on Carol Burnett. After these 2 episodes were filmed, the network put the show on hold until Vicki regrouped with Carol and Harvey and brought them in to make a transition.
These 2 episodes are some of my all time favorites from Mamas Family. I am thankful they aired them and did not scrap them all together even though when they air there are sequence issues.
Mama was very harsh in these episodes and I love it.
Also, in the first two episodes, Fran is more NBC Naomi like, she knows how to stand up to Mama and put her in her place. If you watch an interview with Rue McClanahan, she states that before Dorothy Lyman was hired and Naomi and Vint became, the Aunt Fran character was less spinster and more brave and basically, in Layman’s terms, Mama’s enemy. The two would often clash, as proved in the first two episodes. But after the first two episodes, Vicki felt something “wasn’t right” and demanded that production halted the show, so she got in contact with Harvey and Carol, like you mentioned, and Harvey suggested Mama lightening up, as it wasn’t The Family sketches anymore and “people didn’t wanna come home for a hard day’s work, grab a beer, and turn on the tube, just to listen to hollering and screaming and yelling for half an hour”, and Vicki replied with she didn’t know how to “lighten up” as Mama never cracked a smile before. Also, Rue goes on to say that Harvey and Vicki were very close and while she personally liked Vicki and thought that Mama was hilarious, she and her never really talked to each other past the set. And something I found quite funny from the interview was that Rue claimed that she had a crush on Ken Berry back then and found it strange that she was playing his aunt. LOL.

Mama also says "By God!" in this episode which is a little beyond what she usually says. I think she also says GD in the Wedding part 1 but "God" is edited out.... It sounds like she says, "Goddammit Eunice I have had ENOUGH!"
Speaking of, there is a part from the same episode that is often edited out. It’s one of the few lines between Fran and Eunice. I don’t remember the exact lines, but apparently, they got into a spat over Eunice singing at the wedding.

Speaking of, there is a part from the same episode that is often edited out. It’s one of the few lines between Fran and Eunice. I don’t remember the exact lines, but apparently, they got into a spat over Eunice singing at the wedding.


Yeah in both wedding episodes Eunice and Fran have dialogue that got edited out.

Fran basically told Eunice she would NOT accompany Eunice on the piano, and Eunice tells her that an organ grinder makes a better sound than her on the piano.

And in part 2 Eunice tells Fran that Mama needs help with her hair, in order to get Naomi alone so she try to talk her into letting her sing