Who is Thelma Harper’s favorite child out of Eunice, Ellen, and Vinton? I definitely say it’s Vinton. They had a close bond and love for each other as mother and son.

It’s definitely Ellen. In the “Best Medicine” episode, Thelma told her that out of all of her kids, she loved her best. Also, Thelma got along better with Ellen than she did her other children.

It’s definitely Ellen. In the “Best Medicine” episode, Thelma told her that out of all of her kids, she loved her best. Also, Thelma got along better with Ellen than she did her other children.


Thelma may put Vint in a different category since he was the only boy *at least in Mama's Family* I think it's really obvious that Thelma has an incredible bond with Vint, that she may not even have with Ellen.... I think Thelma feels like Vint is still and WILL ALWAYS be her "baby". When Thelma and Vint would have their tender moments, that REALLY came out.

She liked Ellen "best" in a different way I think...but to be honest, Thelma could be just as rude to Ellen as she is to Eunice often times, Ellen just has the self-awareness to stay away lol

And then there's poor Eunice, who deserved more love than she ever got. Obviously Eunice was the most similar child to her mother.... it's too bad that aspect was never highlighted before Eunice departed, it kind was in the Cell Mates episode when Eunice and Thelma acknowledged they had WAY more in common than they realized. I think the scene where Eunice and Thelma share the tight hug on the front porch as they both cried in each other's arms was one of the best scenes of the show...I kinda hated they started fighting against at the end, It would have sorta been nice if they had just written Eunice out on THAT note. But thankfully Eunice and Thelma didn't have any more really DRAMATIC fights after that episode, they bickered some in Eunice's following 2 final episodes but nothing major. So I like to think they reached some common ground in Cell Mates

Thelma may put Vint in a different category since he was the only boy *at least in Mama's Family* I think it's really obvious that Thelma has an incredible bond with Vint, that she may not even have with Ellen.... I think Thelma feels like Vint is still and WILL ALWAYS be her "baby". When Thelma and Vint would have their tender moments, that REALLY came out.

She liked Ellen "best" in a different way I think...but to be honest, Thelma could be just as rude to Ellen as she is to Eunice often times, Ellen just has the self-awareness to stay away lol

And then there's poor Eunice, who deserved more love than she ever got. Obviously Eunice was the most similar child to her mother.... it's too bad that aspect was never highlighted before Eunice departed, it kind was in the Cell Mates episode when Eunice and Thelma acknowledged they had WAY more in common than they realized. I think the scene where Eunice and Thelma share the tight hug on the front porch as they both cried in each other's arms was one of the best scenes of the show...I kinda hated they started fighting against at the end, It would have sorta been nice if they had just written Eunice out on THAT note. But thankfully Eunice and Thelma didn't have any more really DRAMATIC fights after that episode, they bickered some in Eunice's following 2 final episodes but nothing major. So I like to think they reached some common ground in Cell Mates
If you pay close attention, I think the reason why Thelma treated Vint as her baby was because she could not live without him. And Vint couldn’t live without her. Thelma could not bear the thought of living alone, and she knew Vinton simply couldn’t live on his own, so they were dependent on each other. Take the “Mama’s Silver” and “A Room with No View” episodes, for instance. In “Mama’s Silver”, after Thelma and Vinton get into a heated argument and Vinton storms into his room to pack his bags, Thelma nearly bursts into tears and yells “VINT!!!, all while Fran sits there and pleads with her to let Vinton go and stop babying him. She could have let Vint go at that moment, but I believe she did not want to because she knew that she would be miserable without him. In “A Room with No View”, everyone is unhappy with their living conditions, especially Vinton’s wife Naomi. Vint and Naomi had mooched off of Thelma rent free for years at that point, and neither one of them had any right to complain, so most people in that situation would have thrown them out, but Thelma didn’t, because, once again, I believe she feared living alone and knew that Vint couldn’t live on his own and be the man of the house.

As for Ellen, I think it’s obvious that Thelma loved her best deep down, but could not express it all the time because she was jealous of her. Ellen wore nice clothes, lived on the nice side of town, married a rich husband, and seemed to have it all. Thelma wanted what Ellen had, and was mad that she never got any of it.