Has Mama's Family now eclipsed The Carol Burnett Show in cultural relevancy

[TMC]

I've been recently reading comments elsewhere that argued, non-facetiously, most people say, under the age of 45 don't remember first-hand, The Carol Burnett Show. That doesn't take away from the fact that Carol Burnett herself is an icon and legend, but at the end of the day, doesn't it now feel like its semi-spinoff, Mama's Family is still remembered and reran somewhere by a wider margin?

[TheLittleFaerie]

Originally Posted by TMC

I've been recently reading comments elsewhere that argued, non-facetiously, most people say, under the age of 45 don't remember first-hand, The Carol Burnett Show. That doesn't take away from the fact that Carol Burnett herself is an icon and legend, but at the end of the day, doesn't it now feel like its semi-spinoff, Mama's Family is still remembered and reran somewhere by a wider margin?

I'm 43, and I grew up watching Carol Burnett and Friends 30 minute shows on TBS. when I was about 7 or so. Then later on when I was about 10 was when I was first introduced to Mama's Family, I was like, "That's the old lady from Carol Burnett's show, but where is Eunice?!" I became a huge Mama's Family fan, but by that time I hadn't seen Carol Burnett in a while and I kept wanting to see her show again... It wasn't until I was in my mid teens that I got to see her show again.

But yeah I think The Carol Burnett Show is more rarely shown than Mama's Family. It seems like they aired Mama's Family all the time, but it was a rare treat to see Carol Burnett.

But I've experienced the same, many ppl who love Mama's Family who have no idea who Carol Burnett is, and didn't know that Mama's Family is a spin-off. I even worked with a girl who liked Mama's Family and she didn't even know who Carol Burnett was and she thought Vicke Lawrance was a REAL old woman in real life and really looked like Mama, she didn't know Mama was a young woman dreseed up LOL, Once she was watching Carol Burnett Show for the first time she was like "Why is Thelma Harper on this show!" LOL

[BestTVever]

As time marches on sadly this is true. Mamas Family is still on the air today and people know it. But the Carol Burnett show was where it got its roots. Comedy sketch is not common today and would never make it to TV. Carol is a comedy genius. As Carol and Vicki say all the time......there were never any jokes in the Family Sketches on Carol Burnett. The scripts had no jokes. It was all how they delivered the lines that made us fall out of our chairs laughing. Mama's Accident and the Sorry game sketch are 2 of the most brilliant comedy sketches ever! I still laugh out loud. No wonder it had such a reaction from the audience. Carol's show was bombarded with letters loving these sketches.

[TVLegend]

Originally Posted by BestTVever

As time marches on sadly this is true. Mamas Family is still on the air today and people know it. But the Carol Burnett show was where it got its roots. Comedy sketch is not common today and would never make it to TV. Carol is a comedy genius. As Carol and Vicki say all the time......there were never any jokes in the Family Sketches on Carol Burnett. The scripts had no jokes. It was all how they delivered the lines that made us fall out of our chairs laughing. Mama's Accident and the Sorry game sketch are 2 of the most brilliant comedy sketches ever! I still laugh out loud. No wonder it had such a reaction from the audience. Carol's show was bombarded with letters loving these sketches.

I thought the Brotherly Love sketch was the best…it had Eunice, Mama, and Ed coming back from church trying to be better people, then all of a sudden, Eunice starts arguing with Ellen over the phone, Mama shouts at Ed over him using too much butter, Mama reveals that Carl was abusive and never got to forgive him, etc., it was just brilliant. You don’t realize how depressing these skits are because you spend time laughing at the characters making buffoons of themselves.

As for Mama’s Family and it’s relevancy nowadays, it’s ironic how popular it is when it wasn’t even in syndication for years. I think MeTV airing it in 2016 brought the show back to life. It’s everywhere now, MeTV, Logo, CMT.

[BestTVever]

Originally Posted by TVLegend

I thought the Brotherly Love sketch was the best…it had Eunice, Mama, and Ed coming back from church trying to be better people, then all of a sudden, Eunice starts arguing with Ellen over the phone, Mama shouts at Ed over him using too much butter, Mama reveals that Carl was abusive and never got to forgive him, etc., it was just brilliant. You don’t realize how depressing these skits are because you spend time laughing at the characters making buffoons of themselves.

As for Mama’s Family and it’s relevancy nowadays, it’s ironic how popular it is when it wasn’t even in syndication for years. I think MeTV airing it in 2016 brought the show back to life. It’s everywhere now, MeTV, Logo, CMT.

Yes. There were some dark years for Mamas Family in the early and late 2000's. I remember there were message boards and Mamas Family websites trying to organize some TV networks to bring it back. After TBS ran it forever in the 1990s it went off the air. Now its a staple on Logo and MeTv.

[PaperClips]

I don't think MeTV airs Mama's Family. It is on Catchy.

I'll watch Mama's Family before Carol Burnett.

[BestTVever]

Originally Posted by PaperClips

I don't think MeTV airs Mama's Family. It is on Catchy.

I'll watch Mama's Family before Carol Burnett.

Yes they do. Sundays 4pm and 4:30
Been on there for years.

[stevea]

Originally Posted by BestTVever

Yes. There were some dark years for Mamas Family in the early and late 2000's. I remember there were message boards and Mamas Family websites trying to organize some TV networks to bring it back. After TBS ran it forever in the 1990s it went off the air. Now its a staple on Logo and MeTv.

Back when Mama's Family ran on TBS, it was also running on local TV here.

Those were good times for the show. It ended around the same time on both channels, and those dark years began.

[BestTVever]

Originally Posted by stevea

Back when Mama's Family ran on TBS, it was also running on local TV here.

Those were good times for the show. It ended around the same time on both channels, and those dark years began.

I remember TBS would run it early evening for years. After its syndication run ended they kept it there. At some point they then moved it to 5 am and 530 am. I read an interview with some program director at TBS and they asked them why Mamas Family at 5 am. He responded that the show got really good ratings at 5 am. I thought that was funny. There was not much on TV at 5 am except infomercials back in those days. But TBS got really good ratings from the show even at odd hours.

[PaperClips]

Originally Posted by BestTVever

Yes they do. Sundays 4pm and 4:30
Been on there for years.

You are absolutely right.