When Mama's Family ventured into social issues

[BestTVever]

It was a very common 80s theme in sitcoms for them to insert or tackle the social issues of the day. Sitcoms would have episodes about bulimia, assisted suicide, gambling addiction, AIDS, teenage pregnancy, etc. Golden Girls really did this and tackled every social cause of the 80s including pacemakers. Mamas Family was no different. We got episodes about homelessness and literacy. Literacy was first Lady Barbara Bush's cause in 1989. Mamas Family copied the photoshop controversy of Oprah on TV Guide and even the fad of Dirty Dancing. In real time these episodes were current and trendy. But looking back they are a time stamp of the 80s. Almost every sitcom in the 80s had a ATM episode where a character uses it for the first time and comes away with too much money. Mama was no different and this was tackling the issue of the growth of ATM (money machines).
What other cultural or social issues did Mama's Family tackle? We even got a little Heavy Metal hype in an episode of Mamas Family with the Bone Crushers.

[stevea]

There was Mama's addiction to the local Raytown version of Home Shopping Channel. The family tried an intervention to cure that.

[TVLegend]

All those serious topics is what killed The Golden Girls. I’m glad Mama’s Family didn’t delve too far into that.

[TheLittleFaerie]

Aside from the Reading of the Riots Act and the homeless people episode, I thought Mama's Family steered pretty clear of politics, religion and social issues. It sorta stayed in the same vein as the Carol Burnett Show, which just relied on light hearted comedy and didn't delve too much into controversial issues. Though I do remember Mama made a few racist comments in the Family Sketches, she complained that, "Every color of the rainbow living on the block"

[BestTVever]

Originally Posted by TheLittleFaerie

Aside from the Reading of the Riots Act and the homeless people episode, I thought Mama's Family steered pretty clear of politics, religion and social issues. It sorta stayed in the same vein as the Carol Burnett Show, which just relied on light hearted comedy and didn't delve too much into controversial issues. Though I do remember Mama made a few racist comments in the Family Sketches, she complained that, "Every color of the rainbow living on the block"

I am not talking about politics. Mama's Family had scripts about social issues and current topics just as much or even more than other sitcoms of the 80s. When Mama debated Iola for Church Lady President, it was loosely based on Presidential Debates of 1988. Mama even makes a joke that only would make sense to those that lived through the 1988 election. When Dan Quayle was nominated as Vice President, his National Guard record became focus because it was alleged his family got him into the guard to avoid Vietnam. Mama tells Vint to wear his army uniform because "there was no national guard in this family." Mamas Family copied exactly the TV Guide Oprah photo shop controversy.
The social issues of the 80s were in lots of sitcoms. The Golden Girls also tackled homelessness. Literacy was also a huge topic because of the first lady during the Mamas Family syndication years. When TV shopping became a fad in the 80s, Mamas Family had an episode about it. When ATMs were becoming popular Mamas Family had an episode about it. Dirty Dancing trend of the late 80s was also an episode.
Mamas Family did social issues and social trends more muted than other sitcoms and never had that "serious" episode where there was not much comedy. However the show lived in the 80s and there are time stamps on many of the episodes.

[Alan Brady's Hair]

This is Garry Marshall talking about inserting serious subjects into his shows, including subjects suggested by "pressure groups":

https://youtu.be/XPnrUmxql7Y?si=L1IkrCdsTliT7aCn

[schmave]

The one I remember the most is "Reading the Riot Act." I felt so sorry for Lolly Purdue's character and thought the episode was tastefully written.
I agree Mama's Family was never as heavy-handed as Golden Girls when it came to social issues. I don't think those episodes killed Golden Girls, because that show more naturally cycled out of existence anyway after a long, popular run. Neither were anywhere close to as preachy as Designing Women or, more recently, Family Guy and probably several other shows I can't think of at the moment.

[schmave]

The one I remember the most is "Reading the Riot Act." I felt so sorry for Lolly Purdue's character and thought the episode was tastefully written.
I agree Mama's Family was never as heavy-handed as Golden Girls when it came to social issues. I don't think those episodes killed Golden Girls, because that show more naturally cycled out of existence anyway after a long, popular run. Neither were anywhere close to as preachy as Designing Women or, more recently, Family Guy and probably several other shows I can't think of at the moment.

[BestTVever]

Originally Posted by schmave

The one I remember the most is "Reading the Riot Act." I felt so sorry for Lolly Purdue's character and thought the episode was tastefully written.
I agree Mama's Family was never as heavy-handed as Golden Girls when it came to social issues. I don't think those episodes killed Golden Girls, because that show more naturally cycled out of existence anyway after a long, popular run. Neither were anywhere close to as preachy as Designing Women or, more recently, Family Guy and probably several other shows I can't think of at the moment.

True. It was written well. It highlighted an issue with literacy but then showed Mama's big heart at the end when she changes her mind about over throwing her as President of Church Lady's league.
The episode would not have happened if it was not for the new First Lady's cause in 1989. In the mid 80s many sitcoms did the Nancy Reagan JUST SAY NO and she actually appeared on Different Strokes.