One 1970's Sitcom that I probably will never get a chance to see - Sitcoms Online Message Boards

TVFactFan · 10-24-2003, 07:54 PM

That's My Mama which premeired in 1974 on ABC. I have been looking and Looking and I still have not found this show. Has anyone been lucky enough to see it?

Mr. Television · 10-25-2003, 12:24 AM

I watched it years ago and liked it. The last time I saw it was in the mid 80's when it aired on one of my local channels in North Carolina.

TVFactFan · 10-25-2003, 12:26 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by mr roper
I watched it years ago and liked it. The last time I saw it was in the mid 80's when it aired on one of my local channels in North Carolina.

It never aired in Philadelphia

Mr. Television · 10-25-2003, 12:29 AM

I don't think its syndicated very much. I enjoyed the show but it took awhile to get going. They had a few cast changes that you had to get use to.

W.J. Griffin · 10-25-2003, 08:00 PM

"That's My Mama" had its moments, but compared to the concurrent "Good Times", "The Jeffersons" and especially "Sanford and Son" (with which it shares a lot of similarities) it couldn't compete.

But that's my opinion...

TVFactFan · 10-25-2003, 08:04 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by W.J. Griffin
"That's My Mama" had its moments, but compared to the concurrent "Good Times", "The Jeffersons" and especially "Sanford and Son" (with which it shares a lot of similarities) it couldn't compete.

But that's my opinion...

What were some of the similarities between THat's My Mama and the

Jeffersons
Good Times
Sanford and Son

And why couldn't it compete against those shows?

Gil · 10-26-2003, 04:35 AM

That's where Ted Lange (Isaac, Love Boat) got his start. He would burst in the barber shop (where most of the show was set), a la Kramer, saying "I got it, I got it, I got it! And I sho ain't gonna tell it! I couldn't have been no more than five years old, but I definitely remember that.

W.J. Griffin · 10-30-2003, 11:12 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Sitcom Analyzer
What were some of the similarities between THat's My Mama and the

Jeffersons
Good Times
Sanford and Son

And why couldn't it compete against those shows?

Well, if you REALLY want to know...

"That's My Mama" was so obviously ABC's answer to "Sanford and Son" it could've been titled "Sanford's Mama". Theresa Merritt played a sweet but overbearing mother to Clifton Davis's cool-brother barber (running his late father's barber shop), and some of the supporting cast were softer versions of the "Sanford" cast (no Aunt Esther, to be sure, but Clifton did have a sister and a bland-o-rama brother-in-law, a jivin' best friend who was a postman, and the aformentioned "Junior", played by Ted Lange {Issac on "Love Boat"}).

The show had a rspectable run (two, two-and-a-half saesons, tops), but, to me, it didn't have the same impact that "Sanford and Son", "Good Times", or "The Jeffersons" had with their in-your-face attitudes, broad comedy, and moral outrage(though, in "Mama's'' defense, it was light-years ahead of the condescending "Love Thy Neighbor"...)

TVFactFan · 10-30-2003, 11:21 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by W.J. Griffin
Well, if you REALLY want to know...

"That's My Mama" was so obviously ABC's answer to "Sanford and Son" it could've been titled "Sanford's Mama". Theresa Merritt played a sweet but overbearing mother to Clifton Davis's cool-brother barber (running his late father's barber shop), and some of the supporting cast were softer versions of the "Sanford" cast (no Aunt Esther, to be sure, but Clifton did have a sister and a bland-o-rama brother-in-law, a jivin' best friend who was a postman, and the aformentioned "Junior", played by Ted Lange {Issac on "Love Boat"}).

The show had a rspectable run (two, two-and-a-half saesons, tops), but, to me, it didn't have the same impact that "Sanford and Son", "Good Times", or "The Jeffersons" had with their in-your-face attitudes, broad comedy, and moral outrage(though, in "Mama's'' defense, it was light-years ahead of the condescending "Love Thy Neighbor"...)

I know it came on Wednesday night. I wonder was that timeslot a bad spot?

TVFactFan · 10-31-2003, 08:28 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Riff
It aired opposite "Little House on the Prairie" and "Tony Orlando and Dawn" for most of its run. There was just no audience left for it. That, and "When Things Were Rotten"...

I can't imagine changing actors -- and having actors changing roles -- helped, either.

I'm not giving up-i will try to get this show

TVFactFan · 11-29-2003, 10:02 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Riff
You could try writing TV One, the upstart BET Two. They seem to be picking up the slack where BET left off, what, with their recent acquisitions of two CBS dramas nobody watched.

Their CEO also had this to say-- ""There aren't that many dramas about African-Americans out there, but we were fortunate enough to get some of the best," he said, adding that TV One expects to tap the bigger pool of urban comedies available
in syndication in the near future."

I just thought I would run across someone who would have it in there collection in the past 14 months

TVFactFan · 11-30-2003, 12:01 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by W.J. Griffin
Well, if you REALLY want to know...

"That's My Mama" was so obviously ABC's answer to "Sanford and Son" it could've been titled "Sanford's Mama". Theresa Merritt played a sweet but overbearing mother to Clifton Davis's cool-brother barber (running his late father's barber shop), and some of the supporting cast were softer versions of the "Sanford" cast (no Aunt Esther, to be sure, but Clifton did have a sister and a bland-o-rama brother-in-law, a jivin' best friend who was a postman, and the aformentioned "Junior", played by Ted Lange {Issac on "Love Boat"}).

The show had a rspectable run (two, two-and-a-half saesons, tops), but, to me, it didn't have the same impact that "Sanford and Son", "Good Times", or "The Jeffersons" had with their in-your-face attitudes, broad comedy, and moral outrage(though, in "Mama's'' defense, it was light-years ahead of the condescending "Love Thy Neighbor"...)

I just found out in a 1975 Jet Magazine that this was the problem with the show THat's My Mama. It was said that the mother was too overbearing. Here is a quote from one of the producers. "What we want to do in the 1975 season is reduce her overbearing matriarchal qualities" She was more STERN than Warm in the 1974-75 season."

Do you agree with this W.J. Griffin?

W.J. Griffin · 11-30-2003, 07:36 PM

I could tell you "yeah, that's the way it wnet down", but, frankly, my memoris of this show are somewhat vague, at best. I don't remeber any definite change in quality one way or the other, as in regards to Theresa Merritt's "transformation".

What I DO remember is that this show was no where near as funny as the other Black sitcoms that were on the air at the same time. And the writing was, like, strictly from dullsville, man.(kinda like "Charlie and Company"...does anyone out there remember "Charlie and Company"? Me neither.)

bencasey · 02-01-2004, 04:31 AM

I never bothered with it but it was syndicated in the 80s so I'm sure there are collectors who have it.

TVFactFan · 02-01-2004, 11:34 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by bencasey
I never bothered with it but it was syndicated in the 80s so I'm sure there are collectors who have it.

Not many, I been on this site for almost 2 years and no one has the show in their collection.

10-24-2003, 07:54 PM	#1
TVFactFan Member Forum Junkie Join Date: Aug 17, 2002 Posts: 99,000	One 1970's Sitcom that I probably will never get a chance to see That's My Mama which premeired in 1974 on ABC. I have been looking and Looking and I still have not found this show. Has anyone been lucky enough to see it?

10-25-2003, 12:24 AM	#2
Mr. Television 22 Years at Sitcoms Online Forum Icon Join Date: Jun 06, 2003 Location: Somewhere you're Not Posts: 62,128	I watched it years ago and liked it. The last time I saw it was in the mid 80's when it aired on one of my local channels in North Carolina.
	__________________ Sonny

10-25-2003, 12:29 AM	#4
Mr. Television 22 Years at Sitcoms Online Forum Icon Join Date: Jun 06, 2003 Location: Somewhere you're Not Posts: 62,128	I don't think its syndicated very much. I enjoyed the show but it took awhile to get going. They had a few cast changes that you had to get use to.

10-25-2003, 08:00 PM	#5
W.J. Griffin Member Forum Regular Join Date: Aug 29, 2002 Posts: 527	"That's My Mama" had its moments, but compared to the concurrent "Good Times", "The Jeffersons" and especially "Sanford and Son" (with which it shares a lot of similarities) it couldn't compete. But that's my opinion...

10-26-2003, 04:35 AM	#7
Gil Member Occasional Poster Join Date: Oct 26, 2003 Posts: 34	That's where Ted Lange (Isaac, Love Boat) got his start. He would burst in the barber shop (where most of the show was set), a la Kramer, saying "I got it, I got it, I got it! And I sho ain't gonna tell it! I couldn't have been no more than five years old, but I definitely remember that.

11-30-2003, 07:36 PM	#13
W.J. Griffin Member Forum Regular Join Date: Aug 29, 2002 Posts: 527	I could tell you "yeah, that's the way it wnet down", but, frankly, my memoris of this show are somewhat vague, at best. I don't remeber any definite change in quality one way or the other, as in regards to Theresa Merritt's "transformation". What I DO remember is that this show was no where near as funny as the other Black sitcoms that were on the air at the same time. And the writing was, like, strictly from dullsville, man.(kinda like "Charlie and Company"...does anyone out there remember "Charlie and Company"? Me neither.)

02-01-2004, 04:31 AM	#14
bencasey Member Senior Member Join Date: Dec 29, 2001 Location: Long Beach Posts: 1,692	I never bothered with it but it was syndicated in the 80s so I'm sure there are collectors who have it.