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Classic US TV
Mama's Family
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<blockquote data-quote="ClassyCo" data-source="post: 239365" data-attributes="member: 7"><p><span style="font-family: 'arial'">I have a strange fascination with television shows that were canceled by their networks, but were revived in first-run syndication. <em>Mama's Family </em>and <em>Charles in Charge </em>were the two most successful situation comedies brought back in syndication, while shows like <em>9 to 5 </em>and <em>It's a Living </em>found their own havens after entering their second life. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'arial'"></span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'arial'">There was a long time that I preferred the network seasons of <em>Mama's Family</em>. Harvey Korman was doing his spoof as "Alastair Quince" in the introductions, and the writing was a little stronger. Some of my favorite episodes are early on, especially the "Family Feud" and "Cellmates" episodes. Those are laugh out loud funny to me, and they almost play like sedated sketches that <em>The Carol Burnett Show </em>could have initiated, but were dusted off for the series. Other issues I have is how disjointed the cast seems. It's particularly rare for all the core characters to be in the same episode; they all seem to rotate who is going to appear in that week's show. I guess it isn't terribly uncommon, especially for a new show trying to find its strengths, but it just irks me a little, perhaps mostly because I wish Rue McClanahan and Betty White got to shine a little more. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'arial'"></span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'arial'">A lot of die-hard fans of "The Family" sketches don't like how Mama and her family were watered down for series television. I recall an interview Vicki Lawrence gave for the Archives of American Television, I believe it was, where she discussed the evolution of Mama from sketch to series. If I'm remembering correctly, it was Harvey Korman that told Lawrence that "Mama's a sitcom character now" and urged Vicki to loosen the purse strings and flesh out Mama's one-note mannerisms and personality. She gradually followed suit to give the character more elbow room now that she was the central focus of a television comedy. Again, not everyone likes this transition, but this is typically what's referred to when discussing Mama's evolution. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'arial'"></span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'arial'">Over time, I've gotten a fondness for the syndicated years. Although the budget was probably smaller, I personally think the show was<em> better </em>then. They had gotten rid of some characters that quite frankly cluttered the ensemble, and brought on Bubba and Iola, two brilliant characters that gelled with Mama, Vinton, and Naomi exceptionally well. The producers during the syndicated years seemed more sure on what kind of show they wanted to do and went with it. They had their core characters in place ─ Mama, Vinton, Naomi, Bubba, and Iola ─ and they let everything circle around them. It became a fairly typical family sitcom with these changes, however, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. It was done well, and there are many episodes during those syndicated seasons that never fail to give me a chuckle. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'arial'"></span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'arial'">Back when I remember catching the show in reruns with my parents, I don't know if I ever saw any episodes from the network run. The syndicated run itself had ninety-five episodes, so maybe whichever network that was felt no need to buy the thirty-five network shows because they had enough for reruns without them. That's my theory anyway. </span></p><p></p><p style="text-align: center"><span style="font-family: 'arial'">[ATTACH=full]22950[/ATTACH] </span></p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="ClassyCo, post: 239365, member: 7"] [FONT=arial]I have a strange fascination with television shows that were canceled by their networks, but were revived in first-run syndication. [I]Mama's Family [/I]and [I]Charles in Charge [/I]were the two most successful situation comedies brought back in syndication, while shows like [I]9 to 5 [/I]and [I]It's a Living [/I]found their own havens after entering their second life. There was a long time that I preferred the network seasons of [I]Mama's Family[/I]. Harvey Korman was doing his spoof as "Alastair Quince" in the introductions, and the writing was a little stronger. Some of my favorite episodes are early on, especially the "Family Feud" and "Cellmates" episodes. Those are laugh out loud funny to me, and they almost play like sedated sketches that [I]The Carol Burnett Show [/I]could have initiated, but were dusted off for the series. Other issues I have is how disjointed the cast seems. It's particularly rare for all the core characters to be in the same episode; they all seem to rotate who is going to appear in that week's show. I guess it isn't terribly uncommon, especially for a new show trying to find its strengths, but it just irks me a little, perhaps mostly because I wish Rue McClanahan and Betty White got to shine a little more. A lot of die-hard fans of "The Family" sketches don't like how Mama and her family were watered down for series television. I recall an interview Vicki Lawrence gave for the Archives of American Television, I believe it was, where she discussed the evolution of Mama from sketch to series. If I'm remembering correctly, it was Harvey Korman that told Lawrence that "Mama's a sitcom character now" and urged Vicki to loosen the purse strings and flesh out Mama's one-note mannerisms and personality. She gradually followed suit to give the character more elbow room now that she was the central focus of a television comedy. Again, not everyone likes this transition, but this is typically what's referred to when discussing Mama's evolution. Over time, I've gotten a fondness for the syndicated years. Although the budget was probably smaller, I personally think the show was[I] better [/I]then. They had gotten rid of some characters that quite frankly cluttered the ensemble, and brought on Bubba and Iola, two brilliant characters that gelled with Mama, Vinton, and Naomi exceptionally well. The producers during the syndicated years seemed more sure on what kind of show they wanted to do and went with it. They had their core characters in place ─ Mama, Vinton, Naomi, Bubba, and Iola ─ and they let everything circle around them. It became a fairly typical family sitcom with these changes, however, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. It was done well, and there are many episodes during those syndicated seasons that never fail to give me a chuckle. Back when I remember catching the show in reruns with my parents, I don't know if I ever saw any episodes from the network run. The syndicated run itself had ninety-five episodes, so maybe whichever network that was felt no need to buy the thirty-five network shows because they had enough for reruns without them. That's my theory anyway. [/FONT] [CENTER][FONT=arial][ATTACH type="full" width="270px"]22950[/ATTACH] [/FONT][/CENTER] [/QUOTE]
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