Mama's Family
Mama's Family is an American sitcom television series starring Vicki Lawrence as Mama (Thelma Harper). The series is a spin-off of a recurring series of comedy sketches called "The Family" featured on The Carol Burnett Show (1967–78) and Carol Burnett & Company (1979). The sketches led to the television film Eunice, and finally the television series.
| Mama's Family | |
|---|---|
| Genre | Sitcom |
| Created by | Dick Clair Jenna McMahon |
| Directed by | Roger Beatty Harvey Korman Dick Martin Dave Powers |
| Starring | Vicki Lawrence Ken Berry Dorothy Lyman Rue McClanahan Eric Brown Karin Argoud Betty White Beverly Archer Allan Kayser |
| Theme music composer | Music: Peter Matz Lyrics: Vicki Lawrence |
| Opening theme | "Bless My Happy Home" |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language | English |
| No. of seasons | 6 |
| No. of episodes | 130 (list of episodes) |
| Production | |
| Executive producer | Joe Hamilton |
| Producers | Jim Evering Neil Lebowitz Dave Powers Fred Rubin Robert Wright |
| Production locations | CBS Television City Hollywood, California (1983–84) Metromedia Square Hollywood, California (1986–90) |
| Camera setup | Multi-camera |
| Running time | 24–25 minutes (NBC episodes) 21–22 minutes (syndicated episodes) |
| Production company | Joe Hamilton Productions |
| Original release | |
| Network | NBC (1983–1984) Syndicated (1986–1990) |
| Release | January 22, 1983 – February 24, 1990 |
| Related | |
| Eunice | |
Mama's Family aired on NBC, debuting on January 22, 1983. After several timeslot changes and a subsequent drop in ratings, the network cancelled the series; the final episode of this two-season NBC incarnation of the series aired on April 7, 1984. NBC broadcast reruns until September 1985, which unexpectedly performed well in ratings.
Two years after its cancellation, original series producer Joe Hamilton Productions (JHP) revived Mama's Family for new episodes in first-run syndication on local stations across the United States. The reincarnation, distributed by Lorimar-Telepictures, premiered on September 27, 1986. The modified four-season series revival gained substantially higher ratings than its first incarnation, eventually becoming the highest-rated sitcom in first-run syndication, with its final episode airing on February 24, 1990.
The show's theme song is "Bless My Happy Home," created as an a cappella by Lawrence. The show's producers chose to use an instrumental of Lawrence's song composed by Peter Matz. Disclosing the lyrics to the song as part of her Vicki and Mama: A Two Woman Show (untelevised stand-up comedy routine Lawrence has hosted as herself and Mama since 2001), Lawrence routinely performs the song in its original a cappella form. The lyrics were also featured in an advertisement for the show on MeTV.