Mama's Family: Season 3

Very funny series, I recommend anybody with a sense of humor

Well, these are the shows that I remember more with the big change in cast. Fran's (Rue McClanahan) funeral starts the very first show as her character is killed off. Betty White makes an appearance and then her character isn't around that much any more either. This is the time period they start Golden Girls I believe. The 2 kids who were Vinton's (Ken Berry) kids disappear and briefly mentioned in the opening 1st episode that they can't make it to Fran's funeral, and they mysteriously are gone. In comes the actor to play Bubba who is the son of Eunice and Ed who have disappeared or seems like hiding from their child who is getting out of reform school. So he moves into Mama's house and she gives him Fran's old room since she has died. Now where the writer's didn't explain...Vinton and Naomi are supposed to move into Fran's old room, but Bubba is given that room by Mama. So my question is: Wasn't there 2 other rooms vacated by the 2 kids who mysteriously disappeared? (LOL) I guess they keep milking the idea that Vinton and Naomi must stay in the basement! Then enters the next door neighbor who is obviously in love with Vinton as childhood friends, but only appears in Season 3. Oh well, guess there has to be cast changes in Television.I do remember this cast ensemble the best and the writing of episodes seemed to get better. I mean that Rue McClanahan and Betty White were great in their episodes, but the Mama's family ensemble seem to jell efficiently with the new cast. The next door neighbor who's always in your house, and the grandson who acts much better than the 2 kids did in two seasons! <g> No matter what-- Mama's Family Season 3 is a hoot!I'm editing this review after viewing Season 3 and watching the special features. That's one thing I like about any old TV series that has interviews of the cast who sit down and maybe tell you a back story. What I didn't know was that Mama's Family was cancelled after the 2nd Season. Vicki Lawrence explains that the head executives didn't exactly understand the rural humor of Mama's Family, and during the reunion segment kept asking everyone "didn't they remember the show always being put in horrible time slots up against outstanding TV shows!?" I can relate to that seeing other or favorite TV shows that I always liked get the boot so to speak, and wonder why when they had a miserable time slot? You would have to watch the special features I can't remember which broadcasting stations did what, but eventually they got Mama's Family back on the air and of course, Rue McClanahan and Betty White were on "Golden Girls" by then (2-year lapse) and thus some new editions to the cast. The new character of a new neighbor "Iola" and the new character as I described previously of "Bubba." Vicki even stated she felt sorry for the actors who played the 2 kids on her previous 2 seasons, and they were never given a chance during the show. I'm pretty sure she meant that half the time they didn't even have speaking parts in a lot of the episodes, or you never got to really understand their characters. Remember the first season they were still trying to flesh out the Mama character besides any of the other main characters of the show. I'm not sure how the writing went down, but I think they had trouble writing and creating all the characters in the first few seasons--no matter what they tried. Even the character Naomi was changed around. Actor Allan Kaysar explains his auditions for Bubba. Dorothy Lyman explains her commute from New York to California when she was called personally by Carol Burnett to come join the Mama's Family ensemble while she was still under contract with her soap opera.

Mama's Family Season Three is hilarious and highly engaging. In a nod to continuity, Rue McClanahan's character of Aunt Fran is put to rest in the opening episode, which also brings a new character into the family--Bubba Higgins, offspring of Carol Burnett's Eunice character and Harvey Korman's Ed. Bubba is a somewhat reformed juvenile delinquent with a juvenile hall record. A very special relationship develops between Bubba and his Grandma--Thelma Harper, still played to perfection by Vicki Lawrence. Even though Bubba has his problems with Grandma, they both manage to work it out--unlike with Eunice. Maybe Mama sees in Bubba a chance to establish a firmer foundation than she had with either of her daughters. Speaking of the other daughter, Betty White reprises her role as Ellen one last time. While it's sad to see the departure of comedy greats White, McClanahan, and Burnett from this season (Rue and Carol do not appear at all), the series manages to continue delivering laughs with Mama's son Vint (Ken Berry), daughter-in-law Naomi (Dorothy Lyman), and another new-to-this-season character, Mama's neighbor Iola (Beverly Archer), in addition to the aforementioned Bubba, who is played by Allan Kayser. Highlights include Ellen's series swan song "Best Medicine," and also some of my favorites, "The Love Letter," "Steal One, Pearl Two", and "Buck Private Bubba." There is a hilarious Thanksgiving episode and a less funny but still enjoyable Christmas episode. The character of Mama softens as this season progresses, but that is necessary for the longevity of any series--crotchetiness only goes so far before audiences want to see more genuine humanity. Mama's transformation is painful yet plausible, as she progresses through many stages of reconcilation with her family members and tries her best to be understanding, often with very humorous results. Vicki Lawrence and the writers did not tone down the character all at once--they did it believably by degrees.One plot point is never cleared up--in Seasons One and Two, Vint's daughter Sonia occupied the spare bedroom upstairs, while his son Buzz slept in the attic. Aunt Fran was livid about losing her planned office space by having to give over the room to Sonia. So now in Season Three, when Aunt Fran is deceased and Sonia and Buzz have gone away to school, there should be TWO extra bedrooms upstairs (plus the attic room)--plenty of room for Bubba to have a room of his own, and Vint and Naomi to move upstairs and out of the basement as well. Yet in Episode One of this season, Naomi is at first upset when Bubba gets Aunt Fran's old room because it means that she and Vint have to continue to live in the basement. But what happened to Sonia's old room?There are many extras on this DVD set, including a Carol Burnett sketch that focuses on Eunice and Ed's son Bubba when he was in school, even though Bubba is not seen in the sketch. Maggie Smith is first-rate as Bubba's long-suffering teacher. There is also an interview with Allan Kayser regarding his role in the series. Interestingly, he reveals that in preparation for the part he studied Carol's performances as Eunice so that he could do a convincing job of playing her son. (Too bad they never got to appear together in an episode.)Long-time fans of the Mama character may feel a little let down, as this season is less acrimonious than Seasons One and Two, and there seem to be fewer guest stars this time around. It's a tamer version of Mama's Family than before, but it makes up for this with greater depth of character and still a healthy portion of belly laughs.

We all know the multiple incarnations this series and its characters went through: from the Family sketch of The Carol Burnett Show, to the TV special Eunice, to Mama's Family on NBC and finally first-run syndication Mama's Family.Although there were some great episodes in seasons 1 and 2, seasons 3 to 6 really made Mama's Family the great rural sitcom it was supposed to be. They fleshed out Raytown and its residents to fit with the Harpers, making it the southern town where it was supposed to take place! Bringing in Bubba and Iola made the series richer and much more truthful - much more realistic than Buzz and Sonja of the previous seasons. Even the set was brighter and warmer!The amazing extras on this set are all about Bubba! It starts with a classic Family sketch from The Carol Burnett Show featuring Maggie Smith as Bubba's teacher discussing his behaviour. Then there's the Mama's Family Tree: The Sprouts (all about Bubba) montage and interview clips, and finally an interview with Allan Kayser. The one extra not "all about Bubba" is the 25 minute cast reunion: superb! My one "complaint" is that the cast reunion and the Allan Kayser interview end rather abruptly with no "outro" or concluding thoughts. But other than that, the extras are superb and great fun! I hope the season 4 extras will be all about Iola!

Takes me away for a bit. Reminds me of good ,clean,honest comedy.