History Series / MamasFamily

* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Mama.

* CharacterDevelopment: Mama becomes a ''much'' nicer person as the series goes on. In the original Carol Burnett sketches and in the network season she was rude and nasty all the time, but as the syndicated series progressed, she evolved into a much sweeter character who reserved her ire only for people who deserved it, admittedly a rather long list.

** Mama - purple

* ComicallySmallBribe: The episode where the whole neighborhood is offered 1000 dollars each if they give up their homes. Atleast it ''is'' a ridiculously small bribe, it's just that the show acts as if it is a mass fortune, and Mama has to try her hardest to convince them not to choose wealth over their neighborhood.

* [[DontComeAKnockin Don't Come A-Knockin']]: Played with. In "There Is Nothing Like the Dames", Thelma is trying to impress a small group of snooty upper-class women with a backyard dinner so they will let her join them. Unfortunately, Vinton and Naomi's trailer sits in the driveway, an obvious eyesore. On top of that, during one scene, the trailer starts rocking, horrifying the women... until Thelma finds out that Vinton was only trying to fix a broken table leg.

* {{Flanderization}}: Vinton starts out as a man of average intelligence, but becomes dumber and dumber throughout the series; the trend really kicks up a notch toward the syndicated episodes.
** Naomi gets this, too, going from being a reasonably intelligent woman to a shrill bimbo between network and syndication.
* ForgottenThemeTuneLyrics: The theme tune is instrumental, but series star Vicki Lawrence reportedly wrote lyrics for it.

* NoirEpisode: "The Big Nap". Mama has a dream about herself as the star of an old detective movie, with everyone else in appropriate roles: Naomi plays her DumbBlonde girl Friday, Vint plays a dim gangster, Bubba plays a good-for-nothing chauffer, and Iola plays the sexy client.

** Along similar lines, Thelma was only called such by Iola. Vinton called her "Mama," Naomi always referred to her as "Mrs. Harper," and Bubba called her "Grandma."

* PlotHole: The number of rooms available in Mama's house varied wildly between the network and syndicated years.

* PunctuatedForEmphasis: When Thelma and Naomi are driving the judge nuts in "Harper vs. Harper". See the entry on the trope page for examples.
* PutOnABus: Buzz and Sonja. Supposedly they were sent to live with their mom in Vegas, but are never mentioned again past the first syndicated season.

* RollingPinOfDoom: In the episode "Mama Bell", Thelma thinks the family wants to put her in a home. The weapon she chooses to defend herself against the perceived threat is, of course, a rolling pin.

* StandardizedSitcomHousing

* SuspiciouslySpecificDenial: In "Child's Play", the family is babysitting Eugene, the very spoiled grandson of Reverend Meechum. During the dinner scene, Eugene puts some hot sauce in the stew while the family is saying grace. After they all go running for water, Thelma accuses him of putting the sauce in the stew:

* TimeShiftedActor: Mama's children appeared in younger form in a few flashback episodes. Most notable was Heather Kerr as teenaged Eunice in season 4's "Sins of the Mother", doing a spot-on Carol Burnett impression.

** This one might be kinda iffy. It's hinted and even explicitly mentioned there are other stores, like the donut shops in the episode where Thelma gets hired by KRAY, "Mama Fights Back".
** While that is true, the characters do the majority of their shopping at those three places. It helps that Vint and Naomi work at Kiwk-Keys and Food Circus, respectively. Also, Food Circus is the only place that sells Thelma's preferred brand of beer, so it makes sense she'd shop there exclusively.

* ColorCodedForYourConvenience: Almost every character had one color that he or she, with very few exceptions, always wore:

** While that is true, the characters do the majority of their shopping at those three places.

** Carl was the name of Thelma's late husband.

** This trope is subverted again when Iola leaves her taxidermied cat with Thelma. Vinton, Naomi and Bubba accidentally drop a trunk on the cat. Thinking it's dead, they throw it in the trunk.

''Mama's Family'' was a {{sitcom}} that aired on {{NBC}} from 1983 to 1984 and in first-run {{syndication}} from 1986 to 1990. It was a spin-off of a recurring sketch called "The Family" on ''TheCarolBurnettShow'', which was adapted into a prime time special "Eunice" for CBS before being turned into a TV series.

The show was about Thelma Harper (née Crowley) ("Mama") and [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin her family]]: Thelma's son Vinton and his girlfriend (later his wife), Naomi; Vinton Harper Jr. ("Buzz") and Sonja, Vinton's two kids from a previous marriage; and Francis Crowley ("Aunt Fran"), Thelma's sister, all lived in the house with her. Her daughters Ellen and Eunice visited frequently, along with Eunice's husband, Ed. By the syndicated episodes, this had been narrowed down to Vinton and Naomi and Thelma's fresh-out-of-Juvie grandson Bubba. Also added was nosy neighbor Iola.

* BerserkButton: One episode revealed that underage drinking was a HUGE berserk button for Mama due to an incident involving Eunice several years prior.

* CanonDiscontinuity: "Eunice"; it featured the death of the "Mama" character. Ironically, the success of the special was what ultimately got ''Mama's Family'' greenlighted.

* CatchPhrase: Several of them:

* ChattyHairdresser: In "Psycho Pheno-Mama." Mama and her family meet a psychic who can supposedly channel a spirit that knows all of the family's secrets. The "psychic" is actually a hairdresser who got all the information from her customers at a local beauty salon.

* ContinuityNod: For all that's [[RetCon dropped]] in ''Mama's Family'', many references to characters and establishments from ''[[TheCarolBurnettShow The Carol Burnett Show]]'''s "Family" sketches manage to pop up, such as the Pepper Pot Playhouse. A later episode mentions the death of Topaz, Thelma's poodle, who only appeared ([[TheGhost offscreen]]) in ''the very first sketch''.
* CookingDuel: In "Soup to Nuts", Thelma, Naomi, and Iola compete to see who cooks the best chili.

* TheDitz - Vinton.

* DropInCharacter: Iola.

* FallOfTheHouseOfCards: Vinton tries to stack sugar cubes in one episode, but Thelma foils him quickly.

* ForgottenThemeTuneLyrics: The theme tune is instrumental, but series star Vicki Lawrence reportedly wrote lyrics for it.

* GameShowAppearance: On ''[[FamilyFeud Family Feud]]'' and ''{{Jeopardy}}''.

* GraduateFromTheStory: Subverted when Bubba graduates high school and is supposed to move to Florida with his mom and dad, Eunice and Ed. However, [[spoiler: Eunice "forgets" to tell Mama that Bubba cannot leave the state because he is on probation until his 21st birthday]] and Bubba ends up living with Mama for the remainder of the series.

* MommasBoy: Vinton. He still lives in his mother's basement (with his wife there too), and always succumbs to his mother's will.

** On a side note, this "Rashomama" aired ''23 years'' before the ''[[Series/{{CSI}} CSI]]'' episode of the same name.

* UnCanceled / ChannelHop: After NBC canceled the show in 1984, it was picked up for a second and longer syndicated run from 1986 to 1990.

* WeddingDay: Vinton and Naomi's wedding had crazy vows and a drunken perfomance by Eunice.

* WeSellEverything: In Raytown, there are only three stores: Neidermeyer's, Kwik-Keys and Food Circus.

** While that is true, the characters do the majority of their shopping at those three places.
* WhereTheHellIsSpringfield: Although the state where Raytown is located is never mentioned, take a look at the cars in the neighborhood in "Mama Learns to Drive": they have Missouri license plates.

** Also worth noting is that Allan Kayser, the actor that played Bubba, currently resides (or did not too long ago) in Kansas City, MO.

* ComicallySmallBribe: The episode where the whole neighborhood is offered 1000 dollars each if they give up their homes. Atleast it ''is'' a ridiculously small bribe, it's just that the characters act as if it is a mass fortune, and Mama has to try her hardest to convince them not to take the deal.

* SuspiciouslySpecificDenial: In "Child's Play", the family is babysitting Eugene, the very spoiled son of Reverend Meechum. During the dinner scene, Eugene puts some hot sauce in the stew while the family is saying grace. After they all go running for water, Thelma accuses him of putting the sauce in the stew:

* TheArtifact: NBC episodes featured an opening segment with Harvey Korman introducing the story as Allister Quince. Since these were generally self directed by Korman, but on occasion were instead directed by Dick Martin of ''RowanAndMartinsLaughIn'' fame, the Director's Credit was (Main Director) and Harvey Korman or Dick Martin. The credit remains to this day in re-runs, even though the segments themselves were removed.

* ThisIsSPARTA: When Thelma and Naomi are driving the judge nuts in "Harper vs. Harper". See the entry on the trope page for examples.

* AlohaHawaii: The family visits Hawaii after Thelma [[spoiler:wins a trip on ''[=~Jeopardy!~=]'']].

* TheArtifact: NBC episodes featured an opening segment with Harvey Korman introducing the story as Allister Quince. Since these were generally self directed by Korman, but on occasion were instead directed by Dick Martin of ''[=~Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In~=]'' fame, the Director's Credit was (Main Director) and Harvey Korman or Dick Martin. The credit remains to this day in re-runs, even though the segments themselves were removed.

* GameShowAppearance: On ''[[FamilyFeud Family Feud]]'' and ''[=~Jeopardy!~=]''.

** On a side note, this "Rashomama" aired ''23 years'' before the ''[[CSI]]'' episode of the same name.

** On a side note, this "Rashomama" aired ''23 years'' before the ''CSI'' episode of the same name.

* CharacterDevelopment: Mama becomes a ''much'' nicer person as the series goes on. In the original Carol Burnett sketches and in the network season she was rude and nasty all the time, but as the syndicated series progressed, she evolved into a much sweeter character who reserved her ire only for people who deserved it.

** Also, Ken Berry played ''Philip'' Harper in that special, and Eunice and Ed stayed split. Let's just say upon ''Mama's Family'', ''lots'' of [[RetCon retconning]] [[PuttingItMildly was done]].

** Naomi gets this, too, going from being a reasonably intelligent woman to a shrill bimbo between netowrk and syndication.

** Also, Ken Berry played ''Philip'' Harper in that special, and Eunice and Ed stayed split. Let's just say upon ''Mama's Family'', ''lots'' of [[RetCon retconning]] was done.

* ContinuityNod: For all that's [[RetCon dropped]] in ''Mama's Family'', many references to characters and establishments from ''[[TheCarolBurnettShow The Carol Burnett Show]]'''s "Family" sketches manage to pop up, such as the Pepper Pot Playhouse. A later episode mentions the death of Topaz, Thelma's poodle, who only appeared ([[TheGhost offscreen]]) ''in the very first sketch''.

''Mama's Family'' was a {{sitcom}} that aired on {{NBC}} from 1983 to 1984 and in first-run {{syndication}} from 1986 to 1990. It was a spin-off of a recurring sketch called "The Family" on "TheCarolBurnettShow", which was adapted into a prime time special "Eunice" for CBS before being turned into a tv series.

* SpinOff: The show grew out of a recurring segment of ''[[TheCarolBurnettShow The Carol Burnett Show]]''.