When families are challenged by towering and impossible problems, a good mother keeps their family together. She’ll make necessary changes to survive the trouble times. No matter how rough things get, she’ll hold everything together with her determination and love of her family. After the second season of Mama’s Family, NBC canceled the show. Normally this would end the characters that first came to life on The Carol Burnett Show nearly a decade before. But the producers weren’t going to just pack up the sets. They took a year to go beyond network programming. They syndicated the show to any channel that wanted to keep the Harpers in viewers’ living rooms. The year between the last episode airing on NBC and the first syndicated offering actually helped the show gain in stature. Mama’s Family: The Complete Third Season had quite a few changes to show their viewers.
Mama Harper (Vicki Lawrence) didn’t quite keep her family together and safe. Her grandchildren went missing in “Farewell, Frannie.” That meant that Vinton (Mayberry R.F.D.‘s Ken Berry) was childless and Naomi (Dorothy Lyman) was freed of stepchildren. But don’t think there’s not a young face in the house. Long lost grandson Bubba Higgins (Allan Kayser) arrives on the front porch. Turns out he’s been away in jail. He needs to stay with the family or he’ll be back in the big house. He’s not a mean guy. He’s just a bit easily misguided. The big thing during the off-season was the arrival of The Golden Girls. This meant Betty White and Rue McClanahan weren’t available for their recurring roles. The title of this episode should give you a sense of what happened to Rue’s Aunt Fran. Betty White makes her final appearance in Raytown with “Best Medicine.” Mama isn’t happy that she didn’t make it to Fran’s funeral. Neighbor Iola (Beverly Archer) takes over the pesky nature of the lost aunts. “National Mama” has her dreaming of winning horses. Will she finally strike it rich with her psychic power? “Soup to Nuts” has Mama, Naomi and Iola in an intense cook off. Their pride is at stake. Vinton foolishly gets to be the judge. “Cat’s Meow” has Iola disturbing a lot of people with her memorial to a departed kitty. “Steal One, Pearl Two” makes Bubba the suspect in the theft of Mama’s pearl necklace. Will she send him back to the pokey?
“Fly Naomi” sends her to a school for flight attendants. Can she handle the friendly skies? “Birthright” gives Vinton the greatest news on Mother’s Day. He just might have been adopted. He immediately sets out to find his real mommy. “Mama with the Golden Arm” gets her caught up in the world of arm wrestling. She’s got to grapple with a few other tough mothers to get the big bucks. “Fangs a Lot, Mama” nominates Vinton for the secret Cobra Society. Mama doesn’t want her baby being played a full to become a member. “The Best Policy” jeopardizes Vinton’s life after he takes out a new insurance policy. Are these accidents or does someone want to cash out?
The syndicated version of Mama’s Family plays a little bit better than the network version. The departure of Betty and Rue doesn’t hurt that much since they weren’t constant characters. The kids were rather played out by the end of the second season. The arrival of Bubba gives the show a bit of danger and dumbness that plays right into the tone of the series. Mama’s Family: The Complete Third Season successfully makes the change from network to syndication without completely retooling.
The video is 1.33:1 full frame. The series was recorded on standard definition video. The tape transfers look fine. The audio is Dolby Digital mono. The levels will give you an earful from Mama.
Sketch from 1975 (14:46) guest stars Maggie Smith as a teacher about to be exposed to the Higgins family.
Mama Knows Best: A Mama’s Family Cast Reunion (24:43) has them enjoying the fact that they can recognize each other. Vicki, Ken, Beverly, Allan and Dorothy reunite back in the kitchen. Vicki forgets that the cast reunited on her old talk show.
The Sprout (11:04) is all about Bubba. How did the abandoned kid get onto the show? Allan Kayser gets praised by cast and crew for not being the normal TV teen.
Interview with Allan Kayser (13:15) deals with his desire to be like Kevin Bacon. He did a lot of auditions before he landed the part of Bubba.
Mama’s Family: The Complete Third Season has plenty of change, but the nagging love of Mama remains the same.
Starvisita and Time Life presents Mama’s Family: The Complete Third Season. Starring: Vicki Lawrence, Ken berry, Allan Kayser and Dorothy Lyman. Boxset Contents: 25 episodes on 4 DVDs. Released: February 25, 2014.
