Someone on youtube posted one of the cast reunion on the MF DVD release set......

 

 

Edited February 16, 20187 yr by Soapsuds

1 hour ago, Khan said:

Wait, what?  He LEFT SVU?  Well, [!@#$%^&*].  There goes my last reason to watch.

 

The show just got skewered by fans. Read some of the comments and download the episode On Demand and you'll see why so many were outraged:

 

http://forums.previously.tv/topic/66382-s19e13-the-undiscovered-country/?page=1

58 minutes ago, Khan said:

 

And poor Rue McClanahan.  They did her no favors either.  Even if "The Golden Girls" hadn't been on-the-air, I doubt she would've been willing to return as Aunt Fran.

 

In one of those emmy interviews... Rue said when she tried out for Mama's Family... the character of Fran had more of a backbone and was a smart aleck.. but between her audition/getting cast and filming... the show watered Aunt Fran down and made Naomi the foil for Thelma harper (yet the show made Naomi ditzy in the syndicated version).

 

I actually like the syndicated version better... Bubba was eye candy.. and Beverly Archer was funny as the quirky Iona with the pink dresses/hats and strange crafts.  Then seeing her do a complete 180 as Gunny on Major Dad proved how talented/versatile the actress was.

5 minutes ago, Soaplovers said:

 

 

 

I actually like the syndicated version better... Bubba was eye candy..

Oh yeah...he sure was!

 

 

I like the syndicated version better as well. I think Vicki/Beverly had amazing chemistry as friends. 

1 hour ago, Soapsuds said:

Someone on youtube posted one of the cast reunion on the MF DVD release set......

 

 

Ken Berry looks good and aged well, but they can’t do any Reunion Episodes now that he has aged. 

5 hours ago, dragonflies said:

Oh and speaking of SVU, Stabler literally got NO exit

 

I think that's because Chris Meloni's contract negotiations broke down during hiatus. 

I think for most people, the syndicated run of Mama's Family is Mama's Family. It's cartoony and silly and goofy, and that's precisely why it was so successful for so long. I think it was as late as 1999 or 2000 that the syndicated episodes were STILL being aired in the same Saturday night primetime slot that they'd debuted in 10+ years earlier, and I remember reading that this was common in quite a few markets.

Here's another quintessential example that isn't talked about very often - Lana on Three's Company. There has been more than enough talk about why the character was eventually deemed superfluous, and in the bigger picture, she probably wasn't around long enough to warrant a proper exit, but a throw-away line buried deep in the plot of an episode could have at least made the continuity work. "Oh, Jack, we can't ask Lana for help! Not now that she's moved to New York!"

Just ten seconds of the opening of Mama's Family made me want to kill myself.

33 minutes ago, All My Shadows said:

Here's another quintessential example that isn't talked about very often - Lana on Three's Company. There has been more than enough talk about why the character was eventually deemed superfluous, and in the bigger picture, she probably wasn't around long enough to warrant a proper exit, but a throw-away line buried deep in the plot of an episode could have at least made the continuity work. "Oh, Jack, we can't ask Lana for help! Not now that she's moved to New York!"

 

The others in the building probably didn't want to mention Lana on account of the protection order Jack had filed against her.

35 minutes ago, Khan said:

 

The others in the building probably didn't want to mention Lana on account of the protection order Jack had filed against her.

 

😂😂😂😂😂

9 hours ago, Khan said:

 

"Mama's Family" itself was caricature and one-note.  I mean, come on: whether it's on the network or it's in syndication, it's still Vicki Lawrence cracking wise for thirty minutes, while running around in Ret Turner's "old lady ensemble" of blue wig, cheap pearls, and waaaay too much padding.  The show was never going to be Witt/Thomas/Harris.  Ergo, with each episode, you go in knowing what to expect.

 

The whole show was about Mama, of course, but there was a bit more balance in the network version which helped her as a character. Naomi was a foil for her - I enjoyed seeing them spar back and forth, Dorothy Lyman making best use of her acid tongue, Vinton caught in the middle. 

 

Then in syndication, Naomi just started baby-talking all the damn time and Vinton did a Goober impersonation, and I felt like it was such a huge waste of Ken Berry and Lyman, especially Ken Berry. They just ended up getting on my nerves.

 

Bubba was well-cast, and likeable, and I love Beverly Archer (who could have easily made Iola a bad joke but never really did), but the whole balance of the show was off for me compared to the network version. Ellen not being there didn't help, as for me she was an integral part of the family. 

 

(I'm aware they had no choice about Ellen) 

 

There were a few syndicated episodes I enjoyed, like the one where Mama was alone in the house, watching a Deanna Durbin marathon, but the episodes I remember best, like when Mama became mayor, or went to work at the grocery store, or the Rashomon episode, or the wedding, were all network. 

 

(I also sort of had a thing for Buzz) 

13 hours ago, amybrickwallace said:

ADA Rafael Barba (Raul Esparza) got a HORRIBLE (and out-of-character) exit from SVU last week. It was Raul Esparza's decision to leave, but after the writers have neutered and watered-down the once cocky and flashy Barba, I can understand why. Still, what a waste of a dynamic actor and character. At least they didn't kill Barba off, but he'll never be a prosecutor again.

 

I only know Esparza for the messy stories about his personal life. I haven't watched that show in many years, but I remember feeling they did a poor job with the exits for Michelle Hurd and Dean Winters. 

 

(I know Winters returned and left again - I'm not sure how fans felt about his return) 

Edited February 16, 20187 yr by DRW50

8 hours ago, Khan said:

 

The others in the building probably didn't want to mention Lana on account of the protection order Jack had filed against her.

 

I like Lana and thought she fit nicely on the show but I am sure her pinning over Jack in ever episode got old and thus why she was not seen again.

2 hours ago, DRW50 said:

 

 

(I also sort of had a thing for Buzz) 

 

 

He(Eric Brown) was handsome looking but his character was rather bland to me. Interesting that neither him or the actress who played Sonja were on the DVD release. I wonder if both felt jaded by not being included in the syndicated version of the show.

 

Edited February 16, 20187 yr by Soapsuds

Brown seems to mostly work with progressive causes now - maybe that's why he wasn't involved. 

9 minutes ago, DRW50 said:

Brown seems to mostly work with progressive causes now - maybe that's why he wasn't involved. 

 

Brown also did several movies in the 80's where he played the young naive boy who is seduced by an older woman. I guess he was typecast in film roles.....LOL.