The BEST episodes of Mama's Family
Every episode of Mama's Family ever, ranked from best to worst by thousands of votes from fans of the show. The best episodes of Mama's Family!
Mama's Family mined humor from a squabbling family in the Midwestern blue collar suburb of Raytown. The noisy clan was headed by "Mama" Thelma, a buxom, gray-haired widow with sharp opinions and a sharper tongue who shared her small house with her high-strung sister Fran, a journalist for a local paper. Mama's lazy, dimwitted son, Vint, a locksmith by trade, moved in at the start of the series with his troublesome teenage children, Buzz and Sonja, after his wife run off to become a Las Vegas show-girl. Much to Mama's disgust, Vint soon took up with the flirtatious neighbor Naomi. The two where married in early 1983, and Naomi moved in too. Further uproar was caused by the periodic visits from Mama's two married daughter's, the foul mouthed Eunice and the snobbish Ellen. Ed was Eunice's Dolt of a husband. In the Fall of 86 Mama's Family returned to TV in first-run syndication. Fran had recently passed (Rue McClanahan was now starring in The Golden Girls) and Ed and Eunice had moved to Florida, leaving behind their son Bubba as he finishes his time in Juvenile Hall and forcing him to move in. Meanwhile, neighbor Iola Boylen makes the house's acquaintance and becomes a regular visitor with her unique charm.
#1 - Found Money
Season 5 - Episode 6 - Aired 12/10/1988
When Mama tries to use the bank's ATM, it malfunctions and gives her $800, and she is unsure whether to keep it or give it back to the bank.
#2 - Look Who's Breathing
Season 6 - Episode 18 - Aired 2/10/1990
Naomi and Vinton are taking a childbirth class. When Vint is called in to work, Mama has to go to class with Naomi instead of going to the Bingo Bonanza with Iola, so an impatient Mama creates chaos by trying to speed things along and offering her own perspective on the "miracle of birth".
#3 - Take My Mama, Please!
Season 6 - Episode 9 - Aired 11/18/1989
After heckling a stand-up comedian at the Bigger Jigger, Mama accepts a challenge to do a routine of her own.
#4 - Flounder's Day
Season 4 - Episode 6 - Aired 10/31/1987
After being unfairly beat out 50 years ago, Mama finally has a chance to sing in the annual Founder's Day festival when an audition is held to find a new singer of the town anthem "Raytown, O Raytown"
#5 - The Really Loud Family
Season 5 - Episode 4 - Aired 11/26/1988
For a school project, Bubba makes a film about the Harper family. However, a short circuit in the camera causes it to turn itself off and on again while recording, resulting in an unintentionally provocative film — shown on public TV.
#6 - The Big Nap
Season 6 - Episode 15 - Aired 1/20/1990
After watching detective movies on TV for a week, and hearing that Iola's mother is missing, Mama dreams that she is a film noir-style detective hired to find her client's mother.
#7 - Guess Who's Going to Dinner
Season 6 - Episode 17 - Aired 2/3/1990
Vint wins a Mother's Day dinner for two at a North African (Moroccan) restaurant called Abdul's Garden of Eating. As a result, Mama and Naomi fight over which of them Vinton should take.
#8 - Bedtime for Bubba
Season 5 - Episode 9 - Aired 1/14/1989
Mama suspects that Bubba and his female classmate are doing more than studying together, and she is determined to prove it.
#9 - The Mama Who Came to Dinner
Season 2 - Episode 10 - Aired 12/22/1983
Vint and Naomi look forward to having their friends over for a dinner party. When Mama's back goes out, however, they are forced to hold the party with her laying on the floor in the middle of the room.
#10 - Birthright
Season 3 - Episode 17 - Aired 1/31/1987
An anonymous letter convinces Vint that he's adopted, so he sets out to find his biological mother.
#11 - Full House
Season 5 - Episode 8 - Aired 1/7/1989
Vinton has a chance to join a local group called the Poker Pals, but he needs Mama to sit in for a missing player, a decision he soon comes to regret.
#12 - Where There's Smoke
Season 3 - Episode 11 - Aired 12/6/1986
Mama invites Reverend Meechum to dinner in hopes of being names President of the Church Ladies' League.
#14 - Mama's Girls
Season 4 - Episode 18 - Aired 2/6/1988
Trying to get Aunt Effie to follow her doctor's advice and exercise leads Mama to start a senior citizens's tap-dancing troupe.
#15 - Naomi and the Stork
Season 2 - Episode 4 - Aired 10/27/1983
Everyone fears that Naomi is pregnant after Mama administers Aunt Ida's Tater Masher Test with positive results.
#16 - Mama Makes Three
Season 5 - Episode 25 - Aired 5/27/1989
After being told that they cannot conceive a child, Vint and Naomi decide to adopt, but first they - and Mama - are required to meet with a psychiatrist.
#17 - Naomi's New Position
Season 5 - Episode 3 - Aired 11/19/1988
Naomi hopes to become the new assistant manager at the store, but the new manager says that she will have to have an affair with him if she even wants to keep her current job. After hearing this, Mama decides to teach him a lesson.
#18 - Mama's Cousin
Season 3 - Episode 20 - Aired 2/21/1987
Mama's worldly cousin (Vicki Lawrence in a dual role) annoys Mama with her neverending stories.
#19 - Gert Rides Again
Season 2 - Episode 8 - Aired 12/1/1983
Mama's cousin Gert (Imogene Coca) was once a sprited woman, but time in an old folks home has left her lifeless.
#20 - Best Medicine
Season 3 - Episode 3 - Aired 10/11/1986
Ellen must have surgery, which deeply concerns Mama despite her ongoing feud with Ellen.
#21 - Psycho Pheno-Mama
Season 6 - Episode 8 - Aired 11/11/1989
Vinton and Naomi persuade Mama to have a psychic called "Madame Rita" give everyone readings. At first, Mama is surprised by the psychic's ability, but later sets out to expose the phony medium.
#22 - Grandma USA
Season 3 - Episode 18 - Aired 2/7/1987
Mama competes in the Grandma U.S.A. competition after Bubba jokingly enters her.
#23 - The Love Letter
Season 3 - Episode 8 - Aired 11/15/1986
After a love test with disappointing results, Vint convinces Bubba to write Naomi a love letter. When Iola finds the misplaced letter, a scene of mistaken love occurs.
#24 - Fly Naomi
Season 3 - Episode 12 - Aired 12/13/1986
Unhappy with her dead end career at the Food Circus, Naomi decides to enroll in school to become a stewardess.
#25 - Many Unhappy Returns
Season 5 - Episode 5 - Aired 12/3/1988
Vinton's boss, Mr. Carstairs, asks Vint to hold a $200 diamond bracelet for him; it is an anniversary present for Mrs. Carstairs. Confusion ensues when Mama finds it, thinking it is her birthday present.