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 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.
#6 - 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.
#7 - 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.
#8 - 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.
#9 - 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.
#10 - Teacher's Pet
Season 4 - Episode 7 - Aired 11/7/1987
Mama is smitten with her night school teacher, but she does not know how to get his attention... so she turns to Iola and Naomi for help.
#11 - 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.
#12 - 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.
#13 - 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.
#14 - 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.
#15 - 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.
#16 - 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.
#17 - 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.
#19 - 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.
#20 - 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.
#21 - Mama with the Golden Arm
Season 3 - Episode 21 - Aired 2/28/1987
Mama emerges as a contender in an arm-wrestling competition.
#22 - 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.
#23 - Best Medicine
Season 3 - Episode 3 - Aired 10/11/1986
Ellen must have surgery, which deeply concerns Mama despite her ongoing feud with Ellen.
#24 - Mama Takes Stock
Season 6 - Episode 11 - Aired 12/2/1989
Vinton learns that he is about to lose his job because Kwik Keys is being shut down by the new owners, a corporation called Bernice. When Bubba discovers that an old stock certificate Mama owns is now ten shares of Bernice, she sets out to save Vinton's job.
#25 - The Key to the Crime
Season 4 - Episode 3 - Aired 10/10/1987
A burglar known as the Courteous Crook is robbing and subsequently cleaning homes all over Raytown. When Vinton is accused of being the Crook, Mama and Iola set out to find the real culprit.
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