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.

Last Updated: 3/27/2023Network:NBC
Share:
Found Money
star
8.31
16 votes

#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.

Directors: Dave Powers
Writer: Rick Hawkins
Watch Now:AmazoniTunes
Look Who's Breathing
star
8.31
13 votes

#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".

Directors: Dave Powers
Watch Now:AmazoniTunes
Take My Mama, Please!
star
8.30
10 votes

#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.

Directors: Dave Powers
Writer: Jim Geoghan
Watch Now:AmazoniTunes
Flounder's Day
star
8.27
15 votes

#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"

Directors: Dave Powers
Watch Now:AmazoniTunes
The Big Nap
star
8.18
11 votes

#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.

Directors: Dave Powers
Watch Now:AmazoniTunes
Guess Who's Going to Dinner
star
8.13
15 votes

#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.

Directors: Dave Powers
Watch Now:AmazoniTunes
Birthright
star
8.10
20 votes

#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.

Directors: Dave Powers
Writer: Dorothy Van
Watch Now:AmazoniTunes
Gert Rides Again
star
8.08
26 votes

#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.

Watch Now:AmazoniTunes
Bedtime for Bubba
star
8.06
16 votes

#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.

Directors: Dave Powers
Writer: Rick Hawkins
Watch Now:AmazoniTunes
Teacher's Pet
star
8.06
17 votes

#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.

Directors: Dave Powers
Writer: Rick Hawkins
Watch Now:AmazoniTunes
Naomi and the Stork
star
8.06
35 votes

#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.

Watch Now:AmazoniTunes
Mama's Cousin
star
8.05
22 votes

#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.

Directors: Dave Powers
Writer: Rick Hawkins
Watch Now:AmazoniTunes
The Mama Who Came to Dinner
star
8.04
27 votes

#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.

Watch Now:AmazoniTunes
Full House
star
8.00
11 votes

#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.

Directors: Dave Powers
Writer: Jim Evering
Watch Now:AmazoniTunes
Psycho Pheno-Mama
star
8.00
13 votes

#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.

Directors: Dave Powers
Writer: Jim Evering
Watch Now:iTunes
Many Unhappy Returns
star
8.00
14 votes

#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.

Directors: Dave Powers
Watch Now:AmazoniTunes
Where There's Smoke
star
8.00
24 votes

#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.

Directors: Dave Powers
Writer: Rick Hawkins
Watch Now:AmazoniTunes
Mama and Dr. Brothers
star
8.00
26 votes

#18 - Mama and Dr. Brothers

Season 3 - Episode 6 - Aired 11/1/1986

When Dr. Joyce Brothers comes to town, Naomi calls in to talk about her bedroom problems with Vint. Dr. Brothers blames it on Mama, which doesn't sit well.

Directors: Dave Powers
Watch Now:AmazoniTunes
The Really Loud Family
star
8.00
20 votes

#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.

Directors: Dave Powers
Watch Now:AmazoniTunes
The Love Letter
star
7.96
28 votes

#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.

Directors: Dave Powers
Writer: Jim Evering
Watch Now:AmazoniTunes
Mama with the Golden Arm
star
7.95
19 votes

#21 - Mama with the Golden Arm

Season 3 - Episode 21 - Aired 2/28/1987

Mama emerges as a contender in an arm-wrestling competition.

Directors: Dave Powers
Writer: Jim Evering
Watch Now:AmazoniTunes
Mama Makes Three
star
7.94
16 votes

#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.

Directors: Dave Powers
Writer: Rick Hawkins
Watch Now:AmazoniTunes
Best Medicine
star
7.93
30 votes

#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.

Directors: Dave Powers
Writer: Rick Hawkins
Watch Now:AmazoniTunes
Mama Takes Stock
star
7.93
14 votes

#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.

Directors: Dave Powers
Watch Now:AmazoniTunes
The Key to the Crime
star
7.91
22 votes

#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.

Directors: Dave Powers
Writer: Dorothy Van
Watch Now:AmazoniTunes

Want to see the rest of the rankings?

Episode Ninja is a small business run by one person.
Pro memberships help fund servers and new feature development!