MAMA’S FAMILY VICKI LAWRENCE Panel – Steel City Con December 2022

foreign the one and only Vicki Lawrence [Applause] it is so nice to have you is it on yes sorry to do everything myself leave a man in charge it doesn't get done sorry guys so it's so good to have you here first time in Pittsburgh no God no glad no no no I've been here a lot to do my uh one woman show oh that's right my oh it's actually it's Vicki Lawrence and Mama a two woman show ah which I thought was a very clever title so oh yeah I have been in Pittsburgh uh to Pittsburgh a number of times just not to do anything like this this is I want to go take a nap with the baby I'm too old for this chick okay uh just a couple questions and then hopefully we'll get some questions from the audience oh okay great but I gotta ask your character mama is that based on any real person that you've known well you know I was only 24 when I started doing that so I I would have to say mother-in-laws that I have known [Laughter] mothers that I have known yeah my mom called me one night after the show aired and there was a family sketch on the Burnett Show and she called and she said you take that old lady way too seriously and I thought oh God I guess I'm really hitting a nerve yeah so and I had a southern mother-in-law for a nanosecond I was married for 10 minutes to a songwriter named Bobby Russell and um literally 10 minutes and I had a southern mother-in-law so yeah I would say I got a lot of the you know and then basically you know that part was written for Carol and they had planned on getting a guest star to play Eunice but Carol said I want to be Eunice and I want Vicky to play Mama the writers were very upset they were mortified that we and then she said I want to do it Southern now they were really pissed off and the first time they saw us do it they threw down their pads and pencils and stormed out they said you ruined it you ruined the sketch it's what was the first sketch like what was so I was just basically I was going to say I was trying to do like an older version of what Carol was doing you know an old version of Eunice nice sort of but so as far as like the acting the singing you do it both you do it so well do you consider yourself an actor that sings or a singer that acts oh you know I do a little singing I don't think oh come on hit I don't want to bore the crap out of people so I only sing a couple songs in my show yeah but if you've had a juggernaut like The Night the Lights Went Out in Georgia boom yeah but you have to sing it we have to sing that thing right how did that song Come about well the guy that I was married to for 10 minutes that was like the only good thing that came out of the whole dang marriage was that he wrote this song that he hated and I said it's a smash and he said well then you do the demo which I did uh he took it out we took it to Hollywood to his producer who said this is pretty good he tried to give it to everybody he was going to call Liza Minnelli I said Liza Minnelli is not right for this song um and he called Cher because he was shares producer shared ever heard the song Sonny heard it he said this song sucks it will append it'll offend the entire Southern half of the country so anyway finally his producer just threw up his hands literally and said let's just go in the studio and do it with Vicky so that's how it happened it's not yeah uh before we get to questions and by the way it was the ultimate demise of an already doomed marriage so there you have there you go so I got a gold record and I got the dog and I outlived the son of a you know that's all the time we have okay and one quick question before we get to the audience question just something I just like to know what was your first meeting with Carol Burnett like my first my first meeting uh I wrote her a fan letter and told her that I looked like her because everybody said I looked like her uh so I my mom said write a fan letter so I I was busy writing to all the young guys that were on TV at the time I was I was a fan girl like like you guys are and I would write to all the young guys that were on TV back in the day like Paul Peterson and uh who else was I in love with who's the guy on The Rifleman of the daughters Chuck Connors no no darling Johnny Crawford yes uh Bobby Sherman uh who else did I lose Who David Cassidy he was no he was a little later I mean I you know I'm old so the the Young with you don't even remember Fabian oh okay Bobby Rydell yeah anyway so I was busy writing to all the guys and my mom said right will you just write to Carol so I wrote wrote her she um got the letter uh I was going to be in a contest where I in Inglewood California where I grew up called Miss Fireball so I sent her a picture from the contest and said everybody says I look like you I hope you get to meet you someday she took my dad's name out of the article she called called me on the phone said I want to come see you in this contest so that was our first meeting was she actually showed up at this Miss Fireball contest and crowned me when I won and uh said I'm gonna I'm gonna call you a couple weeks and we'll have lunch and discuss your career sweetie and I thought okay well she's out of her mind it's amazing yeah we lost my first meeting it's a great story yeah would you mind getting some questions from the audience no I'd love to all right got a question raise your hand we'll come right around we'll start with you down there and uh once again thank you for coming out and doing this I know I told I told this guy earlier that my husband who was the my real husband that I've been married to for 48 flipping years um was actually the last person to make up Elvis Presley for his very last television show he got the call two weeks before I was going to have our son I was very pregnant and he said I'm gonna go do Elvis Presley's makeup very special and I said well but I'm pregnant I can't go he said who said anything about you I if the baby starts to come cross your legs I'm going to do the king yeah all right those are that's hard to intro let's see what you got my favorite episode is when uh Aunt Fran dies in the bathroom with a bigger and I was wondering why you guys wrote her out did she just not want to come back and do guest appearances anymore or well you know sh uh Mama's Family was first on NBC for a season and a half and they kept moving our time slot around I mean it got worse ever worse every six months it got worse we were opposite Magnum PI with Tom Selleck and they said oh well they're doing too well there so they moved us office at The Love Boat they just kept putting us in horrible time slots till they felt like they had the ammunition to cancel us and I think what the deal was was that the young guys at the network just really didn't understand a young woman playing an old woman and they did not understand rural comedy uh which are some of the best comedies in the world uh but they didn't get it so we got canceled and sat for like a year and a half uh before we went into syndication uh first run syndication and it was during that year and a half that I lost both Betty and Rue to The Golden Girls uh I remember Betty saying to to me we I ran into her on I can't remember what show we were doing it was a game show or something she said I just did a pilot and I really think this could be the one and that was the Golden Girls wow and so I lost both those girls to the you know they went away to do that crappy show The Golden Girls yeah so we have a question on that side of the room um so you played Hannah and Miley's mammal on Hannah Montana and I was just wondering um what was your favorite part about working on the set of Hannah Montana like was there any like drama that I'm kind of nubby I want to know if there's also any drama and also what was your favorite part about working with no there wasn't really any drama Miley pretty much ran the set you know she was always telling her dad what to do dad stop it get over here um she was you know very smart very precocious uh and uh the producers when I went to work on it they said we're trying to hire really good actors to be around her because she's a sponge and she will get it all so if you have any advice for Miley please pass it on and um so one of the first things I taught her we were doing a scene in the kitchen and uh we were having trouble getting you know getting everything coordinated and uh I told I taught her one of the first things that Harvey Korman ever taught me which is make your props your friends and so the bottle goes here you remember that line and then you stand up and you remember that line and it just kind of makes the choreography a lot easier so I said Miley we just got to get this coordinated choreographed which we did and the scene came out great Flash Forward four years and I'm on one of the very last episodes of Hannah Montana and Mama and Miley are going to a very fancy tea room uh to have high tea and so we're all dressed up and you know these shoes block and shoot like you would rehearse the scene and then they would shoot it so we walk it they rolled tape we're going in to do it and uh the first thing we do is sit down at this lovely little table the T table and everything the table's all set and everything and I put my purse on the table and I said you guys cut I'm sorry stop because I know that purse is going to be in the way and I looked at Miley and I said what did you do with your purse sweetie she said I put it on the back of my chair Vicky make your props your friends thank you full circle we came full circle together you know and after that show everybody was calling me going what's going to happen to Miley she's lost her because you know she kind of got a little wild there twerking and doing all this I said Molly's going to be fine she just didn't want to be a Disney kid forever so she has let us know that she is not but damn it she's talented so I'm not really worried about miling we're going to stay on that side of the room I think we have a question on yeah right there that young I think that young gentleman had a question am I mistaken he raised his hand foreign what's your favorite Christmas movie you watch every year gosh that's our favorite Christmas movie every year I would have to say well we do much Christmas Vacation almost every year but of late I think my favorite Christmas movie is uh the holiday um I love that movie am I telling you we watched Love Actually the other night and that is actually a lovely movie good question right down front and Scrooge of course okay because we live next door to a scrooge so I always watch Scrooge was it fun working with Ken Berry there were so many great Mama vent moments very I think of as my right arm he's just there for you he's like dancing with a great partner he's just always there and always funny and so underrated and I would have so many fans come up to me during the Mama's Family run and say Ken Barry's really good and I would say oh man you guys should have seen him when he danced on The Carol Burnett Show he was just uh and I think of like Derek Huff nowadays and Kenny just kind of missed that window where he could have been just ginormous because he was so so talented yeah so working with Ken Berry and Tim Conway how did that contrast comedy-wise for you they're two different completely animals well yeah Ken is always there for you Tim as God knows where Tim is Tim just lived to wreak havoc he lived to upset everybody it was and I didn't even know this until after the Burnett Show he was dyslexic so he couldn't really had trouble reading the scripts and deciphering the whole thing so that's why he wrote a lot of his own stuff he wrote all of those Mrs Wiggins sketches he wrote A lot of the stuff that he and Harvey did together he wrote a lot of the dentist sketch he wrote A lot of that stuff uh because that was probably easier for him than learning a script um but he was just a devil and we used to do two shows on the brunette show it was like a live show we had an audience that was roughly the size of this room probably about 250 people and if the first show went really well the director would give Tim the okay to do whatever he wanted on the next show so you God you never knew what was going to happen and we used to have cue cards back in the day like I don't remember Carol was black Harvey was green Tim was red I was blue and if you looked out in the audience and saw a red cue card that said savor that meant here comes the joke that nobody has heard before that it's going to save the whole sketch and you know I mean you would just fasten your seatbelt and go okay here we go yeah at one point he had so many saber cards that he wallpapered his office in them we walked in and it just said Savor everywhere but I got to congratulate you for the ultimate one-upmanship when he was doing the elephant story yeah you know I didn't I the ultimate I didn't do a lot of that cracking up like everybody else did because honestly um I didn't really feel that I had earned the right to play in a sandbox with the grown-ups I was still learning so in many of the first years of the Burnett Show I didn't even see me cracking up at all I just didn't feel it was my privilege but when Mama came along I got a little braver and uh the night that we did that particular when Tim got written into the family sketches Carol pulled us all aside and she said you guys you know how much I love these characters you know how serious I am about these sketches I do not want us breaking the fourth wall we are going to keep our composure keep it together and I'm serious so and we did you know most of the time we did pretty well but that's particular sketch came along and you know what happened Carol fell apart she just and here's this grown woman she's in my lap and she's looking up at me and she's got tears and she's I mean I'm just like what the hell get a great get a grip for Christ's sake I don't and I'm keeping my composure because I've been told by my boss to keep my composure anyway we get through the dress show the dress rehearsal show which we used to do two shows they were called dress and air but that's only because Carol grew up in New York doing live television and there was a dress and there was an air show because they went live um so they do a dress rehearsal and then they do the air show that's the way our schedule was set up so on the Burnett Show you do the dress rehearsal at 4 15 you'd be done like at six o'clock we'd have like an hour and some odd minutes to get your makeup touched up to get dinner if you're hungry and during that time you would get notes from the director about the next show and it could be anything like we're changing your mark in the finale we're changing this line we're changing the running order it could be anything so he came by my dressing room that night he knocks on the door Dave Powers our directory says I'm only one note tonight the elephant story will be different and good luck so by now this is like I don't know what that was like one of the I think that was the last season of the brunette show the 11th season and I am now married to Al my husband Al Schultz was the makeup man on the show so he's sitting in my dressing room when the director came by and after the director left I said how the hell does he get that and Al looked at me he said get him so I think maybe it was Al that Unleashed that monster that night and I got him I got him yeah okay and we have a question right back here let's head back there what out right here you go so great to have you with us Vicky Merry Christmas Merry Christmas so my one question for you is out of all the moments you look back on in both your life and career which moments are you the most proud of well I guess every mother says her children right most the time I'm proud of them ah sometimes you want to sell them yeah uh yeah I mean my family I guess is the most important it's boring answer right what do you really want to know what would you really like me to say what is the most what was the question what is the most there I'll have you repeat it since it was your question the most okay so the question was out of all the moments in both your life and career or which moments are you the most proud of pick tickets okay we have a question right down here hi Vicky um I did love the sitcom the cool kids oh thanks it was so so funny and I was just wondering if you could share any um memories you had of Leslie Jordan on set or what was your favorite Leslie you know I met uh I was uh I became a fan of Leslie's when he did um Boston Legal and he had a story line with Betty White in there that's where I found him um but when I and you know the character that he played was never intended to be gay uh I read I was the first person cast on the cool kids and I read with many guys for that part and yet when we showed up on the set to do the pilot I went wow really they went short and they went gay okay and um but how fun to be working with Leslie and he he just he was everything that I think everybody fell so in love with during the pandemic he was just funny he had the best old stories he had the most incredible stories about his former life when he did drugs I mean he'd be telling us stories about when he was in jail with with Robert Downey Jr really oh and I woke up in the lumber yard in West Hollywood I honestly anyway he had this incredible second life and he was just so happy when this happened to him he finally bought his dream condo and he never got to move in and I just I mean I still can't believe he's not going to be on the other end of the phone when I call um it's just still hard to believe he was just adore he's just as adorable as everybody thinks he was he's the reason I drink sweet tea to this time I'm so sweet tea he had a big old jug of it on the set and I'll get me some sweet tea I need to be cutting down on the sugar because I need to go on a diet he's always on a diet and the Wardrobe gal would always say oh honey let's just get a bigger size I loved him I miss him I missed that whole cast I was a such a Martin Mull what a doll baby and David Alan Greer just so fun I just felt so fortunate I was really sorry but I think we got caught in that uh right when we were due for a pickup is right when Disney bought Fox and I think we just got lost in the shuffle yeah I do too it was fun we have a question on the far side of the room hi I'm I was wondering if Carol Burnett hadn't interceded in your life at that moment and and show business wasn't on the table what would you have done oh I was just telling there was a dentist there here this morning uh getting a picture and she wanted me to pose with her toothbrush and I said you know she said I'm a dentist I said Oh I thought I wanted to be a dental hygienist I don't know why I kind of have a tooth fetish I don't know what that was about and then I think I figured you could wear a uniform to work every day and you wouldn't have to stress over what to wear and then you could spend all your money buying cute stuff for the weekend I don't know what I had a crush on my dentist when I was growing up because he was so handsome um I don't know what I thought dental hygienist that would have been a funny one hopefully Mike if you want to head to the way back far part of the room looks like we got two questions there we got time for about two or three more then you got to prep for your photo op if I'm not mistaken yes I do I've never done such a thing I have never dressed up as mama and interacted with fans ever uh I've got roped into it for this show I saw you know maybe that would be fun I've never done it I was I've told a number of people I don't think anybody has a picture off I don't think anybody office sat has maybe a random stagehand that caught me right before I was going on as mama in my show but I it's not it's not something let's see how it goes I have a feeling she's going to be really angry okay we're we're ready we're ready in the back thank you what is your fondest memory of being on Hannah Montana oh I think I shared it with you I just loved being around Miley and well Dolly Parton uh I remember the week that I was on that they said Dolly's going to be there this week and I went oh my God what do I wear to the table read because you know she's going to look great what am I I might need to get a manicure uh she's gonna look adorable well when you meet Dolly part have any of you met her in person when you meet her in person don't you just want to go stand there I just want to look just stand there because I just want to see all of it she's just a man and she is the sweetest thing you will ever meet in your life she's the nicest person and she's just absolutely perfect head to toe I just La I went why did I think I was going to get my nails done I went as long as you I don't know how she does it she's just adorable another question in the back and then okay right in front of you there you go let's get those two or is that one person with two hands there no it's two questions one person with two hands hopefully yeah we'll be in the air at the same time hi Vicky so we already established that Carl died in the bathroom on The Carol Burnett Show okay I always wondered whatever happened between Eunice and Ed did he leave her for a cocktail waitress or something like that oh I don't remember and then Dick Van Dyke came on the show it was just one episode I think gosh I don't remember dick was uh dick was on the whole last season of the birthday show the whole 11th season and I was in I had a dressing room my next to Dick Van Dyke and I was like oh my God because I just loved that show when I was a kid um I don't remember what happened to Eunice and Ed but you're probably you're probably right you left her for how do we know that she needs a microphone is your mic okay it was on one of the episodes I had seen uh Dick Van Dyke came by the house to see her to see Ed he was a friend of Ed's okay and he was off with a cocktail waitress or something maybe it was just I don't know okay you know I've often said to Carol because there have been many reconfigurations of the brunette show like I just signed a box set this morning uh the Lost episodes and there's uh like all the seasons have been released and all the Carol's favorites I think has been released and I said Carol all I ever hear is could you release all the family sketches as a set uh but I guess there's um uh writing issues and there's all kinds of reasons where that's really difficult but I I mean that would be a great box set all the family sketches because they were so good it was so beautifully written let's get one more question then she's got to get made up to do her photo ops let's head right down front for the last question and thank you again for doing this with us my pleasure I just wanted to know did you enjoy working with buzz and Sonia more than Bubba or did you have a favorite oh well you know I think what happened buzz and Sonya were adorable they they were uh but I think um the network when we were on the network really felt like they needed that teenage element in the show uh and I'm not sure the producers or the writers ever really embraced that so when we were canceled and then we went into first run syndication it was really left up to us and that's when we recast and I mean I just feel like um Beverly Archer was just an incredible addition to the show and Alan I picked uh when he auditioned because I said he has red hair and he's adorable so shouldn't shouldn't he be here he's not really cast him because I thought he was so cute so I guess I probably enjoyed them syndicated I think that's when we really hit our stride was in first run syndication and could have gone on forever and ever because that show ran like a little Energizer Bunny um but they got to enough episodes where they could Syndicate and then that's when they said we don't really need to do anymore but we had it down to a four day work week by the end and boy we were just having way too much fun well I wish you luck with your photo op thank you releasing Mama on the Comic-Con crowd give it up Ricky Lawrence you don't want to miss her photo up you could do better than that thank you so much hi this is Aaron Ashmore and you are watching Phantom Spotlight be sure to like share and subscribe like like now oh and have fun and follow your fandom [Music]

Channel: Fandom Spotlite

Views: 15,659

Keywords: mama's family, vicki lawrence mama, vicki lawrence carol burnett show, vicki lawrence 2022, mama's family vicki lawrence, vicki lawrence hannah montana, steel city con, steel city con december 2022, steel city con panel, fandom spotlite, fandom spotlite panel, fandom spotlite con coverage

Id: t3GB2EbLcyg

Length: 28min 35sec (1715 seconds)

Published: Fri Dec 16 2022