MAMA'S FAMILY REUNION ON "VICKI"

from the garden rebel it's all coming up at noon we hope to see you then we're over here doing a Mama's family reunion today and Dorothy Lyman has come through and Beverly Archer and and Allen Kaiser and ken berry they're all here I was wondering if mama has come through the gate yet because we're really running late I need you to send her in as soon as she gets here well I'm sure you'll know her when you see her yes she's an older woman about my height oh my lord look it's for Tonight Show jr. for the Vicki Lawrence Show man and you know what you're late yeah but I wanna go see Jay Leno oh no no no come on now the Vicki show is right this way I'll show you Vicki look we've got to start the show come on we just gotta go we can't wake mommy well fine I guess we have to go excuse me but you're in my seat whatever your manners can't you see I'm an old woman what is your name anyway David Michael phone call for David and kids welcome to our mama's family reunion you will certainly remember my first guest as mama's son Denton who was as lovable as can be even though in the brain department he was one hammer short of a toolset please welcome my dear friend Ken Barry next meet the lady who was all over vent like ants on a picnic table vent loving wife Naomi on the show say hi to Dorothy Lyman the young man who turned to mama for grandmother grandmotherly easy for me to say advice and guidance and somehow managed to survive anyway and I'm talking about Bubba who in real life is Alan Kaiser and finally she could be annoying and get on your nerves but what are friends for mama's best friend Iola Beverly Archer here we all are looking all dressed up and hot and we clean up real good though we never looked this cute on the show you know I guess for everybody who do maybe there are people out there that never saw Mama's family what would it hurt be it was the oddest phenomena I guess everybody sort of for some reasons really related to this family and I we were the number I'm proud to say the number-one sitcom in syndication for the entire time that we were on the air and it's certainly a Sun off of one of the most popular sketches on The Carol Burnett Show and we'll probably we'll talk about that later the whole evolution of how what an odd family doesn't how they've all changed but I just in case people don't know I thought we should just kind of run over what sort of characters we were I of course was the matriarch I whom certainly one of the youngest people here Attila the Hun and I was the dumb blonde down the line which I thought was an interesting bit of casting it was I don't think any man has ever done it before I don't know telling you that you to brush it in a wig and a blonde wig I'm really I'm perfect you were wearing on speaking of blonde wigs you were like the queen of blonde with Dorothy yes if he was the dumb blonde I guess I was a leading man and I don't know give her smart well you were I was bitten loving life you were a is what you were I have always lovingly referred to you as my favorite trim yes I mean from the very day I met you Dorothy you have been my favorite time no no well because I fell in love with her when she was opal gardener who was also Allen how would you describe Bubba walking hormone walk well some things never change I guess yeah he tried real hard he do your thing you were the grand you were my grandma not grandson and was very frustrated with I guess my parents and ended up staying with Grandma and and very thankfully lucky he ended up there to still be in jail frustrated with your parents in fact it is what not having anything to do with you sure so he was a little bit uh anxious I guess about life and grandma grandma a caring mother and father and and everything else is it dude and Beverly how would you describe Iola I don't think that's possible I think it's either she was oh dear thing she was the neighbor a pest but she was she would not have a great she was a nice test but she's yeah she was a good crafter boy the woman could crash okay yes yeah and she always had she always was the best-dressed thing and this is as close as I could get myself to come to pink you know I don't I never want to see pink again as long as I live a story of my life always in the cheap seats we are hearing we're reminiscing with Benton Naomi Bubba and I all about life with momma on our mama's family reunion we should probably backtrack a little bit here and explain the evolution of Mama's Family which we didn't clearly explain it started as a sketch on Carol's show I think probably I calculated one time the first time I ever played mama was 25 and they said actually I heard Carol say in an interview one time that in this early draft of the sketch she was mama and I was Eunice and then as it got more down to the final draft she's who I just really think Vicki would be better as mom and I'd be better suited as Eunice and I said oh sure you get to play the ingenue and I'm the old bat again so that's how I am here to the part of the old lady and basically our director Dave power said what do you think you can do the accident Carol wants to do but old and I said well yeah I'll try so that's basically what I tried to do and it was written as a one time sketch by two of the writers on the brunette show and the first time we used to do root start rehearsals on Monday same like we done a Mama's Family and Wednesday was first time staff would see the run-through the two writers that wrote it when they heard that we had decided to do it sort of southern West Texas got so upset they threw their pencils down walked out of the run-through said you're going to upset the entire southern half of this country and you may not do this well of course because it was Carol show we did it the way she wanted I got so much great feedback that these writers ended up having to rewrite and rewrite and rewrite so Phillip was the Pulitzer Prize winning son who came back from overseas in the first episode and then when Phillip couldn't do the special after Carol went off the air she said well I mean when Roddy McDowall wasn't available she said well let's get Kimmi because I love Kenny and I would love to work with Kenny so you inherited the role of Phillip on a special which was a 90-minute special called Eunice mama died we went up to Carol's house one night to watch the special before it was on screening and my husband al whose Greek so I he psychics well you know how they are they're like gypsies and we were on our way up to Carroll house and al said she's gonna ask you to do this as a series tonight I said I'll stop it he said I'm just telling you this is what's gonna happen now no student Harvey was there Carol de noted those credits roll on that special and Carol said you taught to do this as a series you have got to good I saw a lot you what about Harvey she said what we'll come and visit but you have got to do this so that's how it all happened and then you haven't because we used to break on the Burnett show to watch all my children I mean that was our lunch breaks we must break now because all my children is on and we'd also go into then we're also on Mama's family we were rehearsing and you used to break and watch her walk if I was still fully hooked into it right and then when she was hired to do the show she used to commute she was moonlighting she was doing the show on the East Coast and and Mama's family on the west coast was your schedule it was hideous I do I work Monday Tuesday Wednesday in New York Wednesday night I flew out here and then I worked Thursday Friday Saturday rehearsing with y'all we shot on Sunday and I took the red-eye back and went right from the airport to the studio got my blocking took a nap and you know started all over again it was really the best time of my life yeah I'm gonna be hauling all my paycheck all my paper you

Channel: Storytime with Ed

Views: 350,637

Keywords: Mama's, Family, Reunion, Vicki, Lawrence, Ken, Berry, Dorothy, Lyman, Allan, Kayser, Beverly, Archer, Carol, Burnett, Betty, White

Id: x5r_EyEBc7M

Length: 9min 43sec (583 seconds)

Published: Sat Jan 13 2007