DVD Release: Mama's Family: Complete Series

DVD Release Date: Sept. 2, 2013
Price: DVD $199.99
Studio: StarVista/Time Life

Vicki Lawrence (ctr.) is Thelma Mae Crowley Harper in Mama's Family.

Mama’s Family: The Complete Series stars Vicki Lawrence and features all 130 episodes of the syndicated TV comedy series that ran for six seasons from 1983-1990.

Based upon the wildly-popular sketch “The Family” which aired on The Carol Burnett Show in 1974, the television show stars Ms. Lawrence as the blue-haired, purse-lipped, 65-year-old Thelma Mae Crowley Harper, an indelible, abrasive and smart-alecky widow.

Set in the fictional city of Raytown, Mama’s Family revolves around the dysfunctional escapades of the Harper clan, headed by formidable matriarch, Mama Harper, along with her journalist sister, Fran (Rue McClanahan, TV’s The Golden Girls), who lives with her; her youngest son, Vint (Ken Berry, TV’s F-Troop), who moves in with his two teenagers after he is evicted; and Naomi (Dorothy Lyman, TV’s All My Children), who marries Vint a few episodes into the series. Mama’s extended family includes her two daughters, highfalutin’ Ellen (Betty White, TV’s Hot in Cleveland) and high-strung Eunice (Carol Burnett, who appears in four episodes), as well as Eunice’s husband, Ed (Harvey Korman, who appears in three installments).

The set also contains over ten hours of specially-created programming including: a cast reunion roundtable with Vicki Lawrence, Ken Berry, Dorothy Lyman, Beverly Archer, and Allan Kayser; all-new cast and crew interviews which also include Betty White, executive producer Rick Hawkins, costumers Ret Turner and Bob Mackie and others; a one-on-one interview with Vicki “interviewing” Mama via split-screen technology; an exclusive new Carol Burnett and Vicki Lawrence interview; the 1982 CBS-TV movie Eunice,  which takes the Harper Family on a 23-year journey; an introductory note penned by Lawrence; key “Family” sketches from The Carol Burnett Show and more.

Additionally, the first two seasons include rare, original broadcast masters of the episodes as well as Harvey Korman’s introductions as Alistair Quince (spoofing Alistair Cooke).

Marking the first time the entire run of this fan-favorite series will be released to DVD, the set will initially be offered exclusively online. It’s now available for pre-order at MamasFamilyDVDs.com.