History Series / MamasFamily

* NiceJobBreakingItHero: In "Harper Versus Harper" the consensus among fans is pretty overwhelmingly that Naomi was in the right, and that Thelma was in the wrong. When they go to court, Thelma almost immediately alienates herself from the judge and comes off as ignorant to how a courtroom even works. Rather than stay quiet and just allow Thelma to dig her own grave and lose the case all on her own, she repeatedly lets her mother-in-law to provoke her into fighting with her in the courtroom over the objections of the judge - resulting in their both not only losing the case but being fined $100 each for contempt of court. Had Naomi just taken the high road, ignored Thelma, and presented her case - she very likely would have won.

* NiceJobFixingItHero: In "Harper Versus Harper" the consensus among fans is pretty overwhelmingly that Naomi was in the right, and that Thelma was in the wrong. When they go to court, Thelma almost immediately alienates herself from the judge and comes off as ignorant to how a courtroom even works. Rather than stay quiet and just allow Thelma to dig her own grave and lose the case all on her own, she repeatedly lets her mother-in-law to provoke her into fighting with her in the courtroom over the objections of the judge - resulting in their both not only losing the case but being fined $100 each for contempt of court. Had Naomi just taken the high road, ignored Thelma, and presented her case - she very likely would have won.

* AccidentalPublicConfession: In "Naomi's New Position", the new manager of Food Circus, Archie Woods, turns out to be a sexual predator. After learning about Naomi's predicament - either "give it up" to Mr. Woods or not only not get her promotion, but also lose her checker's job - Thelma confronts him in his office. Mr. Woods explains how he's used his position to get sex out of every woman in the company he's wanted to... after Thelma secretly turned on the store intercom mic.

* BigStormEpisode: "An Ill Wind," where a tornado warning strikes Raytown on [[ThanksgivingEpisode Thanksgiving day]].
* BerserkButton: One episode revealed that underage drinking was a HUGE berserk button for Mama due to an incident involving Eunice several years prior.

* CasualKink: Naomi and Vinton try experimenting with this in one episode; unfortunately, this leads to her leaving her - rather frilly - bra in Bubba's bedroom and Mama suddenly getting the wrong idea about Bubba and his girlfriend. (When she finds out the bra is Naomi's, she acts like, "Damn, I should have known...")

** Mama - purple/blue
** Vinton - brown
** Naomi - yellow
** Iola - pink
** Bubba - green/blue
** Eunice - green
** Ellen - white

* TheDanza: Amy, Bubba's off-and-on girlfriend (and almost-fiancee) in season 4 was played by actress Amy Benedict.

* TheDitz - Vinton. The whole family ([[OnlySaneMan except Thelma]]) is pretty stupid, but Vint stands head and shoulders above the rest.

* DysfunctionalFamily

* MoralGuardians: Mama forms [[FunWithAcronyms M.O.P.]], Mothers Opposed to Pornography, after she finds a dirty magazine under Bubba's bed. Her group then starts protesting outside the Food Circus for selling those magazines.

* ThanksgivingEpisode: "An Ill Wind."

* {{Uncanceled}} / ChannelHop: After NBC canceled the show in 1984, it was picked up for a second and longer syndicated run from 1986 to 1990.

The show was about Thelma "Mama" Harper, née Crowley (Creator/VickiLawrence) and [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin her family]]: sharing the house with Thelma were her son, Vinton (Ken Berry); Naomi (Dorothy Lyman), Vinton's girlfriend and later wife; Vinton "Buzz" Jr. (Eric Brown) and Sonja (Karin Argoud), Vinton's two kids from a previous marriage; and Thelma's spinster sister, Frances "Aunt Fran" Crowley (Rue [=McClanahan=]). Meanwhile, Thelma's daughters Ellen (Creator/BettyWhite) and Eunice (Creator/CarolBurnett) visited frequently, along with Eunice's husband Ed Higgins (Creator/HarveyKorman).

%%* ScreamingBirth: Naomi.

By the time of the syndicated seasons, the cast was narrowed down considerably, keeping only Mama, Vinton, and Naomi (guest stars still reprised their roles, however). Also introduced were Thelma's fresh-out-of-juvie grandson Bubba (Allan Kayser) and nosy spinster neighbor Iola Boylan (Beverly Archer). This five-person cast would keep the show going for the rest of the show's run.

* ArtisticLicenseLaw: In a SeriesContinuityError, despite it being well established in his first appearance that Bubba cannot leave the state until his 21st birthday due to his probation, no mention of this is made in the next season’s GameShowAppearance on ''Series/{{Jeopardy}}'' (filmed in Los Angeles since 1984) or the following [[spoiler: two-parter set in Hawaii.]]

* CitizenshipMarriage: Vinton almost marries a woman from Portugal as a favor to a friend in the episode "Alien Marriage", [[spoiler: but backs down]].

%% * GettingCrapPastThe Radar: Due to overwhelming and persistent misuse, GCPTR is on-page examples only until 01 June 2021. If you are reading this in the future, please check the trope page to make sure your example fits the current definition.

* GraduateFromTheStory: Subverted when Bubba graduates high school and is supposed to move to Florida with his mom and dad, Eunice and Ed. However, [[spoiler: Eunice "forgets" to tell Mama that Bubba cannot leave the state because he is on probation until his 21st birthday]] and Bubba ends up living with Mama for the remainder of the series.

* LawOfInverseFertility: After having trouble having a child and being turned down for adoption, [[spoiler: Naomi finds out she's pregnant after all]].

** In "Black Belt Mama", Thelma gets mugged and gets her purse stolen. She then takes a self-defense class with Naomi and Sonja. Later on in the episode, Thelma is at a bus stop with another woman when the same mugger comes for her purse. Thelma reminds the thief to remember to take the other woman's purse too, at which point [[spoiler: Thelma slams him in the back of the head with an iron in a shopping bag.]]