The Family (sketch)
Encyclopedia
The Family is a series of skits that aired on The Carol Burnett Show
. It was so successful that it became a recurring skit on The Carol Burnett Show and later spun off
into the comedy series Mama's Family
, a show which first aired on NBC
, and then in syndication
. http://www.televisionhits.com/mamasfamily/ The Family sketches featured Carol Burnett
as Eunice Higgins, Vicki Lawrence
as Thelma Harper
(originally known only as Mama), and Harvey Korman
as Ed Higgins
. In the Family sketches, Mama has five children (in the subsequent series, she has only three). In addition to Ellen Harper
(played by Betty White
) and Eunice, there were three sons: Larry Harper (Alan Alda
), Phillip Harper (Roddy McDowall
), and Jack Harper (Tommy Smothers). All three were replaced by Vinton Harper, played by Ken Berry
, in the spin-off television series. Berry played Phillip in the 1982 made-for-TV movie Eunice (which was the precursor to Mama's Family).
and Billy-Joe Higgins (In one sketch Eunice calls her children Bubba and Raymond); however, the characters were never shown on the Family sketches. The Bubba Higgins character made his first appearance in the syndicated version of Mama's Family. Mama, Eunice, and Ed often have uproarious verbal wars over petty issues such as board games (they played Monopoly, Sorry!
, and Password), how much butter has been used for the bread, what exactly happened 30 or 40 years ago, etc. The final Family sketch had Eunice talking to a psychiatrist trying to figure out what went wrong with her life.
ad libbed reminisces about seeing a pair of Siamese elephants during a trip to a freak show, describing in detail how they were connected at the trunk and the sounds they made. The audience was already in hysterics while Burnett, Lawrence and Dick Van Dyke
desperately struggled to maintain composure. Several times when Conway would stop, the rest of the cast would collect themselves, at which point Conway would continue with his ad libbing pushing them again to the edge of breaking up. When Burnett gained her composure one last time she turned to Vicki Lawrence to help get the script moving again, to which Lawrence quipped (in character), "You sure that little asshole's through?" At that point Burnett, Conway and Van Dyke all fall apart laughing.
The Carol Burnett Show
The Carol Burnett Show is a variety / sketch comedy television show starring Carol Burnett, Harvey Korman, Vicki Lawrence, Lyle Waggoner, and Tim Conway. It originally ran on CBS from September 11, 1967, to March 29, 1978, for 278 episodes and originated from CBS Television City's Studio 33...
. It was so successful that it became a recurring skit on The Carol Burnett Show and later spun off
Spin-off (media)
In media, a spin-off is a radio program, television program, video game, or any narrative work, derived from one or more already existing works, that focuses, in particular, in more detail on one aspect of that original work...
into the comedy series Mama's Family
Mama's Family
Mama's Family is an American television sitcom that premiered on NBC on January 22, 1983. It was cancelled in May 1984, but NBC would continue to air reruns until September 1985. In September 1986, Mama's Family returned in first-run syndication, where it aired for an additional four seasons,...
, a show which first aired on NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
, and then in syndication
Television syndication
In broadcasting, syndication is the sale of the right to broadcast radio shows and television shows by multiple radio stations and television stations, without going through a broadcast network, though the process of syndication may conjure up structures like those of a network itself, by its very...
. http://www.televisionhits.com/mamasfamily/ The Family sketches featured Carol Burnett
Carol Burnett
Carol Creighton Burnett is an American actress, comedian, singer, dancer and writer. Burnett started her career in New York. After becoming a hit on Broadway, she made her television debut...
as Eunice Higgins, Vicki Lawrence
Vicki Lawrence
Vicki Lawrence is an American actress, comedienne, and Billboard Hot 100 #1 singer, who was frequently a game show panelist in the 1970s and 1980s...
as Thelma Harper
Thelma Harper
Thelma Harper is a fictional character, who originally appeared on the ongoing Mama's Family on The Carol Burnett Show. She was portrayed by Vicki Lawrence...
(originally known only as Mama), and Harvey Korman
Harvey Korman
Harvey Herschel Korman was an American comedic actor who performed in television and movie productions beginning in 1960...
as Ed Higgins
Ed Higgins
Ed Higgins is a character in "The Family" sketches on The Carol Burnett Show and, to a lesser extent, on the sitcom spinoff Mama's Family. In both cases, he was played by Harvey Korman....
. In the Family sketches, Mama has five children (in the subsequent series, she has only three). In addition to Ellen Harper
Ellen Harper
Ellen Jackson is a fictional character who made sporadic appearances in the sketch comedy, The Family, and its spin-off sitcom, Mama's Family. She was played by Betty White.-Biography:...
(played by Betty White
Betty White
Betty White Ludden , better known as Betty White, is an American actress, comedienne, singer, author, and former game show personality. With a career spanning seven decades since 1939, she is best known to modern audiences for her television roles as Sue Ann Nivens on The Mary Tyler Moore Show and...
) and Eunice, there were three sons: Larry Harper (Alan Alda
Alan Alda
Alphonso Joseph D'Abruzzo , better known as Alan Alda, is an American actor, director, screenwriter, and author. A six-time Emmy Award and Golden Globe Award winner, he is best known for his role as Hawkeye Pierce in the TV series M*A*S*H...
), Phillip Harper (Roddy McDowall
Roddy McDowall
Roderick Andrew Anthony Jude "Roddy" McDowall was an English actor and photographer. His film roles included Cornelius and Caesar in the Planet of the Apes film series...
), and Jack Harper (Tommy Smothers). All three were replaced by Vinton Harper, played by Ken Berry
Ken Berry
Kenneth Ronald "Ken" Berry is an American dancer, comedic actor and singer. He began on stage as a dancer and later starred in television sitcoms.-Life and career:...
, in the spin-off television series. Berry played Phillip in the 1982 made-for-TV movie Eunice (which was the precursor to Mama's Family).
Premise
Unlike Mama's Family, the central character of The Family sketches was Eunice. The sketches were about the noisy, bickering couple of Eunice and Ed and Eunice's interfering and overly critical Mama, and there was a great deal of more squabbling in The Family sketches than on Mama's Family. It was stated many times that Eunice and Ed also had two young sons named Bubba HigginsBubba Higgins
Bubba Higgins is a fictional character in the television situation comedy, Mama's Family. He was played by Allan Kayser.-Character overview:...
and Billy-Joe Higgins (In one sketch Eunice calls her children Bubba and Raymond); however, the characters were never shown on the Family sketches. The Bubba Higgins character made his first appearance in the syndicated version of Mama's Family. Mama, Eunice, and Ed often have uproarious verbal wars over petty issues such as board games (they played Monopoly, Sorry!
Sorry! (game)
Sorry! is a board game that is based on the ancient Cross and Circle game Pachisi. Players try to travel around the board with their pieces faster than any other player. Distributed by Parker Brothers, Sorry! is marketed for two to four players, ages six through adult...
, and Password), how much butter has been used for the bread, what exactly happened 30 or 40 years ago, etc. The final Family sketch had Eunice talking to a psychiatrist trying to figure out what went wrong with her life.
Characters
- Eunice Higgins - As the very stormy, irrepressible daughter of Mama and wife of Ed, Eunice is histrionic and full of powerful emotions. She's cheerful and giddy at one moment and out of control and upset in the next. She's very ambitious and both wishes and tries to become an actor to make something of herself. She'll do anything to get away from what she perceives as a nightmare, stuck with her mama and husband. Her efforts in trying to make anything out of her self are only met with belittlement by Mama, often sparking a bickering session between the two. When Eunice starts ranting, she brings up a load of irrelevant matters that she's unhappy about. Often, her long-drawn out rants will date as far back as her childhood. Out of the three characters, Eunice has the most control in the gang, mostly over Ed.
- MamaThelma HarperThelma Harper is a fictional character, who originally appeared on the ongoing Mama's Family on The Carol Burnett Show. She was portrayed by Vicki Lawrence...
- In the Family sketches, Mama is a grumpy troublemaker. Unlike Mama's FamilyMama's FamilyMama's Family is an American television sitcom that premiered on NBC on January 22, 1983. It was cancelled in May 1984, but NBC would continue to air reruns until September 1985. In September 1986, Mama's Family returned in first-run syndication, where it aired for an additional four seasons,...
, in the Family sketches, Mama never cracks any smart retorts, sarcastic remarks, and has no sense of humor. She's considerably more senile and reliant on The Family sketches as well. Mama makes insults, constantly letting Ed and Eunice know what is wrong with them and how they're failures who will never make anything out of themselves. She's also a troublemaker, who's usually the one that starts all the bickering and chaos among the three. Sometimes when they're all starting to get along (which rarely happens on the show), Mama will say something that she knows will provoke Eunice and Ed; one of Eunice's catchphrases is "Don't you start with me, old lady!"
- Ed HigginsEd HigginsEd Higgins is a character in "The Family" sketches on The Carol Burnett Show and, to a lesser extent, on the sitcom spinoff Mama's Family. In both cases, he was played by Harvey Korman....
- As the son-in-law of Mama and the husband to Eunice, Ed frequently gets pushed around and treated like garbage, mostly by his wife, Eunice. However Mama treats him almost just as terribly—provoking him with insults, often about what a failure he is. Although he gets pushed around the most, Ed never hesitates to bicker with, and stand up to his wife and mother-in-law. Ed is an unsuccessful slob, whose behavior is goofy and dimwitted. Whenever he stands up for himself, it's often to no avail, as it only gets him bickering against Mama and Eunice—who will quickly start bickering with each other. Ed has a low-class job and nothing much going on, which is often what Eunice's rants and Mama's insults are about—if it has to do with Ed.
- Phillip Harper - In the Family sketches, Phillip was the eldest of Mama's three sons. He was a successful Hollywood-based screenwriterScreenwriterScreenwriters or scriptwriters or scenario writers are people who write/create the short or feature-length screenplays from which mass media such as films, television programs, Comics or video games are based.-Profession:...
and PulitzerPulitzer PrizeThe Pulitzer Prize is a U.S. award for achievements in newspaper and online journalism, literature and musical composition. It was established by American publisher Joseph Pulitzer and is administered by Columbia University in New York City...
/Nobel Peace PrizeNobel Peace PrizeThe Nobel Peace Prize is one of the five Nobel Prizes bequeathed by the Swedish industrialist and inventor Alfred Nobel.-Background:According to Nobel's will, the Peace Prize shall be awarded to the person who...
-winning author. Just like Ellen, Phillip was Mama's favorite but despite the fact, he was never spared Thelma's criticism, insults, or wrath.
- Larry Harper - In the Family sketches, Larry was the middle of Mama's three sons. He was a free-spirit who is a commercial illustrator, and he was teased by Ed, who thought that painting was somewhat sissy. He appeared in the Christmas sketch, coming home for ChristmasChristmasChristmas or Christmas Day is an annual holiday generally celebrated on December 25 by billions of people around the world. It is a Christian feast that commemorates the birth of Jesus Christ, liturgically closing the Advent season and initiating the season of Christmastide, which lasts twelve days...
after five years and he is unmarried.
- Jack Harper - In the Family sketches, Jack was the youngest of Mama's three sons. He was visited by Eunice, Ed and Mama in the hospital. It is mentioned that he and his wife Janie have children, and that he works in sales.
- Ellen HarperEllen HarperEllen Jackson is a fictional character who made sporadic appearances in the sketch comedy, The Family, and its spin-off sitcom, Mama's Family. She was played by Betty White.-Biography:...
In the Family sketches, Ellen was older than Eunice, and was as snobby and stuck on herself as she was on Mama's Family with a difference. She would snap back at her mother with more frequency; and didn't even try to hide her glee when she got something that Eunice wanted. She was married (her husband originally referred to as Tom, then Arthur, and later as Bruce) and had two spoiled daughters named Mary Beth and Debbie. At one time, it was revealed that Ellen's full name was Mary Ellen.
Final season
In the final season of the Carol Burnett Show, cast member Tim ConwayTim Conway
Thomas Daniel "Tim" Conway is an American comedian and actor, primarily known for his roles in sitcoms, films and television. Conway is best known for his role as the inept second-in-command officer, Ensign Charles Parker, to Lt...
ad libbed reminisces about seeing a pair of Siamese elephants during a trip to a freak show, describing in detail how they were connected at the trunk and the sounds they made. The audience was already in hysterics while Burnett, Lawrence and Dick Van Dyke
Dick Van Dyke
Richard Wayne "Dick" Van Dyke is an American actor, comedian, writer, and producer with a career spanning six decades. He is the older brother of Jerry Van Dyke, and father of Barry Van Dyke...
desperately struggled to maintain composure. Several times when Conway would stop, the rest of the cast would collect themselves, at which point Conway would continue with his ad libbing pushing them again to the edge of breaking up. When Burnett gained her composure one last time she turned to Vicki Lawrence to help get the script moving again, to which Lawrence quipped (in character), "You sure that little asshole's through?" At that point Burnett, Conway and Van Dyke all fall apart laughing.