Mama's Family Starred A Character Who Had Died A Year Before In A TV Movie

Eunice Harper Higgins, the melodramatic daughter of the cranky Thelma, first appeared on "The Carol Burnett Show" in a series of sketches called "The Family." These sketches spawned a TV movie and a television series, but are unrelated narratively and almost feel like two alternate universes for the Harper family. "We got such positive feedback that it became a running kind of a thing, not every week, but at least once a month. I think we did all in all, about 35 [sketches]," Carol Burnett recalled when speaking to the Kunhardt Film Foundation. "We all only thought it was going to be a one-time sketch," she explained. The sketches' popularity ended up inspiring Carol Burnett and her husband, producer Joe Hamilton, to develop the TV movie "Eunice."

"Eunice" aired on CBS in 1982, and was very different from the original sketches, focusing on the Harper family's dysfunction and ending on a dour note as Eunice copes with her mother's death. Betty White plays one of her best roles as Ellen, but the part is fairly serious given the dramatic subject matter. Following positive critical reception and Vicki Lawrence winning an Emmy for the special, Carol Burnett and her creative team really pushed for Mama's own spin-off. "We screened the special, which was great," Vicki Lawrence told "American Masters" on PBS in 2007. "Then Harvey [Korman] and Joe [Hamilton] and Carol [Burnett] were all over me like a bad suit and said, 'You have to do this as a spin-off.'" They just had to ignore Mama's funeral in "Eunice" to keep telling funny stories about her and the Harper family.

Vicki Lawrence's success in "Eunice" opened the doors for her to shine in her own series. But she didn't necessarily want Mama to become a full-time role. Lawrence recalled on "American Masters" how hard Carol Burnett tried to convince her to star in the "Mama's Family" spin-off: "I remember Carol sitting me down and saying, 'Honey, do this for a few years, and then you can do whatever you want for the rest of your career.'" A few years turned into seven years and six seasons, and the show even kept running after switching networks. 

Vicki Lawrence's last starring television role was for "The Cool Kids" and was set in a retirement community, but that didn't make the characters "a bunch of geriatrics," Lawrence joked. Now that she's older than Mama was supposed to be, Vicki Lawrence has an even greater appreciation for the character, explaining to the Beaver County Times: "She's the only character I ever played where it's like watching another person." She added, "I don't even think of it as me. I love her. She was really well written."