Eunice's brother Philip is visiting because he's being presented with an honorary degree. Guest starring Roddy McDowall in his third and final appearance as Philip. Unedited as it originally aired on January 8, 1978.
Phillip, Ellen, and Vinton were always Mama Harper's favorites but it was always Eunice who was there for her. These skits are amazing and true to life.
Sometime Eunice be looking so sad:::mama always there want Eunice for helping hand',,Ellen was never there but she praise her to death ,that way life is now:: the one that do for you they never get no credit:: but one that does nothing get all the worpship, and kisses !!!!
That way life is just the way the skits wrote the one that do for you the most that one you treat all kinds of ways:: always downing poor Eunice, no matter what she say of do for her mother it always wrong in her mother eyes ELLEN CAN NEVER DO NO WRONG :: BUT EUNICE DO HER HUDSMAN BAD ALSO HE CAN TRY TO LOVE HER SHE ALWAYS REJEECTING HIM NO MATTER WHAT !!!
The way Mama and Eunice ask Philip questions about himself only to cut him off to complain about something petty like gum wrappers in a purse reminds me of my own family.
Reminds me of my dad’s side. They constantly talk over each yet somehow everyone gets heard and points are understood. As a childhood it was confusing to watch
It is so realistic. My co-workers are in awe of my talents and accomplishments but when I try and share them with my family they seem to be distracted or uninterested. I once tried to share this video presentation with my family that had gotten rave reviews from my co-workers only to have some family members leave the room in the middle of it and others start conversations which distracted them from watching the video. They always say that I am talented but they never allow me to share anything with them. It's very hurtful at times.
@@hshawn00 I know the feeling. I'm like Phillip in that I'm the only one out of all my siblings to move away from our small hick of a home town and make something of my life. I'm the only one who would make the effort to keep in touch. I'd call my brother for instance and as soon as he realized it was me on the other end, it was always sorry I don't have time to talk. I'd go home for visits and like Eunice my sisters might ask me a question about what's going on in my life and before I could get two words out. They'd get distracted by something and end up not even listening. Or cut me off and start an argument with someone in the room. Or like Mama would literally get up and walk out of the room in mid sentence. 20 years ago I started dialysis and when I called home to tell my family you would have thought I'd just told them I had a head cold. I drove out a year after I started dialysis for a visit and not one person asked how I was doing. Spent 6 years on dialysis and in all that time not one person in my family ever called to check on me. When I finally got the call that they had a kidney for me. I called home to let my family know. I spent 8 days in the hospital after my surgery and never heard from one of them. But when one of my siblings get sick or has some sort of health issue. You better believe if I don't call and check on them enough for their liking or send them some financial aid to help while they're recovering, I'm just the worst brother to ever live. My oldest sister posts about every one of her health issues on Facebook. Even reshares the posts again when they pop up a year later. If I don't comment on them she gets her feelings hurt and says I don't care.
@@patrickhawkins4677 Wow, I am so sorry you've had to deal with all of this from your family while suffering from health issues. It's amazing how families can inflict so much pain on each other. That's why these family skits are both tragic and comedic. They really capture the dysfunction in families. I've experienced similar situations with my family. When my brother graduated from college, my family traveled from near and far to celebrate this milestone with him but when I graduated, they made excuses as to why they couldn't come. Also when this same brother needed a car in college, my sister and brother law helped get him a car. They didn't do anything for me. It is so sad how families can treat each other. I am glad that you were able to get a kidney and I pray your health continues to improve.
I actually remember this skit from when I watched it originally on the show. I think it's one of their very best. I've actually known families who ignored efforts of a good kid, and favored the loser.
Vicky Lawrence is just sensational as Mama. I would love to know who on the Carol Burnett show came up with the idea for these family sketches. The writing is just pure genius.
It truly is _genius_ . You are right. Since you mentioned it, I'm going to see who the writers of the sketches were. I'm sure the writers may have changed from time to time, but they were surely great! Makes one wonder if the ideas came from a real family maybe that one of the writers knew?
The story goes, according to Carol Burnett, the writers wrote this, and Carol decided they should do it in a Southern/Country accent, and the writers did not like the idea at all. The first skit is the one called "Family Reunion" with Roddy McDowall as the visiting brother to Mama's home. It was so popular, they made it a recurring skit on the show every few weeks. Carol also said there is no comedy in The Family skits; it's all about how they yell at each other, how rude they are, how mean they are, the true to life Southern accents, and just all of the atmosphere of it all.
If I recall correctly, according to Carol Burnett, these "Family" sketches were based on the dynamics of her real life family when she was growing up (though without the southern accents).
Roddy mcdowall is a super actor. I remember he used to play a lot of sinister roles in the 60s and 70s. Loved his accent. cchild star born in england...he had such a polished way of speaking.
I always thought the family skits were the funniest ones on the show. I agree that as the characters expanded the stories did get more darker but no less funny. Another remarkable thing as I have gotten older, I can really relate to these skits more as a 55-year-old that I could when I was 11 or 12 years old when they first aired.
I read Vickie once said ' I put on the wig and the dress and I become mama '. When I watch Mama's Family I have to remind myself it's Vicki Lawrence, then I just grin. She's so good.
And just think she got her start by sending Ms. Burnett a picture of herself and wrote that they looked so much alike it was as if they were twins but she had absolutely no acting skills. Ms. Burnett flew her in gave her a few lines to read. And the rest is history
"Now, listen old lady"...was one of me and my mother's favorite lines from these skits. I would often say that to her and even crook my finger at her sometimes...joking of course...lol. She passed away a few years ago. I miss hearing her laugh so much.
Love the family episodes. Wonderful memories of me , my mom and sister laughing at these skits. Mom and sis are gone now but when I watch these episodes it’s just like they are back with me. Thanks for posting.❤️
I have NEVER seen this one before. Thank you so much for posting it!! I would love to see the one where Ed, Eunice, and Mama go to the "fancy" restaurant. ♥️
It's incredible that these superb and clever skits were conceived EVERY SINGLE WEEK for The Carol Burnett Show... year after year after year. These days, rarely do you get a glimpse of such consistent talents of this caliber of not just the outstanding acting, but the consistently, well thought out content and delivery.
Nowadays, SNL is the closest thing to the shows and skits of back then. Only they just don't reach the same genius of the old comedy writers. Sometimes I just don't understand the point of some of the SNL skits. They certainly don't make me laugh as hard.
When I was a kid and watched The Family on Carol Burnett, I couldn't for the life of me figure out how Phillip (Roddy McDowell) ended up with a British accent being raised in the South by Mama. It's been 40+ years and I'm still trying to work that one out 😂😉
Me too! Then i severed all contact. My mother and sister both pulled crap like this the last time i visited, i have NO IDEA why they acted so strangely. And they were full of hatred, too.
too bad they didn't have at least one skit with ALL the characters . For some reason I thought there was a Christmas sketch with Ellen Eunice and Phillip, but I guess not
Bubba and Raymond. They changed one of the kids names to Billy Joe. In the parent-teacher conference sketch, the teacher calls Bubba's brother Billy Joe.
Compared to the early family sketches, these later ones took a dark turn. It was easy to laugh at these people in the beginning, but it's harder to do when Eunice elicits such pity. Mama seemed especially strident in this episode.
With Harvey gone there is a difference. I agree, it did get darker. It feels awkward to laugh. The dysfunction is so real. It's like watching a friends family going at it.
I’m not English native, just discovered this show couple of days ago. Unfortunately The first video I found is the parents teacher meeting (with Maggie Smith) one. And I’m not a teacher but I work with depressed, drugs addict, etc. overall troublesome teenagers. So except a few chuckles here and there, those skits are painful to watch and NOT FUNNY AT ALL.
Was reading Tom Selleck's new book and he adored Carol Burnett! Had her on 2 episodes of Magnum as a guest star and she became a treasured friend of his.
Thank you so much!!! Love love LOVE these sketches- grew up watching Mama’s Family with my granny, so it’s really neat seeing what inspired it. The Family is brilliant- it’s side-splittingly funny while it also manages to be poignant and very true to the dynamics of a dysfunctional family. Bravo 👏🏻
A friend of mine back in the 90's had on a pair of white shoes just like Eunice. I was surprised when we were going out one night she came over with them on! LOL
"Today I know that somewhere in this house there's a rotten Easter egg." "Maybe I can work that into the film." Wonder if the Bob's Burgers people saw this show.
Any of the Hollywood writers of this classic dialogue, working behind the scenes for Carol and her awesome crew, probably experienced this sort of scenario painfully whenever they went home for Thanksgiving. “Now what the hell is it, exactly, that you *do* out there? By the way, did you know that your brother married Becky Thompson and they bought a store in Tupelo?” 😄 Love these gems. I wasn’t born when they were made, but they “lived on” in syndication and we enjoyed them so much when I was a kid. A lot has changed. Not for the better.
They probably thought since he was cultivated and successful it would work. What doesn't work is believing ANYONE in that family could be sophisticated, talented, and successful.
@@mmjhcb all of her siblings were more successful once they left living with Mama..poor Eunice never got to follow her dream to be an actress because she stayed behind...
