That's My Mama
U.S. television sitcom (1974–75) From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
That's My Mama is an American television sitcom that was the first series to be produced by Columbia Pictures Television and originally broadcast for 39 episodes on ABC from September 4, 1974, to December 24, 1975. That's My Mama was never a ratings success, having always been beaten by NBC's Little House on the Prairie among other competing programs, and was not among the 30 most-watched U.S. programs in the Nielsen ratings for either the 1974–1975 or 1975–1976 television seasons. As a result, the series ended on Christmas Eve 1975.
| That's My Mama | |
|---|---|
| Created by | Dan T. Bradley Allan L. Rice |
| Developed by | Stanley Ralph Ross |
| Starring | Clifton Davis Theresa Merritt Theodore Wilson Lynne Moody (Season 1) Jester Hairston (Season 1) DeForest Covan (Season 1) Ted Lange Lisle Wilson (Season 2) Joan Pringle (Season 2) Helen Martin (Season 2) |
| Theme music composer | Allan Blye Chris Bearde Gene Farmer (1974–1975) Lamont Dozier (1975) |
| Composers | Jack Eskew (1974–1975) Lamont Dozier (1975) |
| Country of origin | United States |
| No. of seasons | 2 |
| No. of episodes | 39 |
| Production | |
| Executive producers | Allan Blye Chris Bearde (1974–1975) David Pollock Elias Davis (1975) |
| Producers | Walter N. Bien Gene Farmer |
| Running time | 25 minutes (per episode) |
| Production companies | Blye-Bearde Productions (1974–1975) (season 1) Pollock/Davis, Inc. (1975) (season 2) Columbia Pictures Television |
| Original release | |
| Network | ABC |
| Release | September 4, 1974 – December 24, 1975 |
Set in a middle-class African American neighborhood in Washington, D.C., the program revolved around the character Clifton Curtis (played by Clifton Davis), a man in his mid-20s who worked as a barber at Oscar's Barber Shop, the family barber shop he had inherited from his late father. While Clifton enjoyed being a bachelor, his loving, but tart-tongued and opinionated mother Eloise "Mama" Curtis, played by Theresa Merritt, wanted him to settle down and find a nice wife. Additional characters – such as Clifton's two best friends—Earl, played by Teddy Wilson, an easy-going mailman and Junior, played by Ted Lange, a suave and good-humored ladies' man—came and went over the course of a typical day at Oscar's Barber Shop. Other characters included Tracy, Clifton's little sister, played by Lynne Moody and later by Joan Pringle and her husband, Leonard, played by Lisle Wilson, as well as local seniors Josh and Wildcat, played by DeForest Covan and Jester Hairston. Clifton Davis and Hairston would work together again years later in the hit sitcom, Amen.
The original title for That's My Mama was The Furst Family of Washington. One year before the series debuted, ABC aired the pilot episode of this version, starring Merritt opposite Godfrey Cambridge as her son Oscar, as a one-off special.[1]
That's My Mama Now!
In 1986, inspired by the success of What's Happening Now!!, Columbia Pictures Television produced a pilot for a sequel series called That's My Mama Now! with Ted Lange as the star. It lacked enough stations signing up to ensure revival.[2]
- Clifton Davis as Clifton Curtis
- Theresa Merritt as Eloise "Mama" Curtis
- Ted Lange as Junior
- Theodore Wilson as Earl Chambers (season 1, episode 3 - season 2, episode 13, main)
- Jester Hairston as Wildcat (season 1, main)
- Lynne Moody as Tracy Curtis Taylor (season 1, main)
- DeForest Covan as Josh (season 1, main)
- Lisle Wilson as Leonard Taylor (season 2, main; recurring season 1)
- Joan Pringle as Tracy Curtis Taylor (season 2, main)
- Helen Martin as Laura (season 2, recurring)
Ernestine Wade originally portrayed the role of Laura in two episodes: "Clifton's Sugar Mama" (season 1, episode 5) and "The Birthday Party" (season 2, episode 1). Ed Bernard originated the role of Earl Chambers in the first two episodes of season 1: "Whose Child Is This?" and "Honesty Day". Teddy Wilson took over the role in episode 3 of season 1, and was added to the main cast. In addition, Wilson appeared as a different character in the pilot episode while Bernard portrayed the role of Earl in that episode.
Season 1 (1974–1975)
| No. overall | No. in season | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original air date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | "Whose Child is This?" | Bob LaHendro | Larry Siegel | September 4, 1974 |
| 2 | 2 | "Honesty Day" | Bob LaHendro | Tom Tenowich & Ed Scharlach | September 11, 1974 |
| 3 | 3 | "Clifton's Dubious Romance" | Bob LaHendro | Larry Siegel | September 18, 1974 |
| 4 | 4 | "Cousin Albert" | Bob LaHendro | Hal Goldman & Al Gordon | September 25, 1974 |
| 5 | 5 | "Clifton's Sugar Mama" | Bob LaHendro | Ron Friedman | October 2, 1974 |
| 6 | 6 | "Clifton's Big Move" | Bob LaHendro | Larry Siegel | October 9, 1974 |
| 7 | 7 | "Mama Steps Out" | Bob LaHendro | Larry Siegel | October 16, 1974 |
| 8 | 8 | "The Loan" | Bob LaHendro | Bob Shayne | October 23, 1974 |
| 9 | 9 | "Clifton's Con" | Bob LaHendro | Thad Mumford & Dan Wilcox | October 30, 1974 |
| 10 | 10 | "Clifton's Persuasion" | Bob LaHendro | Larry Siegel | November 6, 1974 |
| 11 | 11 | "Oscar's Affair" | Bob LaHendro | Story by : Jerry Ross Teleplay by : Jerry Ross & Larry Siegel | November 13, 1974 |
| 12 | 12 | "Tracy's Trouble" | Bob LaHendro | Hal Goldman & Al Gordon | November 20, 1974 |
| 13 | 13 | "The Gun" | Bob LaHendro | Jay Moriatry & Mike Milligan | December 4, 1974 |
| 14 | 14 | "Song and Dance Man" | Bob LaHendro | Ron Friedman | December 11, 1974 |
| 15 | 15 | "Mama Gets Fractured" | Bob LaHendro | Larry Siegel | December 25, 1974 |
| 16 | 16 | "The Last Haircut" | Bob LaHendro | Story by : David and Sally Evans Teleplay by : Larry Siegel | January 8, 1975 |
| 17 | 17 | "The Shakedown" | Stan Lathan | Rick Mittleman | January 15, 1975 |
| 18 | 18 | "The Ambulance Chaser" | Stan Lathan | Simon Muntner | January 22, 1975 |
| 19 | 19 | "Earl's Girl" | Bob LaHendro | Jerry Ross | January 29, 1975 |
| 20 | 20 | "The Witness" | Bob LaHendro | Hal Goldman & Al Gordon | February 5, 1975 |
| 21 | 21 | "Clifton and the Kid" | Alan Rafkin | Story by : Jay Moriarty & Mike Milligan Teleplay by : Jay Moriarty & Mike Milligan and Larry Siegel | February 12, 1975 |
| 22 | 22 | "The Hero" | Norman Abbott | Eric Tarloff | February 19, 1975 |
| 23 | 23 | "The Image Maker" | Stan Lathan | Ron Friedman | February 26, 1975 |
| 24 | 24 | "Trial and Error" | Norman Abbott | Rick Mittleman | March 5, 1975 |
| 25 | 25 | "Clifton and Politics" | Bob LaHendro | Ilunga Adell | March 12, 1975 |
| 26 | 26 | "Stephanie's Boyfriend" | Bob LaHendro | Ron Friedman | March 26, 1975 |
Season 2 (1975)
| No. overall | No. in season | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original air date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 27 | 1 | "The Birthday Party" | Arnold Margolin | Lloyd Garver | September 10, 1975 |
| 28 | 2 | "Business is Business" | Noam Pitlik | Walter Bien & Gene Farmer | September 17, 1975 |
| 29 | 3 | "Mama's Solution" | Herbert Kenwith | Charlie Hauck | September 24, 1975 |
| 30 | 4 | "That's Earl, Brother" | Arnold Margolin | Milton R.F. Brown | October 1, 1975 |
| 31 | 5 | "A Date with Judy" | Burt Brinckerhoff | Larry Siegel | October 8, 1975 |
| 32 | 6 | "Earl's Dad and Mama's Glad" | Arnold Margolin | Lloyd Garver | October 15, 1975 |
| 33 | 7 | "Weekend Daddy" | Arnold Margolin | Bud Wiser | October 22, 1975 |
| 34 | 8 | "Clifton and La Femme" | Arnold Margolin | David Pollock & Elias Davis | October 29, 1975 |
| 35 | 9 | "Mama's Big Move" | Arnold Margolin | Bud Wiser | November 5, 1975 |
| 36 | 10 | "Queen of the Ribs" | Mort Lachman | Jim Parker | November 12, 1975 |
| 37 | 11 | "A Man from the Past" | Burt Brinckerhoff | Charlie Hauck | November 19, 1975 |
| 38 | 12 | "Get Your Kicks on Routes 22 and 76" | Mort Lachman | Winston Moss | December 3, 1975 |
| 39 | 13 | "Clifton's Casual Fling" | Jerry Markus | Lloyd Garver & Winston Moss & Thad Mumford & David Pollock & Elias Davis | December 17, 1975 |
| 40 | 14 | "That's my Papa" | Stuart Margolin | Stuart Margolin | (Unaired) |
- "Wooooooo, WHEE!! I got it, I got it, and I got to report it!"—Junior's (Ted Lange) introduction whenever he had a bit of juicy gossip to tell Clifton and anybody else in the barbershop who happened to be listening.
Sony Pictures Home Entertainment released both Seasons on DVD in Region 1 on August 23, 2005. The majority of episodes are presented on both DVD releases in their edited-for-syndication form. Only a handful of episodes are presented in their original unedited form.
On June 13, 2017, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment released That's My Mama- The Complete Series on DVD in Region 1.[3]
| DVD Name | Ep # | Release Date |
|---|---|---|
| Season 1 | 26 | August 23, 2005 |
| Season 2 | 13 | August 23, 2005 |
| Complete Series | 39 | June 13, 2017 |
In the movie Coming to America, Eddie Murphy has a brief role as Randy Watson, who is explained by Arsenio Hall’s character, Reverend Brown, to have played “Joe the Policeman" in the (fictional) "What’s Goin' Down” episode of That's My Mama.
In the Family Guy episode "Mr. Griffin Goes to Washington," Peter testifies before Congress. Trying to think of a snappy line with which to end his speech, he finally quips "Well, that's my mama!" (This was the tagline at the end of each That's My Mama episode's prologue.)
Catchy Comedy aired That's My Mama during its Weekend Binge marathon block on February 12–13, 2022 and again on February 3, 2024.
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