Thelma's husband's name was Carl, also played by Ken Berry.
Vinton's first wife's name was Mitzi.
Vinton's two teenage children, Buzz and Sonja who appear on the show from 1983-1985 were written out of the show in 1986, and no explanation was ever given for there whereabouts (many probably assumed that both Buzz and Sonja went to college and lived on their own). In the 1990 season, when Vinton wants to have another child, he says that if it's a boy, he will name it Vinton Jr., forgetting that Buzz's real name is Vinton Jr.
Naomi married three times; first to Tommy Ray, second to Leonard Oates, and third to Vinton.
Iola's middle name is Lucille.
In the last episode, Naomi gave birth to a daughter, Tiffany Thelma.
Ellen's husbands name was Bruce. He was never shown.
Cancelled by NBC after two seasons, the series continued production for the syndication market for several more years, becoming one of the first dramatic or comedy series to successfully move off network and continue in syndication. A few years later, Baywatch would duplicate this feat with even greater success.
Vinton's occupation was as a locksmith by trade for a place called Kwik-Keys. Naomi worked at a grocery store called Food Circus; she was a checker when the show began, but eventually worked her way up to being the assistant manager.
Set in the fictional "Raytown", a running joke on the series is that local businesses and landmarks all contain 'Ray' in the name (ie St. Ray Hospital, Ray Lake, the K-Ray television station).
The town the family lives in is called Raytown, and every business there is a variation of the town name. Instead of having a McDonalds, they have McRays. The town's upscale restaurant is called Chez Ray's and the newspaper is the Raytown Gazette.
All of 'Vicki Lawrence''s on-screen children ('Ken Berry', Carol Burnett, and Betty White) are older than her by at least 15 years.
The original address of Mama's house is 1 Old Decatur Road.
In the majority of the episodes, the characters wear the same colored or similar-colored attire. Mama wears blue or purple, Vinton wears tan, Naomi wears yellow (though in earlier episodes she didn't), Iola wears pink, and Bubba wears green.
Vicki Lawrence and Ken Berry are the only actors who appeared in all 130 episodes of the show.
This was the second episode produced, and after seeing it NBC decided (with Executive Producer Joe Hamilton's approval) to shelve the series until spring to work out the problems. When the show came back, Supervising Producer Ed Simmons and Producers Dick Clair and Jenna McMahon had been added (Clair and McMahon were already staff writers who got promoted). Harvey Korman began doing extra duty as a director, shared with Roger Beatty (he left after the second season, when The Carol Burnett Show (1967) Director 'Dave Powers' became available). This was the lowest-rated episode of the first season, airing just after NBC had renewed the series.
The title is based on the play "The Man Who Came to Dinner" written by Moss Hart and George S. Kaufman and opened on Broadway at the Music Box Theatre on October 16, 1939 and ran for 739 performances.
The title is based on the common expression: Where there's a will, there's a way.
The title is based on the phrase "It's an ill wind that blows no one good" which dates back to the 16th century in various similar forms.
The title is based upon Henny Youngman's signature joke, "Now take my wife. Please!"
jaaa
Facebook
Twitter