Customer Reviews

That's My Mama - The Complete Second Season

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

After reading the comments I just had to say something. I watched that's my mama when it originally aired. Just like now there weren't any black shows on tv so it was a treat when this show came on just to see black folks. I don't understand all the harsh reviews. It was the 70s and the show was probably written by white people what do you expect. I was just glancing thru amazon and came across this show. For years I had wondered if it had been released, now I know and I will buy both seasons. Not to be critical of it but for the shear enjoyment I remember.

I never got to see this show in it's first run but remember my older brother loving it. I was curious so I bought season one on DVD, also got this season for free during an amazon promotion. It was a funny show, but sadly, it never got a chance to really hit it's stride. This season had some changes: a different opening, a different character playing Clifton's sister, Earl is now cutting hair in the barber shop. I found this season to be even funnier than the first. It is too bad this season only contains 13 episodes. I give it only 3 stars because the price should be lower due to that fact. If I didn't get this DVD during Amazon's buy one get one free promo I dont think I'd have bothered buying it at all. It is a good show but for the price wait until they have another buy one get one free promotion before putting your money down on this limited episode set. Other than that, it is a funny show.

I thoroughly enjoyed this show when first arrived on ABC.The show revolved around Clifton Davis' barber shop and cast of characters including Earl the postman and Junior providing most of the laughter and mayhem. Clifton Davis was excellent playing the straight man between those two. This show was right up there with Sanford and Son, Good Times and The Jeffersons. I thought the show should have stayed around longer than there two year run.

I liked season 1 a lot. I bought season 2 and the theme song changed and some characters had changed and mama was not as mean to the postman who now works partime as a barber which he is no good at. I like the the first season a whole lot better. But hey I still would reccomend you buy it. IT's still ok just not as good as the first.

I've often heard lightening doesn't strike in the same place twice. This falls into that category. Compared to the first season, the second season was so-so. There was still the humor of Junior (to me the funniest of the characters), and the wit of Mama, but other than that...so-so. A pox on the powers-that-had-been that made the changes that ruined this potentially great show.

I know that Clifton Davis starred in "Amen" during the 1980s, but I had no idea that he also starred in "That's My Mama" during the mid-1970s. In fact, I didn't even know this show existed until a few months ago. I wasn't born in the 1970s, but I happen to really like TV shows from that era. I found the first season "That's My Mama" to be very funny . The second season of the show is funny as well, but there were some changes made that took getting used to. First, there was a new actress playing Tracy and to me it seemed her character wasn't that involved with the other characters as before. Earl decided to leave a good paying job as a letter carrier to become a barber in Clifton's shop. Nothing wrong with that, but there was no explanation on why he decided to make that move. Josh and Wildcat were gone and as far as I'm concerned they were probably Clifton's *only* customers. Tracy's husband Leonard, whoI thought was an egineer, suddenly becomes an accountant. Out of all the characters on the show, Junior was my favorite! I love the way he walks and the way he talks. Other than that, this was a good show that should've been given another chance.

The premise of the show is "Mama". But this season faltered and was cancelled mid-season. It had so much potential.

There are some shows that revolve around "Mama" but she is eclipsed in these episodes by two annoying characters:

1. Earl! Is there anyone more selfish, narcissistic, and boisterously infuriating? One can't understand why Clifton puts up with him. He ruined the first season and does it to even greater proportions in the second.

2. Leonard! What a buffoon! His comedic timing seems to be off a lot of the time and the character is one-dimensionally STUPID!! What tries to be funny comes off annoying as well.

Those are the two main reasons I cannot fully enjoy this show and see it living to its full potential.

Other reasons: The character of Tracy is never fully developed...not even in the first season. This has nothing to do with the actress change in the second season. Both Lynne Moody and Joan Pringle are beautiful, sincere actresses who are given little to work with.

Clifton comes off as a "dog in heat" most of the time and he can be self-righteously annoying too but to a lesser degree than Leonard or that insufferable Earl...uggh!!

Ted Lange as Junior is the one bright spot in the second season. Relegated to just one scene in the first season episodes, he shines and doubly steals every scene he is in in the second season. Great comedic timing!!

Josh and Wildcat were great comic relief in the first season and they inexplicably disappear in the second. They are sorely missed because they WERE FUNNY!!

Helen Martin who would go on to greater fame in 227 is another underdeveloped, one-dimensional character. She and Mama trade jabs but they are lame and unfunny...and boring after a while.

The DVD itself is chopped up with edited versions of the episodes.

Again, a show with great potential that failed to live up to expectations.