Mama's Family

- Season 4

(1987)

Thelma reveals that she never finished high school because the professor humiliated her in front of the class. To inspire Bubba to get his diploma, Thelma enrolls in night school to get hers as well. But all doesn't go well when she clashes with the new professor and is faced with the challenge of giving a report on The Scarlet Letter.

Mama discovers at-home television shopping, and soon has a house full of tacky bric-a-brac and cheap jewelry. Her family realizes they must intervene when the credit card bill arrives.

Raytown is plagued by a rash of burglaries, and the police believe Vint is responsible. Mama and Iola aim to find the real culprit.

Vint and Naomi have a terrible fight and part ways. It is Mama, however, who suffers for it.

After Mama narrowly misses death during a thunderstorm, she vows to turn over a new leaf and be more generous to her family.

Mama's disdain for Raytown Founder's Day goes back to a painful incident from her youth, but she gets a chance to right the wrongs of the past.

Mama has fallen for her handsome night-school teacher, Mr. Hansen. Naomi and Iola give her advice on how to attract him, but Mama finds out she would do better just being herself.

The Harpers are put through hell when they must babysit Reverend Meechum's wayward grandson.

A female TV wrestler turns out to be one of Naomi's old schoolmates, and ends up needing her help (and Mama's) in her upcoming match.

The Harpers' garage sale is a success until Iola discovers her handicraft gives to the family were part of the sale.

An old lunchbox that Mama made for Vint as a child gets unearthed, causing a chain of events that leaves Vint injured and perhaps unemployed.

The Harpers host a Soviet citizen as part of a State Department exchange program. Their guest soon finds American life too comfortable to give up.

Bubba is tired of his bedroom being so near to Mama's watchful eye. Vint and Naomi are tired of living down in the basement. When they follow Iola's suggestion to swap rooms, Mama must find a way to thwart the new living arrangements.

When Mama overreacts to Bubba coming home drunk, he learns that he has triggered painful memories for Mama of an embarrassing drunk en incident with Eunice.

Mama has had it with Iola's constant intrusion into her home and family life. But when Iola starts spending all her time with a new friend, Mama feels left out and must find a way to get her back.

After attending a family wedding along with their own significant others, Mama, Iola, and Bubba daydream about what marriage could be like for each of them.

Mama's beloved uncle dies and leaves her his pet parrot. The bird speaks in rhymes that the family believes are clues to the late uncle's hidden fortune.

Mama, Aunt Effie, and several other senior citizen ladies take up tap dancing as a form of exercise. They enjoy it so much that they decide to form their own professional tap dancing troupe. But the possibility of their dancing becoming an insurance liability may force their show to close down.

The producers of "Jeopardy!" are holding auditions in Raytown, so Iola decides to try out. Mama answers all the questions on William Shakespeare which Iola misses and is chosen to appear on the game show.

The Harpers in Hawaii...Bubba and Iola find romance, Naomi gets sunburn, Vint golfs with corporate executives, and Mama is pursued by an amorous beach bum.

Unexpected turns continue to follow the Harpers on their Hawaiian adventure...Bubba's romance crashes while Iola's blossoms, Vint unwittingly impresses the corporate golfers, and the beach bum's pursuit of Mama ends with a twist.

After Bubba's date, Wanda Lynn, lets him down before the prom, Mama and Iola arrange for him to take Iola's shy young niece, Vernette, instead. But when Wanda Lynn suddenly becomes available again, Bubba, who is reluctant to let Vernette down, faces a conflict.

Mama's stove is falling apart. In order to earn money for a new one, she decides to rent out a room in her house to a couple in town for the county fair. But Naomi and Bubba have also rented out their rooms, and the house becomes overcrowded with the very different--and clashing-- crowd of guests.

A hit to Naomi's head leaves her an amnesiac. When she asks Mama to fill her in on who she used to be, Mama convinces her she was a housekeeping and cooking whiz.

Mama and Bubba are about to graduate from high school --indeed, Mama is to be the class valedictorian. But when Bubba learns that his parents won't be coming up from Florida for the ceremony, he is deeply hurt and decides not to attend the graduation.