Eunice

This 1981 teleplay is the absolute end-all for the Eunice character portrayed by Carol Burnett for several years during her reign as television's finest comedian, and with her own variety show to boot... I recall Burnett once saying in an interview that she was glad to put an end to the Eunice character with this special. It was certainly the last word for Eunice, but not for the rest of the cast, who continued the saga of "Mama's Family". The bittersweet ending of "Eunice" is a great finale for the title character and her family story. With the excellent supporting cast, it created one of the all time best TV "specials". Vicki Lawrence, Ken Berry, Harvey Korman and Betty White kept this simple minded family alive for years afterward, and with great success. This should be on DVD for all generations to appreciate. It's television at its best!

When this was shown in 1981 I taped it and watched it over and over again. (Too bad I used BETA tape!) It is such a poignant story of broken dreams. Eunice wanted to do so much, but life got in the way, then she looks back on all her missed opportunities.

It is sad, but could also be inspiring to others who have dreams they want to accomplish in life - to go for them before it's too late.

I'm not sure why this gem has been buried, but I'm glad I discovered it on YouTube.

It takes the form of four slices of Harper family life as we watch the familiar loser Eunice, and her successful brother Phillip, intersect at key points in their lives.

The humor is there, yes, but with a sharp, bitter edge that "The Carol Burnett Show" danced near but never on. "Eunice" slides down that edge and bleeds. The characters are larger than life, with Eunice far more of a bitter failure, and Phillip a far brighter star, than we'd see arising from one family. Still, the dynamics -- and the reality of how our choices make us who we are -- are painfully true to life.

The key interactions aren't between Mama and Eunice. They're between Eunice and Phillip. Carol Burnett brings a depth to the shallow Eunice I'd never seen before, especially in a quiet, dignified standoff with Harvey Korman's opportunistic Ed. Ken Berry's performance is amazing. He makes a sigh or a simple slump of the shoulders hold its own amid the overblown chaos around him. A lot of the credit for that must go to Harvey Korman as director, though, for allowing the camera to capture those small moments.

"Eunice" isn't one to just laugh at and move on. It's one to chew on. This might, really, be why it lay fallow. Nobody quite knew what to make of it, and thought it best, then, to just let it be.

The "family" skits from THE CAROL BURNETT SHOW morphed into this TV movie, which then became the series MAMA'S FAMILY.

Carol Burnett as Eunice is center stage in four episodes covering events from 1955 to 1978. As the unhappy daughter in a dysfunctional family, Burnett gets to veer from high comedy to pathos as he dreams and aspirations are constantly squashed by her domineering mother (Vicki Lawrence) and her doltish husband (Harvey Korman). She evens plays second fiddle to her more successful siblings (Betty White, Ken Berry).

As her brother goes off to New York and her sister marries a successful businessman, Eunice is stuck is a lousy marriage and has two hellions of sons. Her husband then runs off with another woman, leaving her with the kids and her job in a local dime store. She's also still under the thumb of mama.

Entire cast is good with Burnett and Lawrence as the standouts.

My mom always watched Carol Burnette when she was on Monday nights...I caught up with the Eunice/ Mama's family on Youtube.... The humor was sardonic but after a while, the bickering got to me. I realize it was supposed to be funny and maybe even taken from Carol Burnette's personal life, but it was like Archie Bunker..After a while, it got to you...I watched the Eunice movie through the three acts and then we came to the funeral...Of course. Even with their mother gone and buried, the two sisters were not able to reconcile their differences after so many years. Eunice even blames Philip for not doing enough to help her in her family situation. Then comes the scene where Eunice realizes that her mother is now gone and she has to go on living her own life. She breaks down in true agony and even Philip has to say "Your mother is gone now...she can no longer influence your life...You have to make it your own." Ken Barry's dramatic outburst even brings applause from the audience. But even then, you cant help feeling sorry for Eunice because she feels she has lost her dreams forever.... Carol Burnette shows her dramatic side in this episode, creating antipathy for the character. She also played the mother of a soldier killed in friendly fire who has to reconcile herself to the fact that he is gone and apparently no one is at fault. That last segment is so powerful that I cannot bear to watch it, and have often caught it off in mid scene.