Eunice

Like another poster here, I caught up with this on YouTube and I am very glad I did.

I loved these characters on the Carol Burnett Show. Here they are presented warts and all from the very beginning to the haunting end, and it may be too much for some viewers.

Eunice is the quintessential perfect teleplay.

Not enough can be said about this brilliant cast. Burnett is heart-breaking, Lawrence at times rivals the most fearsome of movie monsters, Korman and Berry have never been better, and the peerless Betty White will chill you to the bone. If you thought Sue Ann Nivens was acidic, wait till you see Betty devour her last scene with vampiric relish.

True, some of the one liners in this you may recall from the classic Family sketches, but this is not a distraction and actually benefits the project, filling in blanks a 20-minute sketch could never achieve.

All of the cast deserved Emmy recognition, but only Lawrence got one (and it is well deserved). It's kind of amazing to me that Burnett was overlooked for this. It is a career-best performance.

Eunice is unique. It definitely is funny, but tha last half hour is often chilling.

Recommended, highly.

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.

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.

I have been trying to prove for YEARS that there was a live teleplay called Eunice, based on the Momma's Family characters from the Carol Burnett show. I've searched imdb many times before to no avail. Although I was only 10 or 11 when it was aired, being rather sophisticated for my age, I remember the special as being rather bittersweet. And with the genius ensemble of Carol Burnett, Vicki Lawrence, Harvey Korman, and Betty White, no less than comic magic can be expected. As the user before me, I hope this gem will soon be available on video.

Carol Burnett was at her best in playing Eunice Harper Higgins on her variety show. The Family were always a favorite sketches except in spoofing movies or television. When her variety ended, Eunice never really was finished by Carol Burnett. She had such affection for Eunice. This eighty minute movie is available on the second season of Mama's Family on DVD. Carol returns with Harvey Korman as Ed Higgins. Ken Berry played Phillip (not Vinton) and Betty White as Ellen, her snobby sister. Vicki Lawrence returns as Mama. The movie is like a taped play with the same set starting in 1955 and ending in 1978. Eunice isn't some caricature but played like a human being. Carol played her perfectly. The entire cast was first rate.