''Eunice'' is a 1982 American

made-for-television A television film, alternatively known as a television movie, made-for-TV film/movie or TV film/movie, is a feature-length film that is produced and originally distributed by or to a television network, in contrast to theatrical films made for ...

comedy-drama film Comedy drama, also known by the portmanteau ''dramedy'', is a genre of dramatic works that combines elements of comedy and drama. The modern, scripted-television examples tend to have more humorous bits than simple comic relief seen in a typical ...

starring

Carol Burnett Carol Creighton Burnett (born April 26, 1933) is an American actress, comedian, singer, and writer. Her groundbreaking comedy variety show ''The Carol Burnett Show'', which originally aired on CBS was one of the first of its kind to be hosted ...

Harvey Korman Harvey Herschel Korman (February 15, 1927May 29, 2008) was an American actor and comedian who performed in television and film productions. His big break was being a featured performer on CBS' ''The Danny Kaye Show'', but he is best remembered f ...

Vicki Lawrence Vicki Ann Lawrence ( Axelrad; born March 26, 1949), sometimes credited as Vicki Lawrence Schultz, is an American actress, comedian, and singer. She is best known for her character Mama (Thelma Harper). Lawrence originated multitudes of charact ...

Ken Berry Kenneth Ronald Berry (November 3, 1933 – December 1, 2018) was an American actor, dancer, and singer. Berry starred on the television series ''F Troop'', ''The Andy Griffith Show'', '' Mayberry R.F.D.'' and ''Mama's Family''. He also appe ...

and

Betty White Betty Marion White (January 17, 1922December 31, 2021) was an American actress and comedian. A pioneer of Golden Age of Television, early television, with a television career spanning almost seven decades, White was noted for her vast work i ...

which is based on characters of a recurring series of

comedy sketches Comedy is a genre of fiction that consists of discourses or works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium. The term origin ...

called " The Family" featured on ''

The Carol Burnett Show ''The Carol Burnett Show'' is an American variety/sketch comedy television show that originally ran on CBS from September 11, 1967, to March 29, 1978, for 279 episodes, and again with nine episodes in fall 1991. It starred Carol Burnett, Harvey ...

'' (1974–78) and ''

Carol Burnett & Company ''Carol Burnett & Company'' is an American four-episode summer variety/ sketch comedy television show starring Carol Burnett, Tim Conway, Vicki Lawrence, Kenneth Mars and Craig Richard Nelson. The series served as a continuation of ''The Carol Bur ...

'' (1979). The film was broadcast as a "

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...

Special Presentation" on March 15, 1982 and served as a precursor to the spin-off television

sitcom A sitcom, a portmanteau of situation comedy, or situational comedy, is a genre of comedy centered on a fixed set of characters who mostly carry over from episode to episode. Sitcoms can be contrasted with sketch comedy, where a troupe may use ne ...

Mama's Family ''Mama's Family'' is an American sitcom television series starring Vicki Lawrence as Thelma Harper, Mama (Thelma Harper). The series is a Spin-off (media), spin-off of a recurring series of sketch comedy, comedy sketches called "The Family (sketc ...

''.IMDB entry
/ref> It was directed by Roger Beatty and Harvey Korman.

Plot

''Eunice'' is divided into four acts, spanning 23 years in the life of

Eunice Harper Higgins Eunice Higgins ( née Harper) is the main character in " The Family" comedy sketches played by Carol Burnett and featured on ''The Carol Burnett Show'' (1974–78) and '' Carol Burnett & Company'' (1979). Eunice was also featured in her eponymous ...

: 1955: A young Eunice Harper is looking forward to going to a party with her date

Ed Higgins The following is a list of the characters appearing on the television show ''Mama's Family'' (1983–1990) and '' The Family'' (1974–1978) sketches on ''The Carol Burnett Show'' which preceded it. Thelma Harper (Mama) See Thelma Harper Eunice ...

. Eunice's brother

Phillip Philip, also Phillip, is a male given name, derived from the Greek (''Philippos'', lit. "horse-loving" or "fond of horses"), from a compound of (''philos'', "dear", "loved", "loving") and (''hippos'', "horse"). Prominent Philips who popularize ...

, a recent college graduate, comes home and announces that he has a chance to go to

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

in hopes of becoming a writer and must leave that day. In the meantime, their mother

Thelma Harper Thelma Mae Harper (nee Crowley), better known as Mama, is a fictional character played by American actress Vicki Lawrence. Mama is a purse-lipped, thickset senior citizen in her mid-to-late 60s. She has lived in an unspecified part of the Southern ...

is frantic about Phillip going so spontaneously and is trying to get her husband

Carl Carl may refer to: *Carl, Georgia, city in USA *Carl, West Virginia, an unincorporated community * Carl (name), includes info about the name, variations of the name, and a list of people with the name *Carl², a TV series * "Carl", an episode of te ...

out of the bathroom to stop their son from leaving. Ed and Eunice have a fight on the porch because Ed doesn't want to go to the party. Ed storms off, they break up, and Eunice goes to the party. 1963: Ed and Eunice are married and have two sons, Billy and

Bubba In American usage, "Bubba" is a term of endearment mainly given to boys. Being formed from the word "brother", it often indicates that someone is a "little brother". Etymology and history The linguist Ian Hancock has described similarities betw ...

. Ed and Eunice come to Thelma's house to see Phillip, who is visiting from New York. Phillip is now a bestselling author of a historical novel. He announces that a movie producer wants to make one of his books into a film. Carl died years earlier and Thelma wants to visit his grave. Eunice, who wants to be an actress, wants to leave with Phillip and be in the film. 1973: Ed and Eunice are divorced and Phillip, who has won the

Pulitzer Prize The Pulitzer Prize () is an award for achievements in newspaper, magazine, online journalism, literature, and musical composition within the United States. It was established in 1917 by provisions in the will of Joseph Pulitzer, who had made h ...

, is visiting again, this time from

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

. Although many of his books were made into movies, he decides this time to write the

screenplay ''ScreenPlay'' is a television drama anthology series broadcast on BBC2 between 9 July 1986 and 27 October 1993. Background After single-play anthology series went off the air, the BBC introduced several showcases for made-for-television, fe ...

for a new film. Eunice still wants a part in Phillip's film. At the same time, Bubba, who has been missing for almost a year, calls, and a frantic Eunice demands to know where he is. 1978: Eunice, Phillip, and their sister

Ellen Ellen is a female given name, a diminutive of Elizabeth, Eleanor, Elena and Helen. Ellen was the 609th most popular name in the U.S. and the 17th in Sweden in 2004. People named Ellen include: * Ellen Adarna (born 1988), Filipino actress * Elle ...

come home from Thelma's funeral. The three siblings are discussing Thelma's death, the funeral, and the future. Ed shows up to give his condolences, and seems to want to reconcile with Eunice, and after she agrees to give it a try, he mentions he had remarried; and it turns out he was really hoping to get Phillip to invest in his new hardware business. After Eunice throws Ed out, she gets into an argument with Ellen, who storms out. Eunice, in a frenzy, finally breaks down yelling out for Thelma. In Thelma's bedroom, Phillip tells Eunice that the only thing stopping her from the life she wants to live is herself. Phillip convinces Eunice to spontaneously come to Los Angeles with him. She decides to leave with Phillip and in her excitement, she calls her Aunt Ina to let her know what her plans are. Aunt Ina wants Eunice to help her with her sore back and it's implied that Eunice will never actually get to live the life she wants.

Cast

Eunice Eunice is a feminine given name, from the Greek Εὐνίκη, ''Euníkē'', from "eu", good, and "níkē", victory. Eunice is also a relatively rare last name, found in Nigeria and the Southeastern United States, chiefly Louisiana and Georgia. Pe ...

as Ed *

Mama Mama(s) or Mamma or Momma may refer to: Roles *Mother, a female parent * Mama-san, in Japan and East Asia, a woman in a position of authority *Mamas, a name for female associates of the Hells Angels Places *Mama, Russia, an urban-type settlement ...

Dick Clair Dick Clair (November 12, 1931 – December 12, 1988) was an American television producer, actor and television and film writer, best known for the television sitcoms ''It's a Living'', '' The Facts of Life'', and ''Mama's Family''. Early life ...

(voice only)

Reception

Lawrence was nominated for a

Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Miniseries or a Movie The Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie is an award presented annually by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (ATAS). It is given in honor of an actress who has delivered an outs ...

for her role as Thelma Harper.

Home media

''Eunice'' was released as a bonus feature on ''Mama's Family: The Complete Second Season''

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kind ...

set on September 10, 2013.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Eunice 1982 television films 1982 films 1982 comedy-drama films American comedy-drama films CBS network films Fictional families Films about dysfunctional families Films set in 1955 Films set in 1963 Films set in 1973 Films set in 1978 Film spin-offs Television series reunion films Warner Bros. films Carol Burnett American drama television films 1980s English-language films Films directed by Roger Beatty 1980s American films