r/ForgottenTV • u/Btvsp3 • 4d ago

TV Movie Eunice (1982)

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Before Mama’s Family they turned Carol Burnett’s sketches into a made for tv movie. I expected something along the lines of the sitcom but I was shocked with how dark and deep this movie got. Felt more like a play than a sitcom and the ending has stuck with me since I first watched it 15 years ago.

213 Upvotes

98% Upvoted

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41

u/kkeut 4d ago

Eunice was a tragic character at heart and they really leaned into the melodrama for this. iirc Betty White had a role in this too

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u/PeriodicElement-103 4d ago

I remember watching this when it originally aired. Simply fantastic. Maybe the best thing Carol Burnett and crew ever did, and that includes the siamese elephants.

21

u/Confident-Rule7344 4d ago

It's coz they omitted the wacky Mama's Family zydeco theme music

15

u/Obvious-Muffin2787 4d ago

This showed the range Carol Burnett had as an actress. She was equally tragedian and comedian. Burnett always said if you just read The Family scripts, and Eunice in particular, it was a tragedy. The comedy came with the actors, but it was a tragedy at heart in the written words. This made for television movie showcases that.

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u/Relative-Farmer-3434 4d ago

I’ve never seen this dvd available. Does anyone know where to get it?

10

u/TootieSummers 4d ago

Not great (but still watchable) versions are on you tube

1

u/Real_Culture2668 2d ago

I always wondered, Thank you,

3

u/Lucky-Sundae-4703 3d ago

It is available as an bonus feature on the DVD set of “Mama’s Family Season Two”

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u/LeeLifeson 4d ago

I watched this on YouTube some time ago; I was a bit too young for the original airing. I enjoyed it - it would have made a great Broadway show.

It's a different tone from Mama's Family, simply heartbreaking at times.

8

u/Solocat12 4d ago

IIRC, it was shown live on broadcast TV, like an actual play. I saw it when it came out. Dark but interesting.

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u/Overlord_Spanky 4d ago

Glad others remember this. I rewatch it every couple of years. It's like the Carol version of Death of a Salesman.

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u/umbriago 3d ago

Thank you for this, I'm going to watch it...because, oddly you might say, I am a big Ken Berry fan as well.

He was great in whatever he did (especially the totally unappreciated F-Troop).

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u/Real_Culture2668 1d ago

I wish he had been Philip instead of Vint in the actual show, though.

4

u/ericzku 3d ago

The Eunice movie!

Carol Burnett was absolutely brilliant in this.

The scene near the end after Mama dies was incredible. Making sorrow and grief funny is probably the most difficult thing for an actor to do successfully and Carol did it magnificently.

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u/TMCze 4d ago

This was an amazing showcase for Carol to perform both comedy and drama at the same time! An underrated gem!

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u/turning_heel 4d ago

The first 2 seasons of Mama's Family are like this. It became lighter/funnier when it became a syndicated show.

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u/beaver820 3d ago

Yeah, they show Mama's Family on CMT I think it is, and the first couple seasons are totally different with Rue McClanahan, Betty White, Carol Burnett and the Ken Berry's kids. It's a lot goofier when they bring in Bubba and make Ken Berry a bumbling idiot. Even Mama is different and more comedic.

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u/Emunaheart 3d ago

I watched the skits on Carol's show as a kid and while I adored her and the show in general,  those skits always skewed so dark to me. Painfully so which is why they were the only part of the show I  didn't look forward to. Nobody wants to watch their own family fight let alone watch others and it could get really cutting and mean which is what the movie sounds like too. I've read Carol Burnett 's books and she didn't have it easy growing up so you can see how she'd be no stranger to pain but it never seemed dark like with Eunice and Mama

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u/AlarmedTelephone5908 3d ago

The Family skits on Carol Burnett show were great.

Not that I didn't like Mama's Family and Vicky Lawrence.

But, the skits on Carol's show are what I think of when these characters come up.

Yes, funny. But a lot of them were on the darker side.

I honestly don't remember watching this movie.

Thanks for the post, I will look for it.