The four being Buzz, Sonia, Bubba, and Tiffany (Vint and Naomi's baby).
In the "Family" sketches, Eunice and Ed had a second son named Billy Joe. And Ellen had two daughters. Were Ellen's daughters and Billy Joe ever mentioned in Mama's Family?
I think Ellen still had at least ONE child, if not 2. B/c in the episode Grave Mistake, Ellen had taken her phone off the hook so Mama couldn't call and ask her to take her to the cemetery, and later they ask Ellen to stay for diner and Ellen says, "Well ok, I can just call THEM and tell THEM I'm going to be a little late, Oh! I can't! My phone's still off the hook!" So by her saying THEM, that would imply more than one person at her house.
shareDuring Bubba's home movie episode, Thelma makes a comment about her children "and all their children...," which says to me that all of her previously established grandkids (Buzz, Sonja, Billy Joe, Ellen's daughters) remain in existence. This was before Tiffany was even conceived. To let other people tell it, Bubba would have been her lone grandchild at that point - but that remark gives credence to that not being true.
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Bubba said that a year from Naomi's announcement that he would have a new cousin. He didn't imply that it would be his first. And in the same episode, Mama made a comment about how nothing could stop the Harpers from multiplying -- which implies that they come from a large family, with a number of children and grandchildren.
Thelma mentioned having four kids very early in the series, while the show was still ironing itself out. Her number of children was quickly and matter-of-factly revised to three...and furthermore reaffirmed multiple times throughout the rest of the series, through flashbacks and pointed dialogue. Never again was she said to have had four. That's not at all the same as her acknowledging that her kids had kids. In that instance, she *confirms* having more grandchildren than Bubba (and later Tiffany) and never was that assertion ever revised or contradicted. What her statement did (for the second time - after the day of Fran's funeral) was reaffirm the existence of Buzz and Sonja, while also giving real credence to her other previously mentioned grandkids (Bubba's brother and Ellen's children) possibly remaining part of the family tree, even if they aren't there to be seen or ever mentioned by name.
Look, Vint was never said to have had no children during the syndicated seasons. Just like Eunice and Ellen never said during the NBC seasons that they were childless. These things just weren't talked about, but lack of mentioning or acknowledgment doesn't automatically erase it.
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This is why I was asking if Bubba existed in the NBC episodes.
I think Ellen still had her children in the NBC episodes b/c she mentioned calling her family on the phone to tell them she'd be a little late and she said, "I can call THEM" implying likely there are more ppl at her home than just Bruce...UNLESS Bruce prefers to go by They/Them pronouns, which I'm doubting.
But I think it could go either way really, but for the ppl who don't think Buzz and Sonya existed or Billy Joel, I don't think there's ever any convincing.... Even if Mama, in a syndicated episodes stated, "Boy I sure do miss Billy Joel, Buzz, Sonya, and Mary Beth.... I sure wish they'd come and visit!" People would still dismiss her saying that and be like, "Well that was just ONE episode that Mama said that in, and you can't put too much stock in what Mama says, etc......"
Also the reason Mama mentioned having 4 kids once was b/c they were planning on bringing Phillip's character back but decided not to, b/c they already had so many characters. Many ppl think also maybe the 4th child was Iola, since she was established to have been there a lot as a child.
I think there is a few references in the syndicated episodes that imply ALL the characters still existed.... They just weren't mentioned nor dwelled upon b/c they were not part of the new format of the show.
That is generally the way sitcoms go, characters that leave the show are rarely talked about.. Just like on the show Alice, when Flo's character left, Flo was NEVER mentioned again, and she was a HUGE part of that show...but I don't think she stopped literally existing.
And of course Bubba was excited about Tiffany being born, having a NEW BABY cousin, is different from having older cousins that have kinda "gotten old".
The only existence I might question is Billy Joel... B/c he was younger than Bubba, and the way Eunice talked in a phone conversation with Mama in a syndicated episode is, she and Ed lived in a TINY one room studio apartment with barely enough room for them...so where would Billy have been staying at that time?
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