Mama Malone

Mama Malone is an American sitcom that aired on CBS from March 7 to July 21, 1984. It was created by playwright Terrence McNally,^[1] featured a theme song by Kander and Ebb,^[2] and starred Lila Kaye in the title role as a New Yorker with a cooking show.^[3]

The series' main character was Renate Malone (surname rhymed with "baloney"), an Italian-American widow of an Irish-American policeman, thus the unusual pronunciation of her married name. She was the hostess of a home cooking show called Cooking with Mama Malone that was telecast live from her fourth-floor apartment in a Brooklyn tenement. Each episode began with her instructing her viewers on a recipe that was never completed because a parade of family members, friends, and acquaintances kept popping in to interrupt her and eat up the show's running time. Family problems, moral and social issues were discussed, and each episode played out in real-time.

Terrence McNally knew that there was money in television and aspired to give up life as a playwright and have a cushy life as a TV writer in Malibu.^[4] There was snobbery in theatre groups over TV writers, so McNally hitched his star to the wagon of Norman Lear, who was an uncredited producer^[4] and assembled a crew of veterans of All in the Family, including Paul Bogart, who directed all 13 episodes. Not knowing how television worked, McNally initially insisted on writing all of scripts himself,^[4] but he ultimately penned seven of the teleplays, with the others knocked out by established TV writers, as well as fellow playwright Leonard Melfi.

Although the series is uncannily reminiscent of another ethnically based radio/TV series, The Goldbergs, McNally claimed that he was inspired by TV's French Chef, Julia Child.^[5]

Initially, the show was slated to premiere in the fall of 1982,^[6][7][8] but it was dropped from the schedule to make a slot for Filthy Rich,^[9] which was an unexpected hit when its pilot episodes were burned off that summer.^[10] It was rescheduled four times over the next year-and-a-half,^[11] before ultimately debuting in the spring of 1984, two years after the pilot was produced.^[12] By the time it premiered in the USA, it had already concluded its run in 17 other countries.^[12] CBS paid to keep the cast under contract,^[13] and there were concerns that Frankie would jump from age 12 to 14 if they show returned that fall,^[12] but these proved to be unwarranted since the show debuted near the bottom of the Nielsen ratings and remained there for the entirety of its run. The series originally aired between One Day at a Time, which was wrapping up its nine-season run, and the CBS Wednesday Night Movie. After six episodes were broadcast, it was officially canceled. Additional episodes and a few reruns were broadcast that summer on Saturday nights.

• Lila Kaye as 'Mama' Renate Malone - The widow of an alcoholic policeman and the child of Italian immigrants, Renate is referred to as 'Mama' by most everyone (except her priest, who calls her 'The Godmother'). She can be brash (frequently asking, "Who else is gonna tell you these things?"), but she's the glue that holds her community together, and her loving nature tends to win everyone over. She has a bizarre obsession with actor James Garner.
• Randee Heller as Connie Malone Karamkopoulos - Mama's headstrong daughter, who works at Paulo's Pizza Patio. She was briefly married a Greek man, but she left him when she discovered he was cheating on her. Has a crush on Father Jose.
• Evan Richards as Frankie Karamkopoulos - Connie's 12-year-old son.
• Don Amendolia as Dino Forresti - Mama's brother, a lounge singer who likes to create the illusion that he's more famous than he actually is. He drives an ostentatious car with a horn that plays the theme from The Godfather, has a mirrored ceiling in his apartment, and wears a toupee to disguise his bald head. He frequently stares into the camera and exclaims, "I didn't know that! Did you know that?"
• Sam Anderson as Stanley - The show's announcer, who has a master's degree in drama from Yale and feels his talents are being wasted.
• Raymond Singer as Austin - The show's director, who tries in vain to ensure Mama Malone completes a recipe.
• Pendleton Brown as Ken - The show's associate director.
• Joey Jupiter-Levin as Jackie - The show's production assistant.

• Ralph Manza as Padre Guardiano - The senile priest has so much difficulty climbing the stairs to Mama's apartment that he's too winded to communicate.
• Richard Yniguez as Father Jose Silva - The hip new Puerto Rican priest is the opposite of the decrepit padre; he insists on being called Jose rather than Father, wears short-shorts to play basketball with the local youth, and even sports a T-shirt with the poster art from The Exorcist.
• Alice Ghostley as Nedda Cavalli - Mama Malone's gloomy best friend, although the two have a catty love/hate relationship with one another.
• Paul Benedict as Calvin Klinger - The building's newest resident, who's initially repulsed by Mama Malone's media circus, although he's ultimately seduced by her charms.

Note: Manza and Yniguez both received star billing, but they only appeared in a handful of episodes.

Note: The rating presented here comes from the TV ratings guide website and may not be completely accurate.

Reviews were mixed. Both McNally and producer Richard Lewis claimed that the early notices were glowing,^[5] with Lewis claiming that CBS president Harvey Shephard was so impressed that he showed it at his class reunion, and that a Hong Kong critic wrote that he felt "happily compelled to stand up and salute" the show.^[26] However, it was speculated that it sat on the shelf so long due to a poor critical reaction,^[27] and one viewer at an ad-buyer's convention was quotes as saying, "It doesn't belong on the air."^[28] Critic William Beamon wrote, "I didn't like Mama Malone way back when it was supposed to join the network's schedule during the 1982 fall season. Nearly a year and a half later, I still don't."^[29]

On the flipside, The New York Times' John J. O'Connor gave it a favorable review, stating, "Miss Kaye is a marvel." Associated Press critic Fred Rothenberg remarked that it's "not an especially funny sitcom, but it is worth a look anyway because of its innovative format, family warmth (though exaggerated), and the dynamic performance of its star."^[30]

• Mama Malone at IMDb