Mama (television)

Mama was a weekly television program which ran on CBS from July 1 1949 - March 17 1957. The program (based on the 1948 film I Remember Mama) tells the ongoing story of a loving Norwegian family living in San Francisco in the 1910s. The story is told through the eyes of the older daughter, Katrin Hansen, and each episode was framed by Katrin looking through the pages of the family album and remembering.

Related Topics:
CBS - July 1 - 1949 - March 17 - 1957 - I Remember Mama - San Francisco - 1910s

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Mama broadcast live on Fridays from 8:00pm - 8:30pm, starring Rosemary Rice as Katrin, veteran stage actor Peggy Wood as "Mama" (Marta Hansen), Judson Laire as Papa Lars Hansen, Dick Van Patten as the older brother Nels Hansen, and—from 1950-1956—Robin Morgan (then a child star; later to become a radical feminist activist and poet) as the younger sister Dagmar Hansen. (Iris Mann briefly played the role in 1949 and Toni Campbell briefly took it up from 1956-1957.) Also featured were Ruth Gates as Aunt Jenny, Carl Frank as Uncle Gunnar Gunnerson, Alice Frost as Aunt Trina Gunnerson, Malcolm Keen (from 1949 to 1951) and Roland Winters (from 1951 to 1952) as Uncle Chris, Kevin Coughlin as T. R. Ryan, and Patty McCormick (from 1953 to 1956) as Ingeborg.

Related Topics:
Rosemary Rice - Peggy Wood - Judson Laire - Dick Van Patten - 1950 - 1956 - Robin Morgan - Iris Mann - 1949 - Toni Campbell - 1957 - Ruth Gates - Carl Frank - Alice Frost - Malcolm Keen - Roland Winters - Kevin Coughlin

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The stories typically revolved around family episodes (such as Dagmar's braces, or Nels starting a business, or the children buying presents for Mama's birthday), and eventually drew each of the family members into the resolution of the drama.

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Mama was produced and directed first by Ralph Nelson and then by Carol Irwin.

Related Topics:
Ralph Nelson - Carol Irwin

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In 1956 CBS cancelled Mama, but support from the public brought the show back for a 13 week run from December 1956 to March 1957.

Related Topics:
1956 - December 1956 - March 1957

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Except for this final half-season, when it was filmed, Mama was telecast live, with only kinescope recordings for West Coast broadcasts. No recordings of the episodes, except for the final 13 episodes, survive.

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