Not every television series needs to rely on gritty realism in order to become successful, but everyone can agree that the best kind of comedy has a bit of reality mixed in with it. Scenarios are that much funnier if viewers can picture themselves in them if they see themselves in the characters who are making them laugh on screen.

Although Mama's Family began as a farcical sketch on The Carol Burnett Show, by the time it became a real television series, it had adopted the all too common dynamic present in the family sitcom.

Rick Hawkins, who worked as a writer and producer for Mama's Family, said during an interview that much of the show's more comedic moments relied on the familial relationships between characters.

"The humor comes from real life...interfamily conflicts," said Hawkins during an interview with The Times.

Mama's Family wasn't just there to make audiences laugh; it was there to remind them of the zany aspects of their own family. It was there to break away from the traditional perfection that so many sitcoms had fallen victim to before.

"In so many sitcoms., the ladies look beautiful and say wonderful jokes but they never pick up their houses," said Hawkins. "We have a messy house, and they have to clean it up. Mama is a woman who runs a household. She cooks and sews. That is incorporated into the scripts."

Hawkins, a Shreveport, Louisiana native, injected plenty of his writing on Mama's Family with memories of his hometown, as well as his own experiences while growing up.

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"A lot of it has to do with people I know and love in Shreveport," said Hawkins. "It's like turning back the hands of time. Sometimes I think, 'What would my mother say or my aunt say in this situation?'"

Watch Mama's Family on MeTV!

Sundays at 4 & 4:30 PM

*available in most MeTV markets

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