Wood and Walters a later Wood creation 'Kitty' (as played by Patricia Routledge). Rik Mayall also appeared in a one-off monologue as a chauvinistic feminist called Mitch, filling a similar guest slot as he had with Kevin Turvey in the sketch show "A Kick Up the Eighties". Another alternative comedy innovator to appear on the show was John Dowie, who had already toured with Wood in 1978. Wood's view of the series was "Some bits of it were good, some deadly". Around this time, Wood made a weekly musical appearance in the BBC Radio 2 show "The Little and Large Party", narrated an
The Family (sketch) referred to her as "Thelma"), and Harvey Korman as Ed Higgins. In "The Family" sketches, Mama has five children (in the subsequent series, she has only three): in addition to Ellen Harper (played by Betty White) and Eunice, there were three sons: Larry Harper (Alan Alda), Phillip Harper (Roddy McDowall), and Jack Harper (Tommy Smothers). All three were replaced by Vinton Harper, played by Ken Berry, in the spin-off television series. Berry played Phillip in the made-for-TV movie, "Eunice" (precursor to "Mama's Family"). Tim Conway played recurring character Mickey Hart, Ed's employee. "The Family" sketch was created and written by