In the ninth season of "The Carol Burnett Show", producer Joe Hamilton wanted to spin off Mama in her own series, but Lawrence turned him down. She did not wish to wear a fat suit portraying an old lady every week, and she had misgivings about playing the role without Harvey Korman (who played Mama's son-in-law, Ed Higgins) and Carol Burnett (who played Mama's daughter Eunice Higgins) regularly by her side as in "The Family" sketches. Burnett and Korman told Lawrence that they would only appear as guest stars on the new series, and that it was Lawrence's time to shine and take what she had learned from "The Carol Burnett Show" and make it on her own. Shortly after the highly-rated "Eunice" TV movie, with continued urging by Korman and Burnett, Lawrence finally changed her mind and accepted the offer for her character's own sitcom.