During the 1980–81 season of "Dallas", Francis had a recurring role as Arliss Cooper, the mother of Mitch and Afton Cooper. In 1982 she played the armored car robbing mother in 'In the Best of Families' episode. of CHIP's. She later played "Mama Jo" in the first few episodes of the 1984 TV-detective series "Riptide". In that same year, she guest-starred in the premiere episode of "Murder, She Wrote", credited as Anne Lloyd Francis; she went on to guest-star in two more episodes during the show's run. In December of 1984 and again credited as Anne Lloyd Francis, she guest-starred in a Christmas-themed episode of "The Love Boat" playing the mother of Kim Lankford's character, 'Carol' in the storyline, "Noel's Christmas Carol." She appeared on episodes of "Matlock" and "The Golden Girls".