THAT'S MY MAMA: CLIFTON'S PERSUASION (TV)
Summary
One in this comedy series about a barber in Washington D.C. and his highly opinionated mother.
Clifton has become lucky with his bets on horse races lately, and Earl points out that his luck extends to other areas, including dating Claudia, “the prettiest lady in Washington D.C..” He learns from Earl that there is a new minister in town, Reverend Armbruster, who seems to be having success in getting young people to go to church. Clifton insists that no one can make him go to church, but unbeknownst to him Reverend Armbruster is already at his house having tea with Mama, Tracy, and Leonard. He talks about his idea for “guest prayer,” involving bringing people from the community in to the church to lead some service functions, and Mama insists that Clifton would be perfect for such a thing. Clifton goes to tell his mother about his successful betting but encounters Reverend Armbruster instead. Mama tells Clifton that she volunteered him to read prayers that Sunday, although there is a pool tournament he hopes to attend that day. He tells Reverend Armbruster that he has to think about it. After Reverend Armbruster leaves they argue about the matter and Mama reveals that she knows Clifton’s true intentions. He tells her that he has given it much thought and believes he may be agnostic. Mama does not appreciate Clifton’s “weird” religious ideas and forces him to call the church and agree to the prayer reading. He resists and asserts that he will be at the pool hall instead.
Clifton’s luck seems to reverse after his fight with Mama, and Claudia leaves him for someone else. On Saturday night he has another argument with Mama about his agnosticism, and she no longer wishes to discuss it. Reverend Armbruster comes to visit and asks Clifton if he will lead prayers the following morning. He says no and Mama explains why. Reverend Armbruster assures her that everyone has doubts about the existence of God at some point, and tells Clifton that prayer is a means of reaffirming faith that doesn’t have a basis in logic or the empirical. Earl arrives, revealing that there is a large bet Clifton could take advantage of at the pool hall, but stops when he sees Reverend Armbruster. Ultimately Clifton decides to attend church, and feels spiritually enriched by the experience. Earl arrives and tells him that the police broke up a huge craps game at the pool hall, arresting virtually everyone there. Clifton is relieved and seems to think that divine intervention is the cause. Commercials deleted.
Details
- NETWORK: ABC
- DATE: November 30, 1999 8:00 PM
- RUNNING TIME: 0:22:29
- COLOR/B&W: Color
- CATALOG ID: 123028
- GENRE: Comedy
- SUBJECT HEADING: African-American Collection - Comedy; Comedy
- SERIES RUN: ABC - TV series, 1974-1975
- COMMERCIALS: N/A
CREDITS
- Allan Blye … Executive Producer, Theme Music by
- Chris Bearde … Executive Producer, Theme Music by
- Walter N. Bien … Producer
- Gene Farmer … Producer, Theme Music by
- Allan Baumrucker … Co-Producer
- Bob LaHendro … Director
- Dan T. Bradley … Created by
- Allan L. Rice … Created by
- Larry Siegel … Writer
- Jack Eskew … Music by
- Clifton Davis … Cast, Clifton Curtis
- Theresa Merritt … Cast, Eloise "Mama" Curtis
- Theodore Wilson … Cast, Earl Chambers
- Lynne Moody … Cast, Tracy
- Jester Hairston … Cast, Wildcat
- DeForest Covan … Cast, Josh
- Ted Lange … Cast, Junior
- Lisle Wilson … Cast, Theodore
- Tim Reid … Cast, Reverend Armbruster