"Burstyn plays Ellen Brewer - the head of a multi-generational household. Brewer is an iconclastic writer-in-residence at a Baltimore college. She holds seminars in the brownstone she shares with a hyperactive mother, 25-year-old daughter (MEGAN MULLALLEY) and 5-year-old grandson (JESSE TANDLER)."
brief taken from a news clipping
THE ELLEN BURSTYN SHOW: ABC Weekly Situation Comedy. Produced by Ron Frasier for Walt Disney.
This series premiered September 20, 1986.

Text from the TV Guide:
It's hard to win a battle of wits with Ellen Brewer (Ellen Burstyn), who's not only a writer but a college professor. Her mother, Sydney (Elaine Strich), lives with her, as well as her daughter Molly (Megan Mullally) and 5-year-old grandson, Nick (Jesse Tendler).
Here's an example: Ellen teaches a writing seminar in her home. When a student fails to hand in his paper, Ellen tells him to write it today -- before he leaves the house.
Tom: "You're kidding."
Ellen: "You'll laugh when I'm kidding."
Later, when daughter Molly says, "Mom, it's the Eighties, you can't trust a man who doesn't lie a little," Ellen's right there with the retort: "I remember the days when you wouldn't lie with a man you didn't trust a little."
Wow - Ellen's awful fast with those flip quips.
But wait: here comes mother Sydney, interrupting Ellen's seminar.
Ellen is furious" "I'm trying to teach class here!"
Sydney: "Class is not something you teach. You either have it or you don't."

BILLY PLAYED A STUDENT WHO WAS TOO SHY TO READ SO HAD TO WEAR A BAG OVER HIS HEAD.
** Mega Mullalley who played daughter Molly when on the tv comedy and won an Emmy for her supporting role as Carol in "Will and Grace".