Lucille Ball “Lucy Ricardo”
Say what you will about her parenting skills in real life, but Lucy was a great TV mom. She was living the first reality TV life at the time too, filming in front of a live audience, the show where she told Ricky she was pregnant was one of the highest rated in history. Lucy oozed love on Ricky (Desi Arnaz Jr.) when they were on screen together, and she managed to care for him while still surviving some mishap or executing a detailed plan.
Barbara Billingsly “June Cleaver”
Come on, it’s Beaver’s mom. How can June Cleaver not land on a list of great TV moms? June made the wait for a disciplinarian father easier for even a little kid. She was always excited about anything the boys did too. Though there is no smell-ivision, I’m quite sure June Cleaver always smelled like fresh flowers, or cookies.
Yvonne DeCarlo “Lily Munster”
Weird choice for a great moms list? Not really. Lily Munster was fully involved in her family’s lives and did not know any of them were weird. That was the cool part of the whole show. They thought other’s dressed oddly, but accepted everyone.
Michael Learned “Olivia Walton”
Times were hard on Walton Mountain. Even with a fairly successful family business, it was hard to support that many kids. We saw Olivia up at all hours sewing and cooking for the huge family, often with her mother. Even with all of those kids and other family members living in the house, Olivia remained the strong woman who gave a soft place for all of them to fall.
Karen Grassle “Carolyn Ingalls”
Another tough woman living in tough times, I admire Carolyn Ingalls’ quiet strength. She kept a clean home, even with a dirt floor, and taught their children strict rules for survival on the prairie. Carolyn had a quiet role most of the many seasons of “Little House on the Prairie,” but when she did speak it was always worth listening.
Phylicia Rashad “Claire Huxtable”
Who wouldn’t love to have Claire Huxtable as a mom. Inspiring, uplifting, encouraging, loving… there aren’t enough adjectives. Claire is the TV mom that you want to respect as a kid. As a viewer you even get a little mad at the kids if they disrespect her.
Roseanne “Roseanne”
Another weird choice, but let’s face it, Roseanne is probably more like most moms in the U.S. That’s not a bad thing. She brought her family through some very tough times including loss of a business, marital troubles, teen angst, and a host of other real issues. Through it all she stayed involved in all of their lives, often too much so, but it’s still nice to see involvement.
Debra Jo Rupp “Kitty Forman”
Kitty Forman is the complete cross of Roseanne and Claire Huxtable. She stayed as involved as she could in her kids’ lives, even if she’d all but given up on one. Kitty was the cool mom in the neighborhood growing up. She would talk to any of the kids and even took one in when he was abandoned. Kitty’s main purpose was to act as a buffer between her tough husband Red and their son Eric. So I guess you could throw in a little June Cleaver to describe Kitty Forman. I bet she smells like cookies too!
Patricia Richardson “Jill Taylor”
I admired Jill Taylor’s way of staying relatively calm while parts of her home or car were usually falling down around her. She managed to keep three rambunctious boys from getting too hurt… and picked up her husband Tim “The Tool Man” Taylor at the ER every time she was called to do so. What’s not to love?
Jane Kaczmarek “Lois”
Some may think the mess that was the family on Malcolm in the Middle was Lois’ controlling fault. I choose to believe she was playing the hand she was dealt. With four, and eventually five, devilishly bad behaved boys, Lois managed to drag them kicking and screaming through life with relatively few scars. Time and again Lois proved that no matter how awful they were, they were hers and she would fight like a momma bear to defend them.
Those are the first ten favorite TV mom characters I could think of that I enjoy watching. Do you agree, who are your favorite TV moms?
Copyright @ 2008 TV Review
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Kitty was pretty cool and about the right mix to be real.
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