It’s Mother’s Day today (Sunday, May 10) across the United States. Notably, moms are also being celebrated in the likes of Canada, Mexico, Australia, El Salvador, and Guatemala. So, first of all, Happy Mother’s Day to all the moms out there.
Now, on to the topic at hand.
Television has been home to some of the most wonderful mothers in fiction. From perfect housewives and fiercely protective warriors, to messy, complex, working, single moms, and even some animated icons.
In this piece, we’ll be celebrating who we believe are the top five TV moms of all time.
Note, it’s all a matter of opinion, so feel free to give us your top five moms in the comments section.
Joyce Byers (Stranger Things)
Our modern television representative comes in the form of Joyce Byers, played by the brilliant Winona Ryder in Netflix’s mystery sci-fi horror series “Stranger Things.”
The single mother of Will and Jonathan Byers, Joyce is far from perfect. However, she’s one of the most fiercely devoted mothers in television history, and her flaws make her feel more real rather than undermining her.
She provides unconditional love and protectiveness. When the situation requires it, she’s the quintessential “warrior mom” who would do anything for her kids. She’s always emotionally available and, as “Stranger Things” progresses, she grows from a stressed and somewhat frazzled woman barely keeping things together, to someone willing to take on government conspiracies and monsters from alternate dimensions.
Joyce Summers (Buffy the Vampire Slayer)
Played by Kristine Sutherland, Joyce Summers from the supernatural horror drama series “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” is next on our list.
The devoted single mother of the eponymous Buffy Summers and her younger sister Dawn, Joyce is fiercely protective of them both â even though the former quite literally possesses superpowers.
Sure, she has her flaws, but in a show full of absent or oblivious parents, Joyce is consistently present. She moves Buffy to Sunnydale to give her the opportunity to start afresh after her troubles in Los Angeles. When her daughter’s powers are inadvertently revealed to her, she struggles to believe it, but ultimately accepts it. When she discovers Dawn isn’t her real daughter (and was implanted in her life magically), nothing changes for her. She continues to love her unconditionally.
Joyce’s death, in the iconic season five episode “The Body,” was undoubtedly the show’s saddest moment.
Roseanne Conner (Roseanne)
Roseanne Barr played our next mother of choice. Roseanne Conner is the eponymous character in the iconic sitcom “Roseanne.”
The wife of John Goodman’s Dan Conner, she is the mother of four children; Rebecca “Becky” Conner-Healy, Darlene Conner-Olinsky, David Jacob “DJ” Conner, and Jerry Garcia Conner.
Roseanne is the typical working-class hero. She’s undoubtedly and shamelessly flawed, loud, and sarcastic, but she’s extremely authentic. The character made blue-collar motherhood funny, messy, and relatable in a way few shows have matched. She’s unwaveringly loving and fiercely loyal, possessing that protective “mother bear” energy. Her life felt like that of a real family.
Despite Barr’s firing from the revived “Roseanne” for controversial reasons, which resulted in her absence from “The Conners,” it was sad to find out the character had died.
Marge Simpson (The Simpsons)
Our only animated choice, Marge Simpson has been voiced by the talented Julie Kavner for nearly 40 years on the animated sitcom “The Simpsons.”
Best described as “a blue-haired chaos wrangler,” Marge is the mother of the troublesome Bart Simpson, Lisa Simpson, and Maggie Simpson. Given her husband’s reliance on her for pretty much every aspect of life, she acts as a kind of mother figure to Homer Simpson, too.
Marge is enduring, loving, moral, and superhumanly patient. She’s the heart of “The Simpsons” (family and show) â and a low-key badass who’s dealt with her family’s disasters for longer than most people could cope. She really is the ultimate “I love you anyway” mom.
Clair Huxtable (The Cosby Show)
The gold standard of TV mothers simply has to be Phylicia Rashad’s Clair Huxtable from the hit sitcom “The Cosby Show.”
The wife of Bill Cosby’s Cliff Huxtable, she’s the mother of their five children; Sondra Huxtable, Denise Huxtable, Theodore Huxtable, Vanessa Huxtable, and Rudy Huxtable.
A lawyer, Clair is successful, smart, witty, no-nonsense, and effortlessly cool. While dealing with her husband’s constant silliness, she raised a quintet of very different kids with strength, warmth, intelligence, and humor â all while holding down a highly demanding job. She had the uncanny ability to shut down nonsense with a single raised eyebrow.
Honorable mentions go to the likes of Olivia Walton (The Waltons), Peggy Hill (King of the Hill), Carol Brady (The Brady Bunch), Lucille Bluth (Arrested Development), Lorelai Gilmore (Gilmore Girls), Edith Bunker (All in the Family), June Cleaver (Leave It to Beaver), Debra Barone (Everybody Loves Raymond), and Sarah Connor (Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles).
Again, if you’re a mom, we’d like to wish you the happiest of Mother’s Days today.
Who are your top five TV moms?
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