My Favorite TV Moms

Ah, I didn't see that countdown.

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I have definitely added Allison Janney to my list of actors who are always watchable, rarely make a wrong move onscreen, and just does no wrong...she has entered Stockard Channing territory for me.

25.
Helen Seinfeld, Seinfeld



Liz Sheridan was wonderful as Jerry's doting Mom, who thought the sun rose and set on her son. Like Paul Buchman's mom on Mad About You, Helen pretty much only heard what she wanted to hear and don't even THINK about implying that someone doesn't like Jerry.

24.
Jackie Florrick, The Good Wife



Actress Mary Beth Piel created a character who you giggle at one minute and want to strangle the next. Jackie is the mother of Peter Florrick (Chris Noth), now the Governor of Illinois and mother-in-law of Alicia (Julianna Margulies) who, like most TV moms, thinks the sun rises and sets on her son, despite Peter's checkered past and resented Alicia's initial distancing of herself from Peter after learning that he had been sleeping with prostitutes for years. Jackie has not been above using her son's political clout to further her own agenda and once used her grandchildren's trust funds to purchase a house that Alicia wanted to buy for her and her children. And it goes without saying that Jackie and Alicia's mother (Stockard Channing) aren't exactly BFF's either.

23.
Nora Walker, Brothers and Sisters



Oscar and Emmy winner Sally Field returned to television playing this warm and vulnerable matriarch. Nora Walker was the widowed mother of four grown children who is trying to be there for her children while adjusting to the revelation that her husband was not the man she thought he was, evidenced in the appearance of her husband's long-time mistress (Patrica Wettig) and her daughter (Emily Van Camp). If Nora had one fault, it would be that she consistently put her own life and happiness on the back burner if her kids needed her, she was even there for her brother, Saul (Ron Rifkin), when he came out of the closet.

I used to love Brothers & Sisters.

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5-time MoFo Award winner.

22.
Nancy Weston, Thirtysomething



Patricia Wettig won three Emmys for her work as Nancy Weston, a loving wife and mother of two who had to deal with a philandering husband (Timothy Busfield), her children, and cancer at the same time.

21.
Phyllis Lindstrom, The Mary Tyler Moore Show



Oscar and Emmy winner Cloris Leachman created a deliciously unique TV mom in Phyllis Lindstrom. Phyllis was flighty and self-absorbed and married to a dermatologist named Lars (who we never saw), but the funniest part of Phyllis' character was her relationship with her daughter, Bess (Lisa Gerritsen). Like a lot of previously mentioned TV moms, it was very important to Phyllis to be Bess' friend than to be her mother, but unfortunately Phyllis let it get way out of hand...she insisted that Bess refer to her as Phyllis instead of Mom and pretty much let the little girl do whatever she wanted. Phyllis took all her parenting techniques from self-help books and clearly was getting no help from Lars. In one episode, Bess threw a temper tantrum about wanting to stay with Mary instead of going home and Phyllis insisted that Mary keep Bess because that's what Bess wanted. Phyllis was not TV's greatest mom, but few women worked as sincerely at it as Phyllis did and made us laugh while she did it.

20.
Evelyn Harper, Two and a Half Men



Holland Taylor was nothing short of brilliant as the self-centered and sexually uninhibited mother of Charlie and Alan Harper (Charlie Sheen, Jon Cryer) who unlike a lot of TV moms, NEVER put the needs of her sons over her own. Evelyn spoke without filter and had no problem reminding Charlie what a man whore he was (pot calling the kettle so to speak) and Alan what a spineless loser he is. Evelyn was also convinced that her grandson Jake (Angus T. Jones) was borderline retarded. Evelyn seemed financially secure due to her work as a Malibu real estate agent and some most likely large settlements from a barrage of ex-husbands. Taylor created one of television's most memorable moms who stole every scene she was in and how this actress never won an Emmy for her work here is a mystery to me.

19.
Abby Bradford, Eight is Enough



Betty Buckley was lovely as the stepmother of the century. After the death of his wife Joan (Diana Hyland, who had passed away IRL), Tom Bradford (Dick Van Patten) began seeing a teacher named Abby and their relationship eventually blossomed into a marriage that automatically made Abby stepmother to EIGHT children. Becoming an instant stepmother to one child is daunting enough, but Abby got eight, which is worthy of her being mentioned here. Handling the off screen death of a cast member had rarely been dealt with in such a classy manor

18.
Lynette Scavo, Desperate Housewives



Felicity Huffman won an Emmy for her work as the complex, humorous and fascinating Lynette...Lynette was a former advertising executive who gave it up for marriage and children but now struggling with keeping her head above water with troublesome husband Tom (Doug Savant) and five children, Lynette was eager to get back in the rat race and at one point, Tom even agreed to stay home and be Mr. Mom so Lynette could go back to work. Don't get me wrong, Lynette loved her kids but found child rearing overwhelming sometimes and often looked for shortcuts to help her. At a time when she was unraveling, a business owner (Jason Gedrick) was attracted to her, but Lynette never broke her marriage vows...an amazing, funny, touching, and completely unpredictable character...and a great mom.

17.
Livia Soprano, The Sopranos



Nancy Marchand vividly brought to life one of television's most manipulative mothers...and she did a lot of it without ever getting out of her sickbed.

16.
Endora, Bewitched



After decades as one of Hollywood's most dependable character actresses who received two Oscar nominations, Agnes Moorhead reinvented herself and created a whole new fan base for herself when she accepted the role of Endora, Samantha's powerful and controlling mother on Bewitched. Moorhead only agreed to do the role because she didn't think the show would run more than a single season. Moorhead spent the next eight years playing an extremely powerful witch who refuses to accept the fact that her daughter Samantha (Elizabeth Montgomery) has married a mortal named Darrin Stephens (Dick York, Dick Sargent) and has chosen to live her life as a mortal. Moorhead's resentment of Darriin manifested in her always referring to the man as "Derwood" and putting spells on him turning him into all sorts of animals, vegetables, and minerals. Ironically, one of Endora's funniest episodes had Endora losing her powers after contact with a Masadonian dodo bird, and has to humble herself with Darrin in order to get him to wait on her hand and foot because Endora finds herself completely helpless without her witchcraft. This was probably the definitive Mother-in-law from Hell.

15.
Nana Mary, Roseanne



Two time Oscar winner Shelley Winters was hysterical as the grandmother of Roseanne and mother of Beverly (Estelle Parsons). Mary was nothing like her daughter...she liked to drink Bloody Marys and call into talk radio shows. She was the only person who could put Beverly in her place and loved messing with Beverly's mind. She spent one episode pretending to be senile just to piss Beverly off. Unlike Beverly, the Conners were crazy about Nana Mary and asked her to move in with them, but she refused.

14.
Alexis Carrington, Dynasty



She was an unscrupulous businesswoman and made life a living hell for ex-husband Blake (John Forsythe) and his current wife, Krystle (Linda Evans), but one constant about Alexis is that she loved her children Adam (Gordon Thomson), Fallon (Pamela Sue Martin, Emma Samms), Steven (Al Corley, Jack Coleman), and Amanda (Catherine Oxenburg, Karen Cellini), even though she sometimes had a funny way of showing it. Almost all of television's greatest villains had unconditional love for their children and Alexis was no exception.

TBF, maybe she had a funny way of showing it because her children would change. Poor woman must've been forever fretting that the next time they came through the door they'd be someone else.

13.
Julia Baker, Julia



Long before playing Jane Burke or Marion Gilbert on A Different World, Diahann Carroll made television history as the first woman of color to star in her own sitcom. Carroll played Julia Baker, the widowed mother of a young son named Corey (Marc Copage) who gets a job as nurse to a grumpy doctor (Lloyd Nolan). As important as her job was, nothing was important to Julie than Corey.

12.
Beverly Harris, Roseanne



Estelle Parsons played the mother of Roseanne and Jackie (Lauri Metcalfe) and the daughter of previous entry Nana Mary (Shelley Winters). See my "Favorite Recurring characters" thread for further details on the character.

I think you mean grandmother.

Loved Nana Mary. Couldn't stand Beverly.

11.
Florida Evans, Good Times



The late Esther Rolle created one of TV's most strong-willed mothers in Florida Evans, a character who was actually introduced on Maude. Florida was a no-nonsense mother and loving wife to husband James (John Amos) and always seemed to know exactly how to get through to children JJ (Jimmie Walker), Thelma (BerNadette Stanis) and Michael (Ralph Carter) without ever having them doubt her love for them.