So I've been wanting to write this entry for some time, but I had a hard time figuring out who is worthy of this list. There are far too many t.v shows to weed through to pick out the "best" moms. I mostly compiled this list from memory, and it contains, I guess what would be considered "modern" moms, as the shows I have chosen are from the 80s or later. Now remember, this is my opinion, and I welcome you all to comment with your list of Top 5 T.V Moms if you so desire.
At number 5 we have Jill Taylor of Home Improvement. I chose Jill because I always enjoyed watching her relationship with Tim and her boys. I always felt that their relationship was well written in the sense that it came off quite real. The chemistry between the actors was great. Tim and Jill were far from being the "perfect" couple. They had many arguments, but always managed to make up in the end. Their fights as a married couple were fairly easy to relate to, and nothing was too extreme. As a married woman myself, I can watch reruns of this show and appreciate the playful name calling or teasing that took place between Jill and Tim, because that's pretty much how Mark and I are. We're always making fun of each other or calling each other names, but it's all in good fun. We would never intentionally put one another down, and our fights usually end in a laugh. I also like Jill because of her parenting skills. Her relationship with her 3 boys was written in a way that was believable to the audience. Her boys respect her, but they of course find her to be "uncool" at times. However, they listen to her when she tells them to do something, and when they screw up, they're grounded or given chores to do, which are realistic childhood punishments that kids and parents can relate to. I have seen numerous t.v shows where the parent would say something like, "You snuck out of the house, you're grounded for 1 month, and no t.v./phone." Just for sneaking out of the house? Come on. If Chase ever sneaks out of the house, yeah, she'll be disciplined, but I used to sneak out of the house ALL the time! I can't be too much of a hypocrite. So long as she's not doing anything horrible when she sneaks out, I think a firm talking to, and a warning would suffice. All I did when I snuck out was go off with my best friend and her friends to a local diner that's open 24/7. Or one time I snuck out and saw a late movie. OOOH Such a bad kid! So anyway, I like Jill because she's a working mom, a loving wife who puts up with her husband's crap and disastrous "home improvements", and she's a mother of 3 boys, which I imagine is not an easy job. I felt she deserved a spot on this list. So here's to you, Jill Taylor.
Coming in at number 4, we have the coffee guzzling, Metallica loving, quick-witted "cool" mom, Lorelai Gilmore. It's really no surprise that she made it to my list, since I have been a fan of the show Gilmore Girls (minus season 7, which was the last season, and it sucked). Anyway, Lorelai deserves a place on this list, and here's why: Even if you're not a fan of the show itself, it does have a good concept and aside from the quirky pop-culture references strewn across the script, there's an underlying message about teen moms. Lorelai gave birth to her daughter Rory when she was only 16 years old. She stayed with her wealthy parents for the first year or so of Rory's life, then decided to bail. She already wasn't living up to her parents' expectations (She didn't want to settle and marry Rory's father at such a young age, and she didn't want him to put his dreams on hold to take the easy way out by going to work for her father's company.) She also had dreams of her own, and thus decided to run away with Rory to a small town in her state. Since she was young, a high school drop out, and had a baby to take care of, she took a job working as a maid at a local Inn. She took up residence in an unused shed behind the inn and fixed it up to make it livable. Eventually, she made enough money to buy an actual 2 bedroom home in a nice neighborhood, and she worked her way up as the manager of the Inn. Eventually, she came to open her very own inn. I have a lot of respect for this character, because she's developed in a way that makes her realistic to viewers who, undoubtedly, can relate. She is a single mother who worked her ass off to provide for her daughter. She does not bring a ton of men in and out of her/her daughter's life. She's very responsible, nurturing, and always puts her daughter first. Everything she does in life is for her child. The relationship she has with Rory is almost perfect, but not so perfect to make it unrealistic. They have a handful of serious fights, but eventually move past them. As the seasons went on, I got kind of annoyed with the show, but looking back now, I can appreciate what they were trying to do. In the episode where Rory convinces her super-rich boyfriend to steal a yacht with her (she was trying to prove she's not always this uptight, school nerd or some shit like that, I forget), she ends up getting arrested. Lorelai finds it kind of amusing, and doesn't get overly upset, since Rory was 20 years old at this point, and she had NEVER been in trouble like this before. She makes some cracks about Rory's mug shot. Later on, Rory sits Lorelai down and tells her she is going to be taking time off from Yale (where she's a 3rd year student). The whole incident with the yacht and pressure that Rory has been feeling, leads her to this ridiculous decision. Lorelai is shocked by this, and basically disowns Rory until she gets her shit together. I like the way this part of the show is written because it shows that Rory is pretty much crapping all over everything she and her mom worked so hard for (it wasn't an easy task sending Rory to Yale, there were financial struggles, blah blah blah). Lorelai does what I think most moms would do, and flips out about this situation. Her one perfect relationship with Rory takes a long time to heal (a whole season, as a matter of fact). I like that they made it take a while for the two women to move past this huge fight because to me, I think that's how it would really be. I'd like to believe that my mom and I have a very Lorelai/Roryesque relationship, so I took this show to heart, and I still catch myself watching it in reruns from time to time.
At number 3 we have Mrs. Claire Huxtable. She's a career mom who is well respected by her family. She's the mother of 5 children and the wife of a successful OB/GYN. She and her husband are hardworking, loving people. While they make a great living between the two of them, their kids are not spoiled, rich brats. Claire and Cliff make sure to teach their children about respect and the value of a dollar. Education in the Huxtable household is the most important thing in life next to family. I like Mrs. Huxtable because while she is sweet, knows how to have fun, and can show her "cool mom" side, she's also tough, and doesn't take BS from anyone. I specifically recall the episode of the Cosby Show where Vanessa is caught in a lie about something or other, and Claire really blows up at her. She's so furious and disappointed by Vanessa's actions, that she tells her she doesn't even want to hear it and screams at her to go upstairs to her room. This episode stands out because most of the episodes of the Cosby Show don't portray such drama. For the most part it's all, "We love our lives and our family, everything is sunshine and rainbows." Come to think of it...what even happens on The Cosby Show? I can't pick out any thing that makes me say, "Wow, what a powerful episode." But anyway, Claire is ordinarily this loving mom, but seeing her really lay into Vanessa shows that even the "best" moms know when to lay down the law. (ha...get it? 'Cause she's a lawyer.)
Ok movin' on. Coming in at number 2, we have the radiant Mrs. Kitty Foreman from That 70s Show. Kitty is just all around awesome. She's the peacemaker in her family, always explaining Red to Eric and Eric to Red, trying to save the father-son relationship. She loves to cook to please her family, and she also loves to entertain. I always viewed Kitty as the "Fun, outgoing" mom. She's the kind of mom I'd like to be, in a sense. She treats all of Eric's friends as her own children. She's always feeding them, giving them advice, helping them out when they need a mother-figure. She's a great mom and wife. I love how when things get too stressful, Kitty just laughs her famous laugh and knocks back a nice-sized martini. If I had a drink in my hand right now, I'd toast to you, Kitty Foreman. You are definitely perfect for the number 2 spot on my list.
Last but certainly not least, coming in at number 1 I have chosen the one, the ONLY Mrs. Roseanne Conner.
Now, I know exactly what a lot of you are thinking. "Ew, Roseanne?" "Why?" "Ugh, her voice is so irritating." Yeah, yeah. But have you ever actually watched the show? If you have, and if you have any brains in your head at all, you would be able to appreciate the writing on this show. In my honest opinion, this is the one sitcom to ever portray REAL family issues in the most realistic way possible. For it's time, this was a very highly rated show. People all over were able to relate to the Conner family, and the jokes on this show were just amazing. Roseanne is a working mom, who goes from job to job trying desperately to help her husband make ends meet. They have 3 (later on in the series, 4) children. The sibling rivalry on this show is brilliant, and the way Roseanne and Dan parent these kids is right on with reality. The show is very smart, very funny, and Roseanne is definitely a top notch t.v. mom. She's quick on her feet, she's witty, she works hard, her family is always her number 1 priority, she has a good relationship with her kids, but never oversteps the friend boundary. She's a mother first, and she doesn't hesitate to shell out consequences for misbehavior. Something I do enjoy about the show is how it starts off being completely realistic in the first few seasons, but then as the years go on, the storyline becomes more obscure. WARNING: I am about to give a shit ton of spoilers, but I think that's ok, because if you've never followed Roseanne, chances are, you're not about to load it up on Netflix and get in to it now in 2011. (But you should). Anyway, so things take a turn for the better in the Conner family. They hit the lottery and win all kinds of money, redecorate their house, take a big vacation to Disney World, and things just get a little far-fetched. It's not until the series finale you find out that Roseanne, who has always been a writer at heart (before marrying Dan and starting a family, she had dreams of being a famous writer for a magazine, and she had dreams of selling books, too. Several episodes throughout the series bring up this fact) was simply writing a story of her life and how she wished it could have been. The Conners never hit the lottery, Darlene was the one who was married to Mark, and Becky with David instead of it being the other way around. In the episode where Darlene and David get married, Dan suffers a heart attack. He ends up being ok, and going on to live out his life. However, in the series finale, it is revealed through Roseanne's writing that Dan actually died that day. The finale is actually quite heartbreaking, but brings back the realism that the show always possessed. Here, the whole show was supposedly just one big story written by Roseanne Conner. She wrote things as she saw them, not how they truly were. She sort of lived in her head, which I think is genius. One could argue that this is too much like all of those shows/movies where something terrible happens, then the character wakes up and we find it was all just a dream. Maybe it is sort of like that, but it was done tastefully and it wasn't entirely a big, "fuck you" to the fans because this ending really worked for the show. I am currently rewatching the whole series on Netflix, and if you really pay attention, they almost build you up for such an ending. They keep bringing up the fact that Roseanne is a talented writer, and they make comments about how she should really get back in to it, and in one episode, she does. Why else would they continuously mention this gift of hers, if it had nothing else to do with the show other than just being her hobby? Exactly. So hats off to you, Roseanne Conner. The funniest, craziest, most diligent, and most importantly, most realistic mother to ever be on t.v.
