In honor of Mother’s Day, we’ve compiled a list of TV moms we love to hate.
#23 Bree Van De Camp, Desperate Housewives
Ever thought having Martha Stewart as your mom would be a blast? Think again. Bree Van De Camp’s perfectionist attitude in the kitchen borders on anal. She is obsessed with appearances and political correctness, traits that have alienated her kids.
#22 Julie Cooper Nichol, The O.C.
Cougar and gold-digger are just some of the names attached to Julie Cooper Nichol. This O.C. mom slept with her daughter’s underage boyfriend, married one wealthy man after another and turned her dating service into a prostitution ring.
#21 June Cleaver, Leave it to Beaver
June Cleaver is the picture-perfect stay-at-home mom. So why is she on this list? Because according to our Facebook follower Ann Martinez-Camino, she made “all of us think that all moms were like her and they were not.” ‘Nuf said.
#20 Jules Cobb, Cougar Town
All mothers love their sons, but Jules takes it to a disturbing level, watching her teenage son sleep and smothering him with so much love that it will be a miracle if he doesn’t turn into Norman Bates.
#19 Kate Gosselin, Jon and Kate Plus 8
The most famous mom in America today unfortunately is also one of the most unpopular. Criticized for allegedly exploiting her kids on their canceled reality show Jon and Kate Plus 8, Kate Gosselin has since moved on to other TV endeavors, such as Dancing with the Stars, where she gained even more detractors with her supposedly abrasive and diva attitude.
#18 Estelle Costanza, Seinfeld
Estelle is the textbook mother from hell: obnoxious and overbearing, perennially screeching at son George and hubby Frank, but the Costanzas are one funny bunch while they go at it. Their dysfunction is our joy.
#17 Marie Barone, Everybody Loves Raymond
Marie was always in charge, spinning a web of manipulation and guilt to make everyone in her family do whatever she wanted them to do. Deep down, she genuinely loved everyone, but as her own child said of her, “Before giving up a single drop of power, she will truly destroy us all.”
#16 Peg Bundy, Married with Children
Any mom who flaunts her love for animal prints, sex and attention isn’t cut out to be a good homemaker. That’s why it’s no surprise that Peg Bundy made this list. But she’s not just a bad mother, she’s also a bad wife who loves to spend her husband’s money on everything from expensive dresses to useless junk.
#15 Lianne Mars, Veronica Mars
While being alcoholic is enough to qualify for this list, Lianne Mars routinely gives Veronica Mars fans more reasons to hate her: she’s a big, fat liar who steals money from her husband and doesn’t really care about her daughter.
#14 The Cast of The Real Housewives of Orange County
Sure, the housewives on this show claim to put their children above all else, but all we really see is a bunch of shopaholics who take pleasure in parties and plastic surgeries. It also doesn’t help that some of them dress like strippers.
#13 Nancy Botwin, Weeds
She’s a pot-dealing mother who has time and again put the lives of her kids in danger. Need we say more?
#12 Ellis Grey, Grey’s Anatomy
When she was alive, Ellis didn’t care much about motherhood, and she was pretty much the reason why Grey’s Anatomy heroine Meredith is the mess she is today. She was a workaholic and had an affair with a colleague, while her husband descended into alcoholism and her daughter grew up twisted and cynical. But hey,there would be no Grey’s Anatomy without her!
#11 Emily Gilmore, Gilmore Girls
While Emily’s relationship with daughter Lorelai improved a bit over time, it pretty much remained strained, no thanks to Rory’s father Christopher. It also didn’t help that Emily was snooty and very difficult to please.
#10 Evelyn Harper, Two and a Half Men
What’s worse than a horrible mother? One who thinks she’s actually a good mother. Charlie and Alan’s conceited, promiscuous and uppity mother outwardly dotes on her sons and grandson but rarely lives up to that illusion. Let’s just say if your son has your phone number listed as “666,” you’re probably not doing a good job.
#9 Victoria Davis, One Tree Hill
Cold as ice, Victoria Davis has effectively taken on a villainous role on One Tree Hill, making it a habit to pester her daughter Brooke by taking over her company, controlling her decisions or simply by alienating her. Oh, and she’s also a cougar–and proud of it.
#8 Wilhelmina Slater, Ugly Betty
We never really heard much of Wilhelmina’s daughter Nico, but from the little that we know, she jumped from one boarding school to the next and was rarely in contact with her mom. What do you expect from a woman who was once diagnosed as having a “hostile womb”?
#7 Colleen Murphy Donaghy, 30 Rock
30 Rock’s overambitious exec Jack Donaghy often reveals that his overbearing mother Colleen nagged him his whole life and even blamed him for JFK’s death. She also tried sending him to Vietnam when he was 12 and routinely embarrassed him by making him do things like playing “The Star-Spangled Banner” on the flute in front of his team.
#6 Angela Petrelli, Heroes
She lied to her sons for years and tried to get them to do what she
thought was best, but in the process she covered up so many things
that it became impossible for her sons to believe a word she said.
#5 Irina Derevko, Alias
Super spy Sydney Bristow’s mom was a villain, literally. The
mastermind behind almost everything that happened in the show, she used her position as Sydney’s mother to get whatever she wanted, ultimately
proving that she didn’t care about her daughter at all.
#4 Gabrielle Solis, Desperate Housewives
Gaby always yearns for her single life, which sort of explains why she sometimes falls short of being an ideal mother. She can’t be bothered to help her kids with their homework, prefers to sip margaritas at her kids’ party and once tried to bribe a priest to get her daughter to school.
#3 Ruth Fisher, Six Feet Under
Forced to take on a maternal role at a young age, Ruth Fisher is the kind of mother who resents free-spirited people, particularly if they’re related to her, and has no idea what goes on in her children’s lives.
#2 Lucille Bluth, Arrested Development
Lucille Bluth is neither here nor there. On one hand, she’s an alcoholic and has nothing but discouraging things to say to some of her kids. On the other, she spoils one rotten, causing him to grow up unstable and socially inept.
#1 Livia Soprano, The Sopranos
Livia Soprano may just be the most manipulative, conniving and abusive mother on TV history. Our Facebook follower Alison Stern-Dunyak couldn’t have said it better: “Even Peg Bundy never put a hit out on her own son.”
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