Mum’s the Word
In the lead up to Mother’s Day, a British Survey has revealed the country’s favourite television mothers.
ON the top of the list is Marge Simpson. British audiences responded to her kind nature and her long-suffering patience with Homer’s constant failings.
Given the survey was conducted in the UK, no surprises that the top ten was dominated by British TV mothers. Second place went to Pamela Shipman from sitcom Gavin and Stacey (which enjoyed only a short summer run here on Channel 7); whilst taking out the bronze position was Susan Harper from the long running BBC comedy My Family.
Ma Larkin from Darling Buds Of May was fifth; chain-smoking Barbara Royle from The Royle Family, was sixth.
And what can only be described as extraordinary – Susan Kennedy, who plays Jackie Woodburne in Neighbours was seventh as viewers identified with her love for her family.
Peggy Mitchell, from EastEnders, Hyacinth Bucket from Keeping Up Appearances, and Lisa Dingle, from Emmerdale, completed the top 10 of most favourite television mothers.
Note to Channel 9 producers – here’s a 20:1 show.
20: Morticia, The Aadams Family played by Carolyn Jones. Kooky yet endearing she looked after Gomez, the kids, Lurch and Uncle Fester in an unconventional family.
19: Roseanne, Roseanne, played by Roseanne Barr. Quick witted and sarcastic, she was a mom to Becky, Darlene and DJ and wife to Tom. They didn’t have much money but Roseanne was the glue to this dysfunctional mob.
18 Maggie Ahearn, Mother and Son, played by Ruth Cracknell. This Logie award winning sitcom which ran on the ABC for ten years was about Maggie’s early stages of dementia and her son, Arthur, played by Gary McDonald, who looked after her.
17. Miss Ellie, Dallas, played by Barbara Del Geddes. Miss Ellie was the matriarch of the wealthy Texas family who were the subject of the soap opera which ran from 1978 to 1991 and was in 2007, named in Time Magazines 100 Best TV shows.
16 Madeline Westen, Burn Notice (Channel 10) played by Sharon Gless. She is a chain smoking retiree who gets in her son Michael’s way but she supports both her sons in times of need, even if it’s not what they want.
15 Molly Jones, A Country Practice. This was one of the longest running drama series on Australian television – 1058 episodes from 1981 on Channel 7, plus an additional 30 episodes on Channel 10 in 1994, and it was Molly’s death that broke the nation’s heart.
14 Shirley Partridge, The Partridge Family played by Shirley Jones for 96 episodes. The Partridge Family was an American sitcom about a widowed mother and her five children who took to the road in a combi to start singing as a way to pay the bills. The series ran from 1970 to 1974.
13. Marge Simpson, The Simpsons (Channel 10). The blue bee-hive haired Marge supports her husband through thick and thicker and is a devoted mother to Lisa, Bart and Maggie.
12. Alicia Florrick, The Good Wife (Channel 10) played by Juliana Margulies. She stands by her philandering husband and tries to keep her kids grounded whilst heading back into the workforce.
11. Carol Brady, The Brady Bunch, played by Florence Henderson. The 119 episodes were screened between 1969 and 1974, about the blended Brady family and was the first of its kind to show ‘modern’ America.
10. Evelyn Harper, 2 ½ Men, (Channel 9) played by Holland Taylor. This sharp witted, take no nonsense woman is the mother to Charlie and Allen Harper. With an eye for men – she has been married four times, Evelyn dispenses motherly love and advice with the cunning of the real estate agent that she is.
9 Lynette Scarvo, Desperate Housewives (Channel 7), played by Felicity Hauffman. Married to Tom, she is the mother of twins Porter and Preston, Parker and Penny…and is now pregnant with twins again. She always does what is best for her family and supports Tom – who had a child from a previous liaison. She gave up her career to be a ‘mom’ and has also battled cancer.
8. Ma /Caroline Ingles, Little House on the Prairie, played by Karen Crassle for ten seasons over 8 years. She had four of her own children Mary, Laura, Carrie, Grace, and three adopted children, Albert, Cassandra, and James. Married to Charles, played by the late Michael Landon, they carved out a life on their ranch in Minnesota. The western drama was set in the 1870’s and 1880’s and aired a century later – between 1974 and 1982.
7. Peg Bundy, Married with Children, played by Katey Segal. She was the matriarch of this dysfunctional family from Chicago for 262 episodes during its 11 season run. Married to Al she was lazy and self-indulgent who refused to cook or clean the house, even though she didn’t have a job.
6. Olivia Walton, The Waltons, played by Michael Learned for 221 episodes. The series was set in regional Virginia during The Great Depression and World War II. Olivia and her husband John, were parents to seven children. John’s parents Zeb and Esther also lived under the same roof.
5. Marion Cunningham, Happy Days played by Marion Ross between 1974 and 1984. Mother to Richie and Joanie she created the happy home where all the neighbour gang lead by the Fonz, or as she called him, Arthur, hung out.
4: Nora Walker, Brothers and Sisters, played by Sally Fields. She has 5 children to the man she adored before discovering he had a mistress (or two) for years. She is busy juggling the needs of her children – One daughter is married to a politician, now with cancer, the other recently divorced with two children, one son is gay, the other a drug addled ex-soldier son, and the other in business with her husband’s former mistress.
3: Kath Day-Knight, Kath and Kim, played by Jane Turner. Newly re-married Kath has to battle with the return home of her daughter, her husband and baby whilst juggling her needs of her new hunkospunk husband, Kel.
2: Julie Rafter, Packed to the Rafters played by Rebecca Gibney. Having fallen pregnant to her boyfriend Dave at a young age, they married and have forged a strong relationship and wonderful family life. With her adult children coming and going from the family home and her father sometimes under the same roof, it’s been a juggling act for Julie and now with another little Rafter in the house, life will continue to be busy.
1 : Grace Sullivan, The Sullivan’s played by Lorraine Bailey. It goes without saying.
