Mothers are typically who their daughters want to emulate when they grow up. Moms instill values in us. On Mother’s Day, we tend to think about sweet, loving, and nurturing mothers. This time I want to focus on those tv mothers who are the opposite. Kinda like those who you love to hate. Here are a few that I can recall.
5. Peggy Bundy
Peggy Bundy was the mother on the show, Married with Children. She was a stay-at-home mom. Her husband worked at a shoe store. Their children were teenagers with their own busy lives. Peggy was lazy. Peggy was not the mom baking cookies and waiting for her husband to come home with loving open arms. No ma’am. She didn’t cook or clean but was always shopping. Peggy was not affectionate or attentive toward her family. She was the definition of self-centered. I could never figure out why she and Al were even still together. Perhaps it was cheaper to keep her.
4. Mother Jefferson
I think we’ve all watched The Jefferson’s at some point. You can still catch reruns today. There were many times in which Mother Jefferson didn’t respect her daughter-in-law, Louise. She crossed boundaries most times. Mother Jefferson always took up for her adult married son, including times when he was wrong. Louise was always kind to her though. I couldn’t deal with that. I discuss marriage boundaries in a previous post here.
3. Lynetta Gordon
Although I am not a fan of the show Good Times, I did watch it growing up. I don’t think anyone could ever forget the scene where Penny’s (Janet Jackson) biological mother intentionally burned her with the iron as a form of discipline. We know that was abuse. Just awful. Lynetta was the first tv mother that I didn’t like.
2. Veronica Harrington
She’s one of the leading ladies on Tyler Perry’s, The Haves and Have Nots. Veronica is a working mother and wife. Her occupation is an attorney. She is very calculated, conniving, and controlling especially when it comes to her only son. She arranged for him to date a young lady and planned the girl’s pregnancy. I should also add that she knows her son is gay too. I recall the unforgettable episode with Veronica sitting on the living room chair with cornrows in her hair, smoking a cigarette (she was just released from jail), and asked her future daughter-in-law, “What we gon name this baby”? Veronica has no shame!
On a side note, the actress Angela Robinson who portrays Veronica is very nice in person. I met her at the Black Expo. I told her my Grandma and Aunt Margaret love her on the show. She replied, “You tell them, I love them too.”
1. Tasha St. Patrick
Tasha was introduced to us on Power as a mother and wife of a hustling drug dealer. It seemed like they were living the good life, but Tasha wanted her husband to stay in the drug game when he wanted to get out. Over the seasons she went from housewife to business owner while dabbling in the life of crime and adultery. She even killed her own best friend! Although she was planning to kill her husband, Ghost, their son Tariq did. Tasha took the fall for him. I don’t think I could’ve put my family through all of the trials and tribulations. However, she did an admirable thing of protecting her young son from a lifetime of prison.