"My mother had a slender, small body, but a large heart - a heart so large that everybody's joys found welcome in it, and hospitable accommodation." -- Mark Twain
Television sitcom families have been around almost since the
dawn of television. The idea and model
of television families have evolved over the last sixty plus years. The sitcom is to suspend life for thirty
minutes so we can stop stressing, relax and laugh at over exaggerated examples
of everyday life or what we wish we could do in certain situations but because
of good manners and upbringing we don’t.
Whether they are down to earth, the rock, zany, sane, or completely out
of their mind, the sitcom mother is often the very center of the sitcom family
and often lives in our memories forever.
With the help of my fond memories and the Internet, I will attempt to
list out the top television moms per decade.
Let’s get this party and celebration going.
The 1950’s was a time of paradox. We had come out of a war in the previous
decade, but because of the atomic bomb a peaceful time was covered in fear of
who was going to drop the next atomic bomb.
Families grew and the population of cities grew out and moved to
suburbs. The population wanted progression,
but wanted to mainstay there conservative lifestyle. It was time to conform to the Jones, but the
younger population were itching to rebel.
Religion grew and because everyone was trying to keep up with the Jones’s,
materialism grew as well.
Television moms ran the gambit of conservative to wacky. They were real trailblazers and because of
reruns for most of us, they hold special
places in our hearts. Please remember
these are in no particular order.
We first have the Queen of Physical comedy, Lucille
Ball. Most of us have our favorite
episode of I Love Lucy’s wacky housewife of a Cuban band leader, who strived
for the limelight, but was always kept at home cleaning, giving birth to Little
Rickey and caring for Big Ricky and Little Ricky. Lucy Ricardo taught us to dream big, live big
and to never give up on our dreams all with love and a laugh. My favorite episode is the classic Vitameatvegamin.
Probably the most well known mother is June Cleaver from Leave
It to Beaver played by Barbara Billingsly.
A less conservative mother but just as equally conforming
was Margaret Anderson from Father Knows Best.
She was the voice of reason for the household. She had three busy children with Betty, Bud
and Kitten and he thoughtful husband, who doled out the sage advice. Jane Wyatt did a great a job as Margaret Anderson
and as you can tell the pearls were a trend.
That brings us to The Donna Reed Show starring Donna Reed, another
pearl wearing mother bringing up a family in suburbia. Donna Reed played Donna Stone. She had two kids, Mary and Jeff, and was
married to a pediatrician, Alex Stone. She
not only cleaned and cooked for her family but was very active in the community
of Hilldale. She was also a nurse and would
often lend a hand to her husband’s practice.
She was completely a conformer like Margaret or June, but she wasn’t
totally out there like Lucy. I forgot
how much I really liked this show until I researched it. I forgot that I had a crush on Jeff Stone,
which is funny since one of my best buds is named Jeff Stone.
I complete my run of the 1950’s with Harriet Nelson. The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet were a
real life family playing their fictional selves. Harriet was another mother who dealt with two
young boys and her husband while keeping up the house and doling out love and
support for her family. You can tell she is the true captain of
this ship but decides to sit back and let Ozzie believe that he is steering
this family.
I’m sure I left someone out or tell me your fond memories of
the 50’s classic TV Sitcom Moms.
The 1960’s were all about social struggles, cultural changes
and political upheavals. It was decade of
revolution about clothes, music, drugs, and formalities. It was filled with the struggles of changing
culture and people tired of being put down, walked upon and discriminated
against. We saw feminism and the civil
rights movement explode, schools integrated, Dr. King’s Speech, Camelot, assassinations
and by the end of the decade the LGBT rights movement found steam and we put
two men on the moon. With all of this
pushing the envelope, struggles and social change, the television family had to
evolve. Welcome to the Swinging Sixties
baby and her are the moms.
What better way to start than to start with Elizabeth
Montgomery as Samantha Stephens in Bewitched.
We not only get one mom with this show but we get a second mom, Agnes
Moorhead as Endora. This show really
shows the difference between 1050’s and 1960’s.
Samantha tried to fit into suburbia with her husband Darren and later
daughter, Tabitha. She tried to conform,
but her outlandish relatives and her desire to help her husband succeed in life
made that a little difficult. Her
biggest conflict was her disapproving mother Endora, who didn’t like that she
married a mortal. Endora was eccentric,
sarcastic and an elitist, if she were popping pills and swilling back bourbon,
she could’ve been Karen Walker. Both
these characters were actually representative of the time. Endora represented the past and what she had
dreamed for her off spring to marry a nice a warlock, even though she wore the
brightest and most gaudy costumes and make up and Samantha was the rebellious
one because she wanted to marry a boring mortal and dressed very conservatively. I loved that Endora would never call Darren
by his name.
Fish out of water themes seem to run in the Sixites and
there was no other family that was more out of their
Hope on the train and come down to Petticoat Junction. Kate Bradley played by Bea Benaderet, who ran
a hotel, tried to get good husbands for her three beautiful daughters, reel in
Uncle Joe and put up with the character inhabitants of Hooterville. Kate was the rock to all the shenanigans that
were going around her in the Shady Rest Hotel.
It was very unfortunate that Bea Benaderet passed away when she did
because I think the show had a few more seasons in it. You have to love a single mom who can run
her own business and be a match maker for her daughters.
They’re creepy and they’re kooky. Mysterious and
spooky. They’re altogether ooky. The Addams Family (snap snap). Who doesn’t remember the divine Carolyn Jones
as Morticia Addams, the ghoulish hostess with the mostess? Talk about not
conforming and a counter culture, this family dealt with everyday problems in
the complete opposite day then the regular families would and we loved. Morticia loved her children
unconditionally. She was sexy and
seducing. She was absolutely in love
with her husband Gomez. Plus don’t
forget the often crazy, fortune telling, wing nut Grandmama played by Marie
Blake. 
Hold on to your top because her comes Lillian Munster, the
matriarch of 1313 Mockingbird Lane and beautifully played by Yvonne De
Carlo. Where The Addams Family could
care less about fitting in, the Munsters wanted to fit in but could never do it
because it was so much easier to do things as they had always done it. Lillian Munster was more the captain of this
ship with Herman and Grandpa pulling these outlandish ideas and schemes landing
them in trouble which they would have to fix or deal with Lillian’s wrath. She’s probably one of the first real strong
mother characters.
Talk about sexy, who could be sexier than America’s
Sweetheart and little Ritchie’s mom, Laure Petrie from The Dick Van Dyke show
played by the talented and gorgeous Mary Tyler Moore. She was a wonderful wife to Rob and a great
mom to Ritchie, but she was not always the voice of reason. She had her own issues and crazy
moments. She wasn’t only cleaning up
after her men because it at times she was trying to cover up her mess so they
wouldn’t see her imperfections, but they always came to surface and everyone
laughed. This was a mom who knew how to
run her house, entertain and laugh at herself when she was being silly. Watch this awesome clip from The Dick Van Dyke Show.
Not only did we have witch families and monster families in
the Sixties, we had cavemen families that brought us two moms, Wilma
Flintstone and Betty Rubble. This
animation series was groundbreaking, not only did it show an animated pregnant
Wilma but also the adoption of Bam Bam by Betty and Barney because they can’t
conceive. Wilma and Betty were often the
calm of the storm of Fred and Barney, but every now and then they had their own
adventure. Who can forget the theme song to The Flintstones?
From the stone age to flying cars we go and meet the Jetson’s. Jane Jetson was once again the calm of the
storm of her chaotic family most of the time. She had to
maintain her home, while her husband George pulled off some crazy antics; her
daughter Judy pined over some boy; and her son Elroy created or experimented on
some dangerous and explosive. She is into
the latest and greatest gadgets, love shopping and is an art lover. She is refined and cultured which is the
opposite of George, but she still loves him. I will wrap this up in a nice bow. Here are The Jetsons.
Again I’m sure I left someone out or tell me your fond
memories of the 60’s far out TV Sitcom Moms.
There you have the 50's and 60's. Next time I will showcase the 70's and 80's I hope you enjoyed it.
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