TV moms may be fictional figures who enter our lives through a screen in our living rooms, but they’re bigger role models than you may think.
From The Brady Bunch‘s Carol Brady to black-ish‘s Rainbow Johnson, TV moms show us how to navigate complex situations, offer wise words that expand our perspectives, and bring us comfort when we need it most. Whether they’re sharing advice with fellow parents or trying to impart wisdom to their on-screen kids, we were there listening to it all, thinking of ways to apply their truth nuggets to our own lives.
Spanning the 1970s through today, the following TV moms made us want to be more like them, and some even made us feel seen as the mothers we are. Scroll on to reminisce about some of television’s most iconic moms and read the quotes that made them household names today.
Eleanor Waldorf, ‘Gossip Girl’
Margaret Colin’s Eleanor Waldorf was kind of the worst mom ever in the early episodes of Gossip Girl, but she eventually found her footing with her daughter, Blair. She struck a cord in us all when she offered this wise advice: “Sometimes you have to allow yourself to be weak in order to grow stronger.”
Rainbow Johnson, ‘black-ish’
When Rainbow “Bow” Johnson’s eldest daughter, Zoey, left for college, she had to share some hard truths about how she was treating her siblings. The black-ish mom, played by Tracee Ellis Ross, said, “OK, I get that you are in college now, Zoey. You can stop by the house to pick up your clothes and drop your little smart-ass comments whenever you want. Fine! But you cannot fly in and out of your sister’s life. Do you hear me? She is 13 years old, and that was her first date. Zoey, you have a responsibility to be there for her and to treat her better than some skirt that you just left behind.”
Carol Brady, ‘The Brady Bunch’
One of the very most iconic TV moms of all time, Florence Henderson’s Carol Brady, once said, “No problem was ever solved by crawling into a hole.”
Rebecca Pearson, ‘This Is Us’
This Is Us in itself is chock-full of wise parenting advice, and Mandy Moore’s Rebecca Pearson was always offering sage words. One of her best quotes was spoken to her kids: “No. It’s not your job to make me feel better. It’s not. It’s my job. It’s my job to keep standing there with my arms wide open, waiting for you to maybe someday fall inside if you needed it. And if you do, I’ll love you. And if you don’t, I’ll love you, too. Because that’s what it means to be a parent. You’ll see one day.”
Beth Pearson, ‘This Is Us’
Susan Kelechi Watson’s Beth Pearson is one of the most practical and wise characters in This Is Us. Upon finding out her teenage daughter had snuck off to Boston to spend the weekend with her boyfriend, she said to her husband, “We thought Deja was playing Candy Land, but she was out there playing the game of life. She’s not a child, and we’re going to have to adjust to that.”
Kate Pearson, ‘This Is Us’
Once again highlighting of all of that parenting wisdom This Is Us has to offer, Chrissy Metz’s character, Kate Pearson, said of raising her blind son, “My son is gonna live a life without limits. I know my family can’t give him sight, but they can damn sure give him that.”
Vivian Banks, ‘The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air’
The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air‘s Aunt Viv was full of wise words for her kids and her nephew. During one episode in which Will is delving into Black history, she says, “Will, baby, you can read that book, you can wear the T-shirts, you can put up the posters, and shout the slogans, but unless you know all the history behind it you’re trivializing the entire struggle. Now you started something very good here but it’s up to you, baby, to follow through on it.”
Claire Dunphy, ‘Modern Family’
Julie Bowen’s character in Modern Family, Claire Dunphy, shared a beautiful metaphor that resonated with parents when the episode aired and still resonates over a decade later: “Raising a kid is like sending a rocketship to the moon. You spend the early years in constant contact, and then one day, around the teenage years, they go around the dark side and they’re gone. And all you can do is wait for that faint signal that says they’re coming back.”
Ashley Marin, ‘Pretty Little Liars’
On forgiveness and vulnerability, Laura Leighton’s Ashley Marin told her daughter Hanna in Pretty Little Liars, “Just because somebody hurt us once, doesn’t mean we have to permanently delete them from our phonebook. Things change. People grow.”
Mary Andrews, ‘Riverdale’
Riverdale‘s Mary Andrews, played by Molly Ringwald, always supported her son, Archie. She said to him of his aspirations of professional boxing, “The world is such a scary place, maybe it’s not the worst thing to know how to fight, to be able to defend yourself. If this is your path, I want to support it, and you — as long as you do it right.”
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