For all the success "Desperate Housewives" has had over the past eight seasons, the main characters weren't exactly successful mothers.
Gabrielle's (Eva Longoria) daughters are brats. Bree's (Marcia Cross) son and daughter have rarely gotten along with her. Susan's (Teri Hatcher) unwed daughter is about to give birth — and the father is one of Lynette's (Felicity Huffman) wayward sons.
But the housewives of Wisteria Lane aren't the worst moms in TV history. Not even close.
They're not in the same league as these 20 worst:
20. Endora • (Agnes Moorehead) of "Bewitched": For 252 episodes, Endora did everything she could to break up her daughter's marriage.
19. Lois Griffin • (voiced by Alex Borstein) of "Family Guy": Even if she didn't constantly tell her daughter, Meg, what a loser she is, there must be some reason her son Stewie wants to kill her.
18. Evelyn Harper • (Holland Taylor) of "Two and a Half Men": Evelyn never has any use for her sons — unless she can figure out a way to use them.
17 and 16. Peggy Bundy and Gemma Teller Morrow • (both Katey Sagal) of "Married ⦠With Children" and "Sons of Anarchy" (both Katey Sagal): Peggy completely neglected her children; Gemma manipulates her son. Oh, and she was in on the conspiracy that killed his father.
15. Lucille Bluth • (Jessica Walter) of "Arrested Development": An embezzler and narcissistic alcoholic who abuses prescription drugs and servants, Lucille only paid attention to her children when she emotionally battered them.
14. Estelle Costanza • (Estelle Harris) of "Seinfeld": Overbearing Estelle turned George into the damaged man he became.
13. Colleen Donaghy • (Elaine Stritch) of "30 Rock": Only a mother as domineering as Colleen could make you feel her son, Jack, was justified when he hit her with his car.
12. Ellis Grey • (Kate Burton) of "Grey's Anatomy": She raised her supersmart daughter, Meredith, to feel inadequate, unloved and unlovable.
11. Angela Petrelli • (Cristine Rose) of "Heroes": She was OK with turning one son, Peter, into a nuclear bomb that could destroy New York City to advance the political career of her other son, Nathan.
10. Liane Cartman • (various voice actors) of "South Park": She's a prostitute and drug dealer. 'Nuff said.
9. Nancy Botwin • (Mary-Louise Parker) of "Weeds": Her work with the drug cartel didn't leave Nancy much time to mother her sons. They, in turn, became drug dealers, and her younger son committed murder.
8. Betty Draper • (January Jones) of "Mad Men": You can argue she's a product of the 1960s, but Betty is alternately neglectful and mean and seems determined to make her children as unhappy as she is.
7. Irina Derevko • (Lena Olin) of "Alias": She abandoned her daughter, Sydney; faked her own death; and, at various times, tried to have Sydney killed.
6. Mags Bennett • (Margo Martindale) of "Justified": Mags dragged her three boys into the drug business; hit one with a hammer; and her manipulations got two of them killed.
5 and 4. Brianna Barksdale and De'Londa Brice • (Michael Hyatt and Sandi McCree) of "The Wire": Both moms forced their sons into the drug trade; Brianna got her son killed.
3. Constance Langdon • (Jessica Lange) of "American Horror Story": She chained her deformed son in the attic. Son No. 2 was a deranged killer — even as a ghost. And she was downright mean to her daughter, who had Down syndrome.
2. Gillian Darmondy • (Gretchen Mol) of "Boardwalk Empire": She seduced her own son, Jimmy (ick), causing him to enlist and fight in WWI. He survived, but Gillian encouraged him to betray Nucky, and that got Jimmy killed.
1. Livia Soprano • (Nancy Marchand) of "The Sopranos": Livia was an all-around miserable person who bullied and berated her children. And that was before she tried to have her son, Tony, killed.
spierce@sltrib.com; facebook.com/nowsaltlake —
Bad mothering
Around Mother's Day, TV's bad examples remind of all the rest of us how lucky we are. Did we forget any of your favorite "love to hate" fictional boob tube moms? Send a note to spierce@sltrib.com.
