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Expanding What Motherhood Looks Like, One TV Show at a Time

How Lucy Ricardo, Clair Huxtable, and Chilli (yes, from “Bluey”) have shaped the way we see and experience motherhood.

Pocket Editors

Read when you’ve got time to spare.

Once upon a time, June Cleaver was the most visible example on TV of how to be a mother. It's not hard to see how that depiction left the vast majority of moms—i.e. non-white moms, working moms, single moms, and moms who hated cooking dinner—feeling unseen.

Today, there are as many representations of motherhood on screen as there are, well, TV moms. In honor of Mother’s Day, we salute every one of them for showing the world that it’s possible to parent in poignant, imperfect, and hilarious ways.

Image by Archive Photos / Stringer / Getty Images

Tami Taylor, Mother of Texas

Listen, y’all: Connie Britton’s tough yet compassionate Friday Night Lights character remains one of our most inspirational depictions of Texas womanhood.

How Lauren Graham Rehabilitated the TV Mom

The Gilmore Girls star has elevated the single mother to a protagonist worth investing in.

Why Morticia Addams Is a Feminist Icon

It’s her parenting style I find most refreshing: It’s hands-off yet engaged. Loving yet direct.

‘Never Have I Ever’ Gives Immigrant Mothers the Dimension They Rarely Receive on TV

Whereas immigrant parents can sometimes be reduced to stereotypes on screen, Nalini—as well as Devi’s late father, Mohan, who appears in flashbacks—are depicted with unrelenting honesty.

The Legacy of Aunt Viv, ‘The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air’s’ Most Enduring Character

In six seasons and nearly three decades of syndication, the fierce mother of three has transcended the small screen and shot into icon status.

Remembering Jessica Walter’s Lucille Bluth, Who Made ‘Mean Mom’ Jokes an Art Form

The news of Walter’s death has made me realize how much it meant to me to see a mother figure on TV who wasn’t perpetually warm or nurturing.

The Many Faces of Single Motherhood on ‘Jane the Virgin’

Each character synthesizes the societal expectations placed upon them and subverts them by acting as a formidable matriarchal unit.

How ‘I Love Lucy’ Changed How America Saw Motherhood

Happy homemakers could be found on every network, from the patient mom Margaret Anderson of Father Knows Best to the profoundly agreeable June Cleaver of Leave It to Beaver. Instead, on I Love Lucy, Lucy was a hot mess.

How to Think About Clair Huxtable After Bill Cosby’s Conviction

Re-examining a character who once personified Ideal Black Motherhood.

Pose and the Importance of Adopted Motherhood

On television, there are many depictions of motherhood—good, bad, and everything in between—but I want to celebrate someone that I think is one of television’s best mothers: Blanca Evangelista from the FX series Pose.

I Used To Think The Mom On ‘Boy Meets World’ Was Invisible—But I Was Wrong

In our real lives, our moms also existed mostly as supporting characters, secondary to our school or relationship dramas, appearing only when we needed a ride, someone to sign a permission slip, or occasionally, a hug. Thinking of them as fully formed humans with their own dreams and passions would never have crossed our minds.

What Would Chilli Do? How Bluey’s Mum Became An Icon

The anthropomorphic dog and her family have put Australia on the centre of the world stage—and captured hearts along the way.

The Show That Made Single Motherhood Into Art

Over five seasons of television, Pamela Adlon’s FX series, Better Things, has been a tribute to keeping on when you can’t anymore, and to all the people—many of them women—who carry their families because no one else will.