# The worst parents in TV history **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 10, 2011, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worst-parents-in-tv-history/599192 "2011-10-10T16:24:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Springtime\_for\_Spacers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Springtime\_for\_Spacers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Springtime_for_Spacers)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2011, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worst-parents-in-tv-history/599192/21 "2011-10-10T17:55:12Z")
Marshall on _How I Met Your Mother_ – no kids should be subjected to those lengthy tales of the sexual antics of their pa and his old friends. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2011, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worst-parents-in-tv-history/599192/22 "2011-10-10T17:56:22Z")
I’d go with Lucy and Ricky Ricardo. They dumped their infant kid on a neighbor to go off on a European tour. ---
**Author:** ![Wheelz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wheelz/32/5718_2.png) [@Wheelz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wheelz)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2011, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worst-parents-in-tv-history/599192/23 "2011-10-10T18:29:39Z")
> [@Finagle](#): > > Dr. Thaddeus Venture is pretty bad, given the number of times he’s had to clone Hank and Dean. At least he cares enough to keep doing it. Any one of those times he might have decided to just let it go. I mean, that’s gotta count for _something_, right? ---
**Author:** ![Spud](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spud/32/347_2.png) [@Spud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spud)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2011, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worst-parents-in-tv-history/599192/24 "2011-10-10T18:35:00Z")
> [@Tom\_Scud](#): > > Jonny Quest’s dad. Are you kidding??? Dr. Benton Quest was the coolest Dad in the whole wide world. What little boy wouldn’t want to jet around with their Dad, his body guard, and Indian friend and his dog to live the adventures Johnny did? ---
**Author:** ![Freddy\_the\_Pig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a587f6/32.png) [@Freddy\_the\_Pig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freddy_the_Pig)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2011, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worst-parents-in-tv-history/599192/25 "2011-10-10T18:45:43Z")
> [@Ferret\_Herder](#): > > Butters’ parents in South Park. Or Cartman’s mother. Or Kenny’s father. Come to think of it, the parenting on _South Park_ in general is pretty awful. ---
**Author:** ![Sir\_Prize](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d2c977/32.png) [@Sir\_Prize](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sir_Prize)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2011, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worst-parents-in-tv-history/599192/26 "2011-10-10T19:00:50Z")
> [@billfish678](#): > > The Lost in Space parents. That poor little boy is doomed to either be celibate, get molested by Dr. Smith, settle for boinking his sister or his mother, bumping uglies with a robot, or engaging in buggery with Paw. Don’t worry. There are always alien women. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2011, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worst-parents-in-tv-history/599192/27 "2011-10-10T20:29:18Z")
And space hippies. Don’t forget the loose, easy [space hippies](http://www.hulu.com/watch/23804/lost-in-space-collision-of-planets). Warning: Link takes the unwary traveler to the actual episode. Do not click if you want childhood memories destroyed. ---
**Author:** ![zamboniracer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e9a140/32.png) [@zamboniracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zamboniracer)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2011, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worst-parents-in-tv-history/599192/28 "2011-10-10T20:36:06Z")
On “That 70’s Show…” all the kids’ parents other than the Formans were pretty bad. Red & Kitty weren’t great, but they tried their best at least. ---
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2011, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worst-parents-in-tv-history/599192/29 "2011-10-10T20:45:35Z")
> [@Springtime\_for\_Spacers](#): > > Marshall on _How I Met Your Mother_ – no kids should be subjected to those lengthy tales of the sexual antics of their pa and his old friends. Er, that would be Ted. But otherwise, you have a point. ---
**Author:** ![MyFootsZZZ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/myfootszzz/32/12580_2.png) [@MyFootsZZZ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MyFootsZZZ)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2011, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worst-parents-in-tv-history/599192/30 "2011-10-10T20:48:31Z")
Dexter. ---
**Author:** ![OpusThePenguin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/7bcc69/32.png) [@OpusThePenguin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OpusThePenguin)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2011, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worst-parents-in-tv-history/599192/31 "2011-10-10T20:52:09Z")
> [@Boyo\_Jim](#): > > Since Star Wars has been on TV, I nominate Darth Vader as Worst Father. Time Magazine thought the same thing. Here is the response in defence of Mr. Vader. > **[An Open Letter to TIME Magazine re: Darth Vader](http://deathstarpr.blogspot.com/2011/06/open-letter-to-time-magazine-re-darth.html)** > > Dear TIME Magazine, In your article of June 17, you listed Darth Vader as the third worst "fictional" father . The Galactic Empire take... ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2011, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worst-parents-in-tv-history/599192/32 "2011-10-10T21:02:03Z")
Ruth Martin on _Lassie_ – so neglectful that her kid had to constantly be rescued by a dog. (Note that Ruth Martin was played by the same actress who played Maureen Robinson on Lost in Space. June Lockhart had bad parenting in her genes.) Beverly Crusher on _Star Trek TNG_. Her husband’s already been killed in deep space, so she runs back to Starfleet and leaves her son out there with Picard and Riker. Amanda King on _Scarecrow and Mrs. King_. Sure, it’s fun running all over the world with a handsome spy, but what about the two kids you left at home? And she wouldn’t even tell the kids he was a spy, so they couldn’t even enjoy that! Ben Cartwright on _Bonanza_. Actually, Ben was a pretty good Pa, but didn’t anyone worry that his wives kept dying? Kate Bradley on _Petticoat Junction_. Oh, she may have seemd like a good parent – even tempered and interested in her duaghters. But did you notice her two older daughters kept vanishing, and replaced by other girls who looked somewhat like them? Then Kate disappears without so much as a goodbye to her family. They’re so desperate for a mother figure they end up with – Maureen Robinson from _Lost in Space_.:eek::eek::eek::eek: ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2011, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worst-parents-in-tv-history/599192/33 "2011-10-10T21:03:49Z")
I’m going to cast my vote for the Camdens from 7th Heaven. Sure, the dad was a reverend and they were good churchgoers. But Annie Camden is a [demon in woman spawn](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=geqQZUPMFQA). And Rev. Camden’s response to finding out that Matt brought a marijuana joint into the house is to ask him if his drug problem was the reason he (as a high school senior) has never held down a steady job. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Scud](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f08c70/32.png) [@Tom\_Scud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Scud)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2011, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worst-parents-in-tv-history/599192/34 "2011-10-10T21:07:17Z")
And where the hell are Huey, Louie, and Dewey’s parents? ---
**Author:** ![NDP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ndp/32/55_2.png) [@NDP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NDP)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2011, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worst-parents-in-tv-history/599192/35 "2011-10-10T21:16:46Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > As parents they weren’t that out of the ordinary, aside from Tony occasionally smacking AJ. Although Tony was a multiple murderer, his business dealings didn’t have much direct impact on the kids, and Carmela studiously avoided knowing anything about them. Did we ever see Tony actually smack AJ? The closest I remember is Tony smashing (I think) the window of AJ’s car after he made a smartass remark to a demand that he start straightening up. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2011, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worst-parents-in-tv-history/599192/36 "2011-10-10T21:17:58Z")
> [@OpusThePenguin](#): > > Time Magazine thought the same thing. Here is the response in defence of Mr. Vader. > > [Death Star PR: An Open Letter to TIME Magazine re: Darth Vader](http://deathstarpr.blogspot.com/2011/06/open-letter-to-time-magazine-re-darth.html) I stand corrected. All hail the Supreme Father Darth Vader. ---
**Author:** ![TV\_time](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f17d59/32.png) [@TV\_time](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TV_time)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2011, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worst-parents-in-tv-history/599192/37 "2011-10-10T21:20:08Z")
> [@Tom\_Scud](#): > > And where the hell are Huey, Louie, and Dewey’s parents? Or April, May and June’s, or Morty and Ferdy’s, or Knothead and Splinter’s. Or for that matter, Penny’s on Sky King..or Circus Boy’s on Circus Boy. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2011, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worst-parents-in-tv-history/599192/38 "2011-10-10T21:26:48Z")
Darrin and Samantha Stephens aren’t the worst but they’d be in the running for runners up. They have a beautiful little girl who has magical powers and they admonish her whenever she uses them just because she can do things Daddy can’t. If Samantha wants to live her life as a mortal that’s fine and dandy but imposing it on her daughter makes her little better than Petunia Dursley. It’s the magick equivalent of female circumcision, and I for one would have fully supported Endora had she chosen to turn Darrin into a tampon and zap him into the Father Damien Hospital for She-Lepers and raise Tabitha herself. ---
**Author:** ![tumbleddown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e9bcb4/32.png) [@tumbleddown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tumbleddown)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2011, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worst-parents-in-tv-history/599192/39 "2011-10-10T22:01:03Z")
> [@Tom\_Scud](#): > > The Cunninghams in Happy Days managed to totally lose a son. So did Steve Douglas of “My Three Sons” and then the Winslows of “Family Matters” lost a daughter. (Who, in real life, ended up doing porn.) Even uberparents Cliff & Claire Huxtable didn’t know if they had 4 or 5 children until midway through the first season (when Sondra showed up and yes, it was 5). I have a feeling though that we’re about to find out that TV’s worst mother is Hetty Lange on NCIS:LA who it seems like they’re about to reveal as Callen’s mother. The one who didn’t even give him a first name. If this is actually what’s about to happen, it’s going to be the most bizarre and perhaps the worst plot twist & worst parenting storyline in TV history. ---
**Author:** ![Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/intergalactic_gladiator/32/112_2.png) [@Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Intergalactic_Gladiator)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2011, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worst-parents-in-tv-history/599192/40 "2011-10-10T22:04:51Z")
> [@zamboniracer](#): > > On “That 70’s Show…” all the kids’ parents other than the Formans were pretty bad. Red & Kitty weren’t great, but they tried their best at least. What are you on dope? Let’s see you smoke that pot with my foot in your ass. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worst-parents-in-tv-history/599192.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worst-parents-in-tv-history/599192.md?page=3)