# 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:** 5
**Author:** ![Farmer\_Jane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Farmer\_Jane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Farmer_Jane)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2011, 4:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worst-parents-in-tv-history/599192/81 "2011-10-12T04:08:09Z")
> [@Freudian\_Slit](#): > > 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. I just realized how bad the acting was. I watched that show every Wednesday (and Party of Five) growing up until Mary left. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2011, 4:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worst-parents-in-tv-history/599192/82 "2011-10-12T04:46:10Z")
> [@kunilou](#): > > 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.)… And (long) after that she was Spock’s mother. And he turned out so well balanced… ---
**Author:** ![Ranchoth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranchoth/32/1066_2.png) [@Ranchoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranchoth)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2011, 5:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worst-parents-in-tv-history/599192/83 "2011-10-12T05:44:59Z")
We’re…disqualifying anime, right? Even television anime, actually aired on TV in the United States, and in a non-scifi, non-fantasy, non-comedy real-world setting, right? :eek: 'cuz there _might_ be one or two real dooseys in the medium, I daresay. ---
**Author:** ![vivalostwages](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/d07c76/32.png) [@vivalostwages](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vivalostwages)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2011, 6:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worst-parents-in-tv-history/599192/84 "2011-10-12T06:19:00Z")
> [@Hello\_Again](#): > > I’m going to have to cast my vote for Betty Draper. > > Don’s no superdad but he seems to like his kids when it occurs to him to recall they exist. Betty, though she has a maid to do all the heavy lifting, seems to actively hate them. Agreed. I’m sure those kids are glad every time Betty goes out somewhere and leaves them behind. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2011, 11:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worst-parents-in-tv-history/599192/85 "2011-10-12T11:26:51Z")
I know it’s film but I want an excuse to post this speech about Dr Evil’s parents: > [@](#): > > The details of my life are quite inconsequential… very well, where do I begin? My father was a relentlessly self-improving boulangerie owner from Belgium with low grade narcolepsy and a penchant for buggery. My mother was a fifteen year old French prostitute named Chloe with webbed feet. My father would womanize, he would drink. He would make outrageous claims like he invented the question mark. Sometimes he would accuse chestnuts of being lazy. The sort of general malaise that only the genius possess and the insane lament. My childhood was typical. Summers in Rangoon, luge lessons. In the spring we’d make meat helmets. When I was insolent I was placed in a burlap bag and beaten with reeds- pretty standard really. At the age of twelve I received my first scribe. At the age of fourteen a Zoroastrian named Vilma ritualistically shaved my testicles. There really is nothing like a shorn scrotum… it’s breathtaking- I highly suggest you try it. ---
**Author:** ![JoelUpchurch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f05b48/32.png) [@JoelUpchurch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JoelUpchurch)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2011, 12:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worst-parents-in-tv-history/599192/86 "2011-10-12T12:28:32Z")
Surely **Bo Crowder** or **Mags Bennett** from **Justified** would take the cake as bad parents. ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2011, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worst-parents-in-tv-history/599192/87 "2011-10-12T13:52:44Z")
If I may switch to a different medium… has any mother ever raised two more selfish, clueless, screwed up kids than Joanie Caucus in “Doonesburry”? And yet Trudeau seems to think she’s the most mature, admirable regular in the strip! ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2011, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worst-parents-in-tv-history/599192/88 "2011-10-12T14:01:29Z")
Hey, don’t go dissing the Red Rascal! ---
**Author:** ![furryman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/furryman/32/99_2.png) [@furryman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furryman)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2011, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worst-parents-in-tv-history/599192/89 "2011-10-12T14:23:24Z")
> [@Gyrate](#): > > I know it’s film but I want an excuse to post this speech about Dr Evil’s parents: Hey, if you want to get really ridiculous, how about Dr. Doofensmirtz’s parents. His parents vanished the moment he was born , they turned him into a lawn gnome and probably a couple of other things I’m forgetting. ---
**Author:** ![Chilon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f0a364/32.png) [@Chilon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chilon)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2011, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worst-parents-in-tv-history/599192/90 "2011-10-12T15:24:06Z")
> [@Freudian\_Slit](#): > > But what about Livia Drusilla? I heard a snake bit her and died. > > She did try to have one of her sons killed, but he died of his own causes before then. And she got her stepdaughter banished to an island for nymphomania. Came here for the sole reason of mentioning Livia; truly the standard of which I judge all bad mothers on television by. Wicked woman. Not sure if she’s been mentioned already, but what about DeLonda (I believe that was her name) from _The Wire_? After all, this woman was completely willing to involve her son in the drug-dealing game so that she could continue to live in comfort/luxury. ---
**Author:** ![Sparky812](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/eb9ed0/32.png) [@Sparky812](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sparky812)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2011, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worst-parents-in-tv-history/599192/91 "2011-10-12T15:35:54Z")
> [@Xan](#): > > John Winchester from Supernatural. > [@Cat\_Whisperer](#): > > That was going to be my vote, too. “Hey, I’ve had a life of hell, living from day-to-day, doing unspeakable things and expecting to die young, so why don’t I raise my boys in the family tradition?” > > Although in all fairness, Winchesters have tried to get out of the hunter lifestyle, and in some ways, it was the safest thing to do for his boys, to raise them to be able to fend for themselves. Except it was their mother and family who were the hunters. John, Sam, and Dean only ended up living that lifestyle after her murder. Can’t believe no one has mentioned\* 2 and a Half Men\*? That kid is messed up for life! Oddly, I find the parenting skills on _Parenthood_ are pretty awful as well. Don’t forget Jon and Kate Gosselin, Octomom, or any of those beauty pageant parents, they’re sicker than any sit-com family count ever be. ---
**Author:** ![cmkeller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmkeller/32/118_2.png) [@cmkeller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmkeller)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2011, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worst-parents-in-tv-history/599192/92 "2011-10-12T15:45:15Z")
astorian: > [@](#): > > If I may switch to a different medium… has any mother ever raised two more selfish, clueless, screwed up kids than Joanie Caucus in “Doonesburry”? Not to mention the multiple kids she abandoned when she took off with Mike and Mark, JJ being the only one of whom that ever bothered to track her down and thus re-appear in the strip. ---
**Author:** ![Soylent\_Juicy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/82dd89/32.png) [@Soylent\_Juicy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Soylent_Juicy)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2011, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worst-parents-in-tv-history/599192/93 "2011-10-12T16:10:45Z")
Meredith Grey and Derek Sheppard on “Grey’s Anatomy.” McDreamy is already douchy and selfish, then he expected Meredith to give up her career to have a baby with him - thank goodness they couldn’t concieve - didn’t he blame her for that too? Meredith has no idea how to be a good parent, given that her own mother resented her, and Derek is just self-absorbed. So he convinces her that they should adopt this little orphan baby from Africa with Spina Bifida. Yeah, dumbass, just what an insanely busy intern and an in-demand neurosurgeon needs - a baby, much less a special-needs one. They can’t even hold their own fake marriage together. In the last episode the CAS (or CPS in the US?) took the kid away. Sheeeesh. All time worst parent: Franco on “Rescue Me.” He allowed the character played by Susan Sarandon (I forget her name) to KIDNAP his little girl and did absolutely nothing about it. Wow, what a loving and dedicated father! /sarcasm ---
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2011, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worst-parents-in-tv-history/599192/94 "2011-10-12T16:25:25Z")
93 posts in (I know, I hate when people do that too) and nobody has mentioned Walter and Skyler White of **Breaking Bad**? Walt cooks meth, pisses off very bad men, kills some folks, and has more secrets than Victoria. Skyler cheats on Walt, tries to scam the IRS, gets involved with money laundering, and is (sorta) responsible for her lover’s death. All this while being custodians of a disabled teen and an infant. mmm ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2011, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worst-parents-in-tv-history/599192/95 "2011-10-12T16:56:27Z")
> [@kunilou](#): > > 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.) > [@digs](#): > > And (long) after that she was Spock’s mother. And he turned out so well balanced… :dubious: I think you have your TV moms mixed up. June Lockhart didn’t play Spock’s mother. She was played by Jane Wyatt, previously from “Father Knows Best.” ---
**Author:** ![Hal\_Briston](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a9a28c/32.png) [@Hal\_Briston](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hal_Briston)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2011, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worst-parents-in-tv-history/599192/96 "2011-10-12T16:59:20Z")
Hands down, Max & Ruby’s parents. ---
**Author:** ![President\_Johnny\_Gentle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/5f9b8f/32.png) [@President\_Johnny\_Gentle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/President_Johnny_Gentle)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2011, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worst-parents-in-tv-history/599192/97 "2011-10-12T17:47:02Z")
Need to throw the Henricksons from “Big Love” into the discussions. Bill for sure, but all four have issues. Bill tries to escape the shadow of his polygamist fundamentalist Mormon upbringing by taking a second wife who is also the daughter of the compound leader who is Bill’s biggest enemy? Every single thing he ever tries to do for his family backfires. While he means well, rather than taking a logical legal route, he decides to use extralegal methods such as blackmail. Every. Single. Time. Nice role model for your kids there. ---
**Author:** ![Death\_of\_Rats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a6a055/32.png) [@Death\_of\_Rats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Death_of_Rats)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2011, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worst-parents-in-tv-history/599192/98 "2011-10-12T18:45:39Z")
> [@furryman](#): > > Hey, if you want to get really ridiculous, how about Dr. Doofensmirtz’s parents. His parents vanished the moment he was born , they turned him into a lawn gnome and probably a couple of other things I’m forgetting. Hey, his brother Roger became a highly successful and popular Mayor of Danville, so they weren’t \*all \*bad. Just to him. Because he sucked at kickball. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2011, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worst-parents-in-tv-history/599192/99 "2011-10-12T22:13:48Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > Malory Archer and whoever Sterling’s dad turns out to be. Oh, yeah. Utterly callous and insulting to her son, abandoned him repeatedly as a child, often lied to him about who his dad was, chronic alcoholic, etc. (BTW, last night I was watching _The Guns of Navarone_, which stars Gregory Peck as a handsome, dark-haired American superspy named… Mallory!) > [@Evil\_Captor](#): > > I specifically remember an episode of Jonny Quest… Benton said, “Jonny, you are Hadji…” Whoa! Talk about messing with the kid’s sense of identity! > [@Shalmanese](#): > > Livia Soprano FTW. Taking out a contract on your own son after a lifetime of pushing his guilt buttons is pretty hard to top. ---
**Author:** ![Pyper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Pyper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pyper)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2011, 3:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worst-parents-in-tv-history/599192/100 "2011-10-13T03:30:07Z")
> [@Hal\_Briston](#): > > Hands down, Max & Ruby’s parents. I’m not very familiar with the show- what did Max and Ruby’s parents do wrong besides raise two very annoying children? And if we’re going with children’s entertainment, how about Eloise’s parents, who seem to have abandoned her at a hotel? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worst-parents-in-tv-history/599192.md?page=4)