I have to say, that I think Monica from * Friends * is a real contender and that I actually thought of her first, but that Rosanne may edge her out just in sheer unbearableness.
I agree about Hyacinth – but in a later episode of *Waiting for God * they ( Tom and Diana ) get married and I can’t for the life of me imagine what could have possesed Tom to marry such an old bitch as Diana. I’ll admit that I don’t remember if she’d mellowed by that point.
Well, crud. I guess I missed “sitcom” in the thread title. Um, The Sopranos has funny parts, right?!
…right?
Excuse me while I go kick this rock…
The Psychiatrist.
Wanted, home for one large, savage rodent. Answers to the name Sybil
Peggy Hill is self righteous, self centered, delusional, and manipulative.
As much as I like most of the series, if the episode turns out to feature her, I turn it off.
Lucy Ricardo was pretty annoying.
The worst, most evil mother in a sitcom definitely had to be - Carol Brady! That scheming shrew goaded some poor, misbeguided closet case into marrying her, solely to appease her “Martha Stewart”-like obsession for having a perfectly orderly, symmetrically correct family (three brunette sons for her three blonde daughters). She ignored her own daughter’s burgeoning psychoses (Marsha was a narcissist, Jan heard voices in her head, and Cindy was subject to infantilism). She dated her own stepson! She hired a maid to do all the household chores - including acting like a surrogate mother - when she obviously had time on her hands. Good God, this woman didn’t even notice when, on an extended beach-house vacation, that her own daughter Jan had disappeared to be replaced by a not-too-identical doppleganger! That’s massive child neglect IMO.
Errrr, that woman is despicable!
Honorable mention for Gladys Kravitz from “Bewitched”, who was not a mom, thankfully, but was one shrewish wife. Why Abner never spiked her mysterious “medicine” with arsenic I could never understand.
I think you are saying this because youhave not been invited to one of her candlelight suppers, complete with Royal Dolton china.
Ross’s ex-wife on “Friends”. I can not stand that damn mean-faced, hateful bitch. I can’t think of her name right now, but I was delighted beyond words that they wrote her off the show. She treated him like dirt, and you could tell she got a kick out of being like that. (The actress playing her part is really good at that sort of thing… 
)
She may not count, since she was already an ex- when the show started.
And also, I despised George’s wife (who thankfully died) on Seinfeld. While he was the worst imaginable husband ever, she was the most dominating, overpowering wife on television I can think of. Although, the shows when they were married, were extremely funny.
Still glad she licked those envelopes, though.
Well, technically, Susan doesn’t count since they were never married. She died licking their wedding invitations.
I think George’s mother Estelle would get my vote. She was quite the shrew.
Marie Barone from Raymond reminds me so much of my own MIL I can hardly watch that show.
Not really a sitcom but;
Mrs. Bishop from As Told by Giner
The role of Carol Willick (who’s also the mother of Ross’s son Ben) is played by Jane Sibbett.
Sophia Petrillo was pretty nasty. But not hateful. I want to be Sophia when I get old.
What about Alice Cramden? She had a smart mouth on her!
You’re right! I always think she died licking the thank you card envelopes! I always messed it up because they either lived together or spent all their time up each other’s ass. She’s still a bitch, though…
And yeah, I was going to say Estelle, first, but she was more the screaming nightmare mother from Hell than the wife, in my view. She and the dad were a match made in heaven for horror-couples.
Yes. That’s why she’s funny.
A character with terrible flaws often makes for good entertainment, especially in comedy. I don’t understand why people can’t stand watching a character they wouldn’t have as a friend.
They were divorced in Unhappily Ever After, but when he found out she was pregnant with thier third child, he moved back in to be with his kids.
Yes, I watched that show. Buy to my defence it was to see Nikki Cox. I mean, I even watched her show.
Also, the kid who played the youngest child on Unhappily was the same guy who plays Reese on Malcolm. Guess he’s got a thing for bitchy moms.
Amen to that. I would have watched the show had she not been in it.
Also, I agree with others in that I can’t watch Raymond because his wife–despite being wonderfully hot–is just so annoying. And unhappy.
What about the old crone in the Golden Girls (Bea Arthur’s mother)? She was bloody annoying, if nothing else.
Errr, which episode was that?
All these mentions of Roseanne and none of her TV mother, ** Beverly Harris**. At least with Roseanne you knew you were dealing with a bitch. Bev was passive/aggressive, always telling people nasty things in a nice way and for their own good.
She was played to perfection by Estelle Parsons, who won an Oscar for her role as Blanche in “Bonnie & Clyde.”
Ray’s parents can’t win. They’re just George’s parents but less funny.
I can’t go past Cybil and Basil Fawlty. They’re each equally evil.
Jeff, it actually pains me to watch Peggy Hill, because I know or are related to people very much like how she is written.
Some find it funny. I don’t. I find it repulsive.
ymmv ;j