Lois on Malcolm in the Middle has been mentioned, but her mother, Ida (played by Cloris Leachman on several episodes), was twenty times worse. Lois had anger management problems and her stress level was always at the ‘about to blow’ level (money problems, four hyperactive sons, a goof-off husband, a shitty McJob, etc.) which I’d allow as extenuating circumstances (not enough to drop charges but to plea bargain), but Ida was boiled down evil: a lying, conniving, amoral, racist [to the point of neo-Nazi], remorseless bitch from Hell who drugged a man into marrying her, pretended to a copy she was being abused by her grandson (it was actually the reverse), refused to learn the baby’s name “til you know if he’s going to make it”, and implied she’d done much worse in the past.
For those who watch Shameless on Showtime, Frank Gallagher (William H. Macy), who is easily without compare or any danger of being overtaken the worst father ever to be a main character on a TV show, has probably the worst mother in TV history (Louise Fletcher), an 80 year old violent meth maker who’s responsible for several deaths. Upon being released from prison attempted to kidnap the kids of a former business partner who snitched on her.
ETA: Sorry- didn’t notice SykoSkotty had already mentioned her. Frank’s estranged wife/mother of his 6 children on the show si pretty awful as well; she’s not evil in the abusive sense but in the drug addled selfish flakey neglectful sense. She abandoned all 5 of her younger kids (the youngest a newborn) to the care of her oldest, Fiona (Emily Rossum), which pretty much damns any chance Fiona had at a life. Later she showed up with her butch truckdriver lesbian lover to take back her biracial youngest child, but that didn’t last for an odd reason.
I always consoled myself with the belief that good ol’ Richard was secretly shagging Elizabeth from next door absolutely fucking ROTTEN each & every mollyfocking time Hyacinth got a call from Sheraton…
I’d hve to counter that she cheated on Frasier and drove him to near suicide - something none of the others on this thread managed in their respective worlds..
Seconded by Marie Barone - it’s a wonder Deb did not take an axe to teh entire family.
Wow. Carrie on King of Queens is bar-none one of the sexiest women on TV (looks wise any way) ever. Pre-pregnancy that is. She never got back to her old figure after she had that baby but jesus she was hot.
I thought Deb Barone was also very cute before she dropped to like 45lbs.
Bitchiest wife ever on TV? Yeah, it was Deb Barone.
Debra is totally out of the running. She was the only “normal” adult character in the show, and she had to deal with all of the Barones . . . including Marie, who wins this thread.
Question - would poor parenting CAUSE borderline personality disorder? I can see anxiety, depression, poor self esteem, but borderline is major stuff compared to that.
I would mention, just for the sake of inclusion, Lynette’s mother (on Desperate Housewives). And Bree is the way she is because of her mother (played by Carol Burnett).
Exactly. Whatever level of “bitchiness” she attained is wholly due to a coward of a husband and a passive-agressive nightmare of a neighbor/MIL. Ray is so thoroughly detestable as a doormat and spineless momma’s boy, that it’s a minor miracle that all Debra was guilty of was yelling and the periodic mistake, instead of smothering her spouse in his sleep.
It has to be Peggy Bundy. That whole show was written as an anti-sitcom, where the family doesn’t get together for group hugs and discord isn’t resolved at the end of each episode. Most other sitcom wives are supposed to be critical but with a heart of gold type of thing. Peggy just wants a heart of gold so she can sell it.
I would also throw in Peggy Hill from King of the Hill into the mix, as she gets away with a lot of crap as well due to her status as a cartoon
Research is still being conducted, but our best guess right now is that BPD is the end result of severely disrupted attachment in early childhood, coupled with a genetic predisposition towards development of the disorder. PM me for peer-reviewed cites if you’re interested. Making an inexpert guess though, I’d say no—having a Refrigerator Mom in and of itself is unlikely to do the trick. The literature suggests that it would have to be coupled with fairly heavy-duty physical abuse. However, the Draper kids will almost certainly have difficulty as adults maintaining nurturing, reciprocal relationships with opposite-sex partners.
Bullshit. If you don’t have your wife’s back and stand by her as a united front, then you’re just enabling tension and discord through your passivity. Being married means you aren’t impartial in those disputes–unless you’re a spineless coward (Exhibit A: Ray Barone)
I always hated Mrs.Huxtable on The Cosby Show, what a demeaning ice queen bitch!
Do we ever once see her showing genuine emotion to her husband or her own children? No she always has this smug look on her face, she manipulates and uses Cliff to teach the kids lessons instead of you know just talking to them like a parent.
She treated her highly respected OBGYN husband like a retarded child, constantly scolding him about everything he ate(or tried to) I mean the guy has just been on a fucking long stressful shift at the hospital so he grabs a pizza or whatever on the way home and the second he is in the door and tries to eat it you hear “CLIIIIIIIIIF that better not be a pizza I smell” and his face would drop with dissapointment.
I wish the final episode had Cliff say yes that IS a pizza you smell bitch as he fired the shotgun.
My dream ending for Married With Children was for Al to go on a rampage, murder the rest of the family with an ax, and then be acquitted by a jury of twelve shoe salesmen.
My mother was toxic, very demanding and cold hearted. Many people (who have seen passed her lovely old lady façade are amazed at how normal I am. I’m not sure how normal I compare to anyone else, I do suffer from stress, anxiety, depression and seem to catch every cold, flu or virus that comes within 100 miles of me. Oh and I’m single, never married, no kids can’t maintain a proper adult relationship.
Anyways, I’m “hypersensitive” to nasty characters on TV, Bree from DH is one toxic wife/mother - remember the episode where her husband had a heart attack and she stopped to tidy the house before she called an ambulance?
Lois from MitM, isn’t too bad, as someone else pointed out, she has a horrible job and four insane sons and her husband seems to be a dick.
Lwaxana Troi from ST:TNG reminded me of my mother, all haughty attitude, infantising her adult daughter, has to be the centre of attention at all times…
