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Worst Parents in TV History

post #1 of 47
9/6/10 at 1:37pm
Thread Starter 
I will now take your nominees for the worst mother and the worst father in TV history. If this gets a response, we might have a run-off.

This was inspired by a recent debate by Sepinwall and Feinberg about who's worse: Livia Soprano, Betty Draper, or Nancy Botwin.
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post #2 of 47
9/6/10 at 1:51pm
Can I add another name?
De'Londa Brice from The Wire get's my vote. She is repulsive.
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post #3 of 47
9/6/10 at 1:53pm
Homer Simpson.
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post #4 of 47
9/6/10 at 1:54pm
If you did this knock-out round style, Livia tried to have her son killed. She knocks Betty right off the list.

DYFS probably would like a word with both the Munsters and Mr. and Mrs. Addams.
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post #5 of 47
9/6/10 at 1:56pm
Nancy Botwin doesn't measure up. She has shitty parenting skills but she definitely cares unlike, say, Livia or De'Londa. So do Betty and Homer.
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post #6 of 47
9/6/10 at 2:11pm
Livia and De'Londa are hard to top!
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post #7 of 47
9/6/10 at 2:52pm
Thread Starter 
Fuck, Mrs. Wee-Bay was the last one Sep and Berg talked about that I couldn't remember.
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post #8 of 47
9/6/10 at 2:53pm
Good for a ride, but little else. Unless you wanted to get a blow job inside your mother, I guess.
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post #9 of 47
9/6/10 at 2:58pm
Yeah, gotta go with De'Londa Brice. My skin crawls just thinking about that cunt.
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post #10 of 47
9/6/10 at 3:13pm
Man, I'm trying to think of a father who measures up to those two... Not easy.
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post #11 of 47
9/6/10 at 3:46pm
Kim Kelly's parents.

Homer doesn't count. He loves his kids. Milhouse's parents are much worse.

Becky's mom on FNL is pretty bad, but she looks worse next to great ones like the Taylor's and Mama Smash.
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post #12 of 47
9/6/10 at 3:49pm
Thread Starter 
In the annals of bad FNL parents, it begins and ends with Papa Riggins. Mr. McCoy's a giant shit-head, too.

Also, it's arguable about Livia, but of Mrs. Wee-Bay, Betty, and Nancy, Nancy's the only one who turned her son into a murderer.
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post #13 of 47
9/6/10 at 3:57pm
George and Lucile Bluth - Arrested Development
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post #14 of 47
9/6/10 at 4:19pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by SAIRUS View Post
George and Lucile Bluth - Arrested Development
Tobias and Lindsay are pretty bad too.
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post #15 of 47
9/6/10 at 4:22pm
The Keatons. Fucking hippies.
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post #16 of 47
9/6/10 at 4:25pm
Danny Tanner on Full House. Intentionally exposed his children to Dave Coulier and his "comedy." Textbook definition of child abuse.
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post #17 of 47
9/6/10 at 4:30pm
Meth-head mommy on Breaking Bad.
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post #18 of 47
9/6/10 at 4:35pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Cameron Hughes View Post
Tobias and Lindsay are pretty bad too.
Gob was definitely worse.
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post #19 of 47
9/6/10 at 4:37pm
Al and Peg Bundy. Not only did they fuck up their two kids, they misplaced their adopted kid seven for the rest of the series.
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post #20 of 47
9/6/10 at 4:38pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by FilmNerdJamie View Post
Gob was definitely worse.
Gob was a parent?
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post #21 of 47
9/6/10 at 4:42pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Cameron Hughes View Post
Gob was a parent?
Well he is the father of Steve Holt!
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post #22 of 47
9/6/10 at 4:42pm
Classic bad mom - Endora from Bewitched.
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post #23 of 47
9/6/10 at 4:42pm
Steve Holt!

Edit: Crap. Coombs beat me to it. If he was my dad and we were on T.V. I would nominate him.
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post #24 of 47
9/6/10 at 4:42pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Cameron Hughes View Post
Gob was a parent?
Not after he took his Forgetmenow.
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post #25 of 47
9/6/10 at 4:46pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Weasels Rip My Flesh View Post
Not after he took his Forgetmenow.
"I'll never forget this, Dad!"
"I will...*whispers*...I will..."
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post #26 of 47
9/6/10 at 4:49pm
Worst parents: Alma Garrett

Best parents? Mr Ellsworth
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post #27 of 47
9/6/10 at 6:23pm
Worf from Star Trek the Next Generation. Yes, he loved the little kid in his own gruff way but he could never relate and was quick to be fustrated with him. Surprising the kid never died on the show; it seemed at times like anybody who ever got close to Worf ended up dead. Alexander grew up on Deep Space Nine to be something of a disappointment in his old man's eyes.
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post #28 of 47
9/6/10 at 6:30pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by RathBandu View Post
Also, it's arguable about Livia, but of Mrs. Wee-Bay, Betty, and Nancy, Nancy's the only one who turned her son into a murderer.
Mrs. Wee-Bay was forcing her son into "the game" when it was painfully obvious that he wasn't gonna survive in that world. She was essentially marching him to his early death. I gotta think that's worse than turning your kid into a murderer.



*I don't watch "Weeds" so I don't know what happened, just going by what you folks are saying.
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post #29 of 47
9/6/10 at 8:40pm
Barney and Betty Rubble. They're raising an semi-literate, abusive psychopath and they think it's cute.
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post #30 of 47
9/6/10 at 9:03pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mike's Pants View Post
Can I add another name?
De'Londa Brice from The Wire get's my vote. She is repulsive.
Took the words right out of my month.
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post #31 of 47
9/6/10 at 9:05pm
Cartman's mom.

(and that not including that video from the movie).
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post #32 of 47
9/6/10 at 11:06pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Snaieke View Post
Al and Peg Bundy. Not only did they fuck up their two kids, they misplaced their adopted kid seven for the rest of the series.
Damn, beat me to it.
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post #33 of 47
9/6/10 at 11:32pm
Thaddeus Venture! He gets his kids killed on like a monthly basis.
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post #34 of 47
9/6/10 at 11:55pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by The_Bodhisattva View Post
Thaddeus Venture! He gets his kids killed on like a monthly basis.
This. I was just coming back to the thread to post this.
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post #35 of 47
9/7/10 at 12:29am
Harry Morgan, Dexter Morgan's father.
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post #36 of 47
9/7/10 at 12:39am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Cameron Hughes View Post
Kim Kelly's parents.
Re-watching F&G and Kim's mom isn't the worst parent out there; sub-par, probably, but just overmatched with her problem child. She tries.
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post #37 of 47
9/7/10 at 12:46am
Delonda Brice is certainly no prize parent, but what about Michael Lee's parents? No real father to speak of, mother is a junkie that sells the food out of their mouths and step-father sexually abuses him. That's pretty fucking bad. As bad as Delonda was, at least she let Namond go (once WeBay told her to).

Throw Dukie's onto the list as well.
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post #38 of 47
9/7/10 at 8:23am
Wolf(gang) West from Outrageous Fortune. because he undoubtedly loves his kids very much . . . and it still doesn't stop him from manipulating them, using them or completely leaving them behind in pursuit of his criminal lifestyle.
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post #39 of 47
9/7/10 at 8:39am
Al and Peg Bundy deserve an honorable mention, at the very least.
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post #40 of 47
9/7/10 at 9:10am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Waaaaaaaalt View Post
Harry Morgan, Dexter Morgan's father.
I dunno. Finding out your adopted three year-old son is a budding serial killer's a pretty tough one to crack. He clearly loved Dexter, and in terms of pure parenting he's made Dexter into a far better person than he would have been without his guiding hand.
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post #41 of 47
9/7/10 at 9:20am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Parker View Post
Delonda Brice is certainly no prize parent, but what about Michael Lee's parents? No real father to speak of, mother is a junkie that sells the food out of their mouths and step-father sexually abuses him. That's pretty fucking bad. As bad as Delonda was, at least she let Namond go (once WeBay told her to).

Throw Dukie's onto the list as well.
I was waiting for Parker's input. All those boys got a raw deal.
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post #42 of 47
9/7/10 at 10:24am
Mr. and Mrs. Robinson

Not only do they take their children on an experimental exploratory space mission, but these deadbeats let their boy hang out all day with the very creepy Dr. Smith.

If not for the robot (surrogate father?), who knows what happens to poor Will.
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post #43 of 47
9/7/10 at 10:29am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Parker View Post
Delonda Brice is certainly no prize parent, but what about Michael Lee's parents? No real father to speak of, mother is a junkie that sells the food out of their mouths and step-father sexually abuses him. That's pretty fucking bad. As bad as Delonda was, at least she let Namond go (once WeBay told her to).
Totally agree with Parker on this one. One son becomes a monster, and the other lost into the system, as a direct result of her selfish to the point of being evil behavior.
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post #44 of 47
9/7/10 at 12:23pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Andrew Merriweather View Post
I dunno. Finding out your adopted three year-old son is a budding serial killer's a pretty tough one to crack. He clearly loved Dexter, and in terms of pure parenting he's made Dexter into a far better person than he would have been without his guiding hand.
Harry Morgan's motivations were not entirely altruistic. He loved his son but was also grooming him to be his own personal Punisher.

Adding, from Lost: Locke's dad, Jack's dad, Kate's mom, Daniel's mom, Hurley's dad etc

And from The Shield, Shane Vendrell (SPOILER FOR FINAL EPISODE: family annihilation for the thread win!)
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post #45 of 47
9/7/10 at 12:29pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Evi View Post
Nancy Botwin doesn't measure up. She has shitty parenting skills but she definitely cares unlike, say, Livia or De'Londa.
Actually, the most fucked up thing is that De'Londa does care. But she is so deeply invested in a supremely fucked environment that she never even considers that her son would have any options outside of the Game. Within that context, she actually thinks that her "tough love" is the best way to see him succeed (in her own, horribly myopic, view of success).

That doesn't make her anywhere near a good parent, and it could be argued that she doesn't care about Namond's success for his own sake as much as because she needs someone to support her once the Barksdale money dries up. But in a way it's worse to think that she really does think she's helping.
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post #46 of 47
9/7/10 at 12:31pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Disciple_72 View Post
Harry Morgan's motivations were not entirely altruistic. He loved his son but was also grooming him to be his own personal Punisher.
I don't think so. Harry never seemed to "use" Dexter in that capacity.
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post #47 of 47
9/7/10 at 12:52pm
Have you see all the episodes? Remember that vicious pimp who gets off on a technicality, and Harry's reaction to this? Of course, later when he sees what Dexter does to the pimp, he's not too happy. Harry's a complex guy.
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