Happy Mother's Day Hollywood Moms!

All of us had Moms at some time or other;  Bad ones. Good ones. Working ones. Stay-at-home ones. Present ones. Absent ones. Tall ones. Short ones. Fat ones. Skinny ones. Rich ones. Poor ones.  

All our Moms were different. 

And yet most of us were also "raised" by some of the same Moms, in some way, shape or form.

Did you grow up with any of these Moms?

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Harriet Nelson along with musician hubby Ozzie and two sons, were regarded as the icon of the ideal nuclear family and were the only television couple allowed a double bed until 1969... way to go Harriet!

Sure she was a tad flighty... but Mrs. C was remarkably hospitable to the "Fonz", an adult man with no job hanging out with teenagers.

In her high heels and pearls, June Cleaver still managed to keep an impeccable house and to keep Ward from being too hard on the Beav.

Lily Munster didn't bother cleaning up cobwebs, but she was a true "sandwich generation" caring for an aging father while still mothering young son, Eddie and taking in their strange niece ("one of these things is not like the other, one of these things just doesn't belong").

It was a wonder Samantha & Derwood Stevens allowed meddling mamma Endora to ever come around... even on Mother's Day!!!

Musical mamma, Shirley found time to raise five kids while riding around in a psychedelic bus as the lead singer for The Partridge Family.

Hard-working and feisty, Florida Evans managed to kick some "Dy-no-mite" J.J. and Janet Jackson butt.

Caroline Ingalls was good old-fashioned common sense. Who didn't dream about having a stable and oh-so-sensible Ma & Pa of their own?

G'night Olivia Walton. G'night John Boy.  'Nuff said.

OK... so maybe they don't stick out in the TV landscape of most memorable Moms... but raising kids in the stone age couldn't have been easy.

Probably not the most likable Mom on TV, but single-parenting a troubled speed addict and the future Mrs. Eddie Van Halen all by yourself would make anyone a little cranky.

How did she manage 3 wily daughters and 3 mischievous step-sons sharing a single bathroom, a busy husband, a fairly large house, dog Tiger, Kitty Carryall, and music group The Silver Platters?  Oh yeah... she had a full-time servant!!!

Edith gets the award of "Best Mediating Mother" it was no small feat keeping the peace between Archie, Gloria and Meathead.

Elyse Keaton cooked meals for her brood while looking over blueprints in the kitchen... (and who did Tina Yonkers look like anyway?  Was she the milkman's???)

Crass, blue collar, loud, overweight, overbearing, crabby: Rosanne, the quintessential American Mother???

Attorney Mom Claire Huxtable was able to keep a stern look on her face while bumbling yet wise Cliff joked, rolled his eyes, and pursed his lips through many parenting moments making everyone but her laugh.

Eating disorders, teen pregnancies, homosexuality, sibling rivalry, cutting, dropouts, back talk, abuse: Preacher's wife Annie Camden's family sure had its hands full of "real life" drama.

She's married to Homer (DOH!) and is mother Bart... she makes the Mom hall of fame just for that.

If your mom was as helpful, involved and encouraging (Not!) as Marie Barone, would you live next door?... Or even in the next STATE?!?!

Um... 

They're sure not Harriet, June, Carol, or Claire... 

but they sure are...

Well, 

let's just leave it at that:

They're sure not Harriet, June, Carol, or Claire!

TV Moms, you kept us company late at night when we were babysitting or when we were home sick or even on restriction (if we were allowed to watch TV).
We watched you on one of our 13 channels.
We fought our brothers over whether to watch you, Starsky and Hutch, or CHIPS.
We moved around bunny ears to tune you in without static.

You yelled and slammed.
You weeped and laughed.
You were bad influences and good influences.
You dispensed advice and offered comforting speeches.
You solved all our life problems in 23 minutes plus commercials.
You made us laugh and made us cry.

Thanks for years of entertainment!

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY HOLLYWOOD MOMS!