Television Actresses Who Best Represent Motherhood

Moms have been represented in so many ways throughout television history. June Cleaver stayed home in an apron in the 50s. Lucille Ball brought humor to motherhood in the 60s. Alice was a working mom in the 70s, and so were Claire Huxtable (the Cosby Show) and Elyse Keaton (Family Ties) in the 80s. But a few moms I've watched over the years have really brought truth to the real-life motherhood in which I find myself as a mom of four! Here are my picks for TV's Top Moms:

Carol Brady

Carol Brady (played by Florence Henderson) was a cool, hip mom with funky clothes, a permanent smile, and a sense of humor when it came to mothering her three girls and her three stepsons on the hit TV series The Brady Bunch in the 1970s. She was primarily a stay-at-home mom though she dabbled in sculpting, politics, and singing, so she taught us to always keep interests of our own even when overrun by kids! I loved Carol Brady because she was the sort of mom everyone always wished they had!

Murphy Brown

I absolutely loved Murphy Brown (played by Candice Bergen) in the 1980s because she represented the personification of what womens' rights had brought us: you can have a big-time career and still find happiness at home as a mother. A single mother, no less! I loved her because she was real- she couldn't keep a secretary for more than a week, and her best friend was her cool disheveled painter. She was funny, smart and fun to watch.

Marge Simpson

Look, I know, she's an animated mom on The Simpsons. But she has been a TV mom for over 20 years and I still think she's fantastic. She's funny, patient, loves her kids, gets exasperated by her often-dumb husband, and she doesn't take bull from anybody. I don't know where she finds the time to keep that fabulous blue updo, but Marge Simpson is a classic, beloved TV mom to generations of kids!

Lynette Scavo

Lynette Scavo (played by award-winning actress Felicity Huffman) is the mom I am sure most moms would agree is the most realistic mother from the popular hit tv series Desperate Housewives. She is hilariously funny, often doubts her abilities as a mother (like we all do), is a good friend, and above all, protects her kids. As a TV mom what I like best about her is her wardrobe- while the other characters on the show are wearing cleavage-baring tube tops, short-shorts and high heels, she's wearing sweat pants, t-shirts and flip flops- just like many of us real moms in the real world!

Nancy Botwin

Nancy Botwin on Weeds (played by Mary Louise Parker) is quite possibly the most amazing mother ever on TV. Showtime's award-winning series is as successful as it is because Nancy Botwin as a single mom who turns to marijuana industry for the cash she needs to raise her kids on her own after her husband's death. She's smart, funny, sexy, you name it. I have absolutely nothing in common with her in terms of my own life, but somehow every episode makes me feel connected to her. She is just a really cool tv mom!

So, from one mother of four in a small town in Maryland, there you have it....my picks for tv's best moms!