They Suck: Worst TV Parents

[Affogato]

On 12/7/2019 at 9:37 PM, Calvada said:

Veronica Mars - Big Dick Casablancas, Jake Kane, Celeste Kane, Woody Goodman, and Aaron Echolls were the worst in so many different ways.  Thank goodness Veronica had Keith, an all-time good dad.

Sometimes I think no one watched the show. 
 

Veronica’s mother was alcoholic and codependent. Keith was neglectful and enabling. It is fairly obvious that Veronica parented Liane from a young age (and kept the family together by covering up Lianes drinking) and when Keith had her Keith farmed his parental duties out to his deputies, who taught her felonies and poker. When Liane vamoosed and Keith lost his job he continued to be absent and Mars Investigations would not have gotten off the ground except that Veronica set it up and worked it. Which she did so he would have a reason to stay home and parent her.
 

Veronica is telling the story and in her story he is the good parent, dammit, but that doesn’t mean he actually is a good parent. Her codependent need and years of neglect inform the ay she tries to make him look. She is as traumatized as Logan, she just reacts differently. 
 

note that I like Keith and he is a lot like Veronica, but without the trauma, I think  I think the show is about how people get trapped by or escape the sins of their parents.

Wallace is probably a good parent and teacher. 
 

 

Edited June 10 by Affogato

[Affogato]

On 2/20/2020 at 2:24 PM, proserpina65 said:

But I wouldn't necessarily want to watch that on tv, not if it resulted in a character like Marie.  And I wouldn't have wanted her for a mother or grandmother when I was a child.

No it is classic narcissist. Raymond was her golden child and her other son her scapegoat, but both felt her toxicity. As did everyone. A terrible woman, really. 

[kathyk2]

Mulder's parents from the X-Files are the worst. His Mom  cheats on her husband with the Cigarette Smoking Man. His Dad allows Samantha to be taken by aliens. He allows Fox to feel guilty for something that wasn't his fault. The Cigarette smoking man is evil for allowing his son Jeffrey to be tortured.

[Dimity]

14 hours ago, Affogato said:

No it is classic narcissist. Raymond was her golden child and her other son her scapegoat, but both felt her toxicity. As did everyone. A terrible woman, really. 

I know Marie gets a lot of flak, and deservedly so, for her uneven mothering with Ray and Robert but honestly, Frank was a pretty terrible father too.  I know a lot of this was playing for laughs but if Marie was portrayed as either smothering or neglectful (depending on which son we're talking about) Frank was portrayed as generally indifferent and, often downright cruel, to both sons.

[Ohiopirate02]

56 minutes ago, Dimity said:

I know Marie gets a lot of flak, and deservedly so, for her uneven mothering with Ray and Robert but honestly, Frank was a pretty terrible father too.  I know a lot of this was playing for laughs but if Marie was portrayed as either smothering or neglectful (depending on which son we're talking about) Frank was portrayed as generally indifferent and, often downright cruel, to both sons.

Frank also just let Marie do whatever the hell she wanted without thinking about their sons.  From lying about Robert's birthday to cover up their premarital sex to allowing Marie to keep Raymond in preschool for an extra year because she was not ready to send him off to kindergarten just yet.  

[Dimity]

3 hours ago, Ohiopirate02 said:

Frank also just let Marie do whatever the hell she wanted without thinking about their sons. 

In some ways I see this more as a nod to what some fathers were like in the 60s and 70s, where raising kids was Mom's job.  He didn't interfere because he either didn't care or because he figured it was up to her, oh, and he didn't care.

I remember there were a few episodes where we meet people Frank knew who didn't realize he had sons.  Some because Frank specifically said he had daughters and others because he never told them he had any kids at all.  I guess the writers thought this was funny but I wonder what it was supposed to say about Frank.

[Ohiopirate02]

34 minutes ago, Dimity said:

In some ways I see this more as a nod to what some fathers were like in the 60s and 70s, where raising kids was Mom's job.  He didn't interfere because he either didn't care or because he figured it was up to her, oh, and he didn't care.

I remember there were a few episodes where we meet people Frank knew who didn't realize he had sons.  Some because Frank specifically said he had daughters and others because he never told them he had any kids at all.  I guess the writers thought this was funny but I wonder what it was supposed to say about Frank.

So much of Frank and Marie's bad parenting was played for a laugh.  I still can't get over the ways Robert tortured Ray without any reprecussions.  I know it was some "boys will be boys" bullshit, but Robert set out to seriously injure Ray on more than one occasion.  Marie kicks Frank out of the house (for good reason), Robert figures out the only way to fix his parents' broken marriage is to tamper with Ray's bike resulting in Ray breaking his arm.  I also recall a conversation between the brothers where Ray was listing all the places he almost drowned and all but one was due to Robert.  

[Cloud9Shopper]

Are we allowed to mention reality show parents in this thread? I’ve been watching Wife Swap on Hulu and have two nominees from S1:l

-The parents who used a “whacker” (leather strap) to spank their kids and homeschooled them and didn’t ever let them watch TV or have any snacks; just didn’t let them be normal kids even a little. 

-The Baptist Christian parents who made their daughter do all the chores because “women belong in the kitchen” and made their kids write Bible verses as punishment. This show had a lot of crazy religious families, but these people took the cake in the early days of the show. (Can’t wait to get the born again Christians I think in S3 or S4 who were proud of “indoctrinating” their kids.)

For fictional shows, I’ll throw in Maddie and Buck’s parents in 9-1-1, if only because their mother putting on an appalled act that Maddie didn’t inform them that her POS husband died was a weird flex. 

[Shrek]

4 hours ago, Cloud9Shopper said:

Are we allowed to mention reality show parents in this thread? I’ve been watching Wife Swap on Hulu and have two nominees from S1:l

-The parents who used a “whacker” (leather strap) to spank their kids and homeschooled them and didn’t ever let them watch TV or have any snacks; just didn’t let them be normal kids even a little. 

-The Baptist Christian parents who made their daughter do all the chores because “women belong in the kitchen” and made their kids write Bible verses as punishment. This show had a lot of crazy religious families, but these people took the cake in the early days of the show. (Can’t wait to get the born again Christians I think in S3 or S4 who were proud of “indoctrinating” their kids.)

For fictional shows, I’ll throw in Maddie and Buck’s parents in 9-1-1, if only because their mother putting on an appalled act that Maddie didn’t inform them that her POS husband died was a weird flex. 

There were a lot of awful parents in that show, even stranger than most of the "celebrity" wife swap parents. Some were just sadistic & abusive and should have had CPS called on them rather than being on a reality tv show. No surprise that the so called christian parents were the worst of a generally bad bunch.

[Blergh]

16 minutes ago, Shrek said:

There were a lot of awful parents in that show, even stranger than most of the "celebrity" wife swap parents. Some were just sadistic & abusive and should have had CPS called on them rather than being on a reality tv show. No surprise that the so called christian parents were the worst of a generally bad bunch.

I can also think of quite a few sets of so-called parents in Intervention who should have had CPS called on them instead of having their dirty laundry spread out for the world to see but not even the slightest attempt to claim to have tried to get their minor offspring OUT of some abusive to the point of being downrightly nightmarish and harrowing. In some cases, they DID blur the poor kids' faces - like THAT was supposed to have been a permanent shield if not guarantor of anonymity [as if no one they'd ever met wouldn't have put together WHO they were via their DNA Donors wretched faces being shown].   THAT more than anything compelled me to quit watching that horrid spectacle altogether. .

[anna0852]

6 hours ago, Cloud9Shopper said:

For fictional shows, I’ll throw in Maddie and Buck’s parents in 9-1-1, if only because their mother putting on an appalled act that Maddie didn’t inform them that her POS husband died was a weird flex. 

Oh, those parents are just the worst! Not just the mom acting all shocked that Maddie’s husband was dead, but the whole thing where they only had Buck as a savior sibling. The transplant didn’t work, the sick sibling died and they kept the whole thing a secret from him while also being emotionally absent his entire childhood. The fact the Buck is even slightly functional is a freaking miracle!

[tearknee]

Judith Barsi's filmography (not just her real paternal parent) is full of bad parents or guardians or indeed, situations for her characters. From Fatal Vision to All Dogs Go to Heaven.

[Palimelon]

Doesn't at least one person on a JJ Abrams show or movie have some kind of daddy issues?

[Blergh]

1 hour ago, Palimelon said:

Doesn't at least one person on a JJ Abrams show or movie have some kind of daddy issues?

Possibly but one might question if those who keep watching Mr. Abrams's shows and movies despite his  taunting contempt for the viewers might possibly be gluttons for punishment.

[tearknee]

Judith Barsi's filmography includes:

Kimberley (murdered by her dad).

Bertie (frozen in time and will die with the rest of her city in a Soviet nuclear attack if time is unfrozen).

Anna (orphan Punky Brewster meets at Fenster Hall).

Lindsay (screamed towards at full volume by her grieving father after her mom dies).

Shauna (abused).

Thea (almost killed because her father fails to warn his family about the shark).

Debbie (terminally ill and used as a helpless and unwilling pawn by both parents in their personal battle).

Ducky (forced to travel to the Great Valley, often in precarious situations).

Billie (has to process her grief at losing a sibling).

Anne-Marie (orphan and seen - and used - as a tool for personal and monetary gain).

Edited August 24 by tearknee

[Spartan Girl]

1 hour ago, tearknee said:

 

Debbie (terminally ill and used as a helpless and unwilling pawn by both parents in their personal battle).

Yes, from St. Elsewhere. Pretty sure I brought up those parents on this thread, but hell, they deserve to be on it again! I really hated how that episode had a non-ending for poor little Debbie, in which the asshole parents get to yell at the doctor for trying to make them see the light about their treatment of their daughter and presumably keep fighting until that poor girl finally succumbed to death. Though I can’t help wondering if part of her was happy to die just to get away from them.

[tearknee]

13 hours ago, Spartan Girl said:

Yes, from St. Elsewhere. Pretty sure I brought up those parents on this thread, but hell, they deserve to be on it again! I really hated how that episode had a non-ending for poor little Debbie, in which the asshole parents get to yell at the doctor for trying to make them see the light about their treatment of their daughter and presumably keep fighting until that poor girl finally succumbed to death. Though I can’t help wondering if part of her was happy to die just to get away from them.

Judith likely felt the same way about both her parents in RL as Maria had forced her to "go Hollywood" and then wouldn't let her leave. 

[EtheltoTillie]

On 7/13/2024 at 8:26 AM, Cloud9Shopper said:

Are we allowed to mention reality show parents in this thread? I’ve been watching Wife Swap on Hulu and have two nominees from S1:l

-The parents who used a “whacker” (leather strap) to spank their kids and homeschooled them and didn’t ever let them watch TV or have any snacks; just didn’t let them be normal kids even a little. 

-The Baptist Christian parents who made their daughter do all the chores because “women belong in the kitchen” and made their kids write Bible verses as punishment. This show had a lot of crazy religious families, but these people took the cake in the early days of the show. (Can’t wait to get the born again Christians I think in S3 or S4 who were proud of “indoctrinating” their kids.)

For fictional shows, I’ll throw in Maddie and Buck’s parents in 9-1-1, if only because their mother putting on an appalled act that Maddie didn’t inform them that her POS husband died was a weird flex. 

This is shocking!  I never watched this version of Wife Swap--only the celebrity version.  My all time fave was Gilbert Gotfried and Alan Thicke. 

[Haleth]

 

On 7/13/2024 at 8:26 AM, Cloud9Shopper said:

Are we allowed to mention reality show parents in this thread? I’ve been watching Wife Swap on Hulu and have two nominees from S1:l

I only watched one epi of Wife Swap because my cousin’s daughter and SIL were on it. Fortunately that was neither episode you mentioned. 

[tearknee]

On 8/25/2024 at 10:38 AM, Spartan Girl said:

Yes, from St. Elsewhere. Pretty sure I brought up those parents on this thread, but hell, they deserve to be on it again! I really hated how that episode had a non-ending for poor little Debbie, in which the asshole parents get to yell at the doctor for trying to make them see the light about their treatment of their daughter and presumably keep fighting until that poor girl finally succumbed to death. Though I can’t help wondering if part of her was happy to die just to get away from them.

Jealous of the attention his daughter was getting at her own eighth birthday party in June 1986 - Jozsef Barsi took one of Judith's new birthday presents--a kite--and despite Judith telling him to give it back as he might break it--he responded by breaking it to pieces right then and there in front of Judith, sone of her guests and their parents, leaving her crying and devastated.

[tearknee]

It's a shame the attempted Punky Brewster revival didn't at least reference a happy ending for Barsi's guest character Anna from PB: TOS. Hopefully a possible canonical revisit to Remington Steele can do it for Laurie Beth.

[EtheltoTillie]

Brand new entry from brand new show:  Audrey, the mom on Georgie and Mandy's First Marriage, is a horrible witch.  Sorry, that's insulting to witches. 

[Spartan Girl]

13 hours ago, EtheltoTillie said:

Brand new entry from brand new show:  Audrey, the mom on Georgie and Mandy's First Marriage, is a horrible witch.  Sorry, that's insulting to witches. 

And sadly, Mandy is well on her way to continuing the cycle with CeCe.

[proserpina65]

On 10/19/2024 at 7:11 AM, Spartan Girl said:

And sadly, Mandy is well on her way to continuing the cycle with CeCe.

I haven't seen any evidence of that.

[Spartan Girl]

19 minutes ago, proserpina65 said:

I haven't seen any evidence of that.

Maybe it’s just how Mandy comes off as bitchy at times, at least she was on Young Sheldon. In any case, I can see the writing on the wall.

[Dimity]

4 minutes ago, Spartan Girl said:

Maybe it’s just how Mandy comes off as bitchy at times, at least she was on Young Sheldon. In any case, I can see the writing on the wall.

It's a Chuck Lorre show.  Downtrodden Marvin Milquetoast men who are dominated by bitchy,  emasculating women are a staple.  In a show like Georgie and Mandy where there are (so far) only two women I really hope they don't turn Mandy it's her mother's mini-me.  But I agree with you, based on her behavior on Young Sheldon I'm not optimistic.

[proserpina65]

On 10/23/2024 at 1:46 PM, Spartan Girl said:

Maybe it’s just how Mandy comes off as bitchy at times, at least she was on Young Sheldon. In any case, I can see the writing on the wall.

I thought she was fine on YS.  The times she was bitchy, it was well-deserved by the person to whom she was being bitchy.

[Featherhat]

On 6/10/2024 at 4:20 AM, kathyk2 said:

Mulder's parents from the X-Files are the worst. His Mom  cheats on her husband with the Cigarette Smoking Man. His Dad allows Samantha to be taken by aliens. He allows Fox to feel guilty for something that wasn't his fault. The Cigarette smoking man is evil for allowing his son Jeffrey to be tortured.

It took me a rewatch to realise it but Mulder's parents knew Samantha was going to be taken that Thanksgiving and went out to a party, leaving the kids alone together. Maybe it was to give themselves an alibi, maybe it was because they couldn't bare to deal with what was going to happen but they dropped all the guilt on their 12 year old son. They never explained what happened and let him go his whole life blaming himself. And he was also old enough that there would be rumours in their small island community that he killed his own sister and his parents covered it up. Obviously CSM was the worst but all of his parents were monsters to him.