Well tomorrow, or today depending when you read this, is Mother’s Day. I went over sitcom episodes for New Year’s and Valentines so it’s only fair to give this a shot. The difference here is that while sitcoms will do Mother’s Day episode, they aren’t as commons as the others. So I had to stretch the criteria tad for a couple of these. But no SNL, yes I know they do Mother’s Day every year but that’s not a sitcom people!!
Course Mother’s day is not as easy to do an episode as it for the other big holiday’s. But I’m still surprised there aren’t more out there. Here are ten examples I did find, and not in any specific order. If I missed one let me know.
The Golden Girls, “Mothers Day”
Is it possible that this was the first Mothers Day episode anyone did? Because I can’t find one that’s older. This is another episode of vignettes as the ladies each tell different Mother’s Day stories. But unlike the Valentine’s day episode, where every segment was setting up a lame joke, here we get some real sweet scenes. Dorothy asking Stan’s mother for money, Rose helping out a sweet old lady.
Blanche finding out her mother isn’t all gone just yet, and my favorite is the last one where Sophia recounts when her mother moved in with them. Her mother played by Bea Arthur, giving her the chance to be the cranky old lady for once.
Roseanne, “Scenes from a barbecue”
This may be an odd comment to make on a show applauded for its realism, but this episode feels so authentic! What;s it about? The Connor’s have a barbecue on Mother’s Day. Yeah that’s the plot. The episode is littered with character moments and cute scenes culminating with the sing along at the end. One of my favorite Roseanne episodes and one of the first with Shelley Winters (before they made her character stupid),
Mad About You, “Mother’s Day”
Sigh, the later years. These episode are so hard to give praise to, but here we go. It’s Jamie’s first Mother’s Day and Sylvia is all upset that Jamie is getting all the attention. Even though Sylvia has a million Mother’s Days (which she even herself says). She finally goes so far as to fake an injury for get attention. There is a sweet scene between and Jamie toward the end.
Full House, “A Date with Fate”
Lets ignore the A story and focus on the B story. Which is so minor episode guides don’t even mention it. Jesse plans a big Mother’s Day surprise with the boys, but the boys do it the night before. And since we need a dilemma, Jesse is a jerk about it for some reason. Here is the scene:
Home Improvement, “To Build or Not to Build”
I love how this is one of the best Mother’s Day episodes out there, and not one list mentions it. As I said before, people to remember hat TV existed before 1998 right? Anyway, Tim surprises Jill with dinner (I love how he didn’t forget special occasions like husbands on other shows) and the kids decide to make their own Mother’s Day gifts for a change. The problem is that Randy isn’t much of a builder.
The Nanny, “I Don’t Remember Mama”
This is a surprisingly sweet episode. I’m surprised sitcoms surrounding the premise that a parent has died don’t do more episodes like this. It involves the kids remembering their mother on Mother’s Day…and how they don’t. Especially Gracie doesn’t so much her, she can’t remember her. Things get a shaken up when Gracie wants to enter a Mother’s Day pageant with Fran. I’ve only seen this twice before, on Full House when they remembered Pam and the pilot of The Brady Bunch when Mike told Bobby it was ok to remember his mother (who of course never came up again ever).
Everybody Loves Raymond, “Mother’s Day”
Yeah, this is not my favorite episode as you may know. It was the start of an arc where Marie and Debra hate each other. See my episode guide for more.
The Mommies, “Mommies Day”
Show of hands, who remembers this series? Marilyn Kentx and Caryl Kristsensen spun their stand off into a situation comedy. Not sure why NBC though that would work in the early 90’s (wink, wink). The show was harmless but a little to light. In fact they had to bring in Julia Duffy and Jere Burns to liven it up a bit. The Mother’s Day episode was a highlight because all the mother’s were former TV mom’s. Florence Henderson, Barbara Billingsley, Audra Lindley and June Lockhart. The show barely lasted two years and I could barely find a photo for it.
Modern Family, “Mother’s Day”
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Yeah when I have to close with two shows I didn’t like you know I had trouble finding examples. This episode involves Claire and Gloria wanting to spend a nice Mother’s Day hiking with the kids. But that doesn’t really work out that well. Also Phil and Jay stay home to cook a nice dinner which gets, weird.
The Middle, “Mother’s Day”
And finally, another one I never ever saw but it would be unfair to not mention it. They did Mother’s Day episodes a lot, and one of the best is probably the first about Frankie not liking the gifts she receives (I guess she saw that Cosby Show about Father’s Day) and goes to visit her mom the next day. I don’t mean to sound unfair to either of these shows, they had long healthy runs and I am sure these episodes are good.
HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY! I leave you with this little gem:
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