With Mother’s Day just around the corner, The River celebrates the best Mums on TV.


Hollie Wilson


It’s pretty much in their job description to nag you to clean up your room, not put your shoes on the sofa and do your homework. However, the TV Mum has even more to do than that, they have to deal with: lazy husbands, sarcastic children, botox, fake tan and so much more. In fact, maybe you should remind your Mum that she has it easy compared to this lot. So, who does it best? Who are the best TV Mums?


The Best Cartoon Mum Award goes to… Marge Simpson.


Name: Marge Simpson


TV programme: The Simpsons


Quote: “The way I see it, if you can raise three kids who can knock out and hogtie a perfect stranger, you must be doing something right.”


No one has ever had to endure more dysfunctional family drama than Marge. No matter what her husband gets up to or what trail of disaster her children leave behind, she always clears up with a smile, 99 per cent of the time. 


The Best Old School Mum Award goes toVivian Banks


Actresses: Janet Hubert-Whitten (series one to three) and Daphne Maxwell Reid (series four to six)


TV programme: The Fresh Prince of Bell-Air


Quote: “You can’t stop little girls growing up!”


As the theme song famously explains, The Fresh Prince played by Will Smith, is raised by his Uncle Philip and Aunt Vivian after getting into a fight in his hometown, West Philadelphia. Anyone taking on this troublesome teen, alongside their four other children, deserves some brownie points. Confusingly for viewers, Aunt Viv was replaced, with no explanation by a different actress in Series four. Luckily the children didn’t seem to notice.


The MILF Award goes toGloria Delgado-Pritchett


Actress: Sofía Vergara


TV programme: Modern Family


Quotes: “You have a problem with the way Manny is being raised, you talk to me!”


The stunning Columbian actress stars in sitcom Modern Family in which she plays Gloria Delgado-Pritchett, a loving wife to her much older husband. Despite her unusual parenting skills (she dressed her son Manny as a girl until he was one) she is a very devoted mother. Plus, Manny will always have loads of friends around when he’s older, even if it is just to check out his mum’s ‘assets’.


The Best Reality TV Mum Award goes to… Debbie Douglas


TV programme: The Only Way Is Essex  


Frizzy-haired, advice-giving Debbie Douglas, mother of Lydia Bright, is one of the stars of BAFTA award-winning reality show TOWIE. The pair are often joint at the hip and extremely close with Debbie offering her words of wisdom wherever she goes.