This Mother’s Day, let’s take a moment to thank the women who give us our morals, conscience, and style: moms on TV. Sometimes mothers, televised or otherwise, teach us what to do. And sometimes moms, their wigs, and their hot curlers teach us exactly what not to do. From cartoons to reality TV to Nick at Nite (is that still a thing?), let’s look back at some memorable mom moments in TV history — hair history, that is:
1Kris Jenner, “Keeping Up With the Kardashians”
Kardashian mom-ager Kris Jenner has raised four daughters who make their living partly on hair. (That’s no snub; Khloe, Kourtney, and Kim own a line of Kardashian Beauty haircare products.) But Jenner has her own trademark ‘do: in fact, Katy Perry’s big joke this April Fool’s day was an Instagram photo of her with a pixie cut, captioned “I asked for the Kris Jenner.” Ha ha.
2Betty Francis, “Mad Men”
Sometimes, good hair happens to bad moms. Betty Francis, former model and current politician arm candy, sure knows how to do hair. Save for her brief love affair with donuts in Season Five, Betty would never step out less than camera-ready. Where are her kids, again?
3Kate Gosselin, “Jon & Kate Plus Eight”
We all remember this cut as The Kate Gosselin (otherwise known as the A-Frame cut all my emo friends had in high school). It took one million tabloid stories, pounds of hair extensions, and a few years, but the proud reality TV mom of eight finally switched up her look. She also nixed husband Jon on “Kate Plus 8” for a sexier costar: her long locks.
4Carol Brady & Alice, “The Brady Bunch”
Just when you thought moms couldn’t go harder than Carol Brady’s semi-mullet and full bangs, housekeeper Alice shows up in a sensible bouffant. The 70’s were a different – no I’ll say it, the 70’s were a worse time. Decades later, mothers (and daughters) still have yet to solve the mystery of perfect bangs.
5Lois Griffin, “Family Guy”
Lois Griffin’s soccer mom bob should be framed on a wall in suburban hair salons. It’s simple, it has the potential to be chic, but most importantly, it’s wash-and-go. What lipstick color do you guys think she’s wearing?
6Sophia Petrillo, “The Golden Girls”
Quintessential badass grandmother Sophia Petrillo has the helmet head our society has for some reason assigned to every woman over 70. You know how old people think they can be as body-shaming, racist, and rude to your boyfriends as they want? It’s because they’re forced to wear their hair like this.
7Marge Simpson, “The Simpsons”
After 26 seasons with her signature hairstyle and her own beauty collection, Marge Simpson has earned the right to be a hairspiration. You’ve probably already gone rainbow, so why not go for the full Marge-inspired Bride of Frankenstein? We guarantee results at your Mother’s Day brunch.
