Soap Opera Moms

[amybrickwallace]

I agree with that. Lucinda was always a bit too involved in Lily's life, but always meant well deep down.

[Khan]

Could you really blame Lucinda for being overly concerned about Lily, though?  It seemed like the girl couldn't so much as run to the store for some milk without somebody abducting her, or trying to kill her for her money, or both.  If I had been Lucinda, I'd never let Lily leave her bedroom!

[DaytimeFan]

DAYS' Kate Roberts is a smothering, meddling, mother, but she'd frame her son's ex-wife for murdering the man shot dead by said son and do anything, and everything, to try and help her children achieve happiness. 

 

Plus, Lauren Koslow is some of the best physical casting to the actors who've played her children that I've seen in daytime.

 

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[DramatistDreamer]

 

 

Except when she was trying to throw herself at Craig, knowing full well he wanted her daughter Sierra.

[Pine Charles]

 

Erica’s catchphrase is “Well, my goodness....”.

 

Seriously. 

If you watch a loop of episodes (from any decade), she says it at least once.

[titan1978]

Maureen Bauer came to mind immediately from GL.

 

Alice Horton in DAYS seems like she was a great mom and was especially a great grandmother.  Caroline Brady not as much- though not all her fault, that affair with Victor did damage her kids.

 

GH- Liz appears to be a pretty good mom.

 

 

[Bill Bauer]

I find it a tad ironic that the two women who were famous for playing the matriarchs of two big soaps, Francis Reid and Helen Wagner, didn’t have children in real life.

[Quent]

And no mention of the ultimate matriarch, Earth Mother of 6 problematic kids.....Saint Emma Snyder of ATWT?

[DramatistDreamer]

 

As much as I like Kathleen Widdoes as an actress (her delivery of dialogue could stretch into the sublime) there was just too much quasi-incestuous overlap in that family to think of them as 'favorite anything' status. 

 

We all know that soap families are tangled and have their scandal but really, in Oakdale, anyone vying for contention of favorite parent should really only be allowed, one maybe two scandalous incidents concerning their children and that's it!

 

We know Bob and Kim had the Frannie/Sabrina scandal. 

Lisa had temporarily abandoned Tom to try to start life elsewhere.

John's dreadful treatment of then-wife Kim is his mark against him as a parent.

We already discussed Lucinda's craven lusting after Craig, until she'd realized that she (and John) had a hand in Sierra's unhappiness in a loveless marriage with Tonio Reyes, then actually apologized to both Craig and Sierra.

Margo's infidelity and abandonment of Tom that resulted in Adam.  Although I rarely watched when Tom had his affair with Emily, resulting in Daniel--that was his negative mark as a parent.

 

The Snyders alone had about a half-dozen and all pretty much took place between members of the same family while living under Emma's roof at the farm!  IMO, that eliminates Emma from the running for fave soap Mom status.

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[DramatistDreamer]

Okay, I know it's late but after seeing some classic episodes of Guiding Light from autumn 1992, I want to put a word in for Vanessa Chamberlin.  She was a high-powered career woman with a complicated life but she always put her son Billy first. 

There are some wonderful scenes of Vanessa telling Billy that although she and his father Billy Lewis love each other, he's going back to his wife Nadine (who he had planned to divorce) because she's pregnant (which, of course, Nadine was faking).  The honesty and the tenderness between mother and son is so refreshing and it was consistent with their relationship. 

With today's soaps, children have become all but superfluous, the scenes between Vanessa and  "Little" Billy are gems that seem all too rare these days.  

[MichaelGL]

^You're right Vanessa was a good mom, well at least when it came to Bill. 

[DramatistDreamer]

 

Oops, forgot about Dinah. 

[titan1978]

That show at that time was just sparkling with wonderful characters of every generation and terrific writing.

 

I didn’t watch it then, but thanks to YouTube I have seen so many great scenes and entire storylines.

[BetterForgotten]

I remember Michelle having some wonderful scenes with both Vanessa and Holly separately in the aftermath of Maureen's death. This one with Vanessa was memorable:

 

28 mins in (the GL piano theme kicks in at 28:25 - always melts my heart when they used it).

 

Maeve just had this sophisticated maternal warmth to her that you rarely see. 

 

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[David_Vickers]

AMC's Mona, Ruth, Erica & Angie. 

ATWT's Nancy, Kim

DAYS' Alice, Caroline, Julie, Hope

GH's Elizabeth, Lila

ONE LIFE's Viki

Y&R Lily, Victoria