Dead Mom Sitcoms
A list of sitcoms where the mother has passed to leave a father alone to take care of the kids. Comedy ensues.
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- StarsFred MacMurrayStanley LivingstonDon GradyWidower Steve Douglas raises three sons with the help of his father-in-law, and is later aided by the boys' great-uncle. An adopted son, a stepdaughter, wives, and another generation of sons join the loving family in later seasons.The original dead mom sitcom that started it all.
- CreatorSheldon LeonardAaron RubenDanny ThomasStarsAndy GriffithRon HowardDon KnottsWidower Sheriff Andy Taylor, and his son Opie, live with Andy's Aunt Bee in Mayberry, North Carolina. With virtually no crimes to solve, most of Andy's time is spent philosophizing and calming down his cousin Deputy Barney Fife.It was the year of dead moms.
- CreatorPaul HenningStarsBuddy EbsenDonna DouglasIrene RyanA nouveau-riche hillbilly family moves to Beverly Hills and shakes up the privileged society with their hayseed ways.Mom didn't get to enjoy any of that Texas tea.
- StarsBill BixbyBrandon CruzMiyoshi UmekiWidower Tom Corbett raises his young son Eddie.Hey, it worked before. Let's try it again.
- CreatorEdmund L. HartmannJoan O'BrienStarsJohn ForsytheJoyce MengesSusan NeherMichael Endicott accepts a teaching position at a school in Rome.
- CreatorAJ CarothersThomas L. MillerStarsJuliet MillsRichard LongDavid DoremusA remarkable young English nanny takes over the household of a widowed professor and his three children.A Mary Poppins type is surrogate mother to some motherless children.
- CreatorNorman LearStarsRedd FoxxDemond WilsonLaWanda PageThe misadventures of a cantankerous junk dealer and his frustrated son.Actually, the son takes care of the father in this one, at least until he joins Elizabeth after the big one. A show that makes heart disease a fun thing you can use to get sympathy.
- CreatorJeff HarrisBernie KukoffStarsGary ColemanTodd BridgesConrad BainThe misadventures of a wealthy Manhattan family who adopted the children of their late African American housekeeper from Harlem.Arnold and Willis move in with a rich guy 'cause mom's gone.
- CreatorSusan HarrisStarsRobert GuillaumeJames NobleInga SwensonJessica Tate's sharp-tongued former butler, Benson DuBois, moves up in the world, becoming first the governor's "director of household affairs," then the state's budget director, then lieutenant governor and candidate for the executive mansion.Benson moves on from the Tates to help take care of the daughter of the state's governor, a widower of course. However, we don't get to move on from this trope.
- CreatorMort LachmanSy RosenStarsNell CarterLara Jill MillerKari MichaelsenNell agrees to look after the Kanisky's home, as a special favor to her dying friend, and takes on the role of housekeeper to widowed police chief Carl and a parental figure to his three teenage daughters, and eventually a foster son.I'm afraid we get no break from the dead mom trope in the '80s.
- CreatorDanielle AlexandraMichael JacobsStarsPaul ReiserGreg EviganStaci KeananWhen Marcy Bradford dies, she leaves her teenage daughter Nicole in the custody of two ex-boyfriends: straight-laced, formal Michael and wild artist Joey.Which dad is the father? Don't know, 'cause Mom took that secret to her grave.
- CreatorMartin CohanBlake HunterStarsTony DanzaJudith LightAlyssa MilanoTony Micelli, a retired baseball player, becomes the housekeeper of Angela Bower, an advertising executive in New York. Together they raise their kids, Samantha Micelli and Jonathan Bower, with help from Mona Robinson, Angela's man-crazy mother.Angela. Angela's the boss. Also, Sam's mom is dead. And she was a saint.
- CreatorJeff FranklinStarsBob SagetJohn StamosDave CoulierA widowed sportscaster raises his three daughters with assistance from his rock and roll brother-in-law and madcap best friend.No, it's not about poker, it's about a widower and his two roommates that raise his three kids. Mom was a saint.
- CreatorSusan HarrisStarsRichard MulliganDinah ManoffDavid Leisure"Empty Nest" tells of the day to day misadventures of a widowed pediatrician named Harry Weston and his two adult daughters, Barbara and Carol, who have come back to live with him after failed marriages.Two adult sisters move back in with their father, who is (wait for it) a widower. Mom was a saint.
- CreatorFran DrescherPrudence FraserPeter Marc JacobsonStarsFran DrescherCharles ShaughnessyDaniel DavisAfter being fired from her job and dumped by her boyfriend, a cosmetics saleswoman becomes the nanny to the three children of a rich English widower. As time passes, the two fall for each other.Fran takes over raising the kids of an old money playwright. You might not be surprised to learn that MOM WAS A SAINT.
- CreatorCarter BaysCraig ThomasStarsJosh RadnorJason SegelCobie SmuldersA father recounts to his children - through a series of flashbacks - the journey he and his four best friends took leading up to him meeting their mother.Spoiler alert. Doesn't technically qualify, but you know why it's on this list. Mom was a saint. And the kids will need a lot of therapy after hearing all these stories.
- CreatorDave CaplanBruce HelfordBruce RasmussenStarsJohn GoodmanLaurie MetcalfSara GilbertFollow-up to the comedy series Roseanne (1988), centering on the family members of the matriarch after her sudden death.Mom was killed by a tweet. Or opiates.
- CreatorGrady CooperBill MartinMike SchiffStarsWalton GogginsRob CorddryOmar Benson MillerA widower is eager to move on from the most difficult year of his life, only to realize he's utterly unprepared to raise his two daughters on his own and equally unprepared for the dating world where he's suddenly a hot commodity.They just can't help themselves - moms must die! (Mom was a saint)
- CreatorDavid CaspeJackie ClarkeStarsKenan ThompsonChris ReddKimrie LewisA recently widowed dad tries to raise his kids with his brother and persistent former father-in-law.Still carrying on the fine tradition of dead moms. Mom was a saint (wait, did I say that already?)
- CreatorCaryn LucasStarsKatharine McPheeEddie CibrianRicardo HurtadoAn aspiring young country singer finds the band she's been missing when she takes a job as nanny for a musically talented family: a rugged cowboy and his five children.Netflix: where dead mom tropes are still greenlit.