There’s a subtle but definite kind of humour in every mother’s savagery. Every kid remembers the iconic zingers that just come out mid-scold, and the amused finger-wagging when you disobey your matriarch’s instructions and get into trouble, just like she predicted. All your carefully cultivated teenage cool can evaporate in milliseconds if your mom is in a roasting mood when the friends come over.

In fact, we’d bet that many a budding sitcom writer first got their taste of comedy trying to keep up with their mothers. Perhaps that’s why sitcom mothers often get the most memorable lines (“It’s one banana, Michael!”). This Mother’s Day, get your mom a bottle of bubbly, order some takeaway and watch one of these iconic maters at the peak of their powers.

1. Lucille Bluth (Arrested Development) 

Okay, so maybe Lucille Bluth’s never going to win a Mother of the Year award. She’s a drunk, she’s instinctively manipulative, self-absorbed and often cruel to her offspring. But she’s also the queen of the sardonic putdown, the master of nonchalant brutality. Played to perfection by Jessica Walters, Lucille was a woman who had stopped caring about the rules, constantly manipulated her children, and disdainfully out of touch with the lived reality of the not-rich (even though she was really one of them now). And yet, somehow, we keep rooting for her, even at her most morally bankrupt: one of the show’s best plotlines concerns Annyong, the Korean son Lucille adopts to look more charitable, and keeps around only because he makes her son Buster jealous. And if that doesn’t make her the best role model, so what? As Bluth would say, “if that’s a veiled criticism about me, I won’t hear it and I won’t respond to it.”

PS: Walter essentially went on to play an alternate universe spymaster version of Lucille as Malory Archer, on the FX animated series Archer.

2. Moira Rose (Schitt’s Creek) 

Emmy favourite Schitt Creek‘s Moira Rose (played by Catherine O’Hara) quickly became a fan favourite with her unique cadence, over-the-top wardrobe and illustrious former career as a soap-opera star (which she never lets her family forget about). The bewigged mother of two has many imperfections, especially in the early episodes when she’s forced to move from a multi-million dollar mansion to a run-down motel in the middle of nowhere. There’s more than a hint of Lucille Bluth to her actually, but she’s got softer edges (the Michael Scott to Walter’s David Brent) and a maternal instinct that she taps into over the show’s six-season run. With her colourful vocabulary and unique elocution, Rose has earned her spot on this list. 

3. Marge Simpson (The Simpsons) 

The glue that holds Springfield’s most dysfunctional family together is the blue-haired, raspy-voiced and loving Marge Simpson. If it weren’t for her, Homer’s antics, Bart’s shenanigans and Lisa’s know-it-all behaviour would have gotten the family tarred, feathered and run out of town (We’ve got nothing against cute little Maggie). Marge is the archetype for the “perfect” mother, always cleaning up the messes Homer and Bart create and encouraging Lisa to follow her dreams. Simply put, there’s no way Springfield or The Simpsons works without Marge.

4. Rainbow Johnson (Black-ish) 

Black women have to deal with a lot of negative stereotypes on American television, but thankfully the writers behind Black-ish‘s Rainbow Johnson didn’t give in to lazy temptation. Tracee Ellis Rose’s Bow is an accomplished anesthesiologist, mother of five, and proof that you can be nice and successful at the same time. Bow’s consultative parenting style and feminist ideals make her an incredibly likable, if still flawed, character as she navigates the ups and downs of marriage and parenthood with her husband Dre. No wonder the role earned her a whopping six Emmy nominations.

5. Kitty Forman (That 70s Show) 

Kitty Forman is one of TV comedy’s most loving—and lovable—home-makers, someone who cared for and nurtured not only for the Forman family but the entire cast of teenage misfits (and one aging stoner) that trooped into her suburban home’s basement. Occasionally tipsy, always overworked and under-appreciated, Kitty handled her hotheaded husband and troublesome kids with genuine good cheer and occasionally devastating wit. Played by Debra Jo Rupp, the character lit up every scene… especially when she consumed some adult juice. 

6. Jessica Huang (Fresh Off The Boat) 

Based on chef Eddie Huang’s autobiography of the same name, this show gives us a mother who believes in tough love. Played by Constance Wu, Jessica Huang is a no-nonsense restaurateur and familial tyrant who rules her household with an iron fist. That doesn’t sound very funny, does it? But it is! Huang mines most of her humour from her blunt parenting style and observations about American parents. “Why are Americans so obsessed with being friends with their children? I have no children friends.” 

7. Claire Dunphy (Modern Family)

Modern Family‘s Claire Dunphy is a has-it-all-together Type-A mom with mild Karen energy, but she’s also someone who’s willing to admit when she’s in over her head. Claire’s micromanaging tendencies, pride and tough love parenting often set up some of the show’s central conflicts, but her love, compassion and drive always win out in the end. Taking care of three unruly children (and one unruly adult) is often chaotic and overwhelming, but Claire Dunphy keeps it all from going off the rails with style, and that’s why we love her.