Hannah Riley
Getting old is weird because you start to see all the things you didn’t see when you were a kid. You realize all the friends your mom didn’t like were actually total jerks to you. You start to understand all the dirty jokes in movies your parents laughed at and said you would get later. You finally see that a lot of the characters in shows you loved were really really bad TV parents.
Whether it’s divorcing then splitting up your children, spending all of your kid’s college fund, or just complete neglect, these parents are definitely contenders for some kind of “worst parent ever” award.
1. Danny Tanner (Full House)
“Danny’s OCD obsession with cleaning and his constant distrust of his daughters is so worrisome.
After re-watching the show a few months back, I’d even call him manipulative.”
—KellyLizzyLucky
2. Mummy Pig (Peppa Pig)
“Mummy pig fat shames daddy pig constantly in front of the kids.”
—lucydraper1976
3. Mommy and Daddy (Caillou)
“Caillou is a spoiled brat who isn’t supervised enough, and he’s definitely the golden child because his parents let him get away with being mean to his baby sister who isn’t old enough to understand social norms (I’ve been forced to watch this show way too many times while babysitting, lol).”
—miriams4c6f233f2
4. King Stefan and Queen Leah (Sleeping Beauty)
“They know the curse says that Aurora will prick her finger on a spinning wheel on her birthday.
So they move her to the woods for 16 years with the fairies for some reason, even though they know the curse won’t happen until her 16th birthday.
THEN they bring her back to the castle for her birthday!
So what was the point of hiding her in the woods for 16 years if you bring her back to the place Maleficent is bound to be waiting?”
—clareamyhewitt4
5. Nick and Liz (The Parent Trap)
“Splitting up twins in a divorce so you can live on two different continents is disturbingly selfish.”
—jburnickas
6. Ross Geller (Friends)
“First off, he makes a huge deal out of Carol being with a woman. I understand it was a shock for him, but Carol and Susan were happy and all Susan wanted to do was be a supportive caregiver to Ben, and Ross continues to make her feel uncomfortable and unwelcome in Ben’s life. Plus, Ross is clearly an absentee father. Ben is hardly ever with him. To make things worse, later on in the show he has Emma with Rachel and is shown being with her all the time. He rarely mentions Ben or the fact that he and Emma are brother and sister. Ben doesn’t even come to the hospital when Emma is born or see her after she comes home! It’s like he just forgot all about Ben and started a new life with Rachel and Emma.”
—laurell46fddebf6
7. Red and Kitty (That 70s Show)
“Red and Kitty used up Eric’s college fund and were completely unapologetic about it.
Kitty constantly implies that she prefers Eric over Laurie, and Red’s ‘favoritism’ of Laurie is absolutely sexist.
She’s nothing in his eyes but an innocent little girl who doesn’t have to work for anything, while he constantly harasses Eric about getting a good education. It’s disgusting.
No wonder Laurie and Eric turn out to be such failures.”
—Brigare
8. Phil and Claire Dunphy (Modern Family)
“They openly favor Alex and Luke to Haley and make Haley feel inferior for not being as academically gifted as Alex.
They also constantly put too much pressure on Alex to make enough money to support her siblings one day.”
—mattyc3
9. The King and Queen of Arendelle (Frozen)
“Why would you have two sisters grow up completely separated from each other and everyone else?
At least find some other people for Anna to hang out with so she’s not alone all the time.
They basically taught their kids to ignore their problems instead of dealing with them, and I don’t know how Elsa is expected to run a kingdom after all that.”
—lydiah4de4255d0
10. Linda and Lawrence (Phineas and Ferb)
“They never believe Candace and are completely clueless as to what their kids do.
Like, come on!”
—justsomeonewholovesacting14
11. Marlene Griggs-Knope (Parks & Rec)
“She made Leslie feel less than and hardly ever acknowledged her accomplishments.
Her tough parenting may have contributed to Leslie’s drive but it manifested as extreme anxiety, hoarding, and the need to control everything.”
—srkallas7
12. Jackie and Kevin Peyton (Nurse Jackie)
“Jackie is a drug addict and always high! Kevin takes care of their daughters at his bar during business hours!
Both terrible parents!”
—babycannon
“I think the worst part is that Jackie is still a bad parent even when she had periods of sobriety.”
—brittanya4ea9eee09
13. Judy Geller (Friends)
“She shamed Monica constantly in every aspect of her life.
I have a mother just like Judy and I can confirm that Monica’s self-esteem is nearly nonexistent.”
—graciej4ce6e4ab6
14. Dora’s parents (Dora the Explorer)
“Someone needs to call CPS on Dora’s parents for letting that little child run around the world with no supervision!”
—chinar
15. Every parent on Pretty Little Liars
“They’re aware of what’s going on with their kids, but do they ever consider moving or getting a security system for their homes?
If they really cared, they would’ve done more to keep their children safe. Also, I’m not going to talk about how Emily’s mom treated her when she came out.”
—a_frohlich
