Random Most Insufferable TV Parents (13 items)

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  (#13) The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air

  • TV Program

  Phil and Vivian Banks are fixated on status and social standing, and they are rigid in their rules. Phil has a temper that can flare up with surprising speed, and despite the fact that he's uber-rich, he is a penny-pincher of the highest order.

  While the second actor to portray Vivian played her as kind and compassionate, the character's first iteration is stiff, uncompromising, and can be as volatile as her husband.
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  (#9) Heathcliff Huxtable

  There is certainly a lot to admire about Cliff and Clair Huxtable, but sporadically, they do allow their insufferable natures to slip. Clair is so uptight that she rarely shows any sense of humor and displays only occasional softness.

  Cliff, on the other hand, is the polar opposite. He is so relaxed and easygoing that his father-figure status is often hard to believe. What's more, for the show's first five seasons, both Cliff and Clair mock their son, Theo, for being "slow," only to discover in Season 6 that he's dyslexic.
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  (#7) The Brady Bunch

  • TV Program

  Mike and Carol Brady want to be considered a storybook family, but that couldn't be further from the truth. There's no possible way they can provide each of their six children with the necessary attention. Mike works full-time, and Carol always seems to be busy with something around the house, even though they have a full-time, live-in maid.

  In addition to withholding quality time and attention from their children, the family suffers from other issues. The Brady parents see their children as perfect dolls, not as human beings with weaknesses and shortcomings. Because of this, Mike and Carol are always surprised and disappointed when one of their kids gets into trouble or does something wrong. Similarly, the household never sees any real discipline, and the kids have zero responsibilities.
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  (#10) Red Forman

  Red and Kitty Forman are raising their teenage children, Eric and Laurie, during the 1970s, so perhaps they're operating under different parenting standards. Even so, the pair often fails to meet even the minimum requirements for decent parenting.

  Red is cranky, super-critical, and set in his ways, and Kitty is usually clueless and possibly alcohol-dependent. What's more, they are never even aware of all the smoking taking place under their own roof, proving they are anything but attentive.
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  (#11) Catelyn Stark

  • Fictional Character

  Eddard and Catelyn Stark most likely never won any Parent of the Year awards. Not only do they ship off their children to live in the lions' den that is the Lannister family, but they're also completely oblivious to the danger closing in around them in Winterfell.

  Ned is particularly lacking as a parent. He never tells Jon of his true parentage, he allows his wife to believe he had an affair, he abandons Bran when he's pushed out a window, and he allows his eldest daughter to marry Joffrey, a likely candidate for psychopathy. But perhaps the most egregious of Ned's missteps is his slaying of Lady, Sansa's innocent direwolf pup.
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  (#4) Stranger Things

  • TV Program

  Ted and Karen Wheeler are so clueless that they make Alan and Amy Matthews from Boy Meets World look like involved parents. Perhaps most notably, Ted and Karen have no idea that their children are sneaking out in the middle of the night and engaging in supernatural shenanigans.

  While any of the main characters' parents can be accused of this neglect, Ted and Karen take their ignorance one step further: they fail to realize their son is hiding a mysterious girl with psychokinetic and telepathic powers in their own basement. Among all this danger and mischief, the only discipline Ted dishes out is for his children's foul language.

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