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ODAY'S REA],-LIFEmoms may work outsidethe household, but to-day's sitcom moms hadstill better be house-hold names. Where themothers of adult char-acters used to be playedbyjust regular ol' ac-tresses, today they'reSweeps-stunt stars.Can anyone namewho played Lucy Ricar-do's mom on "I Love Lury"? (KathrynCard.) Or Alice's mom on "The Honey-mooners"? (Ethel Owen.) How aboutRob Petrie's mom on "The Dick VanDyke Show"? (Trick question - therewere two of them, played successively byIsabel Randolph and Carol Veasie.)In the hundred-channel clutter oftoday, however, any day canbe Mother'sDay when a TV series needs a guest-star boost to stand out. The marqueemoms of recent seasons read like a TVHall of Fame All-Star team: Carol Bur-nett (Jamie's mom on "Mad AboutYou," who reprises her role in a specialepisode airing Thursday); MarloThomas (Rachel's mom on "Friends");and Mary Tyler Moore (Nora's momon "The Naked Truth"). Drama seriesaren't exempt - witness ValerieHarper as Mia Mancini, mother of thetreacherous Michael (Thomas Cala-r bro) and Jennifer (Alyssa Milano) on"Melrose Place" - but sitcoms arethe most popular homes for big-namemoms."Fame is not the primary consider-ation," says Victor Levin, executive pro-

ueeM0msFbr s*me htg-nmlrle ft*tresses, gge$*"starring ft$ ffi m*ttaer has heesme a higtt"pr*frle rsleBv FnnNr LovEcE New Generation of Funny'Women"and of the syndicated column "Dr. Sue.""Ifyou have a mom role and you cancast an unknown actress or Joan Rivers[who played the mother of KathyGriffin's character, Vicki, on'SuddenlySusan'1, who are you going to cast?""You cast for quality," countersLevin. "You're not goingcast abig, fam-ous actor ifyou don't have the storyto support it - it's a waste of moneYand beneath them as performers.When Carol Burnett was introduced on Iour show, that coincided with storiesthat were rooted,to that character. This

oh. Molher: Y"l a big,,imPor-oebtie neynotdr "tirlff", tn"guested last oarts ofLaura Pe-month on "Will trie's mother (Ger-& Grace" as aldine WalI) fromGrace's mom, "The Dick Vanabove. Carol DYke Show," Anngurnen leorhe, Marie's mother;;;;;i;;--- i1?"ry#,od3flr',Jamie's mother or Agent 99's motheron Thursday's (Jani Dulo) from"Mad About "Get Smart" wereYou." any less imPortantis open to debate. Butthe trend towardattention-getting stars began as longago as the 1970s, when both Mary Rich-ards'mom on "The Mary TylerMoore Show" and Ann Romano's (Bon-nie Franklin) on "One Day at aTime" were played by well-known sing-er-actress Nanette Fabray. Musical-comedy star Marlha Raye lvas Mel's (VicTayback) mother on "Alice."Today? Tune in to "Friends" andyou'll see Morgan Fairchild as Chan-dler'r mother. Teri Garr as Phoebe's

NBC Photos / Chris H6ton

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8/13/2019 Marquee Moms

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Bv FneNx LovEcEODAY'S REAL-LIFEmoms may work outsidethe household, but to-day's sitcom mqms hadstill better be house-hold names. Where themothers of adult char-acters used to be playedbyjust regular ol'ac-tresses, today they'reSweeps-stunt stars.Can anyone namewho played Lucy Ricar-do's mom on "I Love Lucy"? (KathrynCard.) Or Alice's mom on "The Honey-mooners"? (Ethel Owen.) How aboutRob Petrie's mom on "The Dick VanDyke Show"? (Trick question - therewere two of them, played successively byIsabel Randolph and Carol Veasie.)In the hundred-channel clutter oftoday, however, any day can be Mother'sDay when a TV series needs a guest-star boost to stand out. The mqlqueemoms of recent seasons read like a TVHall of Fame All-Star team: Carol Bur-nett (Jamie's mom on "Mad AboutYou," who reprises her role in a specialepisode airing Thursday); MarloThomas (Raehel's mom on "Friends");and Mary Tyler Moore (Nora's momon "The Naked Truth"). Drama seriesaren't exempt - witness ValerieHarper as Mia Mancini, mother of thetreacherous Michael (Thomas Cala-bro) and Jennifer (Alyssa Milano) on

"Melrose Place" - but sitcoms arethe most popular homes for big-namemoms."Fame is not the primary consider-ation," says Victor Levin, executive pro-ducer of "Mad About You." "Sure,maybe there's a little bit of a trend to-ward more famous people, but I don'tthink anybody sits down to say, 'We gottahave a famous star.' The planets haveto align to get a person like that, theyhave to be available, they have to wantto do TV, they have to be someone youcan afford. There's a lot ofthings thathave to go right."That said, "Ifthey want a star,they get a star, because it helps rat-ings," observes Susan Horowitz, aManhattan Community College Englishprofessor and author of "Queens ofComedy: Lucille Ball, Phyllis Diller,Carol Burnett, Joan Rivers, and the

of TvMomsWhat big-star nanlns.or beloued sitconticons haue guested asa.dult chara,cters'n1,offLs on TY?

Carol BurnettMorgan FairchildTeri GarrSwoosie KurtzMary Tller MooreDebbie ReynoldsDebbie ReynoldsDebbie ReynoldsJoan RiversMarion RossMarion RossMarlo ThomasBrenda Vaccaro

i$flg ti,ii,"Mad About You""Friends""Friends""Suddenly Susan""The Naked Truth""Will & Grace""Wings""Roseanne""Suddenly Susan""The Drew Carey Show""That '70s Show""Friends"'"Friends"

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;i .'Theresa StempleNora Tyler BingPhoebe Sr.Liz KeaneCatherine WildeBobbie AdlerDeedee ChappelAudrey ConnerEdie GroenerBeulah CareyBernice ForemanSandra GreeneGloria Tribbiani

NBC Photos / Chris Hreton

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\err- Generation of Funn;- Women"and of the syndicated column "Dr. Sue.""If 1'ou have a mom role and you cancast an unknown actress or Joan Rivers[who played the mother of KathyGri{fin's character, Vicki, on 'SuddenlySusan'1, who are you going to cast?""You cast for quality," countersLevin. "You're not going cast a big, fam-ous actor ifyou don't have the storyto support it - it's a waste of moneyand beneath them as performers.When Carol Burnett was introduced onour show, that coineided with storiesthat were rooted to that character. This

MARQIIEEMOMSceptable as the baby boomers age, as the popu_Iatlon hump goes over 50. Also, televisloo usedto be considered second-class next t" nirn. g"tnow television has a lot more prestige ;;a;;5tual, tradition, so when un l.or, frk" M;ryler Moore comes back to play a mom, televi_sion starts to reflect back'on it."if. ArJ "fourse, television is a tremendous promotionalvehicle. It promotes actresses, care6rs.,,, And if the baby-boomer hump continues as itnas, tn a tew years we'll start seeing stars olav-in-g the grandmothers of adult .fr*-""i""..'elaafter that? You don't want to know. EFranh Louece is a freelance writer.

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0h, Molher:Oebbie Reynoldsguesled lastmonth on "Will& Grace" asGrace's mom,above. CarolBurnetl reprisesher role asJamie's nnlhelon Thursday's"Mad AboulYou."

attention-getting stars began as longago as the 1970s, when both Mary Rich-ards' mom on "The Mary TylerMoore Show" and Ann Romano's (Bon-nie Franklin) on "One Day at aTime" were played by well-known sing-er-actress Nanette Fabray. Musical-comedy star Martha Raye rvas Mel's (VicTayback) mother on "Alice."Today? Tune in to "Friends" andyou'll see Morgan Fairchild as Chan-dler's mother, Teri Garr as Phoebe'sor Brenda Vaccaro as Joey's, as well asthe aforementioned Marlo Thomas.The legendary Debbie Reynolds - themother in Albert Brooks' movie"Mother" herself - guested last monthas Grace's on "Will & Grace."What besides ratings has promptedthis trend? For one thing, the availabil-ity of the stars themselves. "Why arestars willing to play mothers?" musesHorowitz. "I think there's less stig-ma to aging. Sure, it's still there, butgetting older is becomingrnore ac-

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,t0Tll-GR'0FJ , ' .'Jamie Buchman (Helen Hunt)Chandler Bing (Matthew Perry)Phoebe Buffay (Lisa Kudrow)Susan Keane (Brooke Shields)Nora Wilde (Tea Leoni)Grace Adler (Debra Messing)Helen Chappel (Crystal Bernard)Dan Conner (John Goodman)Vicki Groener (Kathy Griflin)Drew Carey (Drew Carey)

was a big, impor-tant part."Whether theparts of Laura Pe-trie's mother (Ger-aldine Wall) from"The Dick VanDyke Show," AnnMarie's mother(Rosemary DeCamp)from "That Girl"or Agent 99's mothep-*-(Jane Dulo) from"Get Smart" wereany less importantis open to debate. Butthe trend toward

I Red Foreman (Kurtwood Smith)I Rachel Green (Jennifer Aniston)I Joey Tribbiani (Matt LeBIanc)