The receptionist at the hospital retorts when Bonnie (Allison Janney) keeps harping on why her daughter Christy (Anna Faris) has put her sponsor Marjorie (Mimi Kennedy) as the emergency contact instead of her mother. This is the premise of the CBS sitcom Mom, which follows three generations of women who grew up with drugs and alcohol, made bad choices, yearned for their mother’s care, and harbored unending resentment for their mothers as a result. 

Mom has often been accused of “making alcoholism funny” because it’s a sitcom with laughs, brilliant comic timing, and loads of physical comedy. The circumstances in which Bonnie and Christy find themselves as they recover from their addiction with the help of Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) and their girl gang are hilarious. Yet their focus remains on staying sober as they navigate their life, managing jobs and finances, struggling to keep a roof over their heads while keeping away from the bottle. 

Older women finding representation on TV and in movies is still not an everyday occurrence; parental neglect, alcoholism, drug abuse, and relapsing are not really sitcom material. But Chuck Lorre, Eddie Gorodetsky, and Gemma Baker did it by carefully handling sensitive issues and ensuring audiences can relate to the characters and everyday situations. Bonnie comes off as a despicable human whose hardships have made her vigilant, street-smart, and, well, selfish. Christy, on the other hand, tries to be as good a mother as she can, but it’s too late — especially with her teenage daughter, Violet (Sadie Calvano). 

The other women in the AA group struggle with the ill effects of their addiction, which include abandonment, suicide, parental neglect, and self-esteem troubles. They know they have themselves to blame and are now rebuilding their lives. 

These women are neither victims nor vamps; they are human. They are deeply flawed and grey, make questionable decisions, and try to deal with life like everybody else. Mom has brought to the fore a lot of tough discourses on sexuality, narcissism, forgiveness, marriage and relationships, teenage pregnancy, adoption, artificial insemination, fostering teenagers, and recreational drugs, among others. Throughout its 8-season run, Mom pushes boundaries as a TV show headlined by mature women; even the cast would get worried if the network would be okay with the show’s content. 

What’s best is that these older women are also shown dealing with the insecurity that aging brings. One of the most endearing characters in the series is Marjorie (Mimi Kennedy), the 70-year-old ‘wise one’ in the AA group. A revolutionary rebel from the 70s, Marjorie not only keeps the group together and sponsors most of them, but she is also their go-to person, always generous with her time. Until, by the end of the series, we find her unable to be the ‘mom’ of the group anymore. It’s difficult to find other shows portraying such deep perplexities and insecurities of women.

Even as the pandemic marred the show, causing the seventh season to end abruptly and Anna Faris to quit, Mom went ahead, bringing life, happiness, tragedy, and recovery together. Even as the network pulled the plug, disappointing millions of fans trying to save the show, Mom did not have a typical happy ending. Recovery is an ongoing process. Like Wendy (Beth Hall) says in the end:

 “So, who would like to go next?”

TV Review Courtesy of Neha Jha

Feature Image Credit to CBS via Times Colonist