Television sitcoms have always highlighted the idyllic American family, and since the 70s, when divorce rates began to climb, that wholesome image has also reflected single moms and dads…a lot of dads actually. From Florida Evans to Mabel Thomas, these famous sitcom single parents not only solved their families’ problems in a matter of 30 minutes (including commercials), but they’ve also shown the country a different kind of “traditional” family.
Airing on NBC from 1968-1971, Julia Baker was the title character of this groundbreaking single parent sitcom; the first to feature an African American woman as the lead. Played by the legendary Diahann Carroll, Julia was about a nurse and single mother raising her young son; a plotline that many critics considered unrealistic. Oh, how times have changed!
Better known as “Mama,” What’s Happening‘s Mabel Thomas was a divorcee who worked as a maid while keeping her two children, Roger (“Raj”) and Dee, and the rest of their crew in check. Mabel King, the actress who played Mama, left the show after a couple of seasons due to creative differences, but her character still goes down as a notable single parent who was shown on a sitcom.
At first it was the story of a black nuclear family living in the projects of Chicago, but after the death of the father (damn, damn, damn!), mother-of-three Florida Evans (Esther Rolle) was runnin’ things on her own on Good Times; tackling tough social issues with the right combination of wit and wisdom.
Nikki Parker (Mo’Nique) was the mom in charge on UPN’s The Parkers; a spinoff of Moesha, where Parker and her daughter Kimberly first appeared.
Coming onto the show in its second season, Hangin’ with Mr. Cooper‘s Geneva Lee (Sandra Quarterman) and her daughter, Nicole, played by a young Raven-Symone, moved into the Oakland, CA home of Mark Cooper; an NBA player turned substitute teacher.
The second longest running sitcom with a predominantly African American cast (The Jeffersons is the first), the cast of characters on ABC’s Family Matters included the vivacious Rachel Crawford (Aunt Rachel). After the death of her husband, Crawford moved into the Winslow household with her son, Richie, where the two lived alongside her sister, Harriette, and her family.
Her stint on the show may have been short-lived, but Jackie Warren (Debbie Allen) of In the House still made her mark as a single sitcom mom, raising her two children, Tiffany and Austin, with the help of her housemate, a former pro football player played by LL Cool J.
The always sassy Willona Woods (Ja’net Dubois) of Good times was a divorcee living on her own until she adopted a young Penny, played by Janet Jackson.
Another of the 90s single parent sitcoms, Smart Guy featured widowed father, Floyd Henderson (John Marshall Jones), who ran his own roofing business while raising his three children, Marcus, T.J., and Yvette.
Sister, Sister featured not one, but two single parents, as Ray Campbell (Tim Reid) and Lisa Sims (Jackee Harry) lived under one roof to raise their adopted twin daughters who were reunited after a chance encounter.
