Rank the seasons

[Christopher]

How would you rank the seasons of Mom? After seeing how season 8 is heading, I think I know where I would rank it with the rest of the seasons.

1. Season 2
2. Season 3
3. Season 4
4. Season 6
5. Season 7
6. Season 1
7. Season 8
8. Season 5

I consider seasons 2 - 4 the prime of this show. They found themselves in season 2 shifting from Christy and her family to Christy and the AA friends. After how awful season 5 was, I like how fresh it felt in season 6 with Tammy there. Season 7 kept the hits coming IMO. Tammy was still proving to be a great addition to the show. Season 1 is alright. I really can't stand Violet though. She criticizes Christy's mothering but she gives her baby up. Violet proved she's no better than Christy so her self righteous bull was uncalled for throughout the show. Season 8 is doing nothing for me, but it's still not as bad as having Christy date her mom's boyfriend's brother. Season 5 was a chore to get through IMO. I didn't think Anna and Steve Weber had any chemistry. It was weak pushing more of Adam's life into the show. I also didn't care for the Jill being fat story. They could have done a better story to handle Jaime's pregnancy that year than saying Jill's going to be a lard ass and we're putting her in fat camp to get some fat jokes in. It wasn't as funny to me.

[RetroGuy2000]

I don't think I can rate the seasons, as I saw most of them out of order, although Season 8 would be my least favorite.

You mentioned Violet being a terrible person, and I agree. That's one of the reasons I liked having her on the show: she provided so much conflict that we didn't get in later years; not everyone on a sitcom should be supportive and caring, and when she left, a lot of Christy's struggles evaporated. The show became a lot more bland.

[Christopher]

Originally Posted by RetroGuy2000

I don't think I can rate the seasons, as I saw most of them out of order, although Season 8 would be my least favorite.

You mentioned Violet being a terrible person, and I agree. That's one of the reasons I liked having her on the show: she provided so much conflict that we didn't get in later years; not everyone on a sitcom should be supportive and caring, and when she left, a lot of Christy's struggles evaporated. The show became a lot more bland.

Do you have a list of favorite to least favorite seasons? Season 8 started off really good. The Jill drama over her love life was a show killer for me.

I couldn't find anything to enjoy about Violet. All she did was criticize Christy. Even after she found out Christy was abused by her father, Violet still kept putting her down. Christy made mistakes, but she was trying hard to get forgiveness. I don't find the show bland without Violet. They did a lot of great stories without the kids dragging them down the way they were season 1. We wouldn't have gotten a funny pot cookie episode or the fake handicap placard episode. We also wouldn't have gotten Jodie or the arrival of Tammy because they would be giving us stories on the ungrateful kids. The show got better once the kids were gone. The only good thing from the kids was Baxter's girlfriend Candace. I do miss big red and her banter with Christy. A shame Candace never needed AA so she could be one of the girls.

[RetroGuy2000]

Originally Posted by Christopher

Do you have a list of favorite to least favorite seasons? Season 8 started off really good. The Jill drama over her love life was a show killer for me.

I don't think I can do a full season-by-season breakdown because I watched the episodes out of order. However, I like the earlier seasons better than most of the later seasons, and Season 8, without Christy, has been the least good.

I couldn't find anything to enjoy about Violet. All she did was criticize Christy. Even after she found out Christy was abused by her father, Violet still kept putting her down. Christy made mistakes, but she was trying hard to get forgiveness. I don't find the show bland without Violet.

Without Violet, there was a lot less drama, and that is something you need when seriously tackling substance abuse. Both Bonnie and Christy have a long history of substance abuse, and Violet was literally the legacy of that abuse. For me, the happy moments and the angry moments worked together to provide a more realistic portrayal of the family's dynamics.

You mentioned Tammy. She's a great example of how the show got a bit watered down. We know Bonnie used Tammy when they were kids; why is Tammy no longer ever bitter about this? The show has just become too tame, and doesn't accurately portray the dysfunction of the Plunkett family anymore. They've settled down, so the show should end.

They did a lot of great stories without the kids dragging them down the way they were season 1. We wouldn't have gotten a funny pot cookie episode or the fake handicap placard episode. We also wouldn't have gotten Jodie or the arrival of Tammy because they would be giving us stories on the ungrateful kids.

But we know that's not true: Violet and Jodi both appear in Season 3, so the idea that both Jodi and Violet couldn't appear just isn't supported. Unfortunately, Jodi didn't last long anyway.

The show got better once the kids were gone. The only good thing from the kids was Baxter's girlfriend Candace. I do miss big red and her banter with Christy. A shame Candace never needed AA so she could be one of the girls.

The Candace episodes were amazing, I agree. Having Christy deal with her was hilarious.

[Christopher]

Originally Posted by RetroGuy2000

Without Violet, there was a lot less drama, and that is something you need when seriously tackling substance abuse. Both Bonnie and Christy have a long history of substance abuse, and Violet was literally the legacy of that abuse. For me, the happy moments and the angry moments worked together to provide a more realistic portrayal of the family's dynamics.

Without Violet, there's been plenty of drama. When they shifted the show's premise to Christy and the AA, we got Bonnie's arc of losing it over Alvin's death the last half of season 2. Season 3 we had Jodi trying to be clean and then overdosing. There was also the drama between Marjorie and Christy over that and then the drama of Jodi's boyfriend. Season 4 we had the drama of Jill's miscarriage. Season 5 they had more Jill drama with her weight and relapsing. Once the kids were sent to guest starring appearances, the show was really able to focus on addiction and recovering on more than just Christy. When Bonnie relapse and was losing it in season 2, her grandkids didn't care. It was the girls from AA. They needed the kids gone in order to really show addiction from more characters.

Originally Posted by RetroGuy2000

You mentioned Tammy. She's a great example of how the show got a bit watered down. We know Bonnie used Tammy when they were kids; why is Tammy no longer ever bitter about this? The show has just become too tame, and doesn't accurately portray the dysfunction of the Plunkett family anymore. They've settled down, so the show should end.

Tammy isn't meant to be a bitter person. The purpose of Tammy's character is to give a little insight on what it's like for people in prison for so long to be release and get use to what freedom is like. The episode where Tammy is released from parole shows the feelings some ex-prisoners may have when they're in total control of themselves again. I really like Tammy because she brought an aspect the show lost during season 5 with their Jill drama and pushing more of Adam's life on us.

Originally Posted by RetroGuy2000

But we know that's not true: Violet and Jodi both appear in Season 3, so the idea that both Jodi and Violet couldn't appear just isn't supported. Unfortunately, Jodi didn't last long anyway.

Oh if the show stuck with the premise of season 1, we would never have gotten as many AA stories on the girls like we did. We would have gotten more stories from the restaurant and Christy butting heads with Violet. There's a huge difference to being part of the main cast and story like Violet was in season 1 to just doing guest star appearances in the rest of the series. Season 2 phased Violet and Roscoe out to focus more on Christy and AA. I noticed the change during Alvin's death in season 2. This was Violet and Roscoe's grandfather and they only have one or two scenes while the AA group has multiple episodes helping Bonnie deal with it.

[Adamantium]

Let's see, here's my order from favorite to least-favorite:

Season 4
Season 2
Season 1
Season 3
Season 6
Season 5
Season 7
Season 8

To me, the show was at its best during the first four seasons. The last four seasons are each just a nice bonus. I actually really like the first season because I like the family element and I'm one of the few people who likes Violet, it seems. Plus, I like Luke, and I also prefer Baxter before Candace cleaned up his act.

[Lorimar Television]

Season 2
Season 4
Season 1
Season 6
Season 7
Season 8
Season 3
Season 5