Mom

Synopsis

Mom follows Christy Plunkett (Anna Faris), a single mother who, after battling drug abuse including alcoholism, decides to restart her life in Napa, California, working as a waitress and attending Alcoholics Anonymous meetings. Her mother, Bonnie Plunkett, (Allison Janney) is also a recovering addict.

Christy has two children. Her daughter, Violet (Sadie Calvano) was born when Christy was 17. Violet also becomes pregnant as a teenager, the father of the child is her boyfriend Luke (Spencer Daniels). Christy’s young son, Roscoe (Blake Garrett Rosenthal), is a product of her marriage to Baxter, a deadbeat but likable pothead.

Christy eventually returns to school and pursues her dream of becoming a lawyer, while Bonnie meets and marries a retired stuntman named Adam Janikowski (William Fichtner). Through it all, Christy and Bonnie rely on their support system from AA, including the wise Marjorie (Mimi Kennedy), wealthy and materialistic Jill (Jaime Pressly), submissive and sometimes overly-emotional Wendy (Beth Hall), and loudmouthed but sweet Tammy (Kristen Johnston). Collectively, they help each other stay sober in the face of the conflicts they face.

Following the departure of Christy, who moves to Washington, D.C., the show delves more into the personal lives of her friends she left behind.

Several of the characters' last names (Plunkett, Stabler, Janikowski, Biletnikoff, Madden, Hubbard, Casper, Wells, Banaszak) were named after former players and coaches of the Oakland Raiders.

Cast and characters

Main characters

Anna Faris as Christy Jolene Plunkett (seasons 1–7): Christy is a sensitive mother struggling to recover from her addictions to alcohol and gambling. At the beginning of the series, she has been sober for 118 days. She is working hard to be a good example for her son, Roscoe, and to regain the trust of her daughter, Violet, who reveals in the pilot that she is pregnant. Christy is also trying to reconcile with her mother, Bonnie, with whom she has a tumultuous history and long estrangement. As the story unfolds, Christy discovers that her biological father, Alvin, abandoned Bonnie after she was discharged from the hospital on Christmas Eve. She eventually locates Alvin, learns that he is now married with two sons and runs an auto repair shop. Christy develops a bond with him and introduces him to her family, coming to view him as the father she needs in her life. Similar to her mother, Christy was a teenage mother, giving birth to Violet at 17. Violet's father, Butch, was abusive toward Christy, who attempted to leave him several times but struggled with fear. Ultimately, Christy found the courage to leave Butch to protect Violet. A former stripper, Christy primarily works as a waitress. Although she briefly receives a promotion to manager after Claudia divorces Gabriel, she eventually returns to waitressing, a job at which she doesn’t excel but can bring home a lot of food for Bonnie and herself. In mid-season 2, Christy decides to return to school to become a lawyer and takes a second job as Steve Casper's assistant. She works hard, eventually earning her bachelor’s degree and being accepted into law school. As season 6 comes to a close, Christy begins an internship with a law firm while still juggling her waitress job. In season 7, she faces challenges at work, struggles academically in law school (being rejected for a mock trial team and encountering a professor who assumes she is a poor student because she is a single mother), and lives a social life that leaves much to be desired. Feeling desperate, she kisses another woman in the season finale. In the season 8 premiere, it is revealed that Christy has left Napa to attend Georgetown Law School on a full scholarship. Despite being mentioned throughout the final season, Christy never returns for a guest appearance and does not participate in the series finale.

Allison Janney as Bonnie Plunkett: Bonnie is Christy's mother and Baxter's mother-in-law. She is a cynical recovering addict who believes she is always right, but learns humility over time. Bonnie is determined to regain the love and trust of her daughter, whom she was unable to nurture properly as a child. Bonnie was given up for adoption at age four and spent time in the foster care system, moving from house to house. At age 15, she ran away with Alvin, which led to an unplanned pregnancy. She gave birth to Christy at 17 after Alvin abandoned them at the hospital on Christmas Eve. Initially, Bonnie considered aborting the pregnancy and even planned to put Christy up for adoption. A pleasant Jewish couple was prepared to adopt Christy, but Bonnie ultimately couldn't follow through. From then on, she tried her best to raise her daughter, but Christy ended up raising herself, as Bonnie often prioritized parties and drinking over being a present mother. Over time and with considerable therapy, Bonnie found more balance in her life. She opened up to Christy about her past, including details about her birth father and her former life as a drug dealer. However, Bonnie suffered a relapse in Season 1 after losing her job and apartment, and had to move in with Christy, Violet, and Roscoe. As Christy reconnected with Alvin, Bonnie realized she still had feelings for him, leading to a romantic relationship at the beginning of Season 2. Sadly, this relationship was cut short when Alvin suffered a heart attack and died, leaving the family in shock. Later, Bonnie struggled with a back injury and became dependent on pain medication, resulting in another relapse. In Season 3, she met her biological mother, and in Season 4, she met her half-brother, Ray, after their mother passed away. Bonnie managed the apartment building where she and Christy lived, and in Season 6, she was diagnosed with ADHD and began seeing a therapist to address it. Toward the end of Season 8, she partnered with her former foster sister, Tammy Diffendorf, to establish a construction firm that would promote Tammy's skills in repair and home construction.

Recurring characters

Reggie de Leon as Paul (seasons 1–3, 5–8): Chef Rudy's silent and often submissive sous-chef, who was fired alongside him. They now run the food truck together.

Kevin Pollak as Alvin Lester Biletnikoff (seasons 1–2, 8): Christy's father and Bonnie's ex-boyfriend who abandoned them when Christy was born. When Christy finds Alvin, he is running his own auto body shop and states he has a wife and two sons who know nothing of her existence. Despite that, he comes to love Christy and does what he can to be in her life and help out, including fixing up a used car to give her and attempting to reach out to her children as a grandfather. He and Bonnie initially treated each other with contempt and hatred over the various mistakes each of them has made in their past, but they rekindled their relationship after his wife left him and he survived a heart attack. In season 2, Alvin suffers a second, fatal heart attack while in bed with Bonnie.

Octavia Spencer as Regina Tompkins (seasons 1–3): A fellow AA member and money manager who embezzled from her clients and faces a long prison sentence. While a close if questionable friend to Christy, Regina and Bonnie typically hold each other in contempt, but beneath the surface, they bear some affection for each other. In the middle of season 2, she is given early parole and becomes a born-again Christian, eventually moving in with Jill. Regina drifts apart from her friends after she decides she is no longer an alcoholic, essentially choosing wine over her friends, and struggles alone with the dissonance after moving into her own apartment and out of Jill's mansion.

Courtney Henggeler as Claudia (seasons 1–3): Gabriel's wealthy and snobbish (later ex-) wife, who takes over the restaurant from him and briefly appoints Christy as manager.

Mary Pat Gleason as Mary (seasons 1–5, 7): A fellow AA member who is frequently interrupted by Bonnie when she shares her problems with the group, as her anecdotes tend to be bizarre and creepy even by the standards of addicts. Mary dies in season 7 at the AA meeting from an aneurysm (incidentally only a few months before Gleason's own death) and the main characters put together an elaborate reception to say goodbye to her.

Don McManus as Steve Casper (seasons 1–4): A fellow AA member, Steve is a competent but creepy lawyer and occasionally aids Christy, who becomes his intern and trainee in season 2. He has a casual sex relationship with Bonnie in season 3. His final appearance was in the Season 4 finale, where he is stuck in Mexico because he stupidly fled there to avoid reprisals after losing a case involving a drug lord's son (stupidly since the drug lord is based in...Mexico).

Notable guests

Jon Cryer as Alan Harper and Lisa Joyner as his date (S01E01): customers at the Rustic Fig

Justin Long as Adam Henchy (S01E03, S01E06, and S01E08): Christy's first love interest of the series

Nick Zano as David (S01E016 and S01E17): Christy's love interest, a handsome but hard-partying firefighter. While he and Christy are compatible sexually, he wants her to focus all attention on him, and she ultimately breaks up with him because she's neglecting her sobriety and friends & family.

Ed Asner as Jack Bumgartner (S02E05): a tenant in the apartment building where Bonnie and Christy reside.

Beverly D'Angelo as Lorraine Biletnikoff (S02E09, S02E11 and S02E12): Alvin's ex-wife, who hates Bonnie (and indirectly, Christy, as Bonnie's daughter). She refuses to help the Plunketts after Alvin dies without signing his updated will, but her sons end up defying her to give Christy and Bonnie a lot of money because "it was what Dad wanted."

Colin Hanks as Andy Dreeson (S02E09): Christy's neighbor whose idea of a fun night is not exactly what she expected

Toby Huss as Bill (S02E13): Bonnie's love interest after the death of Alvin. She tries too hard to make him into Alvin 2.0, but her changes end up enabling Bill to win over a pretty waitress (played by April Bowlby) at a Hooters-type restaurant.

Ellen Burstyn as Shirley Stabler (S03E01): Bonnie's biological mother who put her in foster care when she was very young and later decided not to regain custody because she was dating a man who did not want any kids in his house. She's left weeping when Bonnie says that she both forgives her and will not have a relationship in the future. The character died in Season 4 after suffering from heart disease.

June Squibb as Dottie (S03E01): a woman who Christy initially mistakes for Shirley, and later bonds with the Plunketts as a sort of modern family grandmother figure.

Production

Development

Mom was one of the many projects that became a priority for CBS and Warner Bros when it was pitched in December 2012, in part due to Lorre's new four-year deal with Warner the previous September. It was green-lit by CBS for a series order pickup on May 9, 2013. It gave Lorre the distinction of having four sitcoms on one network starting in the 2013–14 season. The following week, the network announced it would place the show in the Monday night 9:30 pm (ET/PT) time slot following 2 Broke Girls. However, after the cancellation of We Are Men, 2 Broke Girls was moved into the show's 8:30 pm slot, with repeats of The Big Bang Theory occupying the 9 pm lead-in time slot to Mom until the season debut of Mike & Molly on November 4, 2013. Mom received a full first season order for 22 episodes on October 18, 2013.

On March 13, 2014, CBS announced the second season renewal of Mom. It moved from Mondays at 9:30 PM to Thursdays at 8:30 PM for the first 14 episodes, until it moved to Thursdays at 9:30 PM following The Odd Couple series premiere and the series finale of Two and a Half Men.

By season three, the focus became more about Christy and Bonnie and their group from AA, while the restaurant set, the kids, and Baxter's roles were reduced significantly.

In February 2021, CBS announced the series would end with the final episode of the eighth season, airing on May 13, 2021.

Casting

The series gave Faris, who had guest-starred in various television programs between her film projects and been sought for other television projects (including an unused pilot, Blue Skies, produced for NBC), her first full-time television role as the lead character, Christy, in January 2013. On January 28, 2013, Janney was next to come aboard as Christy's mother. Matt Jones and Spencer Daniels joined the cast in February 2013, with Jones as Christy's ex-husband Baxter, and Daniels as Luke, the boyfriend of Christy's daughter, Violet.

Broadcast

In Australia, Mom debuted on Nine Network on April 9, 2014. In Canada, Citytv aired it simultaneously. In Greece, Star Channel debuted it on October 25, 2014. In India, Comedy Central (India) broadcast the series through 2015. In Israel, it is broadcast on HOT Comedy Central. In the United Kingdom, ITV2 debuted the show on January 20, 2014; they have since dropped it, and it had not been available to UK viewers since the end of Season 4. From October 2022, all 8 seasons were made available to UK viewers for the first time on Amazon Prime Video.

Syndication

Mom went into syndication in late 2017. It airs on local affiliates, as well as on FXX (2017–2021), FX (2021–2023), TV Land (2017–2018, 2022–2025), Paramount Network (2018–2022), Nick at Nite (2018–2024), and CMT (2017, 2019–2025).

Reception

Critical response

Mom has been met with favorable reviews, with praise for its writing and performances, especially by Allison Janney and Anna Faris. It received a Metacritic score of 65 out of 100 for its first season, based on 25 reviews. On Rotten Tomatoes, the first season has an approval rating of 70%, based on 40 reviews, and an average rating of 5.71/10. The site's critical consensus reads: "Anna Faris and Allison Janney share an undeniable comedic chemistry, and if the jokes are sometimes too crass, Mom represents a sincere (and often witty) attempt to address addiction issues." Boston Herald critic Mark A. Perigard gave a positive review, writing: "This is dark material, yet Faris balances it with a genuine winsomeness, able to wring laughs out of the most innocuous lines." New York Magazine critic Matt Zoller Seitz praised the cast and called it "just about perfect".

The second season received even more critical acclaim, with a Metacritic score of 81 out of 100. On Rotten Tomatoes, it holds an approval rating of 88%, based on 8 reviews, and an average rating of 8.5/10.

The third season was also met with critical acclaim, with a Metacritic score of 82 out of 100. On Rotten Tomatoes, it holds an approval rating of 100%, based on 11 reviews, and an average rating of 8.33/11. The site's critical consensus reads: "Mom continues to nurture the multi-cam sitcom genre with mature storytelling and wonderful performances by Anna Faris and Allison Janney, who both handle reflective drama with the same deft touch as they do comedic timing".