Family drama is at the heart of many television shows. This is a topic that is relevant to all of us, so it’s sometimes comforting to see that there are families just like ours, some even more chaotic than ours.
Some dysfunctional families on television are so chaotic that we might not want to join their family trees, while others are chaotic, hard-loving, and often hilarious.
Here are TV Fanatic’s list of 13 of TV’s most dysfunctional families.
Bunker (for the whole family)
When “All in the Family” came out, dysfunctional families on television didn’t exist.
Situation comedies almost always depict “typical” families, but that’s not the case. Every family has some level of conflict or dysfunction.
RELATED: Nine Monumental TV Episodes That Changed Television Forever
Archie Bunker takes this to another level as he neglects his wife Edith.
At the same time, he treated his adult daughter Gloria like a child, causing them to often walk on eggshells around him.
And then there were all the verbal arguments he had with Gloria’s husband, who always called her “idiot.”
Bundy family (married…with children)
Archie Bunker may have been the forerunner of the dysfunctional TV dad, but Married With Children has a completely different feel with its four willing participants in dysfunctional antics.
Parents Peg and Al, and their teenage children Bud and Kelly, mostly agree that they hate their lives. They were always short of money, bickering, insulting, and even ignoring each other.
Related: TV characters defined by their sense of humor
Truly decent parenting is rarely covered.
The whole combination of Peg’s stripper-like costumes, Al practically living on the couch when he’s not working, and Bud and Kelly constantly concocting silly, unsupervised plans make the show hilarious.
It also helped Fox become famous at the time.
The Sopranos (The Sopranos)
There’s nothing more chaotic than a crime boss and his family.
Father Tony Soprano was always trying to balance his actual family life with his criminal family life, which was filled with violence and caused even more chaos, especially due to his bad temper.
He even had to see a therapist because his stress levels got so high as he tried to balance his crime boss duties and family problems.
Mr. and Mrs. Bristol (alias)
Much of “Alias” early on focuses on repairing the strained relationship between Jack and Sidney and learning how to work together.
When they finally make some progress, Irina Derevko reappears and attempts to kill Sidney during their first meeting.
Sidney is reluctant to believe her mother, but both her parents work hard to protect her from the other. This opens up a new series of family secrets that are resolved through angst, threats and drama.
The family mixes fun with dysfunction, and it’s disappointing that Irina (Lena Olin) is only a regular in season two.
RELATED: ‘Alias’ Cast: Where Are They Now?
Luther (Smallville)
The Luthor brothers brought entertainment to Smallville, but they were also downright evil at times.
They are both capable of murder, and Lex learns in season three that Lionel killed his parents, Elsa and Lachlan Luthor. He sends Lionel to prison so that he can take over Luthor Corporation.
Lionel and Lex have always played a game of cat and mouse for power and information, especially Clark’s secrets.
Father and son kept messages from each other and sent each other and Belle Reiff to jail multiple times.
In the final showdown, Lionel falls to his death from the window of the mansion. In season eight, Lex attempts to train a new protégé and his half-sister Tess Mercer to follow his path until Lana warns Tess about Lex. Tess ends up joining the superheroes and Lex kills her.
Roy family (inherited)
Money can make life easier, but it can also complicate relationships. The Roy family on HBO’s Succession is a prime example of this phenomenon.
If Logan Roy worked in a steel mill, maybe he would be the perfect father. Instead, he built a media empire and used his power almost exclusively for evil.
RELATED: ‘Succession,’ ‘The Bear,’ ‘Beef’ Dominate Awards Season: Is This the Beginning of a New Golden Age of TV?
Logan particularly enjoyed pitting his children against each other, a situation that resulted in at least three and a half children being severely damaged mentally.
His decision to move out west may have saved true “big boy” and sourdough enthusiast Connor Roy from being completely destroyed by his father’s machinations.
blues (arrested development)
Perhaps no family represents as many different types of dysfunction as the blues of Arrested Development. Of course, with the exception of Michael and his son George Michael, they’re all out of touch with reality, but each Bruce’s delusions are different.
Take Buster and Gob: one thinks the world is hunting him, the other thinks the world is his playground. Regardless, they are right. We learned many important lessons from Bruce.
There’s always money in the banana stand; loose seals can be surprisingly vicious, and, of course, bad parenting and childhood trauma can haunt a person for a lifetime.
House Lannister (Game of Thrones)
House Lannister’s debt must always be paid. Unless he owes the kids a debt for the mess he made.
Like House Roy and House Bruce, the Lannisters are never short of money, but severely lacking in humanity.
To be fair, Tyrion is a good guy despite his excessive fondness for drink and whores, and Jaime experiences flashes of humanity.
RELATED: Game of Thrones Fans Still Divided Over These Controversial Storylines (Why Did They Do This to Daenerys?)
They both do okay despite Tywin’s authoritarian parenting style, not because of it.
While her love for her children may have been her saving grace, Cersei was destroyed by the dynamics of her family and was so eager to please her father by amassing power that she ultimately proved unable to protect her children.
House Targaryen (House of the Dragon)
In households that keep dragons as pets, you will find bad tempers. But even by Westerosi standards, the Targaryens are a very angry bunch.
Because they control medieval nuclear weapons, they are capable of causing great harm to themselves and the world around them.
Viewers who were confused by Daenerys Targaryen’s sudden turn in Game of Thrones’ final season may find House of the Dragon provides some important context.
The Succession War depicted in HotD took place nearly 200 years before Khaleesi was born, but generational dysfunction can be as resilient as giant flying lizards.
The Duttons (Yellowstone)
Why are the richest families always the worst? When we think of emotionally unstable rich people, we usually picture them sweating it out in Armani suits, like Kendall Roy.
But the Duttons of Yellowstone prove that neurosis can also exist in wide open spaces.
The Dutton family’s story isn’t over yet.
RELATED: Horizon Is About to Fail, Should Kevin Costner Stay in Yellowstone?
Still, we know the climactic battle won’t involve family patriarch John Dutton, as Kevin Costner has left the ranch for good, in part due to tensions between him and showrunner Taylor Sheridan.
We guess all that family drama blends into real life!
The Tejada Family (Power Book II: Ghost)
One of New York’s most powerful drug-dealing families also happens to be the most dysfunctional in a series of less than stellar family dynamics.
With her husband Lorenzo in prison, Monet holds down the fort, but her family begins to fall apart while her business thrives.
While some kids refused to line up and pursue their dreams, others did as Monet asked, causing a lot of resentment and pain.
Monet orchestrated Lorenzo’s eventual death, which created a rift in the family that could never be healed.
Lyon (Empire)
With great power can obviously come family discord and drama, and the Lyons are well aware of this.
The matriarch and patriarch of this family have one of the most complex dynamics ever, with the two straddling two different worlds, a street life full of secrets and violence, and the drug-dealing past of running one of entertainment’s most dynamic and fast-paced Life.
Lucius’ conniving behavior often caused family problems. He pits his disparate sons against each other while putting the family empire above them all to determine who is worthy of preserving the family legacy and taking over.
RELATED: Fox announces fall 2024 premiere dates
Meanwhile, Cookie, the brains behind it all, never leaves her alone for dessert, often choosing between trying to keep her sons together or weaponizing them against Lucius.
Lyon’s play is dysfunctional on a purely Shakespearean level; indeed, it is inspired by King Lear after all.
The Gallagher Family (Shameless)
When you think of dysfunctional families, you think of the Gallagher family from Shameless. The series focuses on the chaotic and alcoholic patriarch Frank Gallagher and his many descendants.
Fiona, the eldest daughter, was most affected by her father’s alcoholism and neglect and her mother’s outright abandonment of her younger siblings, who had been raised from childhood. She eventually gained legal custody of them, but Frank still had custody.
Most children suffer from not getting enough attention from their parents. Ian suffered from bipolar depression, Debbie became a teen mom, and Carl had a drug problem before he went to military school.
These are just a few examples of dysfunctional TV families. Did we cover your favorite? Who else would you like to include?
Let us know in the comments below.
