Happy Mother’s Day! Moms are present throughout science fiction TV. Here are our favorites. Ready for the countdown? Here we go!
#10: Amanda Grayson
Leonard Nimoy as Spock and Jane Wyatt as Amanda in “Star Trek.” {image via NBC}
Star Trek, she was a Terran linguist and ambassador’s wife, mother of Spock. She left her native planet Earth to marry a Vulcan diplomat named Sarek.
#9: Dr. Beverly Crusher
Gates McFadden as Dr. Beverly Crusher in “Star Trek: The Next Generation.” {image via Paramount}
From Star Trek: the Next Generation, she was the chief medical officer of the Enterprise and mother of the irrepressible (and sometimes irresponsible) Wesley Crusher. She was widowed when Wesley was five years old and combined being a single mother with being a the lead
physician aboard a Galaxy class Federation starship.
#8 Frigga, Mother of Thor
Played by Rene Russo, Frigga is now deceased in the Marvel Universe timeline.
Frigga is the wife of Odin, mother of Thor, and the queen of Asgard. She is compassionate and nurturing to Thor and to her adopted son Loki, the offspring of King Laufey whom Odin brought with him from Jotunheim after the war with the Frost Giants. She raised both of her sons with equal love and warmth and is loved dearly by both of them in return. She appears to be a good and wise queen who is very highly regarded by all of her husband’s subjects.
#7: Susan Franscisco
Wife of George Francisco and mother of Emily, Buck and Vessna, Susan Francisco was played by Michelle Scarabelli.
Susan Francisco, Alien Nation, freed slave, mother of Buck, Emily, Vessna, and another unnamed child. Although her husband, Det. George Francisco gave birth to their youngest daughter on Earth, she had another child who was taken away from her on the slave ship. The fate of that alien child is unknown.
She adapted to one of the most difficult situations ever: trying to build a whole new life from scratch for her family on an alien world.
#6: Dr. Kristin Westphalen
Stephanie Beacham as Dr. Kristin Westphalen, CMO of “seaQuest DSV.” {image via NBC}
From the show seaQuest DSV, chief medical officer, chief science officer, mother of Cynthia. Although her daughter Cynthia only appeared in one episode, she was a mother figure to teen genius Lucas Wolenczak, the youngest crew member of seaQuest.
Teryl Rothery as Dr. Janet Fraiser in “Stargate: SG-1” {image via Gekko Film Corporation}`
#5 Dr. Janet Fraiser
Stargate: SG-1, USAF major, chief medical officer of Stargate Command, mother of Cassandra. Dr. Fraiser adopted Cassandra, a child from the planet Hanka. Now that’s motherhood – not only was the child carrying the trauma of being the sole survivor of an epidemic that wiped out her entire planet, with all that baggage to deal with. the kid turned out to be carrying a bomb meant to wipe out Stargate Command.
Sigorney Weaver as Ellen Ripley and Carrie Henn as Newt in “Aliens.: {image via 20th Century Fox}
#4 Ellen Ripley
We take a slight detour here out of television and into movies. Ellen Ripley is from both Alien and Aliens, flight officer of the Nostromo, and mother of Amanda. Her daughter died of old age while she was in stasis, but she became the protector and caregiver of Newt, the last survivor of the colony Hadley’s Hope.
Ripley didn’t take much crap from anyone, regardless of the number of extra limbs or jaws they might have. For pure survival instinct, Ripley rates #5.
#3 Jackie Tyler
Camille Coduri as Jackie Tyler and Shaun Dingwell as Pete Tyler in “Doctor Who,” {image via BBC}
Rose Tyler was one of the most popular and memorable companion characters on Doctor Who, for her courage, spirit and imagination. She must have gotten it from somewhere, and that would be her mum, Jackie Tyler. A Londoner of uncertain occupation, she shared a modest flat with her daughter. She objected to the Doctor endangering her daughter on reckless adventures through time and space, but eventually befriended him. She also tried, unsuccessfully, to seduce him, but that’s a story for another day.
#2 Dr. Claire Finn
Penny Johnson Jerald as Dr. Claire Finn on “The Orville,” {image via 20th Century Fox}
From the new science fiction “Trek-alike” TV series The Orville, Claire is the Orville’s chief medical officer, and mother of two often unruly boys named Marcus and Ty. Like Beverly Crusher of the Enterprise D, she’s is a single mother and a surgeon – though in her case, she chose to be a single mother and her pregnancies were both artificially created. You really have to want to be a mom to do something like that.
And that brings us to the #1 Mom in Sci-Fi, and we think you can guess who it is.
#1 Dr. Maureen Robinson
June Lockhart as Dr. Maureen Robinson in “Lost in Space” {image via CBS}
Matriarch of the first family in space, Dr. Maureen Robinson was played by June Lockhart. She was a strong female character, who, in 1965 was pretty darned rare. Dr. Robinson was a biochemist and general problem solver on the doomed Jupiter 2 mission, and mother of Judy, Penny, and Will. The fact that she was a scientist in her own right was seldom mentioned on the show, but she was always there ready to take charge whenever she needed to.
Her new incarnation in the Netflix series Lost in Space is a much stronger character, an engineer and commander of the Jupiter 2 mission. She’s ably played by Molly Parker, who imbues her with all the strength and abilities every outer space mom should have.
We know there’s a little in each of these cinematic hero moms in the mothers in our reading and listening audience. To all geek moms everywhere, Happy Mother’s Day!
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Susan Macdonald is the author of the children’s book “R is for Renaissance Faire”, as well as 26 short stories, mostly fantasy in “Alternative Truths”, “Swords and Sorceress #30”, Swords &Sorceries Vols. 1, 2, & 5, “Cat Tails” “Under Western Stars”, and “Knee-High Drummond and the Durango Kid”. Her articles have appeared on SCIFI.radio’s web site, in The Inquisitr, and in The Millington Star. She enjoys Renaissance Faires (see book above), science fiction conventions, Highland Games, and Native American pow-wows.
