Yahoo News How ‘Hacks,’ ‘Ted Lasso’ and More TV Shows Honor the Strength of Mothers and Daughters
The term “work wife” has been batted about for years. But there’s an oft-overlooked part of the work-family dynamic: the work mom.
Whether it’s Juno Temple’s enterprising Keeley Jones and Hannah Waddingham’s boss bitch Rebecca Welton in Apple TV+’s “Ted Lasso,” or Sheryl Lee Ralph’s Barbara Howard in ABC’s “Abbott Elementary” and Hannah Einbinder’s Ava Daniels in HBO Max’s “Hacks,” this year’s Emmy nominees for supporting comedy actress show various sides of the mentor-mentee relationship.
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Sometimes these bonds happen reluctantly — and sometimes they build even though the characters’ actual flesh-and-blood relatives are part of the show.
“I think Deborah and Ava are able to connect to each other in a way the two characters aren’t able to connect to their own families, or really, most other people in their worlds,” Einbinder says of her character’s relationship with the glass ceiling-shattering female comic, Deborah Vance (lead actress in a comedy nominee Jean Smart).
This despite Ava’s mom, Nina, and Deborah’s daughter DJ (guest actress nominees Jane Adams and Kaitlin Olson, respectively) appearing on the show with their own storylines and issues.
Einbinder adds: “I don’t think their relationship is necessarily limited to a mother-daughter dynamic; though the mentor-mentee relationship is certainly a part of the greater whole.”
At the end of the second season, Deborah forces Ava out of the nest by firing her just after they’ve made a hit comedy special — a wound that festers in Ava.
“I think Ava takes the breakup with Deborah so hard because … she’s never been closer to another person,” Einbinder says. “They’re best friends… The way they constantly have to learn and grow from each other is a great lesson in forgiveness and tolerance.”
Other shows are more blunt about the “work mom” dynamic.
On ABC’s hit mockumentary, “Abbott Elementary,” second-grade teacher Janine Teagues (Quinta Brunson) desperately wants the approval and guidance of Ralph’s more senior — and much more polished and stoic— educator, Barbara. Slowly, throughout the first season, Barbara relents to Janine’s eagerness and optimism.
For Ralph, this dynamic isn’t such a surprise. A self-described “natural mother” and “natural mentor,” her mantra is simple: If you pay attention, you will probably go very far.
But she says she’s “never had one assistant that didn’t call me back to say ‘I get it, Ms. Ralph. Now, I understand.’”
Of the Janine-Barbara relationship, Ralph references the 10th episode in which Barbara’s own daughter Taylor (Iyana Halley) disappoints her even as Janine won’t stop her hero worship. Just when Janine might need it the most, Barbara comes to her at the end of the episode and says, “it looks like your work mom is free. How about dinner?”
It was then that Ralph noticed how “very, very sweet” this is.
“As annoying as Janine can be; as hopeful as she can be, I think Barbara realizes that, ‘Oh, my God, that’s me,’” Ralph says. “I was that kind of annoying, and I was that hopeful and I actually wore the same [kinds of] clothes that Janine is wearing right now. And it’s very interesting to be able to see yourself in young people.”
She also stresses how much “Abbott Elementary” shows a support system for all the characters; in particular the four female educators who include Lisa Ann Walter’s Melissa Schemmenti and Janelle James’ Ava Coleman.
“Far too long, we’ve been playing out the narrative that women can’t get along and nothing is further from the truth,” Ralph says. “There may be women that have not been empowered and have not been in a space where they realize their strength and, so, maybe they feel that there needs to be some competition. But once you know that you’re not counting on somebody else to tell you your value, things change and you’re able to work with people and have good relationships and learn how to communicate properly.”
That is some excellent motherly advice.
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