The 7 Most Seriously Messed-Up TV Families We’ve Ever Seen
They say home is where the heart is, allowing us each to connect with a familiar setting and – most importantly – spend time with the people we care about most in our lives (I.E. our families).
But as a select number of TV series show us, not every family is as warm and supportive as The Brady Bunch. Instead of mutually supporting their family members through difficult or uncertain times, these families actively work to undermine one another, sabotaging each other’s lives whenever they sense an opportunity to do so.
A far cry from the close-knit families of All in the Family, The Waltons, or Modern Family, these TV families put the “fun” in dysfunctional, roping viewers’ in their petty arguing, non-stop bickering, and/or vengeful schemes to ruin one another’s lives. From murderous Mafia-centric families to influential celebrity dynasties, here are some of the most seriously screwed-up families we’ve ever seen on television.
The Roy Family (Succession)
In the grand scheme of things, it’s sometimes difficult to know what each member of the Roy family loves more: themselves, their massive wealth, or their position within their father’s company. Vying for control of patriarch Logan’s media empire, every character of Succession has shown themselves capable of committing truly monstrous acts at one time or another, treating their family like corporate rivals standing in their way of success. They might sometimes have a cathartic heart-to-heart or occasional bonding experience, but at the end of the day, each Roy is only looking out for themselves, putting their needs far ahead of their loved ones’ mental and emotional well-being.
The Soprano Family (The Sopranos)
Okay, yes, Tony Soprano’s immediate family – including his wife Carmela and two younger children – may not exactly be ideal to begin with. With underlying tensions stemming from Tony’s not-so-secret life as a high-ranking Mafia capo, the Soprano household sometimes boils over from regular familial arguments into full-blown shouting matches on par with an episode of Jerry Springer. Toss in some hard-hearted extended family members like Tony’s sociopathic mother Livia, his power-hungry uncle Junior, and his overly ambitious “nephew” Christopher, and you have the makings for a chaotic familial situation straight out of King Lear or Oedipus.
The Palmer Family (Twin Peaks)
Upon first glance, one can easily conclude the Palmer household is a picture-perfect example of an ordinary middle-class family. But as each new episode of Twin Peaks proved, the Palmers – like everyone else in their small town – had their fair share of secrets. Yet even when looking at daughter Laura’s problematic personal life, it’s Leland Palmer himself that remains the most disturbing thing about the Palmer residence. SPOILERS: Possessed by the sadistic entity BOB, Leland takes to regularly abusing his daughter from a heartrendingly young age, pushing her on the path towards her self-destructive habits and – inevitably – her eventual murder at Leland’s hands.
The Peacock Family (The X-Files)
Any villain responsible for getting an entire X-Files banned from syndication is worth taking seriously, especially when they’re as dark and twisted a brood as the Peacock clan. The main antagonists of Season 4’s MA-rated “Home,” the Peacocks appear as a self-isolated farming family holed up in the backwoods of Pennsylvania. Deformed by decades of inbreeding and impervious to physical harm, the Peacocks come across as an unholy combination of the cannibalistic Sawyers from Texas Chainsaw Massacre and the mountainous predators of Deliverance, making them one of the most frightening foes Scully and Mulder ever faced in The X-Files’ history.
The Reynolds Family (It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia)
As most longtime fans of the series will tell you, every member of It’s Always Sunny’s cast is objectively horrible in their own right. Of course, it’s just icing on the cake that three of the gang’s members harbor a familial connection to one another, with Frank serving as the miserly father to his equally misanthropic adult children, Dee and Dennis. While they may not be biologically related, the Reynolds’ close-knit relationship makes their antics in It’s Always Sunny that much more disturbing (and hilarious) to watch over the series’ 20 years on television.
The Gallagher Family (Shameless)
Say what you will about the Gallaghers, but they at least try to support each other whenever their loved ones are in need of assistance. Sadly, many of their respective personal issues often stand in their way, usually leading their situations to grow steadily worse over time. Led by their narcissistic, neglectful, unreliable father Frank, the Gallaghers routinely contend with the problems of their socioeconomic upbringing, forcing them to employ desperate money-making schemes that inevitably blow up in their faces. From their numerous failed relationships to their constant battles with alcoholism, ailing mental health, and substance abuse, the Gallaghers unfortunately always descended to disastrous new lows, with their home lives somehow always going from bad to worse.
The Lannisters (Game of Thrones)
While the Starks and Targaryens might have their issues with one another, each of those respective families seem like the stars of a Disney Channel sitcom when compared to the members of House Lannisters. Whether regularly attempting to murder each other or harboring forbidden romantic affairs with one another (yuck), the Lannisters always found new ways to lie, betray, and emotionally scar one another with every Game of Thrones season that passed. With a family like that, who on earth needs enemies?
