These top sitcom moms feel the love

For fear of being misconstrued as a misogynist, I’d like to follow up my “Top TV Dads” column… For fear of being misconstrued as a misogynist, I’d like to follow up my “Top TV Dads” column with my picks for top TV moms.

Why? Let’s face it – in the real and televised worlds, it’s often the mothers who are the voices of reason and bear the brunt of buffoonery when hubby or kiddie antics spiral out of control. I should know – I put my own mother through 22 years of hell.

Same deal as before – these are my opinions, so feel free to disagree all you want.

Jill Taylor of “Home Improvement” – Talk about a world-class sweetheart. Balancing all the duties of motherhood, wifedom and a budding psychology profession is no easy feat, but Patricia Richardson pulls it all off with a sharp wit and panache. She has to, considering that her hubby Tim is all about “more power” – she errs more on the side of caution for damn good reason. No wife enjoys a blown-up house, but somehow Jill still finds time to enjoy her family’s company through thick, thin and motor oil.

Roseanne Conner of “Roseanne” – Her family may be the butt of many jokes on the show, but Roseanne redefines the term tough love. If her kids get out of line, she tells them – no sugar coating or belly rubbing from her (except for Dan Conner – rawr).

Considering her show was labeled as edgy, even racy, Roseanne had to put up with a lot of hard issues that other shows tended to avoid, but all the while, she still comes off as a loveable maternal influence. Standing ovation required.

Lois Griffin of “Family Guy” – Come on – putting up with a mentally handicapped husband, a dog that wants her in the sack and a baby that wants her dead? How she still loves that family of hers is beyond anyone’s comprehension, but by God, she still does.

Sure, she may smack Peter with a frying pan and occasionally break the law, but Lois has put up with so much over the years that she knows not only how to deal with it, but how to teach her kids to avoid similar situations.

She may also be one of the few moms on television with a healthy, albeit unorthodox, sex life. Giggity giggity goo.

Annie Camden of “7th Heaven” – Picture this – you have seven kids running around the house, a minister husband’s salary to live on and more multitasking to do than the average student’s computer. Sounds like the ultimate justification for running the hell away.

But God bless Annie Camden for sticking it out, giving women everywhere the morals and strategies needed to be not only a good wife and mother, but also a housekeeper and repairwoman as well. Listening to eight different sets of problems over cookies and milk while still finding time to fix a sink? No one outside the Ringling Brothers Circus could juggle more than her.

Lorelai Gilmore of “Gilmore Girls” – Carrying an unplanned pregnancy full term at 16 years of age and running away from home to a menial job is a tough gig. Somehow, Lorelai made her way through the world by opening her own business and still finding time to treat her daughter as anything but – rather, daughter Rory is her best friend.

This kind of relationship with a child that many parents would consider accidental is inspirational and heartwarming. Lauren Graham pulls it off with the obligatory sharp wit yet maternal affection that could elicit a tear from even this stonehearted heathen