Mom is just about to enter its seventh season come its September 26th premiere date. Starring Allison Janney and Anna Faris as a dysfunctional mother and daughter duo, the series has covered their journey from recovering alcoholics to repairing their relationships with one another and basically everyone else. They’re not perfect but they certainly earn awards for trying. Over the last six seasons, they’ve made us laugh with their antics plenty a time. We’re taking a moment to narrow down some especially funny episodes, which is no easy feat when it comes to a show as funny as this one. That said, here are 10 of Mom’s funniest episodes, ranked.
“Crazy Eyes and a Wet Brad Pitt” - Season 2, Episode 6
Bonnie and Christy are swept up into the life of high society when the woman Christy is sponsoring, Jill (Jaime Pressley) asks for their company. From there, everything spirals into luxurious gift-giving, a good highlight for a change when it comes to the uneven and oftentimes unstable lives of Bonnie and Christy. What makes this particular episode funny is the relatable moment of showing off: Christy and Bonnie model their fancy new outfits as they strut into an AA meeting. If you’ve got it, why not flaunt it? It’s more fun to show up to any gathering in style–as long as you don’t get too carried away.
“Fish Town and Too Many Thank You’s” - Season 5, Episode 2
This episode finds Bonnie and Christy in a fix when they take Bonnie’s brother’s fancy car out for a joy ride. Having been suspicious of her brother being up to something earlier in the episode, Bonnie’s suspicions are confirmed when Christy finds substances and marijuana in the glove compartment of the car–right as they’re pulled over by an officer for a burned-out taillight!
We have to laugh at their unfortunate debacle as they try to act cool (especially in the moments where Christy is unsure of where the drugs ended up when she hid them). Not only that, but we loved watching the two enjoy their joy ride in the Mercedes while listening to the radio–how many of us can say we haven’t done that at one time or another?
“Sword Fights and a Dominican Shortstop” - Season 4, Episode 2
The funniest element of this episode is Bonnie’s attempts at hiding her past relationship with Jeanine (Rosie O’Donnell) from her boyfriend Adam (William Fichtner). Bonnie and Christy cross paths with Jeanine when she speaks at one of their AA meetings, and the episode takes off from there. While Christy struggles with whether or not she should quit school and take Jeanine up on her offer of working at her real estate firm, Bonnie fields questions from Adam about her relationship with Jeanine. Adam fishes for details and seems amused at continuously throwing Bonnie off-guard, much to Bonnie’s chagrin (which of course we enjoy watching the two of them do in any episode).
“Chicken Nuggets and a Triple Homicide” - Season 2, Episode 3
Homeless Christy and Bonnie, alongside Christy’s kids, finally find a home with an amazing discount out in the country. Trouble is, there’s a string attached: the house comes with a history of a triple homicide. At first thinking they can move past it, Christy and Bonnie soon find that they’re too terrified to stay in the house of horrors and run back to Marjorie’s (Mimi Kennedy) house, where they were previously staying.
The ironic thing is that it was Marjorie masquerading as the serial killer in the window to get them to come back to her house as she missed their company. What they don’t know won’t kill them.
“Snickerdoodle and a Nip Slip” - Season 3, Episode 8
Candace (Sara Rue), newly engaged to Christy’s ex Baxter (Matt Jones) arranges a fancy lunch at a golf club with Christy and Bonnie to better the friction between them for the sake of Christy and Baxter’s son. Just when things seem to be coming along, Candace’s and Christy’s relationship turns icy once more when Candace’s wealthy father takes an interest in Christy. Bonnie highly encourages Christy to go after him for his money (especially since she just ruined a Neiman Marcus dress that she can’t afford) and an initially reluctant Christy complies. Funny thing is, she actually likes him, much to Candace’s horror and Bonnie’s joy.
“My Little Pony and a Demerol Drip” - Season 3, Episode 9
The fun continues in the next episode when Candace shows up to Christy’s and Bonnie’s home drunk in the middle of the night declaring her distaste for Christy’s relationship with her father. While Christy and Bonnie make fun of her in her drunken state, Christy also acknowledges why Candace can’t stand Christy’s relationship with her father and saves Candace from having her eyebrows shaved off courtesy of Bonnie. Baxter later shows up looking for Candace and begging Christy to stop dating his soon to be father-in-law, even offering her a bribe.
Turns out, Christy doesn’t like how her new beau treats his daughter and dumps him, to which Candace smugly says it was only a matter of time before her father moved on. Christy lets this go, as she understands why Candace is as mean as she is, while Bonnie grieves for her lost fortune and her “people.”
“Kitty Litter and a Class A Felony” - Season 2, Episode 12
Still reeling from the death of Alvin (Kevin Pollak), her boyfriend and the father of Christy, Bonnie takes drastic measures to keep him in her life. Grief affects all in different ways, but Bonnie takes it up a notch when she breaks into the home of Alvin’s ex-wife to retrieve his ashes and refuses to let go of them. Christy, wanting to do the right thing, substitutes her father’s ashes with kitty litter to fool her mother and returns them. It’s given that Alvin’s ex-wife was being cold-hearted, so perhaps Bonnie was right in taking Alvin off her hands just for a little while. If nothing else, Bonnie’s antics in this episode were nothing short of hilarious.
“Dropped Soap and a Big Guy on a Throne” - Season 2, Episode 18
When Bonnie takes a fall in the shower, chaos ensues. First, she and Christy face temptation when Bonnie is prescribed pain medication for her injured back. Then, when Bonnie receives a new dose of said pain medication, she becomes completely loopy.
This episode highlights some of Bonnie’s funniest moments as she engages in illogical conversation with a nonexistent pair of missionaries. Well, there have been worse drug-induced fantasies, scenarios or situations otherwise.
“Cheeseburger Salad and Jazz” - Season 2, Episode 13
Crazy, insane, outrageous–also known as another day in the life of the Plunketts. Concerned that Bonnie isn’t coping with Alvin’s death, Christy tricks her into going to therapy. The therapist himself is young and clearly has issues of his own (especially where it concerns his grandmother). Then, Bonnie turns the tables and Christy winds up being the subject and is tasked with drawing her feelings. While Bonnie tries to make another man into Alvin, Christy repeatedly uses her disturbing drawing of a scary face to express her feelings on Bonnie’s ideas throughout the episode (especially when it comes to dating a man that Bonnie believes is her next Alvin). To sum up the episode in a word: hysterical.
“Wind Chimes and a Bottomless Pit of Sadness” - Season 4, Episode 12
Without a doubt, the funniest episode of the series is when Bonnie snags some of Adam’s cookies that, unknown to her, contain pot. She shares them with Christy, and later their friends Jill and Wendy (Beth Hall) as well. The four of them unknowingly get high and start acting all kinds of kooky, especially when they make their way to a playground with little horses and a merry-go-round. While we’re sidesplitting with laughter, Adam hurriedly tracks them down, tells them the truth about the cookies, and just as soon as the fun began, it ends when they realize they’ve broken their sobriety. Luckily Marjorie is there to calm them down and save the day, but we’re still busily laughing over the playground scene (and rewinding the DVR so we can watch it again).
Mom has a handle on comedy of all kinds. Slapstick, dialogue, physical, punchlines. You name it, they’ve done it. We’re grateful we’ve got season seven to look forward to for more laughs–it’s the best show to turn to when you need recovery time from the workday.
