Where Are They Now: Our Beloved ’80s Sitcom Moms

Alter Ego: Angela Bower on Who's the Boss? TV Kids: Jonathan (and Samantha by proxy) TV Parenting Style: Be the voice of reason no matter how unconventional your situation is, or if your professional-boxer-cum-housekeeper is grilling your sandwich by running a clothes iron over it. In her mismatched household—which included her son Jonathan, her sassy, narcissistic mother Mona (played by Katherine Helmond of Soap fame), her housekeeper Tony, and his daughter Samantha—Angela was always grounded (if a little tightly wound).

Where She Is Today: After numerous film and TV appearances (including Law and Order SVU and Nurse Jackie) since Who's the Boss? ended in 1992, Light regained the spotlight as the (mostly) recovered alcoholic matriarch Claire Meade on ABC's Ugly Betty. She's starred on Broadway in the hit show Lombardi. She's also recently won two Tony awards for her work on Broadway. Snakkle Buy: Get the first season of Who’s the Boss? from Amazon.com

Alter Ego: Clair Huxtable on The Cosby Show TV Kids: Sondra, Denise, Theo, Vanessa, and Rudy TV Parenting Style: Always calm, cool, and collected. Clair had a way of putting her kids (and her husband) in their place by raising a perfectly arched eyebrow but never her voice.

Where She Is Today: Rashad continues to act both onscreen and onstage—she won a Tony in 2004 for A Raisin in the Sun (the first African-American to win for best leading actress in a play)—and she starred in the 2010 Tyler Perry film For Colored Girls. Snakkle Buy: Get The Cosby Show from Amazon.com

Alter Ego: Elyse Keaton on Family Ties TV Kids: Alex, Mallory, Jennifer, and Andy TV Parenting Style: Support your children even when you can't believe you gave birth to them. As a devout liberal and former hippie, Elyse didn't judge her son Alex's staunch Republican ways or discourage Mallory from caring more about makeup than a career. Her motherly wisdom, she says in this clip, came a lot easier with the help of a script.

Where She Is Today: In her book Untied: A Memoir of Family, Fame, and Floundering, Baxter opens up about her battles with alcoholism, her experiences in an abusive marriage, and coming out as a lesbian later in life. Snakkle Buys: Get the DVD of the first season of Family Ties at Amazon.com Buy Meredith Baxter's autobiography Untied: A Memoir of Family, Fame, and Floundering at Amazon.com

Alter Ego: Maggie Seaver on Growing Pains TV Kids: Mike, Carol, Ben, and Chrissy TV Parenting Style: A working mother, Maggie still managed to spend special time with each kid. She took Ben to meet his rock-star idol, taught Carol the importance of inner beauty when she asked for a nose job, and was understanding toward Mike though he could be a total pain in the tuckus. Even while explaining to a wounded Ben the dilemma of choosing between work and family, she was warm and sensible.

Where She Is Today: She’s gone behind the camera as a director on hit shows ranging from Army Wives to Grey’s Anatomy. Snakkle Buy: Get the first season of Growing Pains at Amazon.com