Coach Taylor from more recent shows (FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS), but if I had to list my favorite TV Dad, it would be Jack Arnold (Dan Lauria) from THE WONDER YEARS. He was the beleaguered father I remember from my childhood. He wasn't always perfect like the fathers we tend to hold dear: You could feel his dissatisfaction with his lot in life, his disappointment in various issues, his tiredness: was anyone ever more tired. The series was inspired by A CHRISTMAS STORY and you can see the similarities in this character especially.
Jim Anderson on FATHER KNOWS BEST, Ward Cleaver from LEAVE IT TO BEAVER, Steve Douglas from MY THREE SONS, and a hundred fathers that followed them were all great Dads but I will take Mr. Arnold. .He was never the generic father.
How about you? What TV father did you like?
30 comments:
I also liked Dan Connor on ROSEANNE.
Robert Young of FATHER KNOWS BEST.
Ben Cartwright
Good fathers all. And Dan Connor was especially good at balancing Roseanne.
As a kid, I always thought it would be cool to have a Dad as permissive as Vern Albright on My Little Margie, but now that I think about it, the relationship between the two was kind of creepy...maybe you could stay with Mrs.Odets.
Lou Marie was always V. protective of Ann on That Girl, but he was also very sweet.
Lou Marie was a favorite back then. Loved his humanness.
That show was shown the year we lived in England so I have never seen it. A big hole in my education because it gets referenced all the time.
No contest. Hal (a/k/a Kid Charlemagne) from Malcolm in the Middle.
Bryan Cranston was great in that show and in ever show. The guy on Modern Family steals a lot of his best bits. Or did. I have given up on it.
Patti--here we go again: our resident troll is back. Those previous "Deb" comments are not from me, so you can delete them.
MY favorite tv dad is Martin Crane on "Frazier".
Deb
I'd go with Father Knows Best, except it seems, in retrospect so unrealistic. My Three Sons worked for me too. But I guess I'll pick the dad on Family Ties.
Maybe not the "best" but the funniest: Homer Simpson.
No one was more earnest than the parents on FAMILY TIES.
Still have never seen THE SIMPSONS but from what I hear...
Forman
Must be out of it because I don't know Forman!
Ah!
Sorry, Red Forman (Kurtwood Smith) was the father, whose favorite epithet for his son was "Dumb@ss."
Patti, i wouldn`t be too quick to forget what the troll said though, MY SO-CALLED LIFE really was one of the greatest shows of all-time.
I am looking for it. Right now I need a new cable box so choices are limited.
Ward Cleaver. No other choice is correct.
Certainly the best written show of my childhood😊
Whoah. The "Gerard" above must have been someone using used my name in a reply error.
I only posted that first Red Forman comment with the YouTube link.
I guess I am headed toward no open blog or no blog because of the proliferation of trolls. From now on, unless I know you or you are connected to a site, I will trash the comment despite its merits.
Speaking of favorite fathers, I wonder how many of the television shows mentioned here are available on DVD, esp. on Netflicks? It might be fun to re-watch some of them, and we might be surprised at which shows stand up and which are more just fond memories.
Oh, and I hope the trolls don't take you down. Also, Happy Thanksgiving!
Most of them are available on either netflix, hula or amazon. Or you tube.
I'm going to go with Tom Bosley from Happy Days. I still remember his showing Ritchie his self defense moves. "Ritchie? The twenty dollars is in my back pocket."
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