At any time there is going to be a show centred around a ‘standard’ family on television. They’re traditionally suburbanite and well off, so as to justify the three or more children and the large living rooms (so there is a lot of space for the characters to meander and interact).
The times change but the formula remains the same. My first memories of this staple, like most people glued to the screen in the 1980s, included Italian dubbed versions of Growing Pains – inexplicably called Genitori in Blue Jeans (parents who wear blue jeans), and Family Ties, unimaginatively called Casa Keaton (The Keaton House).
We had the rise of the conservative mentality in the yuppie, middle-class republican families, but also -the idea of new modern parenting via down-to-earth parents who want to talk with their children and give them a lot of positive enforcement (aka the doom of parenting, but let’s leave that to another rant). For the purpose of this column I’ll be focussing on the fathers of television.
I just mentioned two programmes earlier. Family Ties’ Michael Gross hasn’t really made any waves since he left the show, although Growing Pains’ Alan Thicke is considered a Canadian treasure.
He also fathered the (possibly) real lan Thicke, who blurred the lines (cough) with some questionable lyrics in summers past.
I would also mention The Cosby Show (Italian: I Robinson, a case of outright renaming of the family itself), but right now the least said about Bill Cosby and daddy issues the better.
Sitcom television fathers don’t ever seem to break the mould
Sitcom television fathers don’t ever seem to break the mould. They are understanding, active in their children’s lives, never seem to have any work stress on their shoulders and given 30 minutes, they’ll have an answer to the issue at hand.
Transpose Happy Days’ Howard Cunningham and Home Improvement’s Tim Taylor, or Fresh Prince’s Philip Banks and Married with Children’s Al Bundy.
They have different approaches to shock, disdain and banter, but they’re pretty much the same thing. It takes good writing and good acting to break away from the mould. Here are a few of the best, and worst television dads.
Hal, Malcolm In The Middle (Bryan Cranston)
Forget the man who knocks, Bryan Cranston kills it in this show. A stuffed shirt who had neither the respect from his kids nor the ear of his wife, he still passively brought a strong presence to the stories and still remained a father figure, something that Cranston’s Walter White never really was.
Marshall Eriksen, How I Met Your Mother (Jason Segel )
Marshall steps in for Generation Y and the noughties parent. He’s young at heart, still playful well into his 30s, excitable and eager. He mixes strong rationality with childlike enthusiasm which can only work wonders on the upbringing of his daughter.
Phil Dunphy is the 1980s dad on crack.Phil Dunphy, Modern Family (Ty Burrell)
Phil Dunphy is the 1980’s dad on crack. He’s the show’s goofy character but he’s so overbearingly nice, upbeat and positive I half expect him to wish ill on his family just so he can be there to provide support when the calamity happens. Either that or he kills stray cats in midnight park escapades.
Louis CK, Louie (Louis CK)
Delightfully dour, Louie is a show that is so depressing any shred of humanity seems to shine and feel like hot chocolate on a freezing winter’s day. Here is a man who loves his kids and there is little more to it than that.
Homer Simpson, The Simpsons
Despite the whackadoodle antics and manic ignorance Homer constantly displays, we’re frequently treated to stories about how Homer makes major sacrifices for his kids. Bart throttling aside, the Simpsons is one of the longest running television families we’ve grown up with Homer’s unorthodox wisdom: “Kids, you tried your best and you failed miserably. The lesson is, never try.”
And the Worst TV Dad award goes to…
Peter Griffin, Family Guy (Seth Macfarlane)
In direct contrast to Homer Simpson, Peter is the worst parent you could ever put in a family-type television show. He mocks his children, directly offends his daughter and has metaphorically and literally dropped the baby on his head once too often. Even when he’s warm, there is usually some joke about to be deployed, nulling the situation completely. Still funny though.
Worst Dad Honourable Mention:
Tywin Lannister, Game of Thrones (Charles Dance)
You have three kids, two of them are sleeping with each other and the other you costantly deride and hate. Tywin is the model of the 1950’s dad: he makes the money and comes home very late to treat his family like staff, piling on daddy issues aplenty. He eventually gets the point.