Last night, while getting my daily dose the Simpson’s – I found my mind wandering at right angles to the rest of the family – before proudly announcing that despite his bumbling nature – Homer was right up there with other TV dads as far as affording us advice about life.
From Mike Brady with his groovy clothes and fortune cookie advice to Howard Cunningham of Happy Days fame – everybody loves TV dads.
After all don’t we all wish we could solve our kids’ problems in 30 minutes or less?
A prerequisite of course is wisdom and sage advice.
From Don Porter who played Sally Field’s father in Gidget to Fred Gwynne as Herman Munster, Brian Keith in “A Family Affair” to Fred McMurray in “My 3 Sons” – TV dads (in the most part) have taught us that with a positive attitude anything is possible.
It wasn’t until I started to think about just how many TV dads there were – that the notion of a “Best Of” almost became too much.
Enter – Charles Ingalls from Little House on the Prairie, Tony Soprano from “The Soprano’s” Andy Taylor from The Andy Griffith Show, Ward Cleaver from “Leave It to Beaver”, Jed Clampett from “The Beverly Hillbillies”, Ben Cartwright (Bonanza), Tim Taylor (Home Improvement), Gomez Addams (The Addams Family), George Jetson (The Jetsons) – the list goes on and on and on.
So just who is the best TV dad of all time?
hehehe … there’s been some rippers, but Peter Griffin has to get my vote.
Just ahead of Frank Costanza and Morty Seinfeld, both of which really came into their own after the original actors who played them were replaced.
Hey Sgt-Pembry
How good is Peter Griffin – says it like it is – and then some . . .
Great choice
Probably Dan Conner from Roseanne. He always had good advice for the kids and he put up with his shrew of a wife with humour and love. He was a cool TV dad.