Best and Worst TV Dads

‘Full House’

After losing his wife in an accident, the late Bob Saget’s Danny Tanner is left to be a single dad, learning how to raise three young daughters while getting some help from his brother-in-law and best friend. Despite what could lead to a chaotic house, Saget’s Danny is the strong glue that holds the family together, offering both humor and support whenever needed. Saget, who reprised his role in the reboot, titled Fuller House, died in January 2022 at age 65.

‘Modern Family’

Modern Family features not one, but four different dads, heading their families with varying degrees of success. Phil Dunphy (Ty Burrell), Jay Pritchett (Ed O’Neill), Cam Tucker (Eric Stonestreet) and Mitchell Pritchett (Jesse Tyler Ferguson) all struggle with their own relationship problems, and each other. From an intense fear of birds to an overwhelmingly competitive spirit, no father is perfect, but they all share a desire to navigate their loved ones down the correct path.

‘Big Love’

Big Love‘s Bill Henrickson (Bill Paxton) is three times the “Dad” of any regular father — after all, he has three wives to support, with nine children in total. Unfortunately, Bill’s wife Barbara (Jeanne Tripplehorn) handles the brunt of parental responsibilities, while Bill tries to run his church and vie for political power. Clearly, he’s a very busy man.

‘The Brady Bunch’

Is there a rule in television that the more children a man has, the better a father he is? If so, widowed architect Mike Brady (Robert Reed) of The Brady Bunch must rank pretty highly. In addition to his biological children — sons Greg (Barry Williams), Peter (Christopher Knight) and Bobby (Mike Lookinland) — he must care for his new wife, Carol’s (Florence Henderson) daughters — Marcia (Maureen McCormick), Jan (Eve Plumb) and Cindy (Susan Olsen). In addition, housekeeper Alice (Ann B. Davis) lived with the family, as did their dog, Tiger.

‘Family Guy’

Family Guy‘s Peter Griffin certainly fits into the “worst television dads” category. Obnoxious, self-centered and not very bright, Peter lets his wife, Lois, raise their two teenaged children and baby Stewie, who — at the ripe age of 2 — is obsessed with world domination. Peter gets into fights with an anthropomorphic chicken, cleans his house with a hose and consistently puts his family in danger.

‘King of the Hill’

Though Hank Hill, seller of propane and propane accessories, may not lead the most exciting life, he does a good job of steering his teenaged son Bobby down the straight and narrow. The Texan remains dedicated to his job, but also to his wife and son, who causes Hank trouble with his eccentric behavior and interests.

‘All in the Family’

‘Home Improvement’

In Home Improvement, Tim Taylor (Tim Allen) and wife, Jill (Patricia Richardson), raise their children Brad (Zachery Ty Bryan), the middle child Randy (Jonathan Taylor Thomas) and youngest, Mark (Taran Noah Smith) in Detroit, Michigan. They encounter obstacles, which are often solved with advice from their wise next-door neighbor, Wilson (Earl Hindman), who never actually shows his face, preferring to hide behind a fence.

‘Jon and Kate Plus 8’

Jon and Kate Plus 8 went from a lighthearted reality show about two parents with fraternal twins and sextuplets to a course in “how not to be a good father” over about three years. The two separated in 2009 after both Jon and Kate were accused of extramarital affairs.

‘The Cosby Show’

The Cosby Show was a huge hit in the ‘80s, practically revitalizing the sitcom genre. It was one of the first sitcoms to feature a predominantly Black cast and addressed numerous social issues of the time. Bill Cosby wanted the show to not just entertain, but also educate — qualities shared by good fathers across the world. The show’s legacy, however, has been tarnished by the sexual assault charges against the star. (He was found guilty of sexually assault in 2018 and served three years of his prison sentence before being released in 2021 after his conviction was overturned.)

‘Married… With Children’

Married… With Children saw Ed O’Neill as a former high school football star, raising his airhead daughter, Kelly (Christina Applegate), and sexless son, Bud (David Faustino), with wife Peggy (Katey Segal). A lovable loser of a father or a malicious and embittered shoe salesman? You decide.

‘Dads’

Fox’s comedy series followed two successful guys and childhood best friends (Seth Green and Giovanni Ribisi), now in their mid-30s, whose relatively stable lives get turned upside down when their inappropriate and pain-in-the-neck patriarchs (Martin Mull and Peter Riegert) move in. The critically reviled show lasted only one season before it was canceled in May 2014.

‘The Simpsons’

Is Homer Simpson the greatest father in the world? Probably not. He’s wreckless, not very intelligent and kind of a slob. But he also has a heart — correcting his mistakes, encouraging his children, Bart, Lisa and baby Maggie, to pursue their passions and adoring his wife, Marge. He tries his best to do right by his family — which is really all you can ask for in a dad.

‘Ugly Betty’

In Ugly Betty, father doesn’t take care of daughter as much as daughter takes care of father. Betty Suarez (America Ferrera) must take a job to support her father, Ignacio (Tony Plana), a former chef and boxer whose heart problems prove to be a huge financial constraint. Further issues arise when it’s discovered Ignacio lives in the country illegally after he committed a murder in Mexico. There used to be another show for fathers like Ignacio — it was called The Jerry Springer Show.

‘The Sopranos’

In between murdering other gangsters and even family members, loansharking “friends” and skimming money off HUD projects, Tony Soprano (James Gandolfini) barely has time to think about his family. He cheats on his wife with strippers from his mob hangout and kicks his daughter’s boyfriend out of the house for not being Italian. His own mother even tries to have him killed. But don’t worry — he does love animals.

‘Happy Days’

Set in 1950s Wisconsin, Happy Days presented viewers with Richard Cunningham (Ron Howard), an all-American teenager complete with his hardware store-owner father, Howard Cunningham (Tom Bosley). Although the series mostly focused on Richard and his escapades with his friends, we do learn that Howard excels at one thing dads of the ’50s did best: reading the newspaper.

‘The Osbournes’

To some, Ozzy Osbourne would seem to be an awesome father: a rich rock star whose constant use of profanity makes for highly entertaining reality television. To others, that’s a recipe for disaster. As Osbourne confirmed in an interview with the BBC in 2009, he was “stoned during the entire filming of The Osbournes.” Perhaps not the best role model, but a whole lot of fun.

‘Who’s the Boss?’

After his wife dies, Tony Micelli (Tony Danza) moves his daughter, Samantha (Alyssa Milano) to upscale Connecticut in hopes of a better life. He ends up a live-in housekeeper for divorced ad agent Angela Bower (Judith Light). Tony gets points for relocating to give his daughter the best life possible.

‘Arrested Development’

Despite his family’s numerous eccentricities and criminal wrongdoings, Arrested Development‘s Michael Bluth (Jason Bateman) raises his son to be decent. Michael’s father, George Bluth Sr. (Jeffrey Tambor), is a different story: He will do anything to retain control of his sons, daughter and his corporation, Bluth Company, despite being incarcerated for fraud. The series, which was revived on Netflix in 2018, continued to feature plenty of his plots. Tambor later faced sexual harassment claims.

‘George Lopez’

‘Shameless’

‘Family Ties’

‘Roseanne’

John Goodman played the easygoing Dan Conner — husband of Roseanne Barr — on the ABC sitcom, which aired from 1988-97. In the 1995-96 season, Dan suffered a heart attack. But it was revealed in the series finale that Dan had actually died, and the entire final season had all been a work of fiction invented by aspiring writer Roseanne. The shocking twist angered many fans at the time. Roseanne was revived on ABC in 2018 but canceled amid Barr being fired after making controversial racist tweet about Valerie Jarrett, a senior adviser to former President Barack Obama. ABC later launched a Roseanne spinoff titled The Conners starring Goodman in 2018.

‘The O.C.’

Despite all the dramatic happenings the Cohen family faced at school and home, patriarch Sandy Cohen (Peter Gallagher) always acted as a constant support, whether protecting his criminal father-in-law to taking in and eventually adopting troubled teen Ryan Atwood after his mother abandoned him. Throughout the The O.C.‘s five seasons, Sandy served as a moral center for sons Ryan (Ben McKenzie) and Seth (Adam Brody), always guiding them through their varied issues.

‘This Is Us’

Throughout This Is Us, audiences watched the Pearson family patriarch Jack Pearson (portrayed by Milo Ventimiglia) be a dedicated husband to wife Rebecca (Mandy Moore) and father of Kevin (Justin Hartley), Kate (Chrissy Metz) and Randall Pearson (Sterling K. Brown). Chronicling the early years of their family life and Jack’s own personal struggles, the show examines how the father’s eventual death impacted each of them. Audiences also watched Brown’s Randall raise three daughters of his own and saw Hartley’s Kevin become a father himself.

‘The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air’

On The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, Phillip Banks (portrayed by James Avery) may have been a father of four children, but he was also a father figure to his nephew, Will (Will Smith), throughout the series. Avery’s Uncle Phil was strict but overall a supportive, loving and honorable family man.

‘Black-ish’

Father of five Andre Johnson (Anthony Anderson) may think of himself as the “alpha male” of the household and — though he may seem too confident in himself at times — he deeply cares for his family and never hesitates to have heart-to-heart moments with his kids.

‘Riverdale’

For the residents of Riverdale, strange occurrences can always be expected. Yet Archie Andrews (K.J. Apa) always had a moral compass in his father, Fred Andrews (Luke Perry), who always encouraged Archie to do the right thing. After Fred passes away (following Perry’s death in 2019), Archie aspires to make the father he looked up to proud and carry on his legacy. On the other end, Veronica Lodge’s (Camila Mendes) father, Hiram Lodge (Mark Consuelos), brings crime and danger to Riverdale, unafraid to pose a major threat to Veronica and her friends.