It's the month that celebrates Father's Day, which makes it a good time to reflect on the ways fathers have been portrayed on TV.
Dads have traveled quite the route, starting with the 9-to-5 businessman who steered the household, steady and secure. The family around him provided most of the antics, while Father was the straight man — think Ward Cleaver in Leave it to Beaver.
Then there was Andy Griffith, which introduced a single father into the mix. The widowed and wise Griffith was sheriff of the sleepy town of Mayberry and had a young son, Opie. As good a guy as he was, however, Griffith still needed a woman's influence and help in raising Opie; he lived with his Aunt Bee.
By the 1970s and 1980s, TV saw a mix of fatherly styles, from the ranting Archie Bunker of All In The Family and the put-upon George Jefferson of The Jeffersons to the more serene Mike Brady (again, a widower) and the blended family dynamics of The Brady Bunch. There was also the dual income family with Heathcliff Huxtable as the goofy-but-paternal father in The Cosby Show.
The 1990s brought us the bumbling, even somewhat miserable dad — with Al Bundy arguably kicking off the genre in Married With Children — and the clueless guy. It also introduced the uncle who steps into the father role, with Uncle Phil in The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.
Fast-forward to the 2000s and we've got a mix, including same-sex couples (Modern Family), stay-at-home dads (Parenthood), and wisecracking but lovable dad of The Last Man Standing.
Rick Good spent ten years in the newspaper business, including with The News & Observer (Raleigh, NC) and The Greenville News (Greenville, SC). He co-wrote, with Melinda Coleman, Rutledge to Riley: Governors of South Carolina, 1776–Present (Published by The Greenville News), and is the author of Mind Games Trivia #1 (Amazon). He has recently spent 15 years creating original trivia content through Sounds Good Mobile Entertainment and continues that with his new company, SGME Software. He edits The Smart Reader’s money, real estate, and business coverage.
