(A Belated) Fathers Day 2009 – Bring Your Kid To Work Edition

I got caught up in some other stuff yesterday (that seems to be happening a lot – blame it on the summer I suppose, not to mentin that getting these pictures together ain't easy) so this is a belated Father's Day tribute. Then again, aren't most tributes to fathers a little late and a little less interesting than tributes to mothers?

As you may have noticed, men are not women. In most cases this doesn't matter for acting – you know, besides the peeing sitting down bit, and the nudity thing – but one of those is the fact that when a man is in the process of becoming a father there are no obvious signs. A man can go through an entire pregnancy without anyone noticing. Unlike a woman of course, which after all was the subject of my Mother's Day post this year. But what about after the baby comes and becomes a full-fledged human being. Even then we really don't have to know anything. Nothing is obvious after all. No one has to know that dear old dad is a dear old dad in real life (or for that matter on a drama – since most are set in a workplace you don't need to know much about their personal lives while for women it's often a major plot point; but that's a subject for next year's Father's Day post). But what fathers can do is appear in a show with their off-spring. And some of those children grow up to be actors in their own right.

Desi Arnaz – Desi Arnaz Jr. and Lucie Arnaz(?): This is a bit of a stretch but inevitably I go back to I Love Lucy for a first. In the last episode of the half-hour I Love Lucy (the show went to an hour length as the The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour for the last two seasons of its existence) there were two small children at the dedication of a statue in Westport Connecticut – a statue which Lucy has accidentally destroyed of course. At the statue dedication there are a couple of kids, a little boy and a little girl. Vivian Vance, as Ethel Mertz asks the little boy if he can see. The little boy is none other than Desi Arnaz Jr. while the little girl has long been thought to be his sister Lucie. However in its notes on the episode TV.com claims that "It has been said that the Arnazes' daughter Lucie appears in the episode. She doesn't show up in the episode, although Desi Arnaz, Jr. and Lucie's childhood playmate do." Lucie and Desi would later co-star on their mother's third series Here's Lucy. Subsequently both children went off to their own careers. Lucie had some success in film, TV and Broadway, notably in the 1980 remake of The Jazz Singer opposite Neil Diamond, and the Broadway musical They're Playing Our Song. She even had her own series - The Lucie Arnaz Show – which ran for six episodes. Desi Arnaz Jr. has a much more extensive IMDB resume with a lot of guest starring work in the 1970s. Improbably he appeared in his own series, Automan. Even more improbably it lasted thirteen episodes – seven more than his sister's show (which in my not so humble opinion was infinitely superior). Perhaps his most interesting movie role was his small part in the movie The Mambo Kings: he played Desi Arnaz Sr. – his father.

Lloyd Bridges – Beau Bridges and Jeff Bridges: Lloyd Bridges's first entry into Television was probably one of the iconic syndicated series of the late 1950s, Seahunt. On the show Bridges played former Navy frogman turned freelance diver Mike Nelson. Nelson – so far as we could tell at least – was a single man without children. In real life Lloyd Bridges was married with four kids. The two oldest children Beau and Jeff both made appearances on Seahunt on several occasions – twice each for Beau and Jeff Bridges. Subsequently Lloyd Bridges starred in the Aaron Spelling produced anthology series The Lloyd Bridges Show which ran from 1962-63. Not only did Jeff and Beau Bridges appear in episodes of the series, but so did Lloyd's daughter Cindy Bridges. Years later, in the 1993 series Harts Of The West starred Beau Bridges in the lead role and his father Lloyd Bridges in a supporting role.

James Daly – Tyne Daly and Tim Daly: James Daly did a number of TV shows over the course of his career, including the Star Trek episode Requiem for Methuselah, but he is probably best known for playing Dr. Paul Lochner in the 1969 series Medical Center. Actually these days he's probably best known as the father of actress Tyne Daly and her brother Tim Daly. Tyne Daly appeared four times on Medical Center with her father, playing different roles in each episode. This must have been confusing for Dr. Lochner because one of the roles that she played (in the episode "Moment of Decision") was Jennifer Lochner, Dr. Lochner's daughter. But Medical Center wasn't the first time that father and daughter had worked together; they did an episode of Ironside called "The People Against Judge McIntyre" together in 1970. And Tyne wasn't the first of his children that James Daly worked with. In 1966 he did an adaptation of Ibsen's An Enemy Of The People for National Educational Television (NET) with his then 10 year-old son Tim. It was the only time they ever worked together.

Martin Sheen – Renee Estevez and Emilio Estevez: Everyone knows that Renee Estevez appeared on The West Wing, appearing as Nancy, one of President Bartlett's numerous secretaries. Her role on the show was never a big one; a few words here, a "Mr. President" there. It wasn't a big part but she was a member of the regular cast. Emilio Estevez also made an appearance on The West Wing, although he didn't appear with his father. In the episode "25" there are some home movies of a young Jed Bartlett with his youngest daughter as a small child. The younger version of Bartlett was played by Emilio Estevez. Martin Sheen also appeared with his son Charlie Sheen in Charlie's series Two And A Half Men playing the father of Rose, Charlie's neighbour/stalker.

Ozzie Nelson – David Nelson and Rickie Nelson: If ever there was a case of taking your kids to work it was Ozzie Nelson. When The Adventures Of Ozzie And Harriet made the transition from radio to TV in 1952 he decided that the ideal actors to play his two sons David and Ricky were... his two sons David and Ricky! It's not really surprising – they'd been playing themselves on radio since 1949 but sometimes radio actors didn't make the transition very well. Later when his sons married Ozzie brought their wives June Blair and Kristin Harmon on as their wives. Ricky of course went on to be the big star of the family. Between 1957 and 1962 he had 30 Top Forty hits and appeared in several movies. As for David, he never became a huge star but did do some acting and a certain amount of work as a producer and director. In fact he even directed episodes of The Adventures Of Ozzie And Harriet.

Fathers’ Day – The Single Dad

Not sure if I'll have two posts this Father's day. For one thing I'm a little stymied for ideas and for another, we're doing something with my brother (since he's a father) and I don't know how much time I'll have.

The single father might seem like a non sequitur, but it was a very popular genre in the 1950s and '60s, less so as time went by. The reason why the father was single changed over the years. Usually it was because the wife died, or in a couple of cases because both parents died and a "swinging" bachelor found himself tied down with one (or more) kids in their bachelor pad. More recently Dad is single because he and mom got divorced. In the one current example of the genre Two And A Half Men, Dad has weekends with his son.

The "single dad" genre has certain immutable aspects. "Dad" is usually in over his depth, exploring an unexplored country and trying to cope as well as possible. As a result he needs help, usually in the form of a permanent "caregiver." Sometimes that means a servant, sometimes it meant a family member. That lets dad go off to work (and on dates) leaving the kid or kids at home. It's just about evenly split between the caregiver being a man or a woman. Both have comedic possibilities. In Two And A Half Men things get even more complicated because the two adults are so unable to cope with the "half man" that they need a housekeeper to pitch in. So let's take a look at some examples of "The Single Dad."

Bentley Gregg – Bachelor Father: I'm not sure if Bentley Gregg was the first single father but he was one of the most memorable, even if I've never seen the series. Played by John Forsythe, who as we shall see made something of a career of playing single fathers, Bentley was a successful – and single – Hollywood attorney who became responsible for his 13 year-old niece Kelley when her parents were killed in a car accident. Bentley's was a previously all male household, consisting of himself, his houseboy Peter Tong, and his dog Jasper. The series focused on Bentley's efforts to come to grips with being a parent as well as the problems that Kelley faced as an adolescent – or at least an adolescent in a 1950s sitcom. Inevitably many of the episodes centered on Bentley's romantic life and Kelley's frequent efforts to find her uncle a wife. The show ran for two years on CBS (where it alternated with The Jack Benny Program) two years on NBC, and one year on ABC. By the time that the series was cancelled by ABC the central premise of the show had been largely run out. Kelly was in college and was engaged to marry Warren Dawson, a junior partner in Uncle Bentley's law firm. (I have to say sounds a little creepy – in the ABC season Kelly was a college freshman which is what 18 or 19 years old, and here she is engaged to a man who has completed law school and already made partner in a successful law firm. How old was that guy??) Interesting bit of trivia – in the episode "A Crush on Bentley," one of Kelley's friends develops a major crush on Uncle Bentley. She's played by Linda Evans who twenty years later would play John Forsythe's wife in Dynasty.

Steve Douglas – My Three Sons: If Bentley Gregg was one of the earliest single fathers, Steve Douglas was one of the iconic figures (along with Andy Taylor on The Andy Griffith Show). Steve was raising three sons after the death of his wife with the help of a male relative. While most people think of the sons as being Robbie, Chip and Ernie, with the male relative being Uncle Charlie, the original characters were Mike, Robbie and Chip and their maternal grandfather Bub. The show debuted on ABC in 1960 with William Frawley as Bub and Tim Considine as eldest son Mike. However Frawley's age became a factor and eventually the production was unable to get insurance for him. He was eventually written off of the show (he moved to Ireland) and was replaced by his brother Charley O'Casey. At roughly the same time Tim Considine left the show after a dispute with producer Don Fedderson – Considine wanted to direct rather than act and he was also an auto racing enthusiast who was contractually forbidden from racing while he was on the show. His character got married in the first CBS episode of the show (the program changed network when CBS refused to pay to shoot the show in colour – because the Considine episodes weren't in colour they weren't offered in syndication) and Mike moved to "the Chuck Zone" – he was never seen again and only mentioned once or twice in the last seven years of the show's run. To keep the name of the show relevant a new third son was added – Ernie. Ernie was an orphan who was adopted by widower Steve (with Uncle Charlie being legally designated as the "house mother") after his foster parents were sent to Asia by the State Department. Over time the show evolved. They left Bryant Park New York and moved to California. Robbie got married, finished college and became a father himself (of triplet sons). Eventually Robbie left the show while his wife and son remained. Chip went to college and eloped. The biggest change of all was when Steve himself got married, adding both a wife and a young step-daughter to the previously all-male household.

Michael Endicott – To Rome with Love: I'm not really sure why this show has stuck with me. This was the third of producer Don Fedderson's three "single father" series (the other two were My Three Sons and Family Affair) and probably the least successful since it only ran for two years. I suppose it was most likely the location, although I gather that most of the show was shot in Los Angeles. John Forsythe (again) played Michael Endicott, an Iowa professor who took a job at Rome's American Overseas School after his wife died, and took along his three daughters, Allison, Penny and "Pokey". The element of culture shock was added to the difficulties that Michael, as a single parent, faces in raising three daughters on his own. The role of "caregiver" is filled by two different characters. In the first season you have Michael's unmarried sister, the girl's Aunt Harriet, who wants her brother to give up this silly idea of living in Rome and move back to Iowa where it's safe (meaning that there aren't so many foreigners around and they have all the American modern conveniences). Aunt Harriet seems to have dropped out part way through the first season. In the second season she was replaced by three-time Oscar winner Walter Brennan, playing Michael's father-in-law Andy Pruitt, who had sold his farm and was planning to move into a retirement community but came to Rome instead, and never left. The second season of the show also featured a couple of crossover episodes with Fedderson's other two "single father" series, My Three Sons and Family Affair, although neither Steve Douglas nor Bill Davis (the fathers in the other two series) made an appearance.

Edward Stratton III – Silver Spoons: Silver Spoons mixes a couple of ideas together. Edward Stratton (played by Joel Higgins) is a man who is totally unaware that he has a son until young Ricky Stratton (Ricky Schroeder) shows up on his door. Edward was married – for just one week – and his ex-wife never told him that she had a child. So when Ricky's mother sends him off to military school after getting remarried (she thinks the boy will be "in the way") he decides to get to know his father instead. Edward is an irresponsible man, who is more interested in playing with his toys (including a miniature train that runs through the middle of his house) than he is in being an adult or in running his toy company. This means that there is a bit of a role reversal thing going on in the series with Ricky being more mature in most ways than his father. Edward thinks that his son should lighten up and be more of a kid. The caregiver role in this series is less pronounced than in others but it is present in the form of Edward's business advisor (and increasingly romantic interest) Kate Summers (played by Erin Gray). Edward and Kate get married in the third season of the show which basically ends the "single father" aspect of the show but it's still the part of the show that is most remembered. Of course, being an '80s sitcom there are a number of "very special episodes" although not as many as some of the show's contemporaries (at times it seemed like every episode of Blossom – also a "single father" series – was labelled a "very special episode").

Michael Taylor and Joey Harris – My Two Dads: The situation in My Two Dads is probably the most unusual ever in a sitcom ever. Teenager Nicole Bradford's mother dies in an accident and she is sent to live with her father. There's just one minor problem – Nicole's mother wasn't exactly sure of who the father was. It apparently came down to one of two guys (although there was at least enough of hint before the show was cancelled to get some fans to speculate that it was neither). One was Joey (Greg Evigan) who was a wild artistic type. The other was his former best friend Michael Taylor (Paul Reiser), an uptight financial advisor. The implication of course is that Nicole was the child of a single mother who (not to mince around with terminology) slept around enough that she wasn't sure of who her kid's father was. Imagine what the PTC would think of that premise. Needless to say the completely different personalities of the two potential fathers were the comedic meat of the show, making it the equivalent of The Odd Couple with a kid. The guys were pretty much their own support system, but they were frequently looked in on by their landlady – who was also the judge who had assigned custody of Nicole to both of them – Judge Margaret W. Wilbur (played by Florence Stanley). As for the actual paternity, Nicole had a DNA test done but supposedly destroyed the results, although Margaret apparently found them and knew the actual answer but threw it away. Look for Giovanni Ribisi as one of the two boys who want to be Nicole's boyfriend (the other is Chad Allen).

TV Dads III – The Dramatic Dad

For some reason fathers seem more prominent in TV dramas than mothers. I'm not entirely sure why that is but fathers – and usually the father-son dynamic – seem to figure in dramas more than mothers and the mother-daughter dynamic. Here are some famous TV fathers although as you'll see not arranged in chronological order.

1. Ben Cartwright – Bonanza: Westerns abounded with powerful father figures – frequently widowers so there were no inconvenient women hanging around. But even amongst them Ben Cartwright was extraordinary. The man (obviously serving as a model for his sons) had three sons each with a different woman, and all legitimate. He married three very different women, only one of whom lived more than a few months after her child was born. This of course was in keeping with the "curse of the Cartwrights" where any woman who even kissed a Cartwright was well-advised to make sure her will was up to date before she did so, because her heirs were going to need it. Lorne Greene was 44 when the series started but had been a highly respected actor and announcer in Canada who was known as "the Voice of Doom' when he read the news on radio during World War II. He not only looked like an empire builder but he sounded like one too.

2. Commander Adama – Battlestar Galactica: I'm talking about the original here not the current version. Don't get me wrong, Edward James Olmos is a fine actor and Admiral Adama's relationship with his only surviving child (Lee) is far more complex than the original character's relationship with his son Apollo and daughter Athena (by the way Maren Jensen was badly treated with the way that Athena was essentially written off the show). And let's not even mention the fairly weak reaction to the death of his youngest son Zac in the Cylon attack. As was quite common in the Glenn Larson series – and indeed in much of the Universal TV product of the 1970s and '80s – the interpersonal relationships in this show are incredibly one dimensional. And yet Lorne Greene made the role. Not only was this Adama a father to his biological children but he had the qualities of a biblical patriarch – the image that comes to mind is Moses (given that Kobol in the series pilot was Egypt; I seem to recall that the show even shot a few scenes in Giza), although the common belief is that there are aspects of Mormon theology in the show – primarily the lost tribe that disappeared to a previously unheard of part of the world (on in Galactica an unknown part of the galaxy).

3. John Walton Sr. – The Waltons: Based on series creator Earl Hamner Jr.'s own father, John Walton and his wife Olivia were the core of the strong family unit that the series depicted so well. The couple were complete contrasts with each other – Olivia was a pious churchgoer and never drank, while John almost never entered a church, liked an occasional drop of the Baldwin sisters' "recipe" and seems to have been a bit of a hell-raiser before he married Olivia, and he and his brother went in the Army in World War I. While John wasn't perfect he was a strong role model for his four sons and three daughters as well as being a respected member of his community. Things weren't easy for the Walton family, but he was hard working and did everything in his power to keep the family together. Well at least until Michael Learned, who played Olivia, and Ralph Waite, who played John, decided to leave the series, following in the path of Richard Thomas, who played eldest son John Jr. (John-boy).

4. Lawrence Preston – The Defenders: "Who?" I hear you ask. Lawrence Preston was the senior partner of the father and son law firm that was featured in The Defenders. The series began as a two part episode of the anthology series Studio One in which Preston (called Walter Preston in the episode) was played by Ralph Bellamy while his son Kenneth was played by William Shatner. The show became a series and ran for four years with E.G. Marshall playing the renamed Lawrence and a young, pre-Brady Bunch Robert Reed as Kenneth (interestingly William Shatner apparently did five episodes of the show playing various parts). For reasons which I don't even pretend to understand the series is apparently unavailable for reruns in syndication or on home video. I have quite vivid memories of the show, which I saw as a kid, particularly the dynamic between Marshall and Reed. The show was socially conscious and it dealt with The Law rather than the sort of approach that a show like Perry Mason (which of course was a far bigger hit) took.

5. Jock Ewing – Dallas: When an actor leaves a series or dies it is rare that he or she is remembered for more than one episode after the show in which his departure was noticed. However when Jim Davis, who played Jock Ewing on Dallas died from complications from multiple myeloma, the artist Ro Kim painted a portrait of the actor as Jock Ewing and it featured in many episodes of the series. Moreover, JR Ewing was constantly asserting the fact that he was trying to run the company "the way Daddy would have wanted it." The fact is that Jock Ewing was a tremendous influence both of the sons who stayed at home and even on Gary Ewing, the one who couldn't stand the pressure of being Jock's son and fell back into the bottle. But for JR in particular the psychological need to please his father in life, and to live up to his legacy after death was the major motivator for his actions, even (maybe especially) when he deluded himself into believing that a particularly evil action was "something Daddy would have appreciated."

TV Dads II – The Idiot Dad

It has always been a complaint about sitcoms that they've frequently portrayed Dad as an idiot. Looking over the years, and admittedly this was a very superficial look at the schedule I can't say that I really buy into the concept as being as all-pervasive as critics have claimed. To be sure there have been TV Dads who have been the weaker link in the relationship but would you really consider them idiots? Still there are some TV Dads who could probably be called idiots – without having to resort to animated characters (audio-animatronic Muppets are not animated characters).

1. George Jefferson – The Jeffersons: I have sympathy for George, really I do, but with all of his swagger and ego-mania, the man really was an idiot when it came to dealing with his family. While he loved his son Michael, he was totally against Michael's marriage because his daughter-in-law was mixed race. He became reconciled – grudgingly – to both his daughter-in law Jenny Willis, and her parents, Tom and Helen. While he was a shark in the world of business he was usually beaten down and proven wrong by the women in his life – his wife Louise, Helen Willis, his own mother Olivia, and even (maybe especially) his maid Florence. Although he isn't as bad as most of the examples that follow, I'd have to say that he qualifies as an idiot dad.

2. Al Bundy – Married With Children: If ever there was a portrait of Father as idiot it was Al Bundy. The man is a total loser, but only became one after he slept with the class slut who became his wife, Peg. He blames his family for every bad thing that happens to him – and he's usually right! He works at a dead end job to support a wife who doesn't know the meaning of the word "work" and a daughter who doesn't know the meaning a lot of words including "no" when it relates to sex. In a lot of ways his son Bud is a nerd without the skills, whose obsession with sex is the only thing that Al admires about him although not his failures in getting it. It is to his credit that Ed O'Neill, who is an intelligent and versatile actor, not only portrayed a character as stupid as Al but made it the only role that most people think of him playing.

3. Tim "The Tool Man" Taylor – Home Improvement: Tim Allen got the show Home Improvement on the strength of his stand-up act which depicted the male of the species as slightly (but only very slightly) better than baboons, obsessed with tools and "more power." He took that characterization of men and ran with it in his series Home Improvement. Tim is basically an adult sized kid with really cool toys, at least most of the time. He always wants the most powerful piece of equipment even when something less powerful – more subtle – is the better choice. The same goes for almost everything – when he builds a dance floor for a party for his son he doesn't use the number of coats of wax that the instructions say but uses a lot more. Somehow he manages to stumble and blunder his way through raising his kids thanks to adult figures like his wife Jill, and his neighbour Wilson.

4. Earl Sinclair – Dinosaurs: This is where the audio-animatronic Muppets come in. Obviously characters like Homer Simpson, Peter Griffin and Stan Smith (The Simpsons, Family Guy, and American Dad in order) would qualify as Idiot Dads those shows are still on – and besides I like to do these things with actual people. Still I think we have to acknowledge the contributions of non-human creations in this area – they can get away with a lot more in terms of abuse than actual human beings. So why Earl Sinclair? Well, the initial reaction of the "mighty Megalosaurus" to the hatching of his third child was the desire to eat him, while Baby Sinclair's constant reaction to his father is to say "Not the Mama" and to hit him with whatever object is close at hand. His son is rebellious by nature while Earl adheres to the old ways. Frequently, in fact almost inevitably, Earl is wrong and any member of his family who disagrees with him is right. Nevertheless Earl – presumably because he's at the top of the food chain – maintains the "Superdad" attitude even though he's a father who never knows best.

5. Dave Gold – The War At Home: When it comes to sitcom dads, Dave Gold is an Idiot but in the worst possible way – that is to say not in a funny way. Wikipedia describes the character as a "pigheaded, paranoid, overprotective, hypocritical bigot." A reviewer at Blogcritics, in reviewing the Season 1 DVD release said that the character of Dave's son Larry "is in the show so the father can make "fag" jokes about his own son. And, folks, I don't mean "gay" jokes; these are definitely "fag" jokes." Of course the "big" joke is on Dave – his son is straight which he doesn't discover until the second season. Even though he has a beautiful wife (who is sometimes as bad as Dave) that he loves and a family that he cares for, the character of Dave is a real idiot because of his attitudes and because unlike Archie Bunker there's neither the redeeming qualities nor the growth out of his attitudes that we saw with Archie.

Not an Idiot Dad:

Dan Connor – Roseanne: It could have been so easy to make Dan an idiot. Instead in the few episodes of the series that I've seen Dan comes across as an average guy. Unlike the Superdad he doesn't have all the answers but unlike the Idiot Dad his attitudes or actions don't descend into the absurd for the sake of comedy. John Goodman, an actor who I don't think gets the credit he really deserves, and the series took what could have been a generic sitcom dad and made him into something special; an average guy trying to make it through the day and keep it together for his family.

TV Fathers Part I – Super-Dad

On Mother's Day I did a tribute/retrospective of TV mothers and so, this being Father's Day, I've come up with a tribute/retrospective of notable TV dads. This process was not without some problems. To begin with I couldn't use the same categories. I don't know how to define a "hot dad" the way I was able to with "hot moms" (that was easy) and I get the feeling – though of course I can't prove it – that there are far fewer examples of the "hot dad" than there are of the "hot mom." And of course, without the "hot dad," there can't be the "hybrid dad" – especially when you see how I've split them up instead. But I have managed to come up with three categories by segregating sitcom dads and dads from dramas. To begin, I give you the "Super-Dad."

The Super-Dad is perfect – the all seeing, all knowing, all wise. If the kids come to him with a problem he most likely sits there for a minute, hands held together in some manner, and, week after week, dispenses some bit of banal wisdom that somehow fits the situation exactly. Before TV the perfect example of Super-Dad was Judge Hardy in the Andy Hardy movie series.

1. Jim Anderson – Father Knows Best: The prototype of TV's Super-Dad, it is hard to remember that Robert Young's character had actually started out as a father who didn't know best – the title was intended as irony and the radio version ended the title with a question mark – and he only evolved into becoming the perfect '50s dad. Oh he lost his temper – but I can never remember him doing it – and he had a superior partner in his wife Margaret, who would make things right when he got it wrong. I still feel though that as the show went on Jim Anderson became increasingly perfect, and while his kids – Betty aka "Princess" (Elinor Donahue), James Jr. Aka "Bud" (Billy Gray), and Kathy aka "Kitten" (Laurin Chapin) – had their problems they also tended to be a lot closer to perfect than the actual actors (Gray was an alcoholic and Chapin battled heroin addiction). Robert Young, who was part owner of the show with producer Eugene Rodney, wasn't perfect either; he battled depression and alcoholism and attempted suicide in 1991.

2. Ward Cleaver – Leave It To Beaver: Hugh Beaumont played the '50s other Super-Dad and again he was backed up with a support system in the form of his wife June Cleaver. They were firm but gentle parents. Inevitably Ward was the disciplinarian who usually delivered punishments that were measured but on occasion possibly a little more than was deserved (the classic double entendre joke about June saying that Ward may have been a little hard on the Beaver last night stems from this). In real life Hugh Beaumont wrote and directed several episodes of the series. He was an ordained Methodist minister with a Masters in Theology from USC, who became a Christmas tree farmer after he left show business. According to Wally Dowd and Jerry Mathers, Beaumont was even more patient and understanding in real life than the character he played on screen.

3. Steve Douglas – My Three Sons: Strictly speaking of course it was "My Four Sons" although those of us who only saw the show in its later years – after 1965 – or in syndication only saw the last three. Originally Fred MacMurray's sons were Tim Considine as Mike Douglas, Don O'Grady as Robbie Douglas, and Stanley Livingston as Chip Douglas. However Considine left the show in 1965 (he enjoyed racing cars which was forbidden in his contract – he later became a noted automobile historian focussed on racing and has done a number of books on the subject) and Mike was never mentioned again. To keep the number of sons at three, the character of Ernie Thompson, an orphaned friend of Chip's whose foster parents were moving out of the country, was adopted by Steve in a storyline that also introduced William Demarest as Uncle Charlie (replacing William Frawley as Steve's father-in-law Bub). The episodes with Considine were never widely seen after they originally aired (they were in black & white) although they apparently had a run on Nickelodeon in the 1980s. When presented with a problem or some misbehaviour by one of his children Steve would sit in his chair, sometimes give a quizzical look, puff on his pipe, and dispense words of wisdom or admonishment. As time went on the sons aged with three of the four getting married (Mike, when he left the series; Robbie, who added triplets to the household but didn't move out of the house until O'Grady left the show; and Chip who eloped and lived on campus). Widower Steve also got married to Barbara (played by Beverly Garland) adding a stepdaughter to the mix which was an obvious shake-up to the all male household. The series ran until 1972 by which time the dynamic that it portrayed was thoroughly outmoded, although it probably reflected Fred MacMurray's personal conservative politics. MacMurray had enough clout as a major motion picture star that he was able to do his scenes for all the episodes together – he worked about 65 non-consecutive days a year on the show with cast members coming in to work with him as needed. For example all of the scenes for the entire season that had Steve in the hallway of the house would be shot on the same day.

4. Andy Taylor – The Andy Griffith Show: One of the great dads, Sheriff Andy Taylor was a great influence on his only child Opie, played by Ron Howard, with the support of Aunt Bee, and the sometimes dubious help of his cousin and deputy Barney Fife. Unlike some of the other relationships between Super-Dads and their sons, this one felt a lot more genuine. You always got the sense that when Opie had to be punished it really was hurting Andy as much as it did Opie, and that Andy was guiding his son along the right path as well as he could. The show had one of the truly iconic opening sequences which not only told us what the show was called but conveyed the small town atmosphere and the fact that the core relationship was between father and son. Barney and the rest of the town were in the show of course, and the father son relationship wasn't always the featured element but it was the key fixture of the show.

5. Cliff Huxtable – The Cosby Show: I don't think that it is hard to argue that Cliff Huxtable is the last of the Super-Dads. He really was a throwback to characters like Ward Cleaver and Steve Douglas, transported to the 1980s. He was very much an authority figure in his family although his methods and approaches to his children were different than the '50s dads. There was more than a little intimidation in Cliff – "I brought you into this world and I can take you out." He readily pointed out when his kids were wrong and was never one to admit that he was wrong when he was dealing with them (how he dealt with his wife Claire was an entirely different story – he was rarely right). As he showed when it was discovered that Theo was dyslexic, he was not one to accept excuses for poor performance, even when the excuse was largely legitimate. He did encourage his children to strive for excellence.

And one good dad who wasn't exactly a Super-Dad:

Archie Bunker – All In The Family: I expect some argument on this. It is true that Archie wasn't perfect or right all the time. The fact is though that Archie, as portrayed by Carroll O'Connor, was thoroughly devoted to his "little goil" even when he thought she was wrong and her choices were wrong. Chief among these wrong choices was marrying Michael "Meathead" Stivic who in his own way was as disrespectful to her as Archie was to just about anyone. And in the end the fact that Gloria had an affair, and later divorced Mike showed that Archie was right about him being wrong for her. But it wasn't a victory that he took any joy in.