Ultimate TV dads
Who are the best dads on TV? You know, those characters we binge-watch being the ultimate parent goals. To celebrate Fathers Day, we’ve rounded up the ten best dads who are bossing it on our TV screens.
Terry Jeffords from Brooklyn 99
When we’re introduced to Terry in season one, he’s building a dollhouse in the archive room for his twin girls and avoiding the frontline as he’s scared of leaving them without a dad. Not only do we see a third girl join the Jeffords household during the show’s run but we hear a lot about twins Cagney and Lacey, whether he’s ‘negotiated my baby girls down from a pony to a hamster’ or ‘made some promises about lollipops I do not intend to keep’. Either way, this is one committed Daddy – both to his squad and his kids. As he told Gina about after his twins were born, ‘When I went back to work I made my wife keep the phone on all day just so I could listen to them. I used 25,000 minutes.’
Glen from Superstore
Father-of-eight Glenn had brought up seven foster children before Dina acted as surrogate for him and his wife in season 3. While being supportive of employee Jonah dating his ‘little girl’ Kristen, he often offered parenting wisdom to Amy during the show’s run, such as when she was concerned about her daughter being rude and distant: ‘Amy, are you stupid? She’s a teenager.’ Despite being a bumbling idiot-in-charge on occasion (he gets trapped in his office trying to baby proof it), Glenn is a committed husband and dad, even taking all his kids to work for a family photo and having son Timur attached to him at all times as therapy for his ‘displacement and rage issues’.
Uncle Phil from Fresh Prince of Bel Air
Even though he works full time as a successful lawyer (and later on, Judge), Uncle Phil is always around for breakfast and dinner so he knows what’s happening in his children’s lives. For example when Will is conned out of his money and car at a pool hall, Uncle Phil follows him back, after a long day at work, to win the money back. All this for a nephew he got landed with! Not only does he give unconditional love to his kids – including Carlton – in Fresh Prince’s most iconic scene, when Will’s father turns up then swiftly leaves again, it’s Uncle Phil who comforts him, as he asks ‘Why doesn’t he want me?’
Red from That ’70s Show
Red’s an old school dad – so it makes sense he was parenting half a century ago. He wants his kids (mainly Eric) to toughen up but only because he cares and wants them to be better people. Sure, he might have been a bit too strict at times, but then again Eric and his friends needed a few threats of foots in asses – because, of course, while the Forman family had two children, they were in lots of ways also parents to all of Eric’s close circle of friends. Indeed, Red took Hyde in and told him on his 18th birthday that he didn’t have to leave now he’s an adult. Of course it was followed with, ‘And don’t tell Eric that we had this little conversation. ‘Cause when he’s 18, he’s out.’
Mufasa from The Lion King
It says something about humanity when a cartoon lion is considered one of the best movie dads of all time. But then again, how can you compete with a father who raced into a stampede to save his son? Mufasa was THE dad of fatherly pep talks as he prepared Simba as much as possible for his future role as king – even offering some serious wisdom when he reappeared in cloud-form. But Mufasa was also there for the fun times: while teaching Simba how to hunt (which I’m guessing is the lion equivalent of playing a game of catch) he made Zazu their unwilling target. He was also willing to be vulnerable – telling Simba how scared he was when he thought something could happen to him. Mufasa might have died over 25 years ago but I’m still not over it.
Ted Lasso from Ted Lasso
This whole show is about dads. Jamie’s dad. Sam’s dad. Nate’s dad. Ted’s dad. Roy as a dad figure to the team. Ted as a dad to his son. Even though Henry stays in America while Ted takes on the manager’s job at Richmond FC, he’s a constant presence throughout the show, often popping up for visits and video calls. While some might comment that Ted is only a part-time parent, it is perhaps his confrontation with his mum over how she let him down that causes him to give up his dream job and move back to Henry to coach his soccer team. This is why Ted is on our list: he’s constantly striving to be a better person for the sake of his son, correcting his parents’ mistakes.
Beef from The Great North
Beef is single-handedly raising his four children and (leaving aside the rather odd name choices) he takes an interest in all of them – whether it’s going fishing with Wolf or listening to Moon’s obsession with Bigfoot. He plans parties with Ham and Judy and when Ham came out in the first episode he reminded his son that he’d done this many times before and he’s always been OK with it. His kids also love him: he’s spent years pretending that his ex-wife died tragically, despite all of his children knowing she ran off with a dance instructor and playing along anyway.
Arthur Weasley from Harry Potter
Not only does Arthur support and raise seven children (I have no idea why the Weasleys are considered poor as I struggle with two kids and the cost of living…) but he also acts as a father figure to Harry and trusts his judgement. He can be assertive when it matters, such as standing up for his family when he bumped into the Malfoys at Diagon Alley: “We have a very different idea about what disgraces the name of wizard, Malfoy.” And while a little henpecked at home, Arthur has a mischievous streak, such as asking the twins whether his flying car drove well or this exchange with his wife (proving where they get it from):
Arthur Weasley: “There’s a loophole in the law, you’ll find… As long as he wasn’t intending to fly the car, the fact that the car could fly wouldn’t –
“Molly Weasley: “Arthur Weasley, you made sure that was a loophole when you wrote that law!”
Gomez from The Addams Family
How did Gomez first appear on screen in the 60s (and was created in the 1930s) yet appear like a modern dad? He might be creepy and kooky, mysterious and spooky, but he’s genuinely interested in the lives of not just his wife, brother, and servants but particularly his children. Gomez plays model trains with Pugsley and encourages Wednesday to think independently and not conform like everyone else. He saves baby Pughbert from various scrapes that his siblings try to inflict on him but still has time to dote on his ‘Cara Mia’ Morticia. Gomez is also dad goals because he still finds time for hobbies, ultimate man ones such as fencing, chess, dancing, music and the stock market.
Bandit from Bluey
Bandit is the ultimate dad. He gets stuck in with his daughters, whether it’s in public dance mode, using a unicorse puppet or playing a pretend toddler. But it’s not just the fun and games Bandit leads on – we regularly see him doing the nitty gritty such as toileting Bingo or teaching Bluey life lessons by making her earn ice-cream or not repaying her the tooth fairy money she spent. We also see the sacrifices that Bandit has made along the way: he dreams of playing touch football and talks about his old photography equipment ‘from when I was cool’. While Bandit isn’t perfect – he can be over competitive and play too rough – he’s with his daughters day-in day-out and tries to give Chilli ‘just 20 minutes’ when she gets overwhelmed with parenting too. Bandit has inspired human dads to do imaginative play with their kids, which is why he ranks high as the ultimate TV dad. For real life.
