TV Moms and Dads - Old School Dads Round 2
TV Moms and Dads
They raised us! These are the moms and dads that we've all looked to over the years for advice, mentorship, and love. They've been our models for how to parent (and some of them have been our models for how NOT to parent). We've laughed, cried, and loved with them. But who's the greatest? There's only one way to find out. VOTE!
Old School Dads
(1) Andy Taylor v (9) Danny Tanner
The dad we all wanted. Andy Taylor was the perfect father for Opie - he always had the right answers and he always knew just what to say. And even when Opie wasn’t around, Andy had something to teach Barney, Gomer, Goober, and the rest.
What do you do when you’re all alone and raising three young girls? Well, you call in your brother-in-law and your best friend to help. So while Danny is the dad, he certainly had help evening the odds.
(12) Steven Keaton v (4) Charles Ingalls
Steven and Elyse are like relics from another time. What happens when you bring peace, joy, and happiness to the Reagan era? Hijinks ensue. There may have been conflict between Steven and ultra-conservative Alex, but there was no doubt that they loved each other deeply.
Compared to Charles Ingalls, the other dads on this bracket had it easy. The Ingalls family was making it work on the frontier while most of the rest of them were languishing in suburbia. Add in his daughter’s blindness and Nellie Oleson, and life (and being a dad) was hard.
(6) Fred Sanford v (3) Ward Cleaver
Fred was a widowed junk dealer in his 60s, still trying to raise his 30-something song Lamont, and even though Fred was partial to some pretty big histrionics (“this time it's real, I'm a-comin' 'Lizabeth!"), but he always wanted Lamont to stay.
In many ways, Ward Cleaver created the notion of a TV Dad. As the father of Wally and the Beaver, Ward and June were the perfect pair. Ward had the discernment and sage judgment for any situation. And he looked great in a cardigan.
(7) Archie Bunker v (2) Mike Brady
Nobody was gonna convince Archie Bunker that he was wrong. Not Edith, not Meathead, nobody. Unfortunately for Archie, the world was changing around him, and that meant that he’d have to change too. All in the Family isn’t just a story about a mom and dad - it’s a story about how we cope with a changing world.
It’s hard enough parenting three boys, but when you add in three girls, a wife, and a housekeeper, well… being a father is kind of like a house of cards when there’s a big dog nearby. Mike Brady was always ready with a tender answer, a wise word, or a funny quip.
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