728x90
my iParenting
From Our Sponsors
e-newsletters
Sign up to receive our free weekly e-newsletters

new terms of use
new privacy policy
award-winning products
The iParenting Media Awards program helps parents find the best products for their families.
Home › Articles › Special Features › TV Dads: Have They Really Changed That Much?

TV Dads: Have They Really Changed That Much?

By Felicia Hodges

Pages:  1  2  3  

The Eighties
Some pretty strange things happened to the portrayal of television dads in the 80s. First there was Homer Simpson (from "The Simpsons") -- animated and out there. Next came Al Bundy (of "Married ... With Children" fame) -- just as three-dimensional as he wanted to be but out there none the less. Compared to them, regular, ordinary guys like Cliff Huxtable ("The Cosby Show"), Tony Micelli ("Who's the Boss?") and Dan Conner ("Rosanne") seemed like larger-than-life gods simply because they enjoyed spending quality time with their children.

Absent Dads
Even though the divorce rate in the U.S. has risen since the mid-1950s, television dramas and situation comedies haven't responded with many programs that feature single-parent families. There have, of course, been exceptions ("Julia" in the 1960s; "One Day at a Time" in the 1970s; "Grace Under Fire" in the 1990s and "Judging Amy" and "The Parkers" in 2000), but most of those shows feature single moms with children and no mention of dad.

Even when dad was doing the child-rearing, the shows usually focused on his hooking up with someone else (i.e. "Eight is Enough" and "The Brady Bunch" to name a few). "The Courtship of Eddie's Father" virtually stands alone in regards to showing a single dad deal with the day-to-day challenes of raising a child. Still, the show's main focus was getting dad married again!

Pages:  1  2  3  


Want to see more?