On January 9, the world lost another great TV icon. Losing Betty White was bad enough. Now it was Bob Saget. I’m losing these links to my childhood left and right. I spent the night cleaning the house (not really).
As a kid, I never knew that Bob Saget was a vulgar comedian. Just like I never knew that George Carlin said “Seven Words You Can’t Say on Television”. Bob Saget to me played a loving father and also narrated humorous home videos, and George Carlin was a storyteller who enlightened me with trains.
This blog post is not just about Bob Saget but a few great TV dads. Saget shot to fame as widowed father Danny Tanner on Full House and Fuller House as well as the original host of America’s Funniest Home Video. He was also the voice of adult Ted Mosby on How I Met Your Mother for nine seasons on CBS. I think that’s one role of his that slid under the radar.
When you think of great TV Dads in history, you think of the originals like Andy Taylor, Ward Cleaver, Mike Brady, or Howard Cunningham. Archie Bunker and George Jefferson, while being famous TV characters who were controversial, don’t count because their children were grown during the show’s run. My top TV Dads came from my time. I’m a child of the 80s and came of age in the best decade that was the 90s. I’m also going to include some cartoon dads as well.
Phillip Banks (James Avery) is one of my favorite TV Dads because he took in his nephew and treated him like a son. He was strict but fair and wasn’t afraid to drop the hammer on Will (Will Smith) when needed. One of my favorite Fresh Prince episodes was the one where Will’s dad comes to visit and wants to get his son back in his life. Uncle Phil sees right through this and knows Lou (Ben Vereen) was up to no good and he was right. Lou walks out of Will’s life once again, leaving his son devastated. The hug that James and Will shared and the credits focused on that father and son sculpture had me crying.
Homer Simpson is one of the best cartoon dads to most people but he is buffoonish in my opinion. Peter Griffin? Don’t get me started please. I think of Hank Hill as a great animated TV dad. He’s a family man with a great job and he’s the voice of reason among his beer drinking friends. He’s flawed because he doesn’t have a great relationship with his grizzled WWII vet father, and he feels like he’s failed his son. That boy ain’t right. Despite all his imperfections, he tries hard. He and Bob Belcher try at least unlike the other cartoon dads.
Bob Belcher is also up there as one of my favorite TV dads. Yes it’s a cartoon I know, get over it. People have made videos on YouTube speculating how he and wife Linda can afford everything on the very little income he makes running his burger restaurant. I’d love to live in that sweet little apartment and get to know the man behind the grill, or even drink a little wine with Linda. Bob’s favorite is definitely Louise for sure but he tries to cater to all three of his kids. Bob/Louise and Bob/Gene episodes are the best in my opinion.
There’s many more TV dads who are great but talking about them would keep me up all night plus it’d be a very long winded blog.
Stylish 🍒 