Best Dads in TV and Film

firstthings ^ | June 25, 2010, | Joe Carter

[JoeProBono]

-Best Protector: Bryan Mills (Taken) – Chances are you won’t recognize the name even if you’ve seen the good-but-forgettable 2008 action flick Taken. So why does Mills make the list? Because when faced with every father’s worst nightmare (his his 17-year-old daughter is kidnapped in Paris and forced in the sexual slave trade), Mills uses all his skills and knowledge (he’s a former CIA agent) to find her and bring her home. While the action is pure Hollywood, the message is universal: We dads will do anything in our power to protect our children.

Honorable Mention: The Father (The Road)

-Best Cartoon Dad: Marlin (Finding Nemo)

Honorable Mention: Bob Parr (The Incredibles)

-Best Father Figure: Colonel Adama – A case could be made that Adama was a father figure for all the remaining survivors of the thirteen colonies. But it was to Kara “Starbuck” Thrace, the fiancé of his dead son, that he best exemplified the role of daddy substitute. Their relationship was one of the best father-daughter roles on television.

Honorable Mention: Alfredo (Cinema Paradiso)

-Best Liberal Dad: Steven Keaton, Family Ties

-Best Conservative Dad: Hank Hill (King of the Hill)

-Best Tough Father: Jacob McCandles (Big Jake)

Honorable Mention: Red Forman That ’70s Show

-Best Father to an Alien: Jonathan Kent (Smallville)

Honorable Mention: Trevor “Broom” Bruttenholm (Hellboy)

-Best Dead Dad: Mufasa (The Lion King)

Honorable Mention: Frank Sullivan (Frequency)

-Best Widower Father: Andy Taylor (The Andy Griffith Show)

Honorable Mention: Ben Cartwright (Bonanza)

-Best Stepfather: Mike Brady (The Brady Bunch)

Honorable Mention: Frank Beardsley (Yours, Mine and Ours)

-Best Listener: Ward Cleaver (Leave it to Beaver) – Has there ever been a dad who listened to their children as much as Ward?

Honorable Mention: Charles Ingalls (Little House on the Prairie)

-Overall Best Movie Dad: Atticus Finch (To Kill a Mockingbird): I thought the book was overrated and the movie a bit bland. But Atticus sets the gold standard for dads in film.

-Overall Best TV Dad: Cliff Huxtable (The Cosby Show)

[JoeProBono]

[Retired Greyhound]

Best Father-in-law

[Vermont Lt]

Best Absentee Dads (tie) David Hassleoff, and Alec Baldwin.

[Vermont Lt]

I used to like Mike Brady. Watch him now, and he is SO Gay!

Kind of turns my stomach a little.

[the_devils_advocate_666]

No Al Bundy!?

[Zuben Elgenubi]

Col. William Ludlow, Legends of the Fall (1994)

[Gadsden1st]

Saw some previews of the Road and it looked a little too bleak and dark. What say Freepers? Worth watching?

[allmendream]

I liked the mention of Red Forman.

He had a bit of a blind spot as to what was going on down in the basement; but he was ready willing and able to put “a boot up your a$$” if he ever figured it out.

In the days of ineffectual and feminized father figures, Red stood out as a unapologetically MANLY man.

I love when he almost but not quite suggested that he loved his son Eric, but insisted when Eric asked “did you just say you loved me?” that “it goes WITHOUT saying!”.

Also “You know, I am probably the only guy in this room who has killed a man.”

Red (to Hyde & Eric) “We need to talk about this thing that’s taken over your mother.”
Eric: “You mean her change of life?”
Hyde: “I thought we were calling it the lady problem.”
Red: “It goes by many names and just like a Communist it can attack at any moment.”
Kitty: (off camera) “Red?”
Hyde: “Incoming!”
Eric: “Retreat!” (both take off running)

[JoeProBono]

[JoeProBono]

[fr_freak]

Saw some previews of the Road and it looked a little too bleak and dark. What say Freepers? Worth watching?

Quite literally the most pointless movie I've ever seen. I wouldn't waste your time.

[Maverick68]

Lucas McCain...Rifleman...end of thread....

[Bassfire]

What about...

[csmusaret]

Best Dad: Jock Ewing
Runnerup: Brett Mavericks pappy. I never saw him, but he gave a lot of good advice.

[Bassfire]

beat me by 2 min. lol

[JoeProBono]

I recall a hilarious scene where Gloria was chiding Archie over all the horrible gun deaths. To which Archie replied “Would it make you feel any better little guh’yell if dey all jumped outta windows?

[Teacher317]

I'll throw in a bid for Homer Simpson. Name ONE other tv father figure who has been tempted to cheat on his wife multiple times, and yet has never succumbed to the temptation. Most of the top TV Dads operate in a near-perfect neighborhood and/or world, with only minor personal issues to resolve in 22 minutes. Homer deals with every kind of problem, personal weakness, inner temptation, threat, crime, disease, and issue... and a few Bart-strangulations aside, he has always done everything for his family.

Yes, I'm a fan, and yes, I know he's got some huge faults... but I don't think he gets the recognition he deserves for surviving trials that rival Job's, and still focusing on what is most important: the wife and kids.

[RandallFlagg]

-Best Father Figure: Colonel Adama – A case could be made that Adama was a father figure for all the remaining survivors of the thirteen colonies. But it was to Kara “Starbuck” Thrace, the fiancé of his dead son, that he best exemplified the role of daddy substitute. Their relationship was one of the best father-daughter roles on television.

It was Commander Adama, later promoted to Admiral. Colonel Saul Tigh was his sidekick.

[Renderofveils]

Best widower father: Benjamin Martin (Mel Gibson): The Patriot.

[JoeProBono]