22 TV Dads We’d Want in Our Corner
Fatherhood is full of ups and downs and its own challenges, and much like motherhood, fatherhood can take on many forms from a stepdad to an absentee dad that comes back into the picture.
No matter what their story, TV dads are a monolith of guidance to be had and advice to bestow on their children, often depicting some of the most loving and even complicated relationships on TV.
In honor of Father’s Day, we’ve compiled some of our favorite TV fathers. Here are 22 TV Dads that we think embody the term “dad goals.”
1. Randall Pearson (This is Us)
Randall was adopted into the Pearson family and has grown up to be a stoic father figure in his own right.
A forecaster in weather futures, Randall is currently raising two daughters with his wife Beth, but in the season one finale of This Is Us, Randall announced that he wanted to adopt a child. Beth suggests that instead of adopting a baby they should instead get an older kid who really needs them.
In Season 2, Randall was not only a dad to his own girls, but a foster-father to Deja, and even though their relationship started out rocky, he eventually broke ground before her mother returned.
2. Seeley Booth (Bones)
Seeley Booth is the complete opposite of Temperance Brennan, and that’s what makes them work so well as parents. Booth is a dad with a strong moral code, who also knows when to cut loose and have some fun.
3. Adam Braverman (Parenthood)
Adam Braverman wasn’t just a dad you’d want in your corner, he’s an all-around good guy. He has three children, one of whom has Asperger’s. While Adam is generally a calm and collected person, he struggles with Max’s Asperger’s diagnosis, but ultimately forges a positive relationship with his son.
By the end of the series, Adam and Kristina decide to open up a Charter School so that Max and kids like him can go to school without limitations. Although setting up the school is difficult, it eventually opens with Adam as headmaster.
4. David Nolan (Once Upon a Time)
Prince Charming battled guards in order to send his daughter Emma through the portal moments before the curse hit in the first episode of Once Upon a Time, and didn’t get a chance to reconnect with her until Season 2 after the first curse broke.
While their dynamic has always been a little odd—because come on, meeting your parents when you’re about their age would be––they’ve made the best of it. David Nolan, as he’s called in Storybrooke, has been protective of Emma and yet respectful of her choices.
He even took the time to get used to Hook when it would have been so easy for him to be the overbearing father in a teen movie.
5. Eli Pope (Scandal)
KERRY WASHINGTON, JOE MORTON
Eli Pope might be a super-secret spy assassin, but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t care about Olivia.
He’s aware of the dangers his job puts her in and he tries to steer her away from things that will hurt her, but of course, his daughter is as strong-willed as he is, and it doesn’t always work.
Plus: no one can throw shade at Olivia and Fitz’s relationship like Papa Pope can.
6. Rogelio De La Vega (Jane the Virgin)
Yes, he can be an overdramatic and self-absorbed actor, but since he re-entered Jane’s life, Rogelio has supported her through some tough times. Since reconnecting with Jane he hasn’t hesitated to support her through her accidental insemination, marriage, and death of her husband.
In Season 4 of Jane the Virgin, he gets to be another opportunity to be an amazing dad to another child, his baby, named Baby. A gift he’s so happy to have, that when he’s presented with his own telenovela he turns it down so that he can be a stay-at-home father.
7. Philip Jennings (The Americans)
Elizabeth and Phillip Jennings are Russian spies that may have been “fake married,” and their two kids Paige and Henry may have been part of their cover in The Americans Season 1, but by the time the show concluded Phillip’s invested.
By Season 5, his daughter is training to a second-generation KGB recruit, and although Phillip was originally against the idea, he ultimately finds ways to support her. One of which is starting a fight in the kitchen to test her skills. It may not be a traditional daddy-daughter relationship but he’s willing to make the best of a situation.
While his son Henry, doesn’t know about his parents’ secret life, Phillip has always found ways to support him as well. He consents to let Henry go to a private school in New Hampshire and ultimately tells Elizabeth that they should leave Henry behind during the series finale.
8. Schmidt (New Girl)
Schmidt has gone from the douchebag jar to full-on papa bear in New Girl Season 7. In the eight-episode final season, Schmidt is deep into planning a birthday party for his daughter, braiding her hair, and trying to get her into one of the best pre-schools.
Schmidt also attempts to go back to work but finds that he misses Ruth so much that he quits deciding to stay home and be a full-time dad.
Lauren Busser
Lauren Busser is an Associate Editor at Tell-Tale TV. She is a writer of fiction and nonfiction whose work has appeared in Bitch Media, Popshot Quarterly, Brain Mill Press Voices, and The Hartford Courant.
One thought on “22 TV Dads We’d Want in Our Corner”
I would’ve loved to see Sheriff Stilinski from Teen Wolf on this list. He took in all his sons friends as his own kids, plus he raised his highly energetic kid all alone after his wife died.
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