The Great TV Dad-Off

[inmyriadbits]

This is what happens when I start catching up on Hawaii Five-0, Castle, and Lie To Me all at the same time, and start thinking about how endearing all their prominent father-daughter relationships are.

THE QUALIFICATIONS

I limited myself to fathers whose kid(s):

a) are alive and interact with them on a regular basis on the show -- thus, no Leroy Jethro Gibbs (NCIS), Patrick Jane (The Mentalist), Casey McCall (Sports Night), Isaac Jaffe (Sports Night), Jed Bartlet (The West Wing), Toby Zeigler (The West Wing), Leo McGarry (The West Wing), Iroh (Avatar: The Last Airbender), Hakoda (Avatar: The Last Airbender), the Doctor (Doctor Who), Aaron Hotchner (Criminal Minds), Ted Earley (Life), nor several other people who are technically dads, even though I love all of these characters and their relationships with their children, rarely seen or not. I did made a small exception for John Winchester, though.
b) exist on TV -- no movies, because clearly John McClane would shoot everyone in the face and win; no books, because Aral Vorkosigan.

I didn't list any sitcom or soap opera dads, because I don't watch any sitcoms or soap operas. Sorry. Have a write-in box! :)

[Poll #1677238]

Comments

[yahtzee63.livejournal.com]

Jack would never be the best father on the list, but it's astonishing to see a ranking in which he is actually not the worst. And in ways both good and bad, the Syd-Jack relationship had an amazing dynamic.

[inmyriadbits.livejournal.com]

OH MY GOD, HOW COULD I FORGET IGNACIO SUAREZ??? *facepalm* He would've made me really torn about choosing Keith Mars as my favorite.

Yeaaaah...pretty sure John Winchester, Uther Pendragon, and Walter Bishop could give him a run for his money there. You will note that I made sure to ask for "favorite" rather than "best" -- that way would only have led to madness. :)

[serialkarma.livejournal.com]

Okay, I mostly picked John Winchester not because he's a shining example of parenthood, but because he his hot. Is that creepy, given the context?

[inmyriadbits.livejournal.com]

LOL. Um...no? I don't judge you for it, at least. He's a Hot Dad! That's totally valid. :)

[taraljc.livejournal.com]

That was tough, because I do adore Jack and Zoe Carter so much. But I've been on a Lie to Me and Castle,/i> kick lately.

[inmyriadbits.livejournal.com]

Me too, what a coincidence! I'm way behind on LTM, but wasn't the latest Castle episode just amazingly clichetastic and awesome? Even without any Alexis scenes. :)

[shoemaster.livejournal.com]

Keith Mars vs Jack Bristow was SO HARD. but I'd rather have Keith as my dad. Sorry spy daddy!

[inmyriadbits.livejournal.com]

Keith Mars is TOTALLY my favorite. This all started because I was like, "Hmm, who's a better TV dad, in a battle between Cal Lightman, Rick Castle, and Danny Williams? Oh, and Seeley Booth. NO WAIT. KEITH MARS WINS, OBVS." And then I had to ask the rest of the internet what they think, of course. :)

[mercurybard.livejournal.com]

NOT FAIR! I am torn between Danny Williams and Keith Mars.

And then there's Walter Bishop, who is a model for a different type of parent-child relationship that most of us will be facing when the parents need us to parent them. He and Peter's relationship is so unique to television.

[inmyriadbits.livejournal.com]

I know, it's totally unfair of me to do this to you all. :)

I voted for Keith Mars. That man is fucking awesome. I love Danny, but I feel like even he would want to sit down and ask Keith for fathering tips, and also whether he would like to be friends. ♥

I do love how unique Walter and Peter are on TV. But is he your favorite? Think about it.

[mercurybard.livejournal.com]

I feel like even he would want to sit down and ask Keith for fathering tips
Oh, that would be an amazing conversation. (Someone should write it! Not me!)

And meanwhile, Veronica is teaching Grace which shutter speeds are best used for snapping incriminating photos.

[marinarusalka.livejournal.com]

Hmmm, that's tough. I love John Winchester like a crazy lovin' thing, but not for his parenting skills, y'know? And Seeley and Danny both seem fabulous with their kids, but their kids are also quite young, so we don't know yet how they'll turn out.

So I went and put in a write-in vote for Alan Eppes on Numb3rs. So there.

[inmyriadbits.livejournal.com]

Oh, Alan Eppes! I can't believe I forgot him, too! (Amy also pointed out Ignacio Suarez; a sad oversight.) I love him. ♥

[spatz.livejournal.com]

I am amused that everyone's favorite offspring are the two with the WORST daddy issues.

You also forgot Jacob Carter from SG, Jonathan Kent from Smallville, and Tim Taylor from Home Improvement. Not that I would have voted for them, but someone might have!

I feel like there should be a followup poll for awesome moms, but Sarah Connor would trounce everyone so completely it's almost not worth it.

[inmyriadbits.livejournal.com]

I know. I guess they're projecting/empathizing?

I thought about Jacob Carter, but decided he was ruled out under the "interact on a regular basis" qualification. Jonathan Kent, I also considered, but...well, I ran out of slots. Ditto Will Girardi from Joan of Arcadia. And I didn't think of Tim! But I wasn't dealing with sitcoms, really.

Truer words. :)

[ignipes.livejournal.com]

But what do you MEAN by favorite? Who's the best dad, like somebody I would want to trade my dad in for (not that it would take much, um), or who makes for the best stories on TV?

[inmyriadbits.livejournal.com]

To me, "favorite" means the one that makes me the happiest, as a character. Like when someone asks me what my favorite movies are (which ALWAYS happens, every time I mention I majored in film studies), I'll usually say Casablanca and Amélie, and sometimes Singin' In The Rain -- all great movies, but I'd be reluctant to say they were the BEST, per se. They are my favorites, though.

I voted for Keith Mars -- I like him a lot as a person, I like his style as a parent, I like that he was always there for his daughter, that he worked really hard to make her happy and successful. I like that he's not perfect, and that his daughter's still kind of messed up even though he tries hard to balance it out. He just makes me really happy -- in a deep and abiding way, versus the cooing I do over Danny or Castle, or the interest I have in Bob Fraser or Walter Bishop.

I don't know what "favorite" means to you, but that's what it means to me. Does that help?

[fox1013.livejournal.com]

He doesn't beat Jack Bristow for me, but Ted! From BETTER OFF TED! He used his daughter's position in the after-school program at work in unethical ways! :D? :D?

[inmyriadbits.livejournal.com]

I've never seen Better Off Ted! But he sounds promising. Feel free to do a write-in. :)

[bloodygoodgirl.livejournal.com]

no movies, because clearly John McClane would shoot everyone in the face and win You speak the truth. Very interesting post hon.

[inmyriadbits.livejournal.com]

Thanks, darlin! :) I had fun with this.

[jaydeyn-sitari.livejournal.com]

Nooo! Where are the ticky boxes? So... I just caught up on the first 15 eps of Hawaii 5-0 and ♥ to all four lead characters. They are EXCELLENT. I love how real the relationships are. It's very nice. And I think Danny is a great father... but, not my favourite just yet.

You speak the truth about both Sarah Connor and John McClane.

:)
Jaydeyn

[inmyriadbits.livejournal.com]

YOU MUST CHOOSE, MUAHAHAHAHA! Because honestly, I would've had to choose about six of the options if there had been ticky boxes, and then where would we be? And yeah, I adore Danny and Grace too (and ALL of the Five-0 team, honestly), but...Keith Mars. You know? :)