6 of the best TV dads currently on your screen
We have seen all kinds of TV dads with some heartwarming moments leaving us feeling gooey inside. Here are six of the best dads currently on TV.
TV dads come in all shapes and sizes with absolutely wonderful, giving dads sharing deep moments that warm the heart.
Though there are a number of great dads from throughout the years, we’re going to highlight some of the best current TV dads with realistic and superheroic and animated dads all making the cut.
Here are six TV dads you will want to check out and see how their parenting styles make them one of the best.
Terry Crews as Terry Jeffords on Brooklyn 99
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Why Terry is the best TV dad: If you don’t know the new Cagney and Lacey, then you don’t watch Brooklyn 99. Terry is one of the most caring, sincere TV dads always looking out for his family and putting them ahead of everyone else. He’s a great dad to his three girls, and perhaps a little too protective. But Terry can also admit his mistakes.
His tender heart and ability to allow himself to play dress up with his kids have given a new meaning to the word macho. Just because he has big muscles doesn’t mean he can’t be vulnerable and be the best dad.
Terry’s great parenting also translates to his Brooklyn 99 squad. As sergeant of the group, he finds himself among adults who have often act like children.
H. Jon Benjamin as Bob Belcher in Bob’s Burgers
Why Bob Belcher is the best TV dad: Bob Belcher has changed the mold for cartoon dads forever. Since being introduced in 2011, Bob is one of the most recognizable and under-appreciated cartoon dads. Bob not only runs the restaurant full-time but co-parents the kids with Linda and the results are hilarious.
As a father, Bob loves and appreciate his kids. Even though he snaps sometimes, he truly cares for them and wants the best for them. Despite making them work in the restaurant, he allows them to have fun and still be kids.
Most notably, Bob lets the kids have freedom but is quick to rush to their defense or help them out. He has a unique bond with Tina, Gene, and Louise with all different dynamics and interests. However, he never favors one over the other, either.
Of all the cartoon TV dads, he’s the most realistic and thus one of the best.
Sterling K. Brown as Randall Pearson on This Is Us
Why Randall is the best TV dad: When it comes to the best dads on TV, you’ll be hard-pressed to find someone who wouldn’t name Jack Pearson on This Is Us. The way the characters talk about him is nothing compared to how much the fandom adores him. And it’s rightful. He basically sacrificed himself in a house fire to save his daughter’s dog and an assortment of other irreplaceable treasures. But building up Jack Pearson’s exemplary fatherhood without mentioning Randall’s is a major disservice.
In many ways, Randall Pearson is an even better father than Jack. There, I said it. You could say that Randall learned everything he knows from Jack, but Randall walks through life with an entirely different perspective than his father. He knows what it’s like to be othered, and he approaches parenting with that experience in mind. As protective and unbreakably present as he is in Tess and Annie’s lives, he also lets them be whoever they want to be. Not to mention, he navigated fostering Deja like an absolute pro. Randall Pearson is the dad of all dads.
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Luke Perry as Fred Andrews on Riverdale
What makes Fred the best TV dad: To put it delicately, Riverdale has some glaring daddy issues. Not one of the teens in the dreary, fatally unlucky small town has anything resembling luck in the dad department. Just when you think Veronica has it bad with her unrelenting dictator of a father, Betty’s dad goes ahead, slaps on a black mask, and calls it revenge. And Cheryl’s dad? The worst! If the dads in the so-called town with pep aren’t plotting murder, they’re stomping around town committing murder.
However, there are a few decent dads in Riverdale. Jughead weathered some waves with his dad, FP. And Kevin’s sheriff father, while not particularly known for his professionalism anymore, could be much, much worse. But only one dad in Riverdale truly goes above and beyond and remains unproblematic, and that’s Fred Andrews. All Fred wants to do is run his construction business, have some burgers at Pop’s, and maybe help fix his broken town by running for mayor. He’s also taken a bullet for his son twice and put up with Archie’s truly heinous vigilante phase. Archiekins takes for grant how good he has it with Fred.
Cress Williams as Jefferson Pierce on Black Lightning
Why he’s the best TV dad: Jefferson has been the most progressive and supportive dad in the whole of the DC-verse on The CW. While we never saw him react to Anissa when she came out to him, it’s clear that he likely didn’t react negatively. Anissa’s sexuality is just wholly accepted by the family and there isn’t a big deal made out about it, which is the way it should be.
On top of this, he’s been supportive of both his daughters when they’ve had relationship troubles and when they learned about his powers. His lies were to protect them, but the minute they needed the truth from him, he gave it. Sometimes that meant delving into his darker past, but he’d do anything for his two daughters.
Dylan Walsh as Peter Abbott on Life Sentence
Why he’s the best TV dad: Peter Abbott has always been supportive of his children. When Stella was terminally ill, he did everything he could to make sure that she would have the best life possible. That meant financial problems in the future, but he’d clearly decided his daughter’s happiness was worth it. But that didn’t stop him trying everything to make sure she got the treatments and got onto the clinical trials that could save her life.
Next: 7 of the best TV moms currently gracing our screens
And he’s not forgotten about his other two children, even though at first it could look like it. He’s supportive of his son, who has clearly used Stella’s illness as a reason not to grow up. This isn’t a man who will just sit back and watch his family suffer. He caring, supportive, and loving, and that’s all you can really ask for from a dad.
Who is your favorite current TV dad? Who didn’t make the list that you think should have? Share in the comments below.