Today, we’ll take all the dad jokes you’ve got.
In honor of Father’s Day, we decided to put together the best TV dads of all-time—the ones who make us laugh, the ones who make us cry and the ones who manage to host Wake Up, San Francisco and still make it home to feed Comet. We miss you, Bob Saget!
From the tough love of Happy Days‘ Howard Cunningham to the absurdity of Arrested Development‘s Michael Bluth, our favorite TV dads might not always be perfect, but they always teach a lesson along the way.
At the end of the day, we really just want our small-screen father figures to be proud of us—even if we don’t, you know, actually know them. “Listen to me. I said you need to strive to be better than everyone else,” Friday Night Lights‘ Eric Taylor once said. “I didn’t say you needed to be better than everyone else. But you gotta try. That’s what character is. It’s in the trying.”
Clear eyes, full hearts, can’t lose.
Our celebration doesn’t leave out animated dads, either! We hope Bart, Lisa and Maggie got Homer Simpson a dozen of artisan donuts for the big day. Or, at the very least, a pink sprinkle one from Lard Lad.
