25 TV Dads we wish were ours
By Sundi Rose
Photo: ABC
Tony Micelli – Who’s The Boss
Tony Micelli can be the boss of me anytime, anywhere. When he showed up on Angela’s doorstep, lo those many years ago, women swooned. Not because he was about as hunky as you can get, but because he wanted to clean her house and watch her kid.
Who’s The Boss was about a successful, yuppy mother who takes an ad out for a housekeeper and nanny for her son, and gets a dreamboat, ex-baseball player with a plucky little tomboy in tow. Tony Danza had already made his mark in Taxi, but it’s his role as Tony Micelli that really secured his place in American television history. His character is possibly one of the most beloved father-characters of my generation, possibly of all time.
Judith Light played Angela Bower as uptight and neurotic, and almost always the straightman for Tony’s easy-going, street smart, charm. Alyssa Milano played Tony’s daughter, Samantha, and their relationship gave me daughter-envy even way back then.
As two square pegs trying to make it in their new, Connecticut round hole, it was always them against the world. Even as Sam got older and aged out of all the cutesy, little kid antics, Tony was always on her team. The more they felt like outsiders, they closer they got to each other.