25 TV Dads we wish were ours
By Sundi Rose
Photo: UPN/The CW
Keith Mars – Veronica Mars
There’s not another father/daughter duo cooler than the Mars clan. As the cutest mystery solving duo ever, Veronica and her dad kinda made me want to go into business with my dad.
Veronica Mars first aired on the UPN in the mid 2000’s, and even though it didn’t get a lot of commerical success, it had more heart than almost any other show on TV at the time. Plus, it was smart and well executed, and the character dynamics practically leapt off the screen.
Among the most successful of these relationships was that of precocious teen Veronica and her humble, mildly schlubby dad Keith. Left to raise Veronica on his own as the sheriff of a snooty West Coast town, he defaulted to trust and deference for his parenting strategy. He always treated his daughter like an equal and peer, and in turn, he worked hard to maintain his respect.
As a disgraced public official, Keith suffered a lot of embarrassment at the hands of the town’s wealthy, and this inspired a fierce protection in Veronica that made him so proud. Part of what makes him such a good TV dad is that he just always seemed to enjoy parenting Veronica, even when she was being every bit of a teenage girl.