25 TV Dads we wish were ours

Photo: CBS Photo Archive.

James Evans – Good Times

Good Times hails from the Normal Lear universe of television, and as such, took on a much more realistic and gritty look at the American family. Good Times aired at a time there was very little black families on television, and there certainly weren’t any shows about poor black families.

The Evans lived in a housing project in inner-city Chicago, and so much of the conflict of the show centered around their money troubles. As the patriarch of the family, James was often at the center of the episodes, and the series saw a lot of turbulence as James tried to earn enough to support his three children: JJ, Thelma, and Michael.

James wasn’t the “hug it out” kind of dad, and he threatened physical violence to his children more times than you can count. But he was the kind of dad that was far wiser than the kids, and they could always count on him to know the whole story – even if they didn’t want to tell it. He had an all-seeing eye that he followed up with an iron fist, and you just can’t help but feel safe with him.