25 TV Dads we wish were ours
By Sundi Rose
Photo: ABC
Mike Brady – The Brady Bunch
Mike Brady deserves dad of the year for the sheer quantity of his children. He was outnumbered six to one, but Mr. Brady made it look easy. As the first blended family on television, The Brady Bunch, was free to set precedents and standards, although they didn’t push anything very far. The domestic drama wasn’t too heightened, and everybody got along mostly okay. I don’t think I ever saw a anybody’s eyes get scratched out or lights punched out.
Mike Brady makes the list for his casual diplomacy. With so many children, an outspoken maid, and a smart wife, Mike had a lot of folks he had to keep happy. Everybody came to Mike to settle disputes, and I’d like to think it wasn’t because of the patriarchal hierarchy still installed in the 1970s.
No, I’d like to think that Mike had the last word on all disputes because he was so wise and well-adjusted. Maybe it was the wide open collar, the calm voice, or the man-perm, but there was something about this TV-dad that assured you he knew what the right thing to do was.