By Kate Emswiler
Father’s Day: A time to honor our real dads in real life and our favorite fake dads online. There are too many different kinds of dads on TV right now to do a comprehensive list of the good (Rick Castle), the not-so-good (Don Draper), the animated (Homer Simpson, Peter Griffin, Stan Smith), the realistic (Adam Braverman) and the hyper-realistic (Louis C.K.). So this Father’s Day, I’m focusing on just one TV family that’s pretty much got it all—four dads who are each, at times, loving, irresponsible, callous, protective, uncertain and affectionate . . . in their own ways.
I was a fan of “Modern Family” from day one. Not too sentimental, not too outrageous, it hits all the marks for a sitcom about a family just bizarre enough to be normal. One need look no further than “Modern Family” to have some Father’s Day fun, too, as there’s pretty much a dad for every personality. So who’s your favorite “Modern Family” dad? Grumpy old patriarch Jay, or his sensitive type-A son, Mitchell? Perhaps it’s Mitchell’s partner and co-dad of Lily, the endearingly dramatic Cameron? Or is it irresistible Phil Dunphy, with his sweet cluelessness and silly shenanigans?
Not sure who to vote for? After the jump, some choice quotes from the contenders to refresh your memory of just what kinds of dads they are.
“I’m just saying you were never much of a kid. And that’s a good thing ’cause I never liked kids.” —Jay
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“I know I’m not the handiest guy, but I’m still a man and I want to be able to look out into my yard and say, ‘There’s a little bit of me in that princess castle.’” —Mitchell
“If this were the ’60s, we would be ‘confirmed bachelors,’ and Lily would be a Yorkie.” —Cameron
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“I’ve always said that if my son thinks of me as one of his idiot friends, I’ve succeeded as a dad.” —Phil
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Kate’s Television Musings is a column running on Kate-book.com every Friday at 10:30am. It is written by the television obsessed Kate Emswiler, who you should follow on Twitter.
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