Which Classic TV Dad Are You?

Since the dawn of television, sitcoms and dramas alike have been presenting idyllic families with perfect patriarchs, making viewers around the world wish the dads they saw on TV were their own. No matter how warm and loving your own dad was, only a select few are lucky enough to have fathers that keep the laughs coming as regularly as those with a team of writers behind them. In this sense, when modern men think about entering the world of fatherhood themselves, they may feel more inclined to look towards some TV examples for how to raise their kids than their own pasts.

Maybe you’re a few steps ahead of that and you already have a few kids, in which case you might be interested in comparing your habits to a famous TV dad to judge how good a job you’re doing. On the other hand, you don’t need to actually have or want any kids to wonder what they would think about you if you did, and when playing this sort of make believe especially, it’s easiest to simply compare ourselves to a well known figure and make assumptions from there. No matter what the reason, any fan of the small screen should have a blast taking our quiz and finding out which TV classic dad you are.

Question 1

How many children do you have/want?

If the intro didn’t make it clear enough, you don’t necessarily need to have any children to take this quiz. It would certainly help, though, because we can’t really tell you what kind of dad you are unless you’re, you know, a dad. However, don’t let a lack of children stop you from playing along. If you don’t have any kids yet, just imagine a potential world where you do, starting off with this question where you get to pick how many you would have.

Question 2

Do you like spending time with your kids?

In sitcoms, when a dad doesn’t spend all that much time with his kids, it’s simply because they aren’t sharing much screen time. Viewers can easily assume they’re together doing family stuff when the cameras aren’t rolling, making it easy to believe we’re watching a shiny happy family no matter what we see on screen. The real world isn’t so simple, as you actually need to be around your kids to make connections with them. Do you think this is a good thing?

Question 3

Do you embarrass your kids?

The nature of television comedy means that most dads from the medium are going to be a huge embarrassment to their children. Long ago it was decided a key element of dad jokes was the father in question’s kids always rolling their eyes, shaking their heads, and all around wishing their dad would stop being such a weirdo in public all the time. Of course, this is exactly why audiences fell in love with these same characters, so there’s a method to the dad joke madness.

Question 4

How much money do you have?

Money can’t buy a child’s love, but it’s hard for a kid to hate the dad that gives them a Porsche on their 16th birthday. Hopefully, you’re kids aren’t quite that spoiled and appreciate the mere fact you put food on the table. On the other hand, if bribing your kids for their affection is your thing, more power to you, because we’re sure they appreciate the perks. Do you have the cash to pull this off, or would giving your kids too many presents break the bank?

Question 5

Would you let your family have pets?

Not to imply that the father’s decision is final as head of the household or anything like that, but it’s pretty much a given that a kids parent will need to get in on the decision for them to own and care for a pet. Some dads might be against the idea of a dog or cat because their kids aren’t responsible enough to care for them, while others might outright force the family to deal with his own love of animals by raising a whole mess of them.

Question 6

Do you like sports?

To some expecting fathers, the singular most exciting thing about parenthood is the potential to one day soon pass a baseball back and forth with their child. If not that, it would feel pretty great to sit in the rafters and watch your kid score their first goal in whatever sport it is they play, and that holds true whether you yourself enjoy said sport or not. You might have a bit more of an emotional connection to the event if you did, though, so would you?

Question 7

Do you get along with your own parents?

Aside from TV characters, the people most responsible for crafting a new parent’s ideas on how to raise their children are typically their own mother and father. Many children dream of being the exact sort of parent as their own, while others did everything in their power to achieve the opposite. Either way, your personal history almost certainly dictates how you treat your kids, so what were things like with your folks?

Question 8

Would you rather raise girls or boys?

Especially in the modern era, when expecting parents are asked which gender they hope their child will be, the polite answer is to say they don’t care as long as its healthy. In the long run, this is probably the true answer for a vast majority of people, but deep down inside, it’s not that bad to have a preference. It’s not that you’d love a boy more than a girl or vice versa, but a parent’s duties do change depending on if they have a son or daughter.

Question 9

Are you still with your children’s mother?

In today’s world, the traditional idea of a mother and father raising a child together being the only way that child can turn into a good person is known to be completely absurd. A single dad, or a single mother for that matter, could do just as good a job turning a great kid into an even better adult as a union of two is capable of doing. Of course, it doesn’t hurt to have a little help around the way, and there are other benefits to having a strong relationship with their mom, as well.

Question 10

What kind of movies do you watch with your kids?

On top of all the great dads we see on television, there have also been a great number of movie patriarchs on the silver screen. Not that movies about dads are necessarily the kind you would want to watch with your kids, though, unless you’re a fan of family friendly comedy. Others might prefer something more “manly” if they have sons, or a fancier affair if they have daughters. How do you feel about it?

Question 11

Do you like the people your kids date?

Long before television was even a thing, it was a trope that fathers would never approve of the men their daughters date. No one is ever good enough for daddy’s little princess, at least insofar as this cliché is concerned. Once TV came along, the trend continued time and again, with many sitcom dads hating the men their daughters dated simply because, well, they dated their daughters. Are you the same way?

Question 12

Do you ever drink alcohol?

It should probably go without saying that being drunk around your children 100% of the time is not the pathway to being a good parent. Unfortunately for the kids we see on TV, many of their parents have ignored this lesson, with sitcom fathers especially seeming to love beer as much as they do their kids. There’s nothing wrong with a parent imbibing now and again, but if you go overboard, your kids definitely notice.

Question 13

What kind of music do you like?

Recently, the fact dads around the world all seem to have the exact same taste in music has given birth to the term “dad rock,” which has both positive and negative connotations depending on how old the person using it happens to be. To a kid, dad rock is always uncool, outdated, and old fashioned, but actual dads know it’s just a catch all phrase for anything awesome from a few years back. One thing it doesn’t have to be, though, is “rock” – what kind of dad tunes do you like?

Question 14

Where would you rather go on vacation?

Whether the kids get to come along for the ride or not, one thing that doesn’t change with parenthood is the desire to go on vacation. To a good dad, having kids along for the ride forever changes what the concept of a vacation is in the first place, as family fun is generally a whole lot different than the bachelor’s variety. Has this influenced the sort of R&R time you take, or do you still hit up the same old haunts from before you had kids?

Question 15

Do you like to read?

One area all educational experts seem to agree on is that children need intellectual stimulation from a young age if you want them to climb the learning tree later in life. The fastest, most direct, easiest, and let’s not forget potentially most fun way to achieve this goal is to simply read to them from the day their born. It doesn’t matter if it’s bed time stories, fairytales, or something else, but reading to your kids is very important. Do you do it?

Question 16

Who spends more time with the kids, you or their mother?

Even if your family isn’t of the traditional variety, in order for a human baby to exist, in one way or another, a male and a female must interact with another. It’s possible one of these parties will disappear almost immediately, and things might just turn out fine for the kid if so. Assuming your situation is something close to the most common one, though, who spends the most time with the kids?

Question 17

Do you help your kids with school work?

Let’s face it, for the vast majority of human beings around the planet, the second we graduated high school, we instantly forgot everything we learned about geometry. And guess what, geometry teachers around the world—things went just fine for us when it happened. Unless, of course, you happened to have a kid who went on to take that same geometry class and now needs their old man’s help answering a question about the area of a rhombus. Could you help the kid out, or are they on their own?

Question 18

What decade do you think produced the best TV?

There’s no denying the fact television as a medium has changed immensely over the years, and we’re not just talking about the fact black & white pictures are now in color, or that husbands and wives didn’t always get to sleep in the same beds. That second bit might be pretty important to some dads out there, but for now, we just mean to point out the styles and types of humor have changed with the times in addition to these more superficial issues.

Question 19

Do you take care of your kids when they get sick?

No matter how old a kid gets, when they suffer the pain known as influenza, they’ll run back to their parent’s arms as quickly as possible. Sure, they could buy their own Nyquil or heat up some chicken soup between sniffles, but who wouldn’t prefer to have mom or dad do it for them instead? The only catch is that you, as their dad, need to actually be willing to nurse your kids back to health. Are you?

Question 20

Who do you trust to babysit your kids?

When a newborn first enters this world, many fathers feel their protective instincts come to life like never before. At first, they may feel like it’s physically impossible to even leave the room their child is in, always needing to watch him or her and ensure the baby is safe. Eventually, though, they’ll realize it’s okay to step away, hiring babysitters or other guardians to watch over their children from time to time. Who would you ask to do the job?

Question 21

Do you like video games?

Twenty years ago, there would never be a question about video games on a quiz about fatherhood, but the world we live in today recognizes they might be the perfect way into your child’s heart. Well, so long as you can keep your cool and stop yourself from rage quitting when you realize how much better your kids are at Guitar Hero than you ever could be.

Question 22

Are you a romantic husband or boyfriend?

Enough yammering about the kids for question after question. Let’s take a step back for a second and talk about how they were made in the first place, and discuss your relationship with the woman who helped you out during the process. Or, you know, whatever ladies or men have taken their place and occupy that role in your life today. Do you treat them with love and affection, or are you too busy with your kids to have a romantic life?

Question 23

Are you a clean and orderly person?

Thanks to society influencing our opinions on traditional gender roles, for far too long, people have assumed it was the woman’s role to clean up around the house and make sure everything was in tip top shape for visitors. Nowadays, most husbands realize they’re just as responsible for keeping the house tidy and cleaning up after both themselves and their kids. Have you caught up with the unspoken laws of decency?

Question 24

Is there anything you wouldn’t do for your kids?

In an ideal world, there’s nothing a father wouldn’t do for his child. Anything the kid wanted, he would give them in a heartbeat, usually even anticipating these needs and fulfilling them before they need to be said out loud. Unfortunately, that’s pretty much impossible, and some desires children have will simply never get met. What could you, or would you, refuse to do for your kids?

Question 25

Where do you go to get away from your family?

Regardless of how much we’re sure you love your family, everyone needs a little bit of alone time now and again. The hustle and bustle of every day life is simply too much for us to deal with and think about our lives at the same time, meaning everyone needs to get away and relax at least every once in a while. When you feel this way, where do you go to escape?

Question 26

What style of clothes do you wear?

Because trends change at ten times the speed of generations, it doesn’t matter what specifically it is you wear; no matter what, your kids probably think the clothes you wear are totally lame. Suit and tie? Too snooty. Slacks and a T-shirt? What a slob! Normal, every day clothes that any regular guy could wear and feel good about himself in? Ugh, come on dad, it’s like you’re not even trying. Or are you?

Question 27

Are you handy around the house?

In the modern world, the ability to physically put hammer to nail and build a house from the ground up doesn’t really have anything to do with the concept of “manliness.” Back in the day, men were almost expected to have a certain level of interesting or understanding in all things mechanical and carpentry based, but that’s hardly the case in a time when anyone can just call someone to do it for us. Would you need to look up a handyman, or could you fix anything yourself?

Question 28

How would you react if your child was being bullied?

One of the hardest realities a parent can face is learning their child is being bullied in some way, either by a schoolyard enemy or society at large. Just about everyone agrees that bullying is wrong in all forms, yet how we choose to deal with the problem can differ greatly on a case by case basis. Say its your child that comes home in tears one day because of something another kid said or did to them—what do you do?

Question 29

What word would your kids use to describe you?

Unless the kid doesn’t talk much in general, if you ask a child to tell you about their father, chances are you’re going to get more than a one word description of the man. Most children can talk about their dads at length, be it positively or negatively, painting a much wider picture than any one word can summarize. Even so, if your kid was instead tasked to sum up everything about you with a single term, what would it be?

Question 30

Who do you think is the perfect TV mom?

Unfortunately, this quiz won’t magically transform you into the result you get, because there’s no doubt living in a sitcom world for a few days would be fun. Plus, if you got to be a real TV dad, that means you’d probably be married to a famous TV mom, most of whom tend to be wonderful women any man would want to spend a little time with. If you were to raise a family with a woman you saw on TV, who would it be?

Question 31

Have you ever done any illegal drugs?

Earlier in this quiz, we asked if you’d ever drank alcohol, noting children take notice when their dad (or mom) might happen to drink a little too much. Well, that goes tenfold for any kid who stumbled upon their parents shooting up smack in a back alley, which we certainly hope your kids haven’t had to experience. Maybe they have, though, and it would definitely say a lot about your parenting style if they did.

Question 32

Do you think your kids love you?

Ultimately, folks, it all comes down to this one. Every dad handles the idea of parenting differently, and thus every child enters adulthood with unique feelings about their old man and what he means to them as a person. Of all the many emotions and thoughts one can have about their dad, though, the only thing that really matters is if they love him and appreciate whatever it was he did to help them on their journey through life. Are you confident your kids feel this way about you?

Question 33

What’s your favorite gift to receive on Father’s Day?

Believe it or not, it took over 60 years for the third Sunday in June to officially get designated as Father’s Day in the United States. Immediately after Mother’s Day was signed into law, people starting campaigning for a male counterpart, but legal red tape meant dads weren’t celebrated until six decades after moms had their own holiday. Worse than that, when Father’s Day actually became a thing, men mostly just got tie racks. Well, on TV, anyway. Do you have it any better?

Question 34

Do you care about politics?

To some men, part of fatherhood involves instilling your views and opinions into your children and ensuring they feel the same way you do about important world issues. For the political amongst us, this might in fact be the most important element of being a dad, lest the outside world infiltrate your kid’s brain and turn them into someone you constantly disagree with. Unless, of course, you don’t care about politics at all, in which case none of this really matters.

Question 35

Do you/Would you like being a dad?

Now that the quiz has almost come to a close and you’ve had 34 questions to think about yourself as a dad or potential dad, we’ve got one last query that’s probably the most important of all. Having considered everything it takes to be a parent, good and bad, do you think it’s all worth it? Ideally, the smile on your kids face when you did something good justifies it all, but that simply isn’t the case for everybody in real life or on TV. Was it for you?

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