Father Figures

I like sitcoms. I like the fun antics and shenanigans. But even better than that are the role models and guides who bring these shenanigan-doers back on course. I'm talking, of course, about father figures. Some may call them TV Dads, but not every one of them is a dad. But they are all sage older men who help and really round out the show. Without these characters, I don't know if any of the shows they were in would have been as good. Without these characters, we may never have had TGIF. If they were to make a pantheon of father figures from tv sitcoms, the following men would be in it:

George Feeny
Williams Daniels already had an excellent career in television before Boy Meets World came on the air. He had a good tenure on the show St. Elsewhere and even won two Emmys for his role on that show. Oh, and also, by they way, he was KITT. He was the voice of the greatest car ever not named the Batmobile. How do you go up from two Emmys and being the most badass vehicle ever created? I'll tell you how. You play Mr. George Feeny. He may have been the greatest mentor ever seen on television. He guided Cory and Shawn from childhood through adulthood. He had as much to do with the Boy meeting the World as Alan or Amy. And he is probably the most versatile teacher ever. Who else can teach 6th grade, be principle of a major Philadelphia-area high school, and also be an academic lecturer at the college level? I'll tell you who. George. F. Feeny. If ever I have a neighbor/teacher/man I want to teach me how to live, I want him to be just like Mr. Feeny.

The Full House Triumvirate
Danny Tanner, Jesse Katsopolis, and Joey Gladstone, portrayed by Bob Saget, The Stamos, and Dave Coulier, respectively. Essentially they were one super dad. The whole premise of the show, even, was that Danny Tanner asked these two other men to help him raise his kids. And raise them they did. All of them certainly had the loving and caring parts down. How could they not it was freakin Full House. If the show didn't end in a hug they fired the writers, hired new ones and found an ending that did involve the crowd going "awwwwwww." What's great about this father figure is how stereotypical and easily characterizable these men were. Danny was the cleaning, timid, stay at home, hey-it's-the-90s-reverse-gender-roles dad. Joey was the joking around sports loving dad. (Before you complain, I know, hockey isn't a sport.) Jesse was the cool rocking dad. All three had their parts to play in raising the children. Of course, they wound up raising a meth addict and the girl who killed the joker. So really, they didn't do that good of a job.

Uncle Phil
James Avery may have been the best foil to Will Smith's Will Smith. He represented almost every thing that Will wasn't He had money, he had position, he had power, he had grace. He was educated and knew the ins and outs of high society. That is why it only made it funnier when Will upset some part of Uncle Phil's life. Their completely contrasting styles led to some fun hi-jinks that provided all of us with laughs. This is also the only show that didn't air on TGIF. (Mondays on NBC after Blossom. I didn't even have to look that up.) That's how good this show was. And it was not Will Smith who made this show great. It wasn't even just Carlton. Though Carlton is a pretty epic sidekick character. Whenever you heard Uncle Phil bellow "WILLL" and there was an outside shot of the house, you knew good times were about to be had. Despite looking severely overweight, he was in remarkably great physical shape as noted by his constant heaving of Jazz out of the house. Plus, he has mad bank and the worst butler ever.

Zordon
Because who else was leading the Power Rangers? Alpha-5? Ay-yi-yi-yi-yi think not.

Carl Winslow
Carl Winslow aka Big Guy aka Officer Winslow aka the role Reginald VelJohnson was born to play. Seriously, has he ever not played a fat cop? No. It's like hollywood saw him in Die Hard and he was immediatly typecast as a doughnut eatting officer of the peace. Carl, along with his doppelganger Uncle Phil, is the reason this post was even invented. Family Matters is a seminal and landmark television program on TGIF due in no small part to the work of Carl Winslow. He plays the typical sitcom husband perfectly to his counterpart Harriet. He acts like a man then is quickly hen-pecked back in to place. He plays the loving, caring concerned parent to Laura, Eddie, and the forgotten daughter Judy. (To a lesser extent also Ritchie [he's coming!] and 3J, but they're rather ancillary.) The real magic of Carl Winslow was how he played the straight man to Urkel. Sure, he was a father figure to him and though my show history is fuzzy and my laziness won't allow me to look it up, I'm pretty sure he adopted Steve. That or they time travelled to a pirate ship in 3-D. I can never be sure on these things. God bless Carl Winslow, and God Bless America.