Adam Braverman, Parenthood
NBC Tue 10 p.m. EST
TV dads have run the gamut from super stern to super dumb. But Adam Braverman, played by Six Feet Under‘s Peter Krause, seems to have found a happy medium. As the eldest of the adult siblings on the new NBC show Parenthood, Adam has the characteristic need for control and often works a little too hard to look reliable—not an easy feat when you’ve got a 15-year-old daughter who’s beginning to discover drugs, boys, and alcohol, or when you’re the glue that holds the colorful Braverman family together.
A recent episode saw Adam, the consummate peace lover, struggling to pick which seven people to fire from his sneaker company. The event prompts a coworker to offer to “come up there and hold [his] hand.”
But what puts Adam solidly on our list is his relationship with 8-year-old son Max, diagnosed with Asperger’s syndrome. Like most parents, Adam has trouble with the thought that his son is maladjusted. In an early episode, shortly before Max’s diagnosis, Adam becomes obsessed with getting his son to stop wearing a pirate costume everywhere. But once it’s confirmed that Max has Asperger’s, Adam fully embraces his son’s world.
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Apu, The Simpsons
Fox Sun 8 p.m. EST
Hey, if Rolling Stone can name Butters from South Park as one of this season’s most memorable scene-stealers, then we can nominate Apu as one of our top good men on TV.
What drew us to Apu Nahasapeemapetilon is that in a town of slackers like Lenny, Moe, and, of course, Homer, Apu is one of the few characters who is actually trying to make an honest living. His earnest “Thank you, come again!” follows every customer out the Kwik-E-Mart door, even if they’ve just tried to cryogenically freeze themselves in his frozen-food section.
An immigrant from Calcutta, he was the top of his class of 7 million at Calcutta Technical Institute, after which he earned his doctorate in computer science from Springfield Heights Institute of Technology (SHIT). He started working at the Kwik-E-Mart to pay off his student loans. He’s proven himself to be far more educated than the average Springfield citizen on nearly every subject. Take, for instance, the episode in which Apu is approved for U.S. citizenship:
Proctor: All right, here’s your last question. What was the cause of the Civil War?
Apu: Actually, there were numerous causes. Aside from the obvious schism between the abolitionists and the anti-abolitionists, there were economic factors, both domestic and inter—
Proctor: Wait, wait … just say slavery.
Apu: Slavery it is, sir.
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Jack Donaghy, 30 Rock
NBC Thu 8:30 p.m. EST
Is Jack Donaghy he the best man out there? Probably not. But after putting together a lineup of so many do-gooders and dads, we felt it necessary to include at least one of TV’s most hilarious businessmen. Jack Donaghy—played by Alec Baldwin and supposedly modeled after Lorne Michaels from SNL—is not the everyman. He’s the guy who thinks he invented traditional masculinity. As he puts it,
I attended Harvard Business School where I was voted “Most.” I once hit a stand-up triple off Fidel Castro. I was the first person ever to say, “I need a vacation from this vacation.” The song “You’re So Vain” was in fact written … by me.
You gotta appreciate his gumption, if not his narcissism. As Vice President of East Coast Television and Microwave Oven Programming, his greatest business triumphs have included a strangely plausible reality-TV show called MILF Island and the GE Tri-vection oven, which uses three kinds of heat to cook a turkey in 22 minutes. He’s confident, calculating, and he idolizes Ronald Reagan.
But as one half of the most entertaining platonic TV relationship (with Tina Fey as Liz Lemon), he often softens his hardened business exterior to help his friend through personal troubles. (Granted, he claims he does it because he believes the quality of her life will be reflected in the quality of her work.)In turn, Jack often looks to Liz for guidance and support—he even lists her as his emergency medical contact.
While Jack paints himself in the shiny veneer of the power executive, he’s as vulnerable as the rest of us. In an episode where Jack has to go to a GE Six Sigma Retreat to Move Forward—a gathering of all the company head honchos—Jack drags Liz along for emotional support. His nerves prompt him to deliver a pre-speech pep talk to himself:
Because it’s winning time, you magnificent son of a bitch! You go in there and you show them. Make mommy proud of her big boy because he’s the best!
I mean, who hasn’t psyched themselves up like that?
To this list, I’d add: Patrick Jane (“The Mentalist”), Dr. Owen Hunt (“Grey’s Anatomy”), Terry Bellefleur (“True Blood”), Chuck Bartowski (“Chuck”), LeRoy Gibbs (“NCIS”) and Marshall Mann (“In Plain Sight”). All good men.
Patrick Jane (“The Mentalist”) I love that show but while he is smart he has a bit too much of a disregard for authority. And his attitude sometimes borders on arrogance. LeRoy Gibbs (“NCIS”) Again I like the show a lot but for all the good there is in Agent Gibbs I’m not sure he’s that great of a man if for no other reason than his head slapping and how selective he is of it. You could make a viral video with clips of him slapping DiNozzo and McGee (to the beat of “Where’s Your Head At?” by Basement… Read more »
Okay, I just stumbled upon The Good Men Project so I should probably withhold judgement on its mission statement until I’ve read more. That being said, it seems to me the ultimate TV example of someone “trying to be a good man” is Nate Fisher from Six Feet Under. If you’ve seen the show, you know how well his tries work out.
Totally with you, and I’m a huge Krause fan (Sports Night, SFU, etc.). We’ll have to do a follow-up piece with shows that aren’t running.
I don’t understaaaaand the fascination with neil patrick harris! he wasn’t on the list, but got what amounted to an honourable mention – his character is an unabashed sexist pig!
Don’t forget Eddie Trunk, Don Jamison, and Jim Florentine on the VH1 Classic program, “That Metal Show.” Guests so far include Rob Halford from Judas Priest and Michael Anthony from Van Halen. They opened the new season with a genuine tribute to the recently passed rocker Ronnie James Dio.
These guys just sit around an talk metal, mostly classic metal. The show is a big hit, and this season was expanded from a half hour to an hour.
I believe this list was characters, though. Those guys are great (and absolutely hilarious), but they’re real people on TV. Not characters that everyone is made to look up to. I feel there’s a difference.
Great list! Love the Modern Family guys! Henry Francis does deserve to be on this list! I like watching Don and his struggles but there are so many other great characters on Mad Men. Henry is a good guy and I love the actor. Can’t wait to see what next season brings.
I CAN’T POST! IT ALL ZIPS AWAY!
nevermind…..everytime I post here the whole thing gets lost just before I hit PostComment. so foget it here
Detective Elliot Stabler (Christopher Meloni) of Law and Order: SVU. Good father, defender of the weak.
I don’t entirely agree with this. Though Detective Stabler can be a great guy, he has just as many flaws. He’s an angry cop and too conflicted to be put on this list, in my opinion. Besides, if you didn’t notice (or read) law enforcement was avoided on here. Stabler is a perfect reason why. Good cop, not the greatest guy.
I’d like Bill Adama of Battlestar Galactica added to this list.
I really enjoy Chuck on Chuck. And the supporting cast of men on that show, from Awesome to Casey to the guys who work at the Buy More. Each is flawed, each tries to do the right thing in their own, sometimes misguided, ways.
seconded
I have to agree. Chuck is loyal to his girlfriend, a good brother to his sister, a good friend and always tries to do what’s right. He might be a nerd, but he knows it and he doesn’t let it stop him.
Okay guys…with you all the way on this with one exception. Henry Francis. Have you been watching the show? He seems like a pretty bitter dude to me, treating Betty and my boy Don pretty horribly. Maybe its because I am so fascinated by how they portray Don’s search for meaning, his attempt to deal with being a divorced dad, and juggle work, love, and booze (okay, yes I plead guilty) that makes me dislike Henry Francis intensely. I’ll ask you one question: Did Betty look better with Don or with Henry Francis? I will grant you that Don’s latest… Read more »
Don has been a horrible husband (infidelity), father (absenteeism), soldier (desertion), and business partner (dirty dealings to prevent exposure). Compared to Don, almost any other husband is superior–and Henry is a revelation.
Al Bundy is the best TV dad of all time and it’s abhorrent that he didn’t make this list. He sells shoes and makes no money, but what little money he does make is taken by his wife. He has two kids who don’t respect him, yet he constantly comes to the rescue when his throws the boyfriends of his slutty daughter into the wall and out of the house. And he takes his boy on father-son bonding trips to the nudie bar. Al was also a promising high school football standout, but instead of striving for fame and athletic… Read more »
We love Al Bundy! But this is for characters currently on air. He’s there in spirit through Modern family though!
Damn technicalities! 😉
Unfortunately the male characters from my other favorite show (It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia) are morally deplorable and thus would not qualify. But it is hilarious.
I JUST discussed this with my boys’ class the other day and discovered that most of the male characters they watch on television happen to be animated ones who lack integrity. However, they assured me there are GOOD MEN on TV who are human, but they are watching an entirely different stream of programming than the ones mentioned here, and I suspect so are an enormous number of other people. The boys let me know loud and clear that George Lopez is a good man, and then they went on to rattle off a list of good cops and forensic… Read more »