My Favorite Dads

 As a TV watcher during my elementary and junior high school years I was enamored by TV father figures like Heathcliff Huxtable and Dan Connor. Watching them on TV often made me wish that I was a part of their families and I guess in some crazy way I was. So when I heard about  TV Guide's list of The 50 Greatest TV Dads I was excited to see Mr. Huxtable at number one and Dan Connor had made the list as well. However, as I continued to read on I was very disappointed at the fact that not only did they place Homer Simpson on the list but they left out James Evans Sr. the patriarch of the Evans family from hit show Good Times. How is it that a cartoon character who is so dumb that his 8 year old can outwit  him end up on the list of TVs greatest Dads and not James Evans Sr.? It could be that the character was killed off in season three not remaining throughout the continuity of the show. Or maybe because he was a tough disciplinarian who spanked his kids. Or may it's just that those at TV Guide who came up with this list have no clue (I'm thinking the latter.) 

Whatever the reason. I believe that James Evans deserves to be on the list right at the top with Heathchliff Huxtable, Ward Cleaver and Dan Connor. Why do you ask? Because in a society where black fathers get a bad rep for being deadbeats, the character of James Evans Sr. was a able to turn all that around. Though he was frustrated by ghetto life and his education was limited. James Evans kept his family together by not only taking honest underpaid jobs sometimes two or three at a time, but he was also involved in the lives of his children and wanted nothing but the best for them. Despite his temper, James adored his wife Florida. He was not perfect he had a temper and somteimes misunderstood his wife and kid, but that's what made him so appealing the character was fictional but not unrealistic.

James was as close to a real father as you could get and there were a lot young black children who could relate to having a father like James Evans and there were those who did not have their fathers in their life that wished they had a father like James. It's sad that this character did not make the list but it goes to show just how little the it was researched and taken seriously. Yes I know it's only  TV, but think about it, if Homer Simpson is considered one of TV's greatest dad how much do we really consider the importance of fatherhood in American society.


Recommended:
Good Times Seasons 1-3
Roseanne Seasons1-9