Line #133 Main/Standard50sFather


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10	[[quoteright:350:[[Series/FatherKnowsBest https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/ff_4865.png]]]]
11	[[caption-width-right:350:He knows best.]]
12
13	->''"Serious-minded men who smoked pipes and wore mustaches had written serious instructions saying that this should be done, and so he did it, because he was a serious-minded man who smoked a pipe and wore a mustache and did not take such injunctions lightly, because if you did, where would you be? He had exactly the right amount of insurance. He drove three miles below the speed limit, or forty miles per hour, whichever was the lower. He wore a tie, even on Saturdays."''
14	-->-- ''Literature/GoodOmens''
15
16	The Standard '50s Father typically is born in [[EverytownAmerica a small town]] in [[FlyoverCountry the American Midwest]], although (as the quote above implies) he can be of any nationality. His parents were farmers of some sort, or perhaps his father was a druggist. [[DadTheVeteran A veteran]] of UsefulNotes/WorldWarII, [[SelfMadeMan he put himself through college (possibly through the G.I. Bill) and is now a white-collar professional]]... unless he is the proprietor of some small local business (pharmacy, cobbler, grocery, etc.).
17
18	The Standard '50s Father is solid, dependable, and responsible. He's HappilyMarried to his wife, whom he met [[HighSchoolSweethearts when they were both teenagers]]. And if the love he gives his children is slightly distant, it is no less heartfelt for being so. He's an upstanding citizen who rarely swears or drinks to excess, [[GoodSmokingEvilSmoking if he smokes he]] [[DistinguishedGentlemansPipe smokes a pipe]], and attends a regular "bowling night" with his friends ([[UsefulNotes/{{Darts}} darts]] in the pub if British). If he plays cards it will be bridge, probably in partnership with his wife, ''not'' poker in a dingy room full of cigarette smoke. He wears a shirt and tie with dress pants and a cardigan during the day (even while he cuts the lawn on Saturday morning) and sleeps in sensible cotton pajamas. He usually wears glasses. He's buttoned-down, calm, wise, and thoughtful. None but a few things can rattle him: 1.) [[BoyfriendBlockingDad His daughter getting a boyfriend]], 2.) [[PanickyExpectantFather His wife revealing that she's going to have a baby (and her later going into labor)]], 3.) His wife deciding that she wants a job (assuming that it's her idea and not his), or 4.) The threat of losing ''his'' job (combining 3 and 4 could send him into open hysterics). If the RedScare is in effect, he'll go berserk at the thought of someone close to him being a communist.
19
20	When played straight, the Standard '50s Father's primary function is to offer object lessons and moral instructions to the various members of his family. When PlayedForLaughs, he's the butt of jokes and the perfect example of dorkiness. When played DarkerAndEdgier, he's often the male version of a StepfordSmiler, hiding his neuroses, insecurities, and other issues behind the fatherly facade, because [[MenDontCry a man isn't supposed to show weakness in public]].
21
22	Note that [[DeadHorseTrope he is rarely played straight anymore]].
23
24	Husband to the HouseWife. Father to the GirlNextDoor and TheAllAmericanBoy. Contrast BumblingDad and AmazinglyEmbarrassingParents, two tropes created as a direct subversion to this one.
25
26	----
27	!!Examples:
28
29	[[foldercontrol]]
30
31	[[folder:Advertising]]
32	* Bob, the husband from the commercials for ''Enzyte'' brand male enhancement pills. He's the StepfordSmiler type, but instead of insecurities or neuroses, he's trying to hide his ''[[BiggerIsBetterInBed massive]], [[GagPenis massive penis]]''.
33	[[/folder]]
34
35	[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
36	%% * Koudai Ohzaora, father of the titular ''Manga/CaptainTsubasa'', when at home. (He works as a marine merchant captain so he spends lots of time travelling through the world.)
37	%% * Fujitaka Kinomoto from ''Manga/CardcaptorSakura'' is the wise, stable, and friendly father of TheProtagonist. <-- Does not explain how he is wise, stable, or friendly.
38	%% * Also Nobita's father in ''Manga/{{Doraemon}}'', replacing pipe and slippers with a yukata and cigarettes. <-- What does that have to do with being a Standard 50s Father?
39	* Taeko's father in ''Anime/OnlyYesterday'' is depicted as one during her childhood flashbacks, though her memories as a ten-year-old take place in 1965. He's stern and [[TheStoic stoic]] but can be loving towards Taeko in his own way, wears glasses, frequently smokes cigarettes, and wears a suit when going out (though he wears a kimono at home, showing his traditionalist mindset).
40	%% * Usagi's father, Kenji Tsukino in ''Franchise/SailorMoon''.
41	* Loid Forger in ''Manga/SpyXFamily'' tends to fall into this mold in both sides of his life. As Loid Forger, he's a kind and respected psychiatrist, and when not in a lab coat, he usually wears a shirt and tie with dress pants and a cardigan during the day. And while he's wise and diligent, he's kind of a Bumbling Dad who takes raising his daughter to comically serious levels. As Twilight, he's a veteran, and generally unflappable in the face of danger, but he went into his line of work through genuinely altruistic reasons and is a firm but fair disciplinarian toward his adopted daughter.
42	[[/folder]]
43
44	[[folder:Comic Books]]
45	* For British anthology comics such as ''ComicBook/TheBeano'' and ''ComicBook/TheDandy'', this was the default position for portraying fathers of the child characters, such as the long-suffering father of ''ComicStrip/DennisTheMenaceUK'', a man portrayed as a white-collar suit-wearing pipe smoker, who remained an unchanged and increasingly anachronistic Fifties Father until well into TheNineties.
46	* ''ComicBook/{{Batman}}'': From [[UsefulNotes/TheGoldenAgeOfComicBooks the '40s]] to the [[UsefulNotes/TheSilverAgeOfComicBooks the '60s]] - with occasional resurgences even in the '80s - Bruce Wayne was often depicted as an upper-class version whenever he shared a scene with Dick Grayson, calmly smoking a pipe and offering more mature, coolheaded analysis to Dick's excited, HotBlooded rumblings on the case-of-the-week.
47	* ''ComicBook/DoomPatrol'': Mr. Darren, leader of the Men From N.O.W.H.E.R.E from Creator/GrantMorrison's run, forces his wife to play a LaughTrack when he comes home from work.
48	* ''ComicBook/FantasticFour'':
49	** Reed is not only the Fantastic Four's TeamDad, but he married his college sweetheart and fathered two children (one girl, one boy, of course). While ComicBookTime means it is no longer the case, he originally ''did'' serve in the military in WWII, and the accident that gave the Fantastic Four their powers was born from his earnest desire to beat the Russians in the Space Race. Early stories had him as a casual sexist as was just commonplace for the time; "Wives should be kissed -- and not heard!" That's since been dropped, but other stories make him more subtly condescending, usually in the form of being a low-key InsufferableGenius. So while his archnemesis is mocked for being medieval, he is merely Rockwellian.
50	** Reed can also be read as a rare ''positive'' subversion of this trope. Reed has all the trappings of a Standard 50s Father; the pipe, the respectable patriarchal role, the distant-but-loving attitude toward his family.... But while most examples are in some way conformists associated with boring, rigid lifestyles, Reed is a brilliant inventor and futurist who takes the charge leading his family into incredible adventures across time and space.
51	* ''ComicBook/{{The Outsiders\|DCComics}}'': The Nuclear Family was a supervillain team who fought the Outsiders. They were robots programmed to act like the stereotypical 1950s Dad, Mom, Son, Teenage Son (Biff), and Daughter -- with superpowers, of course.
52	%% * ''ComicBook/TeenTitans'': Prysm's "father" in the virtual reality in which she was raised in. (the VR having been designed to simulate the world of a 50s sitcom). <-- But ''how'' does her father exhibit the trope?
53	* ''ComicBook/ShadeTheChangingMan'': Shade once encountered a cult led by a man who was obsessed with normalcy, which to him meant forcibly turning everyone in the neighbourhood into '50s nuclear family stereotypes. Wearing a suit and tie and smoking a pipe was mandatory for men.
54	%% * ''ComicBook/SquadronSupreme'': Hyperion's adopted father in ''ComicBook/SupremePower'' acted very much like this, but that was only because it was his assignment to give Mark Milton the most wholesome upbringing possible. <-- And ''how'' did he act like it?
55	* ''Whiteman'' by Robert Crumb, wants the reader to think he's this, but he has to constantly struggle to suppress his lusts, rages and racial anxiety.
56	[[/folder]]
57
58	[[folder:Comic Strips]]
59	%% * ''ComicStrip/{{Mafalda}}'': Mafalda's father Ángel, though he can be more neurotic than the standard.
60	%% * ''ComicStrip/Blondie1930'': Dagwood Bumstead.
61	* In ''ComicStrip/CalvinAndHobbes'', Calvin's Dad looks a bit like one of these, wearing [[TwoDecadesBehind an outdated suit]] to his job as a patent attorney, and trying to present an image of stern discipline and authority to his son. He's also the {{Trope Namer\|s}} for MiseryBuildsCharacter. He occasionally subverts it by making up bizarre [[JustSoStory Just So stories]]. For example, he tells Calvin that the reason that old movies were in black-and-white is that the world was black-and-white then and that the sun sets each night in Arizona, which is why the rocks there are so red. He also practices cycling as a hobby, with a few strips focusing on his escapades.
62	* Henry Mitchell in ''Comicstrip/DennisTheMenaceUS'' is tall, thin, has black hair, wears glasses and a tie, is HappilyMarried to Alice, his bond with Dennis is stronger than that of Alice, and in his earlier appearances, he smoked a pipe.
63	%% * Mark Trail of ''Comicstrip/MarkTrail'', even though he was invented in the '40s, not the '50s.
64	* In ''Film/NationalLampoon'', "The Appletons" was a regular strip, a very typical "50s family" with a dad who's a smiling, pipe-smoking psycho who constantly messes with his kids' heads.
65	[[/folder]]
66
67
68	[[folder:Fan Works]]
69	* In ''Fanfic/ChildOfTheStorm'', Joe Danvers Sr. is a darker variant on the trope - a StepfordSmiler who tries to force his older two children (a sporty ActionGirl and tomboy, and a quiet and artistic boy) into the roles he feels they should follow: the [[StayInTheKitchen demure]] ProperLady (though he'd settle for a GirlNextDoor) and TheAllAmericanBoy (like his youngest child). In a complicating twist, he does actually love his children, sincerely believes that he's doing what's best for them - even when that extends to ''asking Harry to [[spoiler: MindRape his daughter into compliance]]'' - and was genuinely good with them when they were small... and not defying his expectations.
70	[[/folder]]
71
72	[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
73	* George Bailey from ''Film/ItsAWonderfulLife'' tries his best to provide for his four children and steer them on the right path. His lashing out at his family after taking the fall for the theft of $8,000 dollars is the start of his downward spiral that leads to his attempted suicide.
74	* ''Film/{{Pleasantville}}'', as a parody of the "good old days", features one. This one's a StepfordSmiler type, but with a slight twist; the emotion he's primarily suppressing behind his facade isn't hatred or anger, but rather ''affection,'' which he's not allowed to openly display as the stern patriarch. His change to color (which in the film happens when one taps into something suppressed), is triggered by accepting the love he has for his wife and family.
75	* In the movie ''Film/WhiteChristmas'', Bob invokes the pipe, slippers, and newspaper idea of a husband when ribbing Phil, who has just (supposedly) gotten engaged.
76	* In ''Film/BicentennialMan'', Sir, known to everyone else as Richard Martin, undergoes some [[AdaptationPersonalityChange minor changes]], mostly expanding his lines and giving him the role of mentor to Andrew. He is very dependable, and does a good job of teaching his moral opinions to other family members. His clothing, naturally, reflects his affluent yet conservative style, with him choosing cardigans and ties in the relaxed setting of his home, even as fashions change around him. Despite the film being set TwentyMinutesIntoTheFuture.
77	* In ''Film/VanillaSky'', it is implied that David [[YourMindMakesItReal invented a father figure]] for himself (Dr. [=McCabe=]) in this mold, based on Gregory Peck in ''Film/ToKillAMockingbird''.
78	%% * Christopher Walken's character in ''Film/BlastFromThePast''.
79	* The title character of ''Film/TheStepfather'' cultivates this image for himself and seems to think of himself like this. At one point, he's explicitly compared to Ward Cleaver. Unfortunately, the accent here is on [[SerialKiller cleaver]].
80	* Creator/BradPitt is surprisingly effective as one of these in ''Film/TheTreeOfLife'', with strong elements of DadTheVeteran and ToughLove as well: he demands respect and strict decorum from his sons at all times and believes his sweet-natured wife to be "naive."
81	* Audrey imagines Seymour this way in ''Film/LittleShopOfHorrors''. She even sings, "He's Father; he knows best."
82	%% * Chris in ''Film/TheWoman'' seems to think that he's one of these, but is in fact a very dark subversion.
83	* ''Film/DisneylandDream'' features the Standard '50s Father in his natural habitat, being amateur filmmaker Robbins Barstow's record of his family's vacation to Disneyland in 1956. Surely nothing is more Standard '50s Father than Dad giving his son a crew cut.
84	* Ed Avery from ''Film/BiggerThanLife'' is this at the beginning of the film, being a dutiful husband and father trying his best to provide for his family. Unfortunately, his behavior takes a turn for the worse when he starts abusing cortisone, and he becomes increasingly abusive toward his family.
85	* Nick Laemle from ''Film/{{Parents}}'' at first appears to be a loving family man to his wife and son. In reality, he's a SerialKiller who preys on innocent people to [[ImAHumanitarian provide food for the family]].
86	* Colonel Strickland from ''Film/TheShapeOfWater'' is a pretty thorough deconstruction of this trope. He is deeply unsatisfied with his bland, mediocre home life, and is constantly driven to progressively more depraved acts because of this. He conforms obsessively to the social mores of his time period, feeling that he always has to be "in charge" and tends to [[CompensatingForSomething overcompensate]] because of this. That's not mentioning that he's a [[PoliticallyIncorrectVillain racist, misogynistic, xenophobic, Bible-thumping]] HateSink.
87	* Libby's father Dave Mannering in ''Film/ISawWhatYouDid'' bears many of the classic hallmarks: he is a besuited, pipe smoking businessman who is sweetly overindulgent of his daughters, and has a tendency to downplay his wife's concerns as typical female overreaction. Kit's father John Austin is similar, but doesn't smoke a pipe, and is probably too suspicious and proactive to truly fit the mold.
88	* [[DeconstructedTrope Deconstructed]] by VillainProtagonist Bill Foster in ''Film/FallingDown''. While the film takes place in TheNineties, Bill dressed in the white-collar attire and rimmed glasses typical of this trope and was filled with PatrioticFervor as he previously worked in the defense industry before losing his job to [[WhyWeAreBummedCommunismFell post-Cold War budget cuts]]. Throughout the film he laments how America's changed for the worse as he believed that the [[WorkingClassHero system he worked for screwed him over]] and [[AngryWhiteMan had grievances with anyone who doesn't have basic respect for American culture, economy, language,]] or even just simple human decency. According to WordOfGod, Foster was intended to represent "the old power structure of the U.S. that has now become archaic, and hopelessly lost" as well as the need to adapt or die.
89	* Parodied with Noah Levenstein in the ''Film/AmericanPie'' films. He is framed as this trope personified, which makes it ''incredibly'' awkward for his son Jim whenever he gets himself involved in the films' SexComedy antics, whether it's frequently [[CaughtWithYourPantsDown catching Jim with his pants down]] or having to give him TheTalk as a result. That said, no matter how [[AmazinglyEmbarrassingParents embarrassing]] he gets, he's always presented as a genuinely good father who [[DotingParent wants what's best for his son]].
90	[[/folder]]
91
92	[[folder:Literature]]
93	* Mr. Young in ''Literature/GoodOmens'' is pretty much the Platonic ideal of this kind of character. He's so serious-minded that in the finale [[spoiler: his mere arrival on the scene is enough to dispel Satan]].
94	* [[Series/MysteryScienceTheater3000 Mike Nelson]] perceives himself as one around youngsters. He writes in his book ''Mind Over Matters'' that anytime kids wind up in his house: "Somehow, though I don't own one, a pipe ends up in my hands, my hair automatically Brylcreems itself into place, I look down to find slippers on my feet, and I'm wearing a robe." He then goes on to utterly creep them out by dropping increasingly dated references, starting with quizzing them on the popularity of Tone Loc and ending with advising them to take precautions against the Bubonic Plague. "Oh, the kids today, how they love me."
95	* ''Coping With Parents'' by Peter Corey, a humorous guide for kids, suggests that unlucky readers may discover their father really ''is'' just a newspaper with a pipe and slippers attached.
96	* Atticus Finch from ''Literature/ToKillAMockingbird'' may be the quintessential example. He's a lawyer from a small, Southern town who is willing to uphold due process when a black man is accused of raping a white woman. He stoically endures being spit in the face by his enemies and ''definitely'' imparts wise lessons to his children.
97	%% ** He returns in ''Go Set a Watchman'' as a darker version of this trope.
98	%% * Mr. Brown from the ''Literature/JustWilliam'' series (father to the main character).
99	[[/folder]]
100
101	[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
102	%% * Ward Cleaver from ''Series/LeaveItToBeaver''. This paterfamilias set standard -- to the point of being the former TropeNamer.
103	%% * Steve Douglas from ''Series/MyThreeSons''.
104	%%* Jim Anderson from ''Series/FatherKnowsBest''.
105	%% * Howard Cunningham from ''Series/HappyDays''.
106	%% * Dr. Alex Stone from ''Series/TheDonnaReedShow''.
107	%% * Dr. Jason Siever from ''Series/GrowingPains''.
108	%% * Mike Brady of ''Series/TheBradyBunch''.
109	%% * Ozzie Nelson from ''Series/TheAdventuresOfOzzieAndHarriet'' (and the sequel series ''Ozzie's Girls'').
110	%% * Lloyd Nielsen from the extremely short-lived ''Hi Honey, I'm Home''.
111	%% * Rob Petrie from ''Series/TheDickVanDykeShow'' is a comedic version of this.
112	%% * Andy Taylor from ''Series/TheAndyGriffithShow'' has some of the associated traits. The guidance he gives his son is the most obvious quality.
113	%% * Jack Pryor from ''Series/AmericanDreams''. Despite being made in the 2000s, he's a mostly idealistic portrayal and never does anything worse than being overprotective at times.
114	%% * ''Series/TheAdventuresOfSuperman'' once featured the same actor as Ward Cleaver, Hugh Beaumont, portraying a 50s father with a hidden past as a gangster. <-- Needs explanation as to how his character was a 50s father.
115	* ''Series/{{Supernatural}}'':
116	** Henry Winchester has elements of this. A suit and tie are his main clothing choices, with a trench coat and fedora for when he goes out. He took his son, John, to see ''Film/AbbottAndCostelloMeetTheMummy'' and keeps a picture they took together in his wallet. The only major deviation is his job: [[DemonSlaying demon hunting]].
117	** The MonsterOfTheWeek in "A Very Supernatural Christmas" is a pair of pagan Gods. While they have no children, they dress, talk, and act like a couple from a 50's sitcom. [[FauxAffablyEvil Emphasis on "act".]]
118	%% * Carl Winslow from ''Series/FamilyMatters'' during the first couple seasons. Was also the BumblingDad at this time.
119	%% * In the ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'' episode "Ted," John Ritter plays this type of man, who gets involved with Buffy's mom. Of course, he turns out to be a killer robot.
120	* Subverted in ''Series/MadMen'' with Don Draper - once the audience realizes he is the 50s dad at the end of the first episode, it comes as a surprise. And of course, he is most definitely ''not'' a paragon of American virtue (what with the affairs, stolen identity, etc). He also drove his wife to divorce.
121	* In the ''Series/{{Community}}'' episode "Custody Law and Eastern European Diplomacy", Chang wants the chance to be a father to Shirley's son (it's a 50/50 chance he's the biological father) and Jeff tells him Shirley might give him the chance if he acts responsibly, just to get him out of his apartment. Chang starts dressing and acting like every '50s tv sitcom dad in a clear case of SanitySlippage.
122	* Harshly deconstructed on the very retro-'50s ''Series/TwinPeaks'' with Leland Palmer, who becomes increasingly vulnerable as we see him mourning the death of his only daughter, and the uncovering of [[SeeminglyWholesome50sGirl her dark secrets]] that come with the murder investigation, and he's forced to deal with his failures as a father. [[spoiler: Also, he's the killer.]]
123	* ''Series/CallTheMidwife'': Dr. Turner is a {{reconstruction}} of the trope: an actual father in the 1950s (the series begins in 1957), who actually dresses like the stereotype (although he smokes cigarettes, not a pipe), he's a genuinely wise, caring physician with much love and firm but fair discipline for his son Timothy. However, as a widower, he has trouble balancing his hellish work schedule and his duties to Timmy; this gets easier after he [[spoiler:marries Shelagh, the former Sr. Bernadette]]. He also has distinct BumblingDad tendencies at times, and his obligatory experience during the War (as he was a medical graduate, working in a field hospital) resulted in a mental breakdown (from all the goriness of the wounded, sick, and dying in the war).
124	* ''Series/TheManInTheHighCastle'' subverts the trope with John Smith, a loving but authoritative American father who has a proper breakfast with his two kids and homemaker wife each morning... while in uniform as a high-ranking Nazi SS officer.
125	* Cliff Huxtable on ''Series/TheCosbyShow'' was a {{reconstruction}} of this trope for TheEighties. Creator/BillCosby envisioned him as everything that a father (and specifically a black father) should be, an aspirational, kind-hearted family man with a playful sense of humor and decidedly old-school tastes in music who is always there for his kids. This was a big part of why [[BrokenPedestal Cosby's arrest for sexual assault]] hit so hard for so many people: creating and playing Cliff for eight seasons had earned him a reputation as [[ContractualPurity "America's Dad"]].
126	* [[DeconstructedTrope Deconstructed]] by Mike & Nancy's father Ted Wheeler in ''Series/StrangerThings''. Despite it being TheEighties, he's a BumblingDad and LazyHusband who dresses and acts like it's the 50s to symbolize his stagnant ideals and behavior. While he's [[JerkWithAHeartOfGold far from the worst parent on the show]], he's pretty checked-out when it comes to the lives and concerns of his wife and kids, and [[ParentalNeglect usually puts in the barest effort possible into engaging with them]]. Nancy bitterly analyzes her parents' relationship as a MarriageOfConvenience, and is proven right when [[UglyGuyHotWife her mother contemplates cheating on him]] [[ConscienceMakesYouGoBack but ultimately changes her mind]].
127	[[/folder]]
128
129	%% [[folder:Music]]
130	%% * The Dad in the music video of Simple Plan's "Untitled."
131	%% [[/folder]]
132
133	[[folder:Video Games]]
134	* As the ''Videogame/{{Fallout}}'' series is based on 50s culture with {{Zeerust}} technology, many subversions, parodies, and deconstructions of this character appear throughout. Jack Smith and his neighbour Willy Wilson in ''Videogame/Fallout3'' are almost iconic. Serious men who dress properly, care for their small families, don't vote for no commie beatniks and don't take kindly to strangers using bad language where the kids can hear. They love their families and believe that it's a man's job to "bring home the bacon". Quite literally since Andale is populated with cannibals.
135	[[/folder]]
136
137	[[folder:Webcomics]]
138	%% * ''Webcomic/GhastlysGhastlyComic'':
139	%% ** Subverted with Smokey: he looks like he's stepped straight out of the staid starchiness of Fifties suburbia, but it soon becomes clear he's as filthy-minded as the rest of the cast. <-- How does he look like a 50s father
140	%% ** Ghastly himself looks like the perfect stereotype of the '50s father. <-- How?
141	* ''Webcomic/{{Homestuck}}'':
142	** Played with: at first, Mr. Egbert appears to be one of these -- a caring, pipe-smoking, hat-wearing, sensible man -- albeit with a bizarre passion for harlequins that convinces his son John that the elder Egbert is a street performer. And then it turns out that he's secretly a.) [[spoiler:a perfectly ordinary businessman whose apparent harlequin fixation is in fact an attempt to support John's [[{{Brainwashing}} chucklevoodoo-induced]] [[TomatoInTheMirror love of clowns]]]] and b.) [[spoiler:a superhumanly strong, MadeOfIron PapaWolf capable of taking out enormous monsters with his bare hands. And he's also John's half-brother via cloning. It's complicated.]]
143	** After [[spoiler: [[ResetButton the Scratch]], most characters are iterated into different forms and different lives. Aside from being ProperlyParanoid due to [[EvilInc Crockercorp's]] influence and lacking interest in clowns, Mr. Crocker is the ''exact same'' as Mr. Egbert]].
144	%% * Elliot is cast as one of these in a dream sequence in ''Webcomic/ElGoonishShive'': [[http://egscomics.com/?date=2004-08-09 "Sleepy Time: Elliot's Dream, Part I".]]
145	%%* The Christian householder [[http://cockeyed.cfw.me/comics/3/ here]]
146	* ''Webcomic/RedMeat'': [[http://www.redmeat.com/max-cannon/MeatLocker?topic=2131683 Ted Johnson]] looks like one of these, with this slicked hair and pipe, but is yet another subversion. He's as much of a perverse CloudCuckoolander as any other character in that strip.
147	[[/folder]]
148
149	[[folder:Web Original]]
150	%% * WebAnimation/{{asdfmovie}}: The dad of the I Like Trains Kid.
151	* In the [[MassiveMultiplayerCrossover multifandom]] [[JournalRoleplay journal roleplaying game]] ''Roleplay/{{Mayfield}}'', characters are assigned into families, and if no character takes the role of "father" they get a spooky version of these instead. There's also an NPC named "John Smith" who behaves like one of these, except that [[DomesticAbuse it's implied he's abusing his wife]].
152	* The father in [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SfUkQy8lz6Q this]] YouTubePoop is TheFifties incarnate, despite what his mangled lines suggest.
153	* Pop from ''WebAnimation/HappyTreeFriends'' is a subversion: he has the general look and personality of this, though his wife is nowhere to be seen and implied to be dead. What keeps him from being a true example, however, is a bad case of ParentalObliviousness that keeps getting his son killed.
154	[[/folder]]
155
156	[[folder:Western Animation]]
157	* PlayedForLaughs in ''WesternAnimation/ThreeBelow''. The ship (known as "Mother") disguises itself as a standard house in the neighborhood, and creates artificial parents for Aja and Krel to blend in. However, the ship's computer database is sixty years out of date, so everything looks like the 50s, including the Leave-it-to-Beaveresque parents it creates for them. HilarityEnsues.
158	* [[BigBad Father]] from ''WesternAnimation/CodenameKidsNextDoor'' looks like a living silhouette of one. He's got the hairstyle, carries around a pipe... but he ''definitely'' is [[AbusiveParents not a good father]], or even a good person.
159	* During one episode of ''WesternAnimation/RenAndStimpy'', Ren and Stimpy pretend to be babies for a while. The father featured in this episode, Mr. Pipe, was a Mister Cleaver variety, and appeared in a few other episodes, too. He's the slightly [[{{Gasshole}} flatulent]] guy [[TheFaceless depicted by two black-sock-and-garter-clad legs and a meerschaum-style pipe hanging down onscreen]].
160	** Sometimes, Ren himself would also take on this trope, wearing glasses, a red robe, and slippers, smoking a pipe and reading a newspaper countless times. Stimpy, his partner, would also treat him as a HouseWife would her husband. This is most apparent when he gets a son in the episode "Fake Dad".
161	* Clay Puppington from ''WesternAnimation/MoralOrel'' is a {{deconstruction}} of this trope. While he certainly ''acts'' like an upstanding, mentoring father, it [[BitchInSheepsClothing quickly becomes apparent]] that this demeanor hides his true personality: a [[TheResenter bitter]], cynical, washed-up [[TheAlcoholic drunkard]] who hates his wife and son with a passion and craves attention above all else. It's best shown in "[[WhamEpisode Nature]]", where he becomes drunk in front of Orel and goes on an [[MotiveRant unhinged rant]] about having "no one to be", forced into the role of this trope as a result of Moralton's deeply pious culture.
162	%% * John Hansen from ''WesternAnimation/DaveyAndGoliath'', the show which ''WesternAnimation/MoralOrel'' is a parody of, definitely counts.
163	%% * Dexter's dad from ''WesternAnimation/DextersLaboratory'' walks a fine line between this and the BumblingDad.
164	%% * Dad from ''WesternAnimation/CowAndChicken''.
165	* Professor Utonium from ''WesternAnimation/ThePowerpuffGirls1998'' is sort of like a scientific variant of this. He carries a pipe and is a good guy in general.
166	%% * Katie's father in the Katie Ka-Boom shorts from ''WesternAnimation/{{Animaniacs}}''.
167	%% * ''WesternAnimation/TheVentureBrothers'' has Professor Richard Impossible, a Standard '50s Husband combined with the [[ForScience worst traits]] of [[ComicBook/FantasticFour Reed Richards]].
168	* ''WesternAnimation/KingOfTheHill'': Hank Hill fits this archetype in many ways. Could be seen as a {{Deconstruction}}, as this personality type is portrayed more as an eccentric quirk, than as normal, and is constantly clashing with the fact that the world he lives in is ''not'' like a 50s sitcom. Sometimes crosses over with TheComicallySerious.
169	* The limbless husband and patriarch Bob Oblong from ''WesternAnimation/TheOblongs'' may be the eponymous example of the 1950s TV show father. He treats his wife like royalty, uses child-friendly [[GoshDangItToHeck minced oaths]], and is very chipper and upbeat despite his deformities and family's position as lower-class citizens living near a chemical spill.
170	* WesternAnimation/{{Goofy}} in the [[WesternAnimation/ClassicDisneyShorts Disney cartoons]], where he plays a [[BumblingDad bumbling suburban father]] named George Geef.
171	* Marceline's dad on ''WesternAnimation/AdventureTime'' is a rather amusing subversion. He is very like this in terms of voice and [[AffablyEvil personality]]....and he's also the [[YourSoulIsMine soul-stealing]] [[DemonLordsAndArchdevils demon lord]] of [[{{Hell}} the Nightosphere]].
172	%% * Timmy Turner's dad on ''WesternAnimation/TheFairlyOddParents'' before he was [[{{Flanderization}} Flanderized]].
173	* Carrot Cake from ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'' exhibits a few traits. He's well-dressed, wearing his baker's outfit with a matching tie even when he's not working and he's firmly devoted to his wife and twin children. It's even implied that he was a PanickyExpectantFather on the day the twins were born.
174	%% * Played for all the horror possible in ''WesternAnimation/BatmanBeyondReturnOfTheJoker'', where the Joker sets himself up as a mockery of one (complete with pipe) to herald... [[WouldHurtAChild Well...]]
175	%% * Bob from ''WesternAnimation/BobsBurgers'' is a modernized take on this trope. While he does have his moments, he usually serves as the voice of reason among his more eccentric wife and three kids.
176	* ''WesternAnimation/BojackHorseman'':
177	** Deconstructed with Bojack's father, Butterscotch, who admonishes his son for having an ImaginaryFriend because they were "invented by [[RedScare Communists]] to rip off welfare". We eventually learn in flashbacks that he took up this exaggerated version of the persona purely out of spite after he failed to make it as a Beat writer and married into money.
178	** Bojack's maternal grandfather Joseph Sugarman is an even bigger deconstruction. He's shown in flashbacks to be an extremely strict husband and father who disregards his family's feelings and pushes them to fulfill their expected societal roles, to the point that he [[spoiler:got his wife Honey a lobotomy because he was woefully unprepared to [[RealMenHateAffection handle her grief]] over their son's death in UsefulNotes/WorldWarII, and then threatened his daughter Beatrice (Bojack's mother) with one of her own if she didn't keep her emotions in check]].
179	%% * King roland from ''WesternAnimation/SofiaTheFirst'' could be considered as one, the only reason he doesn't smoke is due to the target audience.
180	%% * Mike from ''WesternAnimation/WinxClub'' is a rare western example of the previously mentioned How to Draw Manga books, as he ended being, unknowingly, the foster father of a fairy.
181	%% * Tom Dupain from ''WesternAnimation/MiraculousLadybug'' is another example from such book.
182	* Hugh Neutron from ''WesternAnimation/TheAdventuresOfJimmyNeutronBoyGenius'' alternates between this and BumblingDad. He tries to play the part of the wise, all-knowing father figure to Jimmy, but he doesn't understand Jimmy's scientific pursuits and frequently embarrasses his on.
183	* Bandit Heeler of ''WesternAnimation/{{Bluey}}'' is a {{Reconstruction}} of this trope for UsefulNotes/TheNewTens. He's a sensible, hard-working, hard-playing guy who always makes time for his kids and who loves and is loved by his family. He's not perfect, but he's far from the typical BumblingDad.
184	* ''WesternAnimation/WorkItOutWombats'': Fergus Fishman appears to be a modern reconstruction of this archetype. He is a caring, responsible father who dotes on his children and will do anything to make his family happy.
185	* ''WesternAnimation/BoysNightOut'': {{Subverted}}. While Linberg’s stepfather fits the archetype at first glance with his voice and design, he turns out to not be a very good role model for his stepson due to taking him to a strip club and allowing him to drink alcohol.
186	[[/folder]]
187
188	%%[[folder:Other]]
189	%% * J. R. "Bob" Dobbs, icon of the Church of the [=SubGenius=], is a parody of this type.
190	%%[[/folder]]

Context Main / Standard50sFather