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Readers see their own fathers personified in small-screen characters
Readers see their own fathers personified in small-screen characters
http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/trib...living/family/ s_512839.html http://tinyurl.com/2w7oe3 By William Loeffler TRIBUNE-REVIEW Sunday, June 17, 2007 Television dads Ward Cleaver, Cliff Huxtable and Mike Brady don't simply live on in re-runs. Many readers see their characters reflected in the love and wisdom of their own fathers. For our TV Dads We Love contest, we asked readers to tell us which television dad best exemplified their real-life father. Nearly every dad who ever graced the cover of TV Guide was represented, from Ray Romano to Cliff Huxtable to, er, Herman Munster. Abby Yurga, 7, of New Kensington, wrote that her 6-foot, 6-inch dad resembled the Munsters patriarch, minus the green skin. "My dad is really tall and looks a little scary," Abby wrote of her dad, Rob. "But he's really cool and funny." Maureen Stefancin, of Hempfield, says Archie Bunker, the cantankerous dad from "All in the Family," took the words out of her own dad's mouth. "My sister married a hippie," says Stefancin, 52. "My dad always called him Meathead." She says her father, Melvin Baird, now 78, coined the nickname years before Archie, Edith, daughter Gloria and her husband, Mike, made their television debut. Baird also wasn't shy about sharing his opinions and had his own chair that was off limits to everyone else. "It's so comical that when we used to watch Archie, our life was playing out," Stefancin says. "We thought, 'Oh my God, how do these writers know what our life was like?'" Long before Tim Allen first hit his thumb with the hammer on "Home Improvement," Jennifer Potocnak's father, Jim, was an accident waiting to happen. According to his daughter, Jim Potocnak fell off the roof of their New Kensington home twice. The second time, he stepped on a nail that was sticking out of a board, which necessitated a trip to the emergency room. He also put a hole in his thumb while installing a new spring on their garage door. "These are not made-up stories," she says. But, she adds, "My dad is just a great guy. He's just a really great dad." Television dads have not exactly matured. The '50s gave us unflappable sages like Ward Cleaver in "Leave it to Beaver" and Jim Anderson in "Father Knows Best." The '70s gave us hip dads with perms and bell- bottoms. Think Mike Brady in "The Brady Bunch" and Tom Corbett, played by Bill Bixby, in "The Courtship of Eddie's Father." By the '90s, dads had regressed into buffoons like Al Bundy in "Married With Children" and Ray Romano in "Everybody Loves Raymond." And, of course, Homer Simpson. "Now we've moved to more of a parody of a dad," says Robert Thompson, professor of media and culture at Syracuse University. "The parents would probably be better off being fathered by the children rather than vice versa. Certainly Lisa Simpson would be a better parent than Homer." Rick DeMoss, 55, of Lower Burrell, says his late father, Art, resembled Jim Anderson, played by Robert Young, in "Father Knows Best." "He had a sense of humor, but he ruled the house," DeMoss says. "He told you to do something, and he expected it to be done. If it wasn't done, there would be consequences." He tries to apply the same old-fashioned values when raising his children. Johanna Satariano, of Brighton Heights, says her dad was like none of the TV dads. "None of them would have had the nerve to don a silly hat and been the first one on the dance floor, possessing no rhythm whatsoever," she says. She gave her daughter her father's middle name. James Schuztman was a civil engineer. His granddaughter, Angela James Bowman, lives in Richmond. More than a few entrants said their fathers possessed the qualities of Cliff Huxtable, the mischievous Dr. Dad played by Bill Cosby on "The Cosby Show." Nancy Semoni, of New Kensington, remembers when her father pulled a prank on her and her sister when they were in elementary school -- something that would have made Cliff Huxtable proud. "He told us we couldn't have our cake until we ate our lunch," says Semoni, now 56. "When we went to get the cake, we realized it was a real sponge. We tried to put the fork in it, and it wouldn't go. ... And we said, 'Oh, Dad!' Then he started laughing and we started laughing and he gave us our real cake." But her father, Bud Kearney, was more than a practical joker, she says. "My dad always listened to us. He always told us we could be anything we wanted to be, no matter what. I always had a speech problem and he said 'Don't let that hold you back.' " Every Father's Day, Linda Balog, of North Huntingdon, places a balloon and flowers on the grave of her father, George Bobbin. "I've done it for as long as he's been gone," she says. "I still miss him. He was my very best friend." She says he exemplified the self-sacrifice and patience of Charles Ingalls, played by Michael Landon, on "Little House on the Prairie." When she was a little girl, she brought home a wounded puppy that her father helped nurse back to health. The dog, Candy, became the family pet for 16 years. When she was 6, she began accompanying her dad on his travels as a long-haul truck driver. "We went all over the United States, and I slept in the bed of the truck with him," she says. "That was my vacation. ... We went to Florida. We went to California. We went to Canada." -- Life imitates art Mazie Bradley, 7, of Rostraver Father: Ed Bradley TV dad most like her dad: Andy Griffith "He's caring. He's there when I need him. He lets me make my own mistakes to learn," she says. -- Chuck Weber, Ross Father: Anthony Weber TV dad most like his dad: Fred Flintstone (He's) "a cranky loudmouth." -- Geoff McBride, 45, Greensburg Father: Eddie McBride TV dad most like his dad: Tom Corbett, played by Bill Bixby, on "The Courtship of Eddie's Father" "I couldn't wait to get home from school and watch that show, because it reminded me of my dad. He died when I was 8. But we loved spending time together, just like Eddie and his dad. I wish it was still on one of these TV Land channels." -- Janet Pruszynski, 46, of Shaler Father: Tom DeCesare TV dad most like her dad: Cliff Huxtable, played by Bill Cosby, on "The Cosby Show." When Janet and her sister were growing up, their father surprised them by stashing money in the ceiling fan, something in keeping with Cosby's TV character. "After eating our grilled-cheese sandwiches, my dad was complaining how hot it was and asked my sister to turn on our ceiling fan. ... All of a sudden, money started falling as if from the sky." -- William Loeffler can be reached at (412) 320-7986. |
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Readers see their own fathers personified in small-screen characters
I think my dad was like the Sanford & Son dude, mostly.
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Readers see their own fathers personified in small-screen characters
On Jun 18, 5:54 pm, Lisa Drake wrote:
I think my dad was like the Sanford & Son dude, mostly. God bless Redd Foxx's smutty soul! I grew up in a neighborhood that bordered Watts when Sanford and Son was on the air. I wished that Fred Sanford was my dad. If he was, I could steal Grady's beer in a paper bag. I could see all of those naked girls in pictures that Bubba was always talking about. If I got caught, Fred would fake a heart attack and I would feel bad. There would be one drawback, Aunt Ester, I would have to watch what I said and did around her. Why can't there be another show like Sanford and Son? I guess it would be wrong in a politically correct sort of way today, but god I miss that show! G.L-Yeah, that's right! |
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