Lost

Jim 2000s

Aired: 2003-2023 Cartoon Network LOST

DAD: Michael(Harrold Perrineau)/Divorced

DAD’S JOB: Survivor

KIDS: Walt (Malcolm David Kelley)(9)

WHERE’S MOM?: Dead

STAND-IN “MOM”: Possibly Vincent (Walt’s golden retriever), Sun (Yoon-jin Kim), Jin-Soo (Daniel Dae Kim), or Locke (Terry O’Quinn)

A great example of a TV Single Dad who wasn’t apparent from the network ads: Dad Michael is stuck on the Isla de la Muerta with his son Walt and 40 other survivors of a plane crash.

Alert Viewer Danielle takes up the story:

I’ve checked the rules, and I think Michael Dawson (played by Harold Perrineau Jr.) on ABC’s LOST qualifies as a TV Single Dad. He’s been in sole custody of his son Walt (played by Malcom David Kelley) since the first episode of the show. Walt’s mom died (shown in a flashback episode), but she and Michael were divorced long before that happened; Walt’s stepfather gave him over to Michael. He’s the active parental figure, sort of the sole provider, definitely the real father, and it doesn’t look likely that he’s going to be getting married any time soon (they’re stuck on an island. I don’t think they brought a priest).

The only place I see some room for doubt is in the head of the household– Michael’s the head of the family unit, but the ‘household’ is about 40 people stuck on a deserted island in the Pacific. Michael isn’t the main provider for either himself or Walt, but considering the circumstances, I think he dodges the Grandpa Munster Mortgage Act…