A Plague of New Shows
Apps, streaming services, miniseries - - everything becomes asynchronous and portable. Still, the TV Single Dad remains a reliable genre.
With housebound COVID plague avoiders looking for entertainment at the beginning of the decade, many struggling streaming shows got a new lease on production life, as viewers discovered new series in the backwaters of Amazon Prime and Netflix. The call for more episodes shows hope for the genre, as writers find more stories to tell with single dads.
First, the Questionable Show of the 2020s...
- Ted Lasso
Aired: 2020-2023 (Apple TV)
QUESTIONABLE DAD: Ted Lasso (Jason Sudekis) / Divorced
DAD’S JOB: Coach of English Premier League AFC Richmond
KIDS: Henry Lasso (Gus Turner)(10)
WHERE’S MOM?: Asked for divorce, went home to America
STAND-IN “MOM”: No need – mom has custody.
Ted Lasso is an American football coach who led his Wichita State Shockers football time to an NCAA Division II championship. He is hired to coach AFC Richmond, a pro soccer team in Surrey, UK.
He seems like he’d be a great dad, except his son lives in Kansas while he’s in England, so he flunks the Mindy McConnell Occupancy Act.
- Strange New Worlds
Aired: 2022- (Paramount Plus)
DAD: Dr. Joseph M’Benga (Babs Olusanmokan) / Unknown Marital Status
DAD’S JOB: Chief Medical Officer, USS Enterprise
KIDS: Rukiya (Lukita Maxwell)(10/17) Daughter
WHERE’S MOM?: “Debra” – unknown status
STAND-IN “MOM”: Nobody
Bringing back a legacy character from Star Trek TOS was a great idea, as viewers get more background to a “background” character, Dr. M’Benga.
Famous mostly for slapping the heck out of Mister Spock in the TOS days, Dr. M’Benga’s family life emerges a bit on the newer series. M’Benga has a daughter, Rukiya, who suffers from cygnokemia. M’Benga can’t cure her, so he stores her in a kind of stasis, using the Sickbay medical transporter buffer.
The Mike Brady Clock was activated for this character when a sentient non-corporeal lifeform living in a nebula cured Rukiya’s cygnokemia, but required her to also live a non-corporeal life. The Mindy McConnell Occupancy Act wound up in play, as the daughter stayed in the nebula, while Dad left to boldy go, etc.
- Wolf Like Me
Aired: 2022- Peacock
DAD: Gary (Josh Gad) / Widower
DAD’S JOB: Office job
KIDS: Emma (Ariel Donoghue) / 11
WHERE’S MOM?: Died of cancer, years ago.
STAND-IN “MOM”: Mary (Isla Fisher)/ Girlfriend
Great premise: Widower Gary meets Mary, a woman with a secret – – she turns into a werewolf every full Moon.
Unfortunately the producers decided to hurry things along and have them move in together and have another kid. Violates several TV Single Dad rules. Still a fun, quirky show worth watching.
Next, the Hall of Fame Shows:
- The Mandalorian
Aired: 2019- (Apple TV)
DAD: Din Djarin, The Mandalorian (Pedro Pascal) / Single
DAD’S JOB: Bounty Hunter
KIDS: Grogu (50), “The Child”
WHERE’S MOM?: A mystery
STAND-IN “MOM”: The Force? / Luke Skywalker
Although the title character gets his bounty of Grogu in the first season, he’s not charged with being The Child’s guardian until the end of Season 1, which is why this show is listed under the 2020s page.
An unfortunate plot turn at the end of Season 2 meant that a Mike Brady Clock started on Mando, as he began Season 3 without Grogu as a dependent. But, Season 3 brought Grogu back with his guardian Din Djarin, so it looks like they’ll have many TV Single Dad adventures together.
- Andor
Aired: 2023-2025 Disney+
DAD: Luthen Rael / Sgt. Lear (Stellan Skarsgård) Single
DAD’S JOB: Spymaster
KIDS: Kleya Marki (Elizabeth Dulau) / various ages
WHERE’S MOM?: Died in an Imperial siege
STAND-IN “MOM”: none
Similar origin story to the comic strip Dondi: Sgt Lear finds orphan Kleya hiding in an Imperial troopship, takes her home. Slight difference in that Lear changes his name to Luthen Rael, becomes a Rebel spymaster, and enlists Kleya in the rebellion. One of the few series in which (SPOILERS) the child winds up killing the TV Single Dad — the most notable other being Tyrion Lannister killing his dad in Game of Thrones.
- Goosebumps: The Vanishing
Aired: 2025 Disney+
DAD: Anthony Brewer (David Schwimmer)/ Divorced
DAD’S JOB: former botany professor
KIDS: Cece (Jayden Bartels), Devin (Sam McCarthy)/ various ages
WHERE’S MOM?: unknown
STAND-IN “MOM”: none
This horror-comedy anthology follows fraternal twins Cece and Devin adjusting to life in Brooklyn with their divorced dad, Anthony, a botanist and overprotective single father. As the kids investigate a 1994 mystery involving vanished teenagers, supernatural elements pull the family into danger, highlighting Anthony’s solo parenting struggles amid the chaos.