The 2010’s

Next, the Hall of Fame Shows:

• Sons of Tucson

  Aired: 2010-2011 (FOX)

  DAD: Ron Snuffkin (Tyler Labine) / Single

  DAD’S JOB: Sporting Goods Clerk

  KIDS: Brandon (Troy Gentile) (13), Gary (Frank Dolce)(11), and Robby Gunderson (Davis Cleveland)(8)

  WHERE’S MOM?: Mom’s dead. Real Dad is in jail.

  STAND-IN “MOM”: Ron Snuffkin – hired by the boys to be the parent.

  This is a return to the Fr. Murphy style of “Dad for Hire” plots of the 70’s. Imagine a Malcolm in the Middle-type cast of boys without parents, who concoct a scheme to avoid foster care. They hire store clerk Ron Snuffkin, using their bio dad’s ill-gotten assets to pay Ron to pose as their dad while their REAL dad is serving 25 years in prison.

  If this were a movie, Ron would be played by Jack Black. On a television budget, though, we had to settle for the quite adequate talents of Mr. Tyler Labine.

  Show was funny, but the ratings weren’t there. I’d blame poor promotion and a bouncing schedule. Never really had a chance, so it was gone after six episodes.

  Here was the Fox publicity machine’s take on the show:

  SONS OF TUCSON is a family comedy about three brothers who hire a charming, wayward schemer to stand in as their father when their real one goes to prison. What begins as a business relationship evolves into something more complex and compelling: a family unlike any we’ve ever seen. The three brothers find their dad-for-hire, RON SNUFFKIN (Tyler Labine, “Reaper”), at the local sporting good store. Ron will be forced to draw on a wide array of skills and a vast bag of tricks as he steps into the patriarch role to take care of the boys of the Gunderson family. ROBBY GUNDERSON (Davis Cleveland, “How I Met Your Mother”), 8, is a loose cannon who doesn’t respond well to authority; GARY GUNDERSON (Frank Dolce, “Doubt”), 11, is a bright and street-savvy leader who is every bit the con man his father is; and BRANDON GUNDERSON (Troy Gentile, “Entourage”), 13, is a gentle free spirit who simply goes along for the ride. MAGGIE MORALES (Natalie Martinez, “Saints & Sinners”), Robby’s second-grade teacher and the object of Ron’s affection, might just be the only stable figure in the lives of this quirky quartet. While SONS OF TUCSON is grounded in the day-to-day challenges of a single-parent home, nothing in the Gunderson household is quite what it seems. An ongoing chess match between Ron and the boys will keep both parties on their toes, as neither side can afford to give up too much power or independence.

• Louie

  Aired: 2010-2015 (FX)

  DAD: Louis (Louis CK) / Divorced

  DAD’S JOB: Stand-up comedian

  KIDS:  Lilly(Hadley Delany) 10, Jane(Ursula Parker) 7

  WHERE’S MOM?: Ex-wife Janet (Susan Kelechi Watson), lives nearby

  STAND-IN “MOM”: N/A

  Originally supposed to premiere in April of 2010, the FX Network decided to hold off until summer with an entire season’s worth of shows.

  Yet another “let’s give a comedian a show” series. I hoped it would rise above the boilerplate, and it did. Louie is perhaps one of the better TV Dads in television history, passing along subtle nuggets to his children for them to be kind, not greedy, honest, and not cynical.

  With Mom nearby, this show may flunk the Mindy McConnell Occupancy Rule. It’s not clear how the custody arrangement works, so this show remains in the “Maybe” pile.

• Blue Bloods

  Aired: 2010- (CBS)

  DAD #1: Frank Reagan (Tom Selleck) / Unknown

  DAD’S JOB: Current NYC Chief of Police

  KIDS: Danny (Donnie Wahlberg), Erin (Bridget Moynahan), Jamie (Will Estes)

  WHERE’S MOM #1?: Unknown

  DAD #2: Henry Reagan (Len Cariou) / Unknown

  DAD #2’S JOB: Former NYC Chief of Police

  KIDS: Frank (Tom Selleck)

  WHERE’S MOM #2?: Unknown

  STAND-IN “MOM”: Erin (Bridget Moynahan), Only Daughter

  Bring every New York City cop cliché you can think of to the next writers’ meeting for this show – it’s breaking no ground, and you can probably write the first four weeks of shows in your head.

  Frank Reagan is the Chief of Police, and he’s from a cop family, and so of course his sons are NYC cops too. And his put-upon but tough-as-nails daughter Erin (Erin – really? Is her middle name B’gorrah?) is an Assistant District Attorney. It’s not enough that Frank is the Chief of Police – – his own dad, Henry, is the former Chief of Police. And of course there’s going to be a lot of charges of corruption from Henry’s days as Chief, and of course Erin is going to have to be part of the investigation.

  Every year, CBS builds a showboat series, loads it up with the biggest cast names it can find, and launches it into the abyss of low ratings. This series managed to beat the odds, making it all the way into the 2020s.

• $#*! My Dad Says

  Aired: 2010 (CBS)

  DAD: Ed Goodson (William Shatner) / Widower, maybe

  DAD’S JOB: Doctor

  KIDS: Henry Bennett (Ryan Devlin), Vince Bennett (Will Sasso)

  WHERE’S MOM?: Dead, maybe

  STAND-IN “MOM”: Kathleen Bennett (Nicole Sullivan), Daughter-in-Law

  The CBS advertising department must be having late-night sessions trying to come up with a style guide for discussing this show. I’ve heard the title as everything from “Bleep My Dad Says” to “Stuff My Dad Says” to the thing you can’t say on television My Dad Says.

  Having seen the preview, Shatner’s character is awfully reminiscent of Stacy Keach’s Ken Titus character of a decade ago. The writing seemed sturdy enough, but I don’t know how far they thought they could grow the series with only one strong character.

  No explanation yet as to why sons Henry and Vince Bennett have a different last name than Dad Goodson.

  Of course, this show is based on the Twitter feed by Justin Halpern of nearly the same name.

• Raising Hope

  Aired: 2010-2014 (FOX)

  DAD: Jimmy Chance (Lucas Neff) / Single

  DAD’S JOB: Lawn care business

  KIDS: Hope (infant)

  WHERE’S MOM?: Death Row

  STAND-IN “MOM”: Maw-Maw (Cloris Leachman) Grandmother

  Jimmy Chance is a complete screw-up, but he’s trying to raise his infant daughter, Hope, with the help of his family. It’s certainly a funny show, considering that the writer is Greg Garica – the creator of My Name is Earl.

• Falling Skies

  Aired: 2011-2015 (TNT)

  DAD: Tom Mason (Noah Wylie) / Widower

  DAD’S JOB: Former Boston U. history professor, now co-leader of the 2nd Massachusetts Militia

  KIDS: Ben (18)(missing), Hal (Drew Roy)(16), Matt (Maxim Knight)(7)

  WHERE’S MOM?: Killed by aliens

  STAND-IN “MOM”: Anne Glass (Moon Bloodgood) The Last Pediatrician on Earth

  TNT somehow managed to revamp Independence Day into a TV series, set the show outside of Boston, replace Wil Smith with Noah Wylie, and still were able to make it all fascinating.

  Professor Tom Mason’s knowledge of American Revolutionary War tactics helps to fend off the continuing onslaught of the giant cricket-shaped alien creatures scrabbling all over Middlesex County. Tom’s eldest son, Ben, may be a prisoner of the aliens, and Tom spends most of his days searching for his lost child (when he’s not busy ducking the space monster Death Beams).

  The show has touches of V, Jericho, The Rifleman, and The Guns of Will Sonnett. Surprisingly good writing and an excellent cast gave this series a chance at a multi-year run. Hopefully the 2nd Massachusetts will be able to retake Watertown Square someday.

  A tip of the Sebastian Cabot Memorial Bowler to Friend of the Site Jordan Rich, who spotted this series early on. Many thanks, Jordan!

• Game of Thrones

  Aired: 2011-2019 (HBO)

  DAD: Lord Tywin Lannister (Charles Dance) / Widower

  DAD’S JOB: Lord of Casterly Rock and Hand of the King

  KIDS: Jaime, Cersei and Tyrion.

  WHERE’S MOM?: Died giving birth to Tyrion

  STAND-IN “MOM”: None

  George R. R. Martin’s swords-and-dragons epic quickly became one of the most popular series HBO ever produced. The sprawling series linked the stories of almost twenty regular characters, so of course there would be at least one TV Single Dad in the mix.

  Lord Tywin Lannister may possibly earn the prize of spawning the most miserable collection of evil offspring in the history of television. Incestuous Jaime and treacherous Cersei are the secret parents of Lord Tywin’s nasty grandson, King Joffrey. Dimunitive Tyrion tries to avoid direct physical confrontation, but isn’t above laying waste to whole armies with medieval versions of napalm. Tywin himself is quite a mean piece of work, having been party to assassinating dozens of perceived enemies of the House of Lannister. Bloodbaths every episode, but raucous family interactions at the same time.

• Suburgatory

  Aired: 2011-2014 (ABC)

  DAD: George Altman (Jeremy Sisto) / Divorced

  DAD’S JOB: Architect

  KIDS: Tessa (Jane Levy) (15)

  WHERE’S MOM?: “Pulled a Kramer vs. Kramer before Tessa was potty trained.”

  STAND-IN “MOM”: Dallas Royce (Cheryl Hines) Next-door neighbor

  Alert Viewers will recognize the tell-tale signs of TV Single Dad Plot Formula #1: “Dad, mourning the loss of recently departed Mom, tosses the kid(s) in a pickup truck /airplane / boat and moves to a completely different locale, usually with an exotic climate.” This time around, Dad and Daughter are city folks, and the exotic land is Suburbia. Think Who’s The Boss?, only no Judith Light family.

  I know ABC/Disney has a robust publicity staff, but do they have to use a 1978 cultural reference such as “Kramer vs. Kramer” to explain the series?

  ABC describes the situation thus: “Single father George only wants the best for his sixteen-year-old daughter Tessa. So when he finds a box of condoms on her nightstand, he moves them out of their apartment in New York City to a house in the suburbs. But all Tessa sees is the horror of over-manicured lawns and plastic Franken-moms. Being in the ‘burbs can be hell, but it also may just bring Tessa and George closer than they’ve ever been.”

  “Tessa (Jane Levy) and George (Jeremy Sisto) have been on their own ever since Tessa’s Mom pulled a Kramer vs. Kramer before Tessa was potty trained. So far, George has done a pretty good job of raising Tessa without a maternal figure in their lives, but suddenly he’s feeling a little out of his league. So it’s goodbye New York City and hello suburbs. At first Tessa is horrified by the big-haired, fake-boobed mothers and their sugar-free Red Bull-chugging kids, but little by little, she and her dad begin finding a way to survive on the clean streets of the ‘burbs. Sure, the neighbors might smother you with love while their kids stare daggers at your back, but underneath all that plastic and caffeine they’re really not half bad. “

• Secret Circle

  Aired: 2011-2012 (The CW)

  DAD: Charles Meade (Gale Harold) / Single?

  DAD’S JOB: Warlock

  KIDS: Diana Meade (Shelly Hennig) (15)

  WHERE’S MOM?: Dead

  STAND-IN “MOM”: Grandma Jane (Ashley Crow)

  Do you really need anything more than “It’s TWILIGHT, except it’s with witches instead of vampires” as an explanation?

  In the pilot episode, Diana moves in with her grandma, Jane, but then winds up living with her dad later on.

  The CW press release goes like this: “Cassie Blake was a happy, normal teenage girl – until her mother Amelia dies in what appears to be a tragic accidental fire. Orphaned and deeply saddened, Cassie moves in with her warm and loving grandmother Jane in the beautiful small town of Chance Harbor, Washington – the town her mother left so many years before – where the residents seem to know more about Cassie than she does about herself. As Cassie gets to know her high school classmates, including sweet-natured Diana and her handsome boyfriend Adam, brooding loner Nick, mean-girl Faye and her sidekick Melissa, strange and frightening things begin to happen. When her new friends explain that they are all descended from powerful witches, and they’ve been waiting for Cassie to join them and complete a new generation of the Secret Circle, Cassie refuses to believe them – until Adam shows her how to unlock her incredible magical powers. But it’s not until Cassie discovers a message from her mother in an old leather-bound book of spells hidden in her mother’s childhood bedroom, that she understands her true and dangerous destiny. What Cassie and the others don’t yet know is that darker powers are at play, powers that might be linked to the adults in the town, including Diana’s father and Faye’s mother – and that Cassie’s mother’s death might not have been an accident.”

• Allen Gregory

  Aired: 2011 (FOX)

  DAD: Richard Gregory (French Stewart) / in a relationship

  DAD’S JOB: Unknown

  KIDS: Allen Gregory (Jonah Hill) (7) Julie (Joy Osmanski) adopted sister (5)

  WHERE’S MOM?:Unknown

  STAND-IN “MOM”: Jeremy (Nat Faxon) Richard’s life partner

  Somewhere at a pitch meeting at FOX Television, a network bigwig named Peter Chermin leaned forward and said, “Hey – why don’t we make a Family Guy spinoff with Stewie? Wouldn’t that be an absolute riot?” It was almost a great idea, until someone pointed out they’d have to pay Seth MacFarlane even *more* royalty money. So, they went with Plan B: Chemin would act as Executive Producer, and they’d use a similar idea from a pitch session with actor Jonah Hill as the new Stewie character. Stewie became “Allen Gregory,” the erudite, precocious 7-year-old son of a gay TV Single Dad who is forced to attend (gasp!) public school. So the series premiered, and then folded up shop in just one season. Bye, Allen Gregory!

  This is how FOX promoted the series: ALLEN GREGORY is a new animated comedy series that tells the story of one of the most pretentious 7-year-olds of our time. When he looks in the mirror, ALLEN GREGORY DE LONGPRE (Jonah Hill, “Superbad,” “Get Him to the Greek”) doesn’t see a child. He sees a young man who is intelligent, sophisticated, worldly, artistic and romantic – characteristics he inherited from his doting father, RICHARD (French Stewart, “Private Practice,” “3rd Rock from the Sun”). The pair share an extraordinary father-son bond – a bond that is sometimes annoyingly interrupted by Richard’s life partner, JEREMY (Nat Faxon, THE CLEVELAND SHOW, “Reno 911!”), for whom Allen Gregory has minimal respect, if any at all. They live together in a stunning architectural loft, along with JULIE (Joy Osmanski, “Grey’s Anatomy”), Allen Gregory’s adopted Cambodian sister.

  Although Allen Gregory has allegedly composed operas, written novels and dated Chloe Sevigny, he’s about to embark on his greatest challenge yet: leaving the safety of his father’s homeschooling and attending elementary school with children his own age. His journey will be a struggle, not only with the other kids at school, but with the faculty as well. Whether it’s the all-out rivalry with GINA WINTHROP (guest voice Leslie Mann, “Funny People”), his by-the-book second grade teacher; his unique relationship with JUDITH GOTTLIEB (guest voice Renée Taylor, “How I Met Your Mother”), his 68-year-old principal; or his desperate desire to be best friends with JOEL ZADAK (guest voice Jake Johnson, “Get Him to the Greek”), the school’s popular stud, Allen Gregory has his work cut out for him. With the help of his trusty friend and assistant, PATRICK VANDERWEEL (Cristina Pucelli, “Finley the Fire Engine”); and the support of SUPERINTENDENT STEWART ROSSMYRE (Will Forte, “Saturday Night Live”), who believes the De Longpres are a tremendous asset to the school, Allen Gregory won’t have to get his hands too dirty. ALLEN GREGORY is about an outsider. And while he may put on a tough exterior, deep down, all Allen Gregory wants is to fit in. Well, that, and for Julie to run away and never be seen or heard from again. And Jeremy too.

• Touch

  Aired: 2012-2013 (FOX)

  DAD: Martin Bohm (Kiefer Sutherland) / Widower

  DAD’S JOB: former news reporter

  KIDS: Jake (David Mazouz) (11)

  WHERE’S MOM?: Died in the WTC on 9/11

  STAND-IN “MOM”: Clea Hopkins (Gugu Mbatha-Raw), social worker

  Stories with plots centered around mysterious number sequences seem to keep popping up on TV Single Dad series. Numb3rs and LOST are two that come to mind. Here’s a third series.

  Martin Bohm (Kiefer Sutherland) is a widower with a mute, autistic son, Jake. Mr. Bohm lost his wife during the attack on the World Trade Center, and since then has struggled with maintaining a home for his son. Jake is obsessed with a string of numbers, and writes them everywhere. The numbers intrigue a college professor (played by Danny Glover) who says that the numbers have special meaning about the ultimate nature of the Universe. Quirky, scary things happen, Danny Glover’s character gets killed off, and Kiefer has to simultaneously track down and avoid all the myriad folks who have developed a sudden interest in his son’s supernatural insights. Creepy, kooky, mysterious, and spooky. Not altogether ooky, though.

• The Goodwyn Games

  Aired: 2013 (FOX)

  DAD: Bejamin Goodwin (Beau Bridges) / Dead

  DAD’S JOB: Currently a corpse

  KIDS: Henry (Scott Foley) (30-ish), Chloe (Becki Newton) (20-ish), Jimmy (Jake Lacy)(20-ish)

  WHERE’S MOM?: Dead

  STAND-IN “MOM”: April (Melissa Tang), Dad’s attorney

  It’s as though the producers of “How I Met Your Mother” (who came up with this series) stopped by the website and asked, “How can we stretch the limits of the TV Single Dad show?” Their answer was to make Dad a dead guy, and have the adult children move back to the departed Pop’s mansion.

  The plot is simple enough: Rich dad Beau Bridges leaves a bunch of pre-recorded messages for his spoiled kids, offering the promise of a $20 million inheritence if the grown-up brats change their selfish ways.

  Dreadful ratings and bad reviews put Dad Goodwin back in his grave after just seven episodes. Sorry, Goodwins!

• Guys With Kids

  Aired: 2012-2013 (NBC)

  DAD: Chris (Jesse Bradford) / Single

  DAD’S JOB: Unknown

  KIDS: Unknown (baby)

  WHERE’S MOM?: Unknown

  STAND-IN “MOM”: Unknown

  Producer Jimmy Fallon seems to have found a screenplay tutorial program on his MacBook and accidentally pitched the template to NBC. Of course, the network promptly ordered up an entire season of shows.

  Truly a show on auto-pilot. I’d say this is the most horrendous, mortifying rehash of every “Mr. Mom” stereotype ever plopped onto a broadcast schedule. There are “Using the Baby to Pick up Hot Girls” jokes, there are “Babies that Smell Bad are Funny” gags, and there is the “Let’s Put Anthony Anderson in Another Sitcom and Maybe This Time it Won’t Get Canceled” cliche.

  Despite being co-produced by Fallon and Lorne Michaels, the series crawled to a cancellation in February. On the fortunate side, there were so few episodes it probably won’t show up anywhere but the back catalog of Netflix.

• The Crazy Ones

  Aired: 2013 (CBS)

  DAD: Simon Roberts (Robin Williams) / Divorced

  DAD’S JOB: Advertising Executive

  KIDS: Sydney (Sarah Michelle Gellar) (30s)

  WHERE’S MOM?: Divorced – away

  STAND-IN “MOM”: Unknown

  Imagine Don Draper played by Robin Williams. Now imagine a grown-up Sally Draper as played by Sarah Michelle Gellar. Make it a comedy version of Mad Men set in the present-day and you’ve got “The Crazy Ones.”

  Every few years, CBS tries putting a big name movie star into a TV Single Dad “revival” series. They attempted these maneuvers with Richard Dreyfuss, William Shatner, and Alfred Molina – – and now it was Robin Williams’s turn at bat. Hasn’t been a successful strategy for almost two decades, but the CBS people kept hoping. And failing. CBS shuttered the series after a season. Sadly, this would become Robin Williams’s final series.

• Sean Saves the World

  Aired: 2013-2014 (NBC)

  DAD: Sean Harrison(Sean Hayes) / Divorced

  DAD’S JOB: Corporate Underling

  KIDS: Ellie (Samantha Isler) (13)

  WHERE’S MOM?: Divorced – away

  STAND-IN “MOM”: Grandma (Linda Lavin)

  A by-the-book TV Single Dad show, except Dad isn’t fabulously wealthy. Rather, he’s a salaried assistant to a pompous boss, and trying to manage his time between his daughter and his obnoxious overlord. Yes, the scripts write themselves, but after six decades of these kinds of shows, it’s exactly what the audience is expecting.

  Eighteen episodes were ordered for the show, but the show was canceled with only fifteen produced episodes.

• Believe

  Aired: 2014 (NBC)

  DAD: Tate (Jake McLaughlin) / Unknown Marital Status

  DAD’S JOB: Caretaker

  KIDS: Bo (Johnny Sequoyah) 8

  WHERE’S MOM?: Unknown

  STAND-IN “MOM”: Grandma

  J.J. Abrams boils up another version of the Fox series “Touch,” except this time the kid is telekinetic and stuff. The guardian Tate is chosen by a group of “Believers” in Bo’s superpowers, so expect a lot of situations where Bo is getting kidnapped by government agents and the like. Didn’t last a dozen episodes before disappearing from the schedule. So much for super powers.

• Growing Up Fisher

  Aired: 2014 (NBC)

  DAD: Mel Fisher (J.K. Simmons) / Getting Divorced

  DAD’S JOB: Blind Guy

  KIDS: Henry (11)

  WHERE’S MOM?: Getting Divorced

  STAND-IN “MOM”: Joyce Fisher () Non-custodial mom

  Phew – – this rides the line. Initially called “Family Guide,” Mom and Dad are getting divorced, son wants to live with Dad because Dad’s blind and son Henry wants to keep being his father’s “eyes”. Parker Posey was originally cast to play Mom, but there was a last-minute substitution as the show went to series. Didn’t matter though – – the series died after ten episodes.

• Back in the Game

  Aired: 2013-2014 (ABC)

  DAD: Terry Gannon Sr. (James Caan) / Widower

  DAD’S JOB: Retired Baseball Player

  KIDS: Terry Gannon Jr. (Maggie Lawson)(30-ish single mom)

  WHERE’S MOM?: Dead

  STAND-IN “MOM”: unknown

  Single mom Terry Gannon Jr. (yes, she’s named after her father) moves in with Daddy because… something about not being able to coach Little League. Doesn’t matter – – it’s all a pretense to get baseball expert Grandpa to help out with raising the grandson and the kid’s Bad News Bears type team, and in the process help Junior get her confidence back. This would have made a good in-flight movie, but it didn’t make it to Christmas as a TV series.

• Seth MacFarland’s Dads

  Aired: 2013 (FOX)

  DAD #1: David (Peter Riegert) / Divorced

  DAD #1’s JOB: Unemployed

  KIDS #1: Eli(Seth Green)(30-ish)

  WHERE’S MOM #1?: Unknown

  DAD #2: Crawford (Martin Mull) / Divorced

  DAD #2’s JOB: Failed financial consultant

  KIDS #2: Warner(Giovanni Ribisi)(30-ish)

  WHERE’S MOM #2?: Unknown

  STAND-IN “MOM”: Veronica (Brenda Song) Admin Assistant to the sons

  Not to be confused with the NBC show of the same name from the late 70’s, this “Dads” show is the brainchild of Seth MacFarlane. Imagine the plot of The Odd Couple, except Oscar and Felix moved into the respective homes of their sons. This may possibly flunk the Grandpa Munster Test, it’s never quite clear about the financial relationships between the fathers and sons. Didn’t feel like it was going to last too long, and it didn’t – – off the air the following May.

• Gang Related

  Aired: 2014 (FOX)

  DAD: Javier Acosta (Cliff Curtis) / Guardian

  DAD’S JOB: Drug Kingpin of La Familia Sud

  KIDS: Ryan Lopez (Ramon Rodriguez) (20-something) Orphaned son-turned-cop

  WHERE’S MOM?: Dead. So is Dad.

  STAND-IN “MOM”: Unknown

  So the Los Angeles gang from Columbia has been raising orphan boy Ryan Lopez for decades in order that he could become an undercover drug enforcement cop on the LAPD. Sounds totally reasonable. Will Ryan be loyal to the gang and his adoptive kingpin Dad, or will he uphold the law? Yawn. Did anyone expect to see a second season of this show?

• Gotham

  Aired: 2014-2019 (FOX)

  DAD: Alfred Pennyworth (Sean Pertwee) / Bachelor

  DAD’S JOB: Stately Wayne Manor Butler

  KIDS: Bruce Wayne (David Mazouz) (10)

  WHERE’S MOM?: Murdered by thugs – so was Dad

  STAND-IN “MOM”: Detective Lt. Jim Gordon (Ben McKenzie)

  The prequel story for a famous TV Single Dad. I guess they couldn’t name this one “How I Met Your Robin.”

  This is before Batman, before all the villains, even before the Batcave. This is future Commissioner Gordon’s story, but I’m sure we’re going to have lots and lots of Bruce Wayne moments as the series unfolds. History teaches us that for every Smallville, there’s a Wonder Woman reboot. Hopefully, they’ll be able to maintain the quality writing of the first season. Good luck, Gotham City!

  In case you’re trying to place David Mazouz, he’s the hyper-intuitive kid from the old Fox TV Single Dad series Touch.

• Empire

  Aired: 2015-2020 (FOX)

  DAD: Lucious Lyon (Terrence Howard) / Divorced

  DAD’S JOB: Hip-Hop Producer

  KIDS: Andre Lyon (Trai Byers), Jamal (Jussie Smollett) and Hakeem (Bryshere Y. Gray) — all adults.

  WHERE’S MOM?: Divorced – just getting out of jail

  STAND-IN “MOM”: Cookie (Tarajl P. Henson) – ex-con Mom

  Quick summary: imagine Bonanza, except Ben Cartwright is a hip-hop record producer, and his sons are in the hip hop business as well. Lucious Lyon (Terrence Howard) is a hip hop mogul, former drug dealer, and CEO of Empire Entertainment. Informed of his own imminent early death from ALS, Lucious is forced to choose, from amongst his progeny, a successor who will control his dynasty after his demise. He begins working to groom one of his three sons to take over the family business – Empire CFO Andre (Trai Byers), R&B singer-songwriter Jamal (Jussie Smollett), and rapper Hakeem (Bryshere Y. Gray). In the process, Lucious pits them against each other. Lucious’ ex-wife Cookie Lyon (Taraji P. Henson) is released from prison after serving a 17-year sentence, and also pulls for control of both the company and of her sons.

• Single Parents

  Aired: 2018-2020 (ABC)

  DAD #1: Will Cooper (Taran Killam) / Single

  DAD’S JOB: unknown

  KIDS #1: Sophie (Marlow Barkley)(8)

  WHERE’S MOM #1?: Unknown

  STAND-IN “MOM #1”: The rest of the single parent group

  DAD #2: Douglas Fogerty (Brad Garrett) / Widower

  DAD #2’S JOB: Unknown

  KIDS #2: Emma and Amy Fogerty (8)(Mia and Ella Allan)

  WHERE’S MOM?: Mom’s dead.

  STAND-IN “MOM #2”: The rest of the single parent group

  DAD #3: Miggy Park (Jake Choi) / Single

  DAD #3’S JOB: Unknown

  KIDS #3: Jack (infant)

  WHERE’S MOM?: Unknown

  STAND-IN “MOM”: The rest of the single parent group

  I guess the focus groups found out that people like TV shows about single parents, so here we are. “It takes a village,” right?

  The series begins when the group meets Will, divorced man in his 30s who is so focused on raising his daughter that he has lost sight of who he is as a man. When the other single parents see just how invested Will has become with PTA meetings, parenting, and princesses, they band together to get him out in the dating world and make him realize that parenthood does not mean sacrificing everything about one’s own identity.