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.
- 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.
- Shrinking
Aired: 2023- (Apple TV)
DAD: Jimmy (Jason Segel) / Widowed
DAD’S JOB: Therapist
KIDS: Alice (Lukita Maxwell)(15) Daughter
WHERE’S MOM?: Died – may be Jimmy’s fault
STAND-IN “MOM”: Paul (Harrison Ford) / Jimmy’s boss, probaby Alice’s grandfather
This show is on rails for being the typical TV Single Dad show: it’s got the grieving dad (“after what happened to your mother!”), the angry teenaged daughter who can’t talk to her dad (“after what happened to Mom!”), the understanding (yet as yet unacknowledged) Grandfather who has a close relationship with the daughter, and all the predictable possibilities that come prepackaged with a premise like this.
- 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.