In the first couple of seasons of Happy Days, before he morphed into a sort of impotent bumbling bee-man, Tom Bosley played Howard Cunningham as a patient, long-suffering, somewhat wise father with a secret or two. In one episode in particular, after his high-school-aged son Richie had been fleeced at poker by a bunch of college boys, Howard went to their frat house and, sitting at the same card table as his son had done, calmly revealed himself as the card shark that he secretly was.

To which I say, Screw you, Ward Cleaver. *That’s* the pop culture dad that I want to be, somewhere between that and Atticus Finch.

And so I ask of you, fellow Offsprungians, who’s your parental archetype?

They just don't make 'em like me on TV. They either have children as props and aren't really parenty, or they are annoying and meddlesome.

Hmmm, I'd say it would be a ghoulash of Laura Petrie, Ann Romano, Jill Taylor and Lynette Scavo with just a dash of Roseanne and Peg Bundy for spice.

Which is not to say that I am like any of them, or even like the mom stew, just that those are the tv moms I relate most to.

So your question just encouraged me to look through my books and I realized that there are very few books with good mother characters (I was looking at F. Scott Fitzgerald, Jane Austen, Toni Morrison, Virginai Woolf, various Brontes, etc). The best I came up with was Marme from Little Women - I don't know that I'd want to emulate her though, her expectations were much higher than mine will ever be.

I agree with Sadie, there are few parents, mother or father, on tv that I want to be like. I watch a lot of I Love Lucy for some reason and if I neglected my baby the way she does they'd call the cops on me. And the parents who are actively parenting are goofy. I will embarrassingly admit to watching Gilmore Girls, but I wuldn't want to be that kind of a mom either. You just know Rory's going to be in therapy over that co-dependent relationship. (Not that my kids won't end up in therapy, just for different reasons.)

Alan Thicke on Growing Pains.

I didn't have that theme in mind when I thought of this, but it's true-waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay more dads than moms in pop culture, so way more for dads to choose from.

That said, I wouldn't mind being the kind of parent that Sally from the Sally Forth comic strip is, either.

Kate McArdle

Kate Tanner from Alf. Sort of snarky yet can't believe what I'm in the middle of every day.

Dammit, DGB, now I have the Growing Pains theme song in my head!

I think I'd most like to be like Cliff Huxtable with a little dash of Homer Simpson.

Lynne Scavo from Desperate Housewives all the way. I'd take Tom as a husband too.

Er I mean Lynette... sorry I haven't seen an episode since season finale, and my mind is fuzzy.

DGB - is that a beard thing? By the way Alan Thicke's son is a R&B singer.

I think I'm leaning towards Major Dad.

Minus the teenage pregnancy, the looks, and the wardrobe, I would say I am most like Lorelai Gilmore.

I think that I'd go with mostly Claire Huxtable with a good bit of Roseanne thrown in. I also really liked Kitty from That 70's Show.

Or Joy from My Name is Earl. Not because I want to be like her, but I love that show and she's hilarious and reminds of a very exaggerated version of people I know from back home.

My husband would tell you that I am Peg Bundy. Not true. I am Mama, from Mama's Family.

I wonder--would I even *want* to be a Huxtable dad?

I kind of think the Tanners on Roseanne did pretty well, too, all things considered. If you can't escape the preternaturally precocious children, at least the parents can participate in the wiseassery.

Which makes me think of dealing with children at my level of conversational bastardry. Which frightens me.

I wonder--would I even *want* to be a Huxtable dad?

I kind of think the Tanners on Roseanne did pretty well, too, all things considered. If you can't escape the preternaturally precocious children, at least the parents can participate in the wiseassery.

Which makes me think of dealing with children at my level of conversational bastardry. Which frightens me.

I only watch mysteries and historical miniseries stuff - PBS BBC and such. They all seem to be childless ( I wonder why?) but I'm going with Miss. Marple - if Miss. Marple had kids.

ummmm, Caroline Ingalls? I don't watch much TV anymore, so I don't know who most of the TV moms are!

I gotta go with Claire Huxtable.

CPF, Huxtable had a sense of humor, especially in the first couple of seasons, that I can relate to. I also loved that he emphasised a sense of history to the kids. And the jazz. Loved the all of the jazz. He can be a bit uptight though, the dash of Homer should help offset that though.

Although the more I think about it, I'd throw in a liberal amount of Steven Keaton too! Some Huxtable, a bit of Keaton, and just a dash of Simpson.

MNM - Caroline Ingalls is a perfect fit for you (at least from what I know of you on OS).

I'm surprised no one has mentioned our glorious leader - Alternadad. I mean, isn't that why we are all here in the first place? ;)

Brisco County Jr.

pbm - quite possibly mixed in with the mom from "Better Off Dead".

"and to drink, Peru." My MIL is totally the mom from Better off Dead.

I think I am most like the mom from the Zits comic strip (she's trained as a child psychologist but doesn't know what to do with her own kid...)