# Handsomest TV dad? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 19, 2018, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/handsomest-tv-dad/816381 "2018-06-19T15:08:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2018, 11:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/handsomest-tv-dad/816381/41 "2018-06-20T11:50:48Z")
How about Michael Landon on _Little House on the Prairie_? The show was so sticky-sweet, it could put a diabetic into a coma, and I’ll go on record of saying “not my favorite,” but regardless, Michael Landon was a good-looking man. Also, not first place, but definitely a runners-up, Ty Burrell as Phil Dunphy, and Benjamin Bratt as Rey Curtis. Granted, Curtis didn’t do a lot of on-screen parenting, but his being a father was an important part of his character development. A show I’ve never seen, but which I think has a handsome lead nonetheless, is _Castle_. Is he a father? I seem to remember reading that he is. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2018, 12:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/handsomest-tv-dad/816381/42 "2018-06-20T12:05:00Z")
> [@cmkeller](#): > > Mike Brady is my answer. > > (So many people mentioned Tom Selleck - was Magnum P. I. a father?) > [@Temporary\_Name](#): > > I believe _Magnum_ had a daughter (or perhaps a step daughter) with his French wife who wasn’t really dead; but more likely the mentions of Tom Selleck as a father are in reference to his current role as _Frank Reagan_ on **Blue Bloods**. Nearly all of them even specifically mentioned _Blue Bloods_. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2018, 12:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/handsomest-tv-dad/816381/43 "2018-06-20T12:12:41Z")
> [@RivkahChaya](#): > > A show I’ve never seen, but which I think has a handsome lead nonetheless, is _Castle_. Is he a father? I seem to remember reading that he is. Yep, to an extremely red-headed teen daughter, played by[Molly C. Quinn](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0703939/?ref_=ttfc_fc_cl_t6). Both the daughter and the mother ([Susan Sullivan](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0838360/?ref_=ttfc_fc_cl_t3)) steal the whole screen away from Fillion more than once. Or maybe he’s too much of a gentleman to fight them too hard for it 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2018, 12:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/handsomest-tv-dad/816381/44 "2018-06-20T12:26:52Z")
> [@Rushgeekgirl](#): > > Jaime Lannister. Until they cropped his hair all I could think of in his scenes is Prince Charming from the Shrek movies. 🙂 … sorry, question: Which version? Flowy locks Jamie, or rode hard put away wet left hand left Jamie? (as a straight dude, I prefer the latter)? ---
**Author:** ![Misnomer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/misnomer/32/14897_2.png) [@Misnomer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Misnomer)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2018, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/handsomest-tv-dad/816381/45 "2018-06-20T14:38:41Z")
> [@Rushgeekgirl](#): > > Jaime Lannister. Totally forgot about him. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2018, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/handsomest-tv-dad/816381/46 "2018-06-20T14:44:29Z")
Of course it makes one feel weird to describe him as just “a dad.” ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2018, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/handsomest-tv-dad/816381/47 "2018-06-20T16:02:39Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > Of course it makes one feel weird to describe him as just “a dad.” A duncle? ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2018, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/handsomest-tv-dad/816381/48 "2018-06-20T16:13:34Z")
> [@FoieGrasIsEvil](#): > > Gosh darn all you 1999ers with your condescending, vast knowledge of all things trivial! This is the answer \*I \*was going to give until _your_ magic 1999er eight ball instructed you to steal it from my mind. > > This just furthers my belief that ALL the 1999ers are secret moderators, reading our posts, looking for keywords of online terrorism like “troll” and taking notes for future operations against us. > > Beware! I want to go on record as stating I am not now, nor have I ever been, a moderator, secret or otherwise. The only special privilege we '99ers get is a share of the hookers and blow. No jackboots, though - that’s an exclusive mod privilege. ---
**Author:** ![Serenata67](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/serenata67/32/10646_2.png) [@Serenata67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Serenata67)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2018, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/handsomest-tv-dad/816381/49 "2018-06-20T16:14:11Z")
> [@RivkahChaya](#): > > … Benjamin Bratt as Rey Curtis. Granted, Curtis didn’t do a lot of on-screen parenting, but his being a father was an important part of his character development. > … This is what I came here to say. I had a serious thing for Benjamin Bratt during his Law & Order days… I also think Zach Braff is a sexy dude. He played/plays a dad both on _Scrubs_ and on his new show _Alex, Inc._. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2018, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/handsomest-tv-dad/816381/50 "2018-06-20T16:25:55Z")
> [@Kamino\_Neko](#): > > A duncle? That would be Bub or Charlie. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2018, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/handsomest-tv-dad/816381/51 "2018-06-20T16:27:46Z")
> [@Temporary\_Name](#): > > I believe _Magnum_ had a daughter (or perhaps a step daughter) with his French wife who wasn’t really dead; but more likely the mentions of Tom Selleck as a father are in reference to his current role as _Frank Reagan_ on **Blue Bloods**. Definitely his daughter. The last episode had him going back into the Navy and raising his daughter. I’m a straight guy so what do I know but to me he would be hard to beat. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2018, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/handsomest-tv-dad/816381/52 "2018-06-20T16:31:09Z")
> [@Temporary\_Name](#): > > I believe _Magnum_ had a daughter (or perhaps a step daughter) with his French wife who wasn’t really dead; but more likely the mentions of Tom Selleck as a father are in reference to his current role as _Frank Reagan_ on **Blue Bloods**. Like Gibbs, Magnum was all set up on a hillside to snipe the bad guy responsible for the wife and child’s death. The difference between the two was that Gibbs went through with it; Magnum just couldn’t pull the trigger. If his wife and daughter were still alive, they must have revealed it later. I certainly don’t remember it. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2018, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/handsomest-tv-dad/816381/53 "2018-06-20T16:37:04Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > Like Gibbs, Magnum was all set up on a hillside to snipe the bad guy responsible for the wife and child’s death. The difference between the two was that Gibbs went through with it; Magnum just couldn’t pull the trigger. > > If his wife and daughter were still alive, they must have revealed it later. I certainly don’t remember it. The wife came back but died for good at the end. They had a daughter named Lily that Magnum didn’t know about until the end. In the series finale he is seen with Lily in his Navy uniform. ETA: a couple of years ago there was a spin off in the works with Magnum’s daughter. It never went anywhere. Now they are going with a reboot. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2018, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/handsomest-tv-dad/816381/54 "2018-06-20T23:51:54Z")
The handsomest dad on a current show is Skeet Ulrich, who plays Jughead’s dad on **Riverdale**. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2018, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/handsomest-tv-dad/816381/55 "2018-06-21T00:54:29Z")
A 4-way tie: Simon Helberg Ty Burell Dick Van Dyke Adrien Brody These four men have little in common, but each in his own way, is perfect. Yes, I am gay and I have excellent taste in men. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2018, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/handsomest-tv-dad/816381/56 "2018-06-21T01:22:42Z")
What about the world’s greatest dad, Jack Pearson? Isn’t Milo Ventimiglia considered good looking as well as setting a standard other fathers can never achieve? ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2018, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/handsomest-tv-dad/816381/57 "2018-06-21T01:41:36Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > The wife came back but died for good at the end. They had a daughter named Lily that Magnum didn’t know about until the end. In the series finale he is seen with Lily in his Navy uniform. Did he shave the 'stache? I thought the Navy frowned on that sort of thing, unless you’re at sea. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2018, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/handsomest-tv-dad/816381/58 "2018-06-21T01:58:08Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > Did he shave the 'stache? I thought the Navy frowned on that sort of thing, unless you’re at sea. So far I can only find a momentary shot of what he looked like in the final scene. Haircut shorter, moustache trimmed. Probably in regs but barely. And of course he was a SEAL so they tend to be a little looser with things like that. ETA: found a picture. [https://goo.gl/images/Ln833L](https://goo.gl/images/Ln833L) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/handsomest-tv-dad/816381.md?page=2)