THE BEST OF THE BUNCH

Well, it wasn't Mr. Brady. Homer, duh nope. Fred, Archie, Herman, and Jefferson had their moments, but they fall well short.

Al may be the worst of the group though I don't recall the guy just below John Goodman, whom I don't remember being a great dad.

And how could they leave out Robert Young as Jim Anderson in Father Knows Best?

If you know me well, you would guess I would pick Ward Cleaver as the top dad. Oh, he was good. As was Cos who added much humor to fatherhood. Steve Martin as well, but he like all good dads really came through on the love part. Fred MacMurray would have been my father's choice for the way he raised his sons. But we had no Uncle Charlie to help out in our family. Which may have been a good thing, since he annoyed me at least a little.

Andy, well, how do you not pick Andy? Ben Cartwright had many great qualities, too, but my choice as the best dad is his son, Little Joe.

As the family head in Little House on the Prairie, he handled the tough situations honorably. He was a man's man, even though his exceptionally long hair quasi-coiffed seemed a stretch, and they had so many rough patches in their daily lives that you wondered why they just didn't leave the prairie and get a rental.

But he was a Christian father who was often seen praying, often seen in church, many times seen teaching from scripture. That, to me, makes the difference. Teaching the kids about the truth of the Word.