Dr. Leonard Hofstadter (The Big Bang Theory)
Putting aside the fact that Leonard is a full on genius, he is the kind of guy that young boys should aspire to be. He is respectful of women, a good housekeeper, a loyal friend and clearly has good study habits. More importantly, he gives young men hope of scoring chicks who are way out of their league.

Daryl Philbin (The Office)
Daryl is a true American success story. Going from a recurring character who runs a warehouse to a regular who manages the entire shipping division for the whole office. He’s also a single father who cares deeply about his daughter as well as a true friend. On top of all that he’s hilarious. Who says that working in an office has to be joyless?

Leslie Knope (Parks and Rec)
Despite Leslie’s personality quirks and innate awkwardness, she is a role model that any young girl can aspire to. Smart as a whip, honest to a fault and more driven that any government employee on or off television. If you can get past her constant weirdness, she;s pretty cute, too.

Ted Mosby (How I Met Your Mother)
There are some people who see Ted as a loser due to his inability to find love but I see him as the opposite. Ted is such a believer in true love that he is on a never-ending quest to find that one perfect woman to have his children and then build a show around her. Besides, being an architect is a pretty sweet gig.

Cam Tucker and Mitchell Pritchett (Modern Family)
Since gay characters started appearing on television, very few of them have been more than horrible stereotypes. Cam and Mitchell are good parents, upstanding citizens and it’s no doubt that they are gay. I can’t think of two better examples of how it “gets better” for a young gay teen.

Hear more from the King of TV on The Paul Goebel Show podcast and at his website, www.TheKingofTV.com. You can also follow Paul on Twitter @PaulGoebelShow.

1. Jim Ignatowski (Christopher Lloyd) – Taxi
What could make a young Ivy League undergrad from a rich, influential family become a burned out reverend/cabbie with questionable judgment and a terrible memory? I doubt that even Jim could compile a complete list? At least his driving isn’t any less safe than most New York cabbies.

2. Otis Campbell (Hal Smith) – The Andy Griffith Show
If only all drunks could be counted on to walk themselves into a police station and sleep off the night’s festivities, the world would be a much better place for us and them.

3. Barney Gumble & Otto Mann (Dan Castellenata & Harry Shearer) – The Simpsons
What is more disconcerting? A stoned bus driver in charge of the lives of young children or a blackout drunk driving four hours to New York City?

4. Dr. Johnny Fever (Howard Hesseman) – WKRP in Cincinnati
When you’re entire life exists in the middle of rock and roll culture it’s difficult not to imbibe. Although it must be great not to have to shave ever.

5. Foster Brooks & Dean Martin – The Dean Martin Show
All the biographies say that their drunkenness was an act. I suppose that’s what Lindsey Lohan’s biography will say as well.

6. Manny the Hippie – The Late Show with David Letterman
Although his fame was short-lived, I was a huge fan. Never have I seen someone so unabashedly proud of their burned out, skeevy, conning persona.

7. Nigel Wick (Craig Ferguson) – The Drew Carey Show
I always wondered why he was such a terrible boss. Eventually we found out why. You’d have to be “chasing the dragon” to continue to employ Drew and Mimi.

8. Larry Finkelstein (Alan Rachins) – Dharma & Greg
How the tight ass from LA Law became burned out Dharma’s dad I’ll never know. Even as the series started to get lame, Larry always made me laugh.

9. John Hemingway (John Larroquette) – The John Larroquette Show
The best part of Hemingway was that even though he was a recovering alcoholic, he was still paying for the mistakes he made while drinking.

10. Tracy Jordan (Tracy Morgan) – 30 Rock
I’m not exactly sure what Dr. Spaceman has prescribed for Tracy but whatever it is, it makes him funny for the first time in his life.

Hear more from the King of TV on The Paul Goebel Show podcast and at his website, www.TheKingofTV.com. You can also follow Paul on Twitter @PaulGoebelShow.

I do remember when Glee first came on the air. I had no interest in watching it. I’m not sure exactly what it is about the show that turned me off. I love acapella music. I like underdog stories. I’ve known and liked members of choral and glee groups.

Perhaps it’s because I watch very little live TV. Maybe it’s because I’ve invested in many shows only to see them get cancelled early on in the first season. Possibly it’s because as much as I like underdog stories, I’m not a fan of martyrdom, especially overly dramatic “poor, unappreciated me” people. I do know quite a few singers and choral directors who seem to fall into that category. I dunno, I just wasn’t interested.

As my daughter has grown older, my wife and I have been looking for television shows we can share with her. At Paul Goebel‘s recommendation, I introduced her to The Middle (which she liked), and on my own last month I introduced her to Glee on Netflix.

The first episode was a little heavy, compared to my daughter’s usual Disney Channel/Nickelodeon fare, but my wife loved it and my daughter was interested and patient enough to give it a few more episodes. It’s now become one of their favorite shows, as they are averaging four episodes a week as they race to get to Season 2.

I admit, I’ve enjoyed it as well. It’s less acapella than I’d expected (and hoped), but it’s good. It gets a little whiny sometimes, but so far it’s pulled itself back just enough.

My concern, so far, is not the maturity of the themes (so far it’s been fine), it’s the constant references to the Glee kids as “losers.” They call themselves “losers”. Other people call them “losers”. It’s clear they are meant to be misfits, but it’s declared over and over again.

Now, my wife and I do talk about what we see on TV with our kids. So, we made a point of addressing this with our daughter. “The point of the show,” I said, “is that they’re really NOT losers, at all.” My daughter agreed, and we went on to discuss it in much more depth: What would you do? Has anyone ever treated you that way? What could this character have done? etc., .

It almost had me pull the plug. If my wife hadn’t immediately taken to the show and there had been a viable alternative, we might’ve given up on it quickly, but so far it remains in our Netflix Instant Queue.

I do find myself still looking for that perfect family show to share. The Nick and Disney shows are decently produced, but they have such snarky young characters and such dumb adults – not what I’m looking for. Yes, there are game shows and singing competitions we can watch. She’s still a little young for the Mythbusters/Top Shot/Chopped type shows we watch with our son, and I find myself still looking for a good family show to share with my wife and daughter.

For now, I’ll give in to Glee, but I wish I felt better about it.

My daughter came armed with letters that Abigail had written to her husband in 1776:

“Remember, all men would be tyrants if they could. If particular care and attention is not paid to the ladies, we are determined to foment a rebellion, and will not hold ourselves bound by any laws in which we have no voice or representation.”

Did the 1st Lady really threaten that there would be a rebellion against the government? Did she really state that the laws of the government do not apply to women if they don’t have a voice? This was the forefront of giving women a right to vote! How is that not exciting! Alas, to a 1st grader, receiving a penny from the Abe Lincoln character was more thrilling.
My daughter had to research what Adams would have worn, what her childhood was like, what made her famous, and what contributions she made to history. Not only did she need to complete an essay about Adams, but she also had to come up with a costume and be prepared to answer questions as if she was Adams. She even researched whether or not Adams spoke in an ‘English’ accent. This made learning exciting and it resonated with the 8th graders. I believe it hit the mark with the younger kids as well.
I have to give it up to the teacher for encouraging her class to get to know someone from our US history. Rather than simply teaching by the text book, taking the tests, or writing the occasional essay, this teacher recognized the opportunity for the kids to truly learn about an individual who made a difference in US history. I hope that other teachers can take note of this type of teaching – finding fun and unique ways of teaching our kids about those who helped shape this nation.

I would have liked to see the parade of US figures walking down the street today – “Abigail” was also accompanied by Susan B. Anthony, Abe Lincoln, George Washington, Betsy Ross, George Washington Carver, John Adams, Sacagawea, Martin Luther King Jr., and many others. That would have been a sight to see…

Last night, my son asked if he could come to watch my hockey game. I was already a bit cranky in that I had to drive 20 minutes to pick him up from a birthday party, which even if it ended on time, I’d be dropping him off, rushing to get changed, and hustling out the door to my game, but the party was running late… “I don’t think so, Bud” I said.

My son was persistent though, and even though the party ended about 20 minutes late (putting me 20 minutes behind schedule), I really had no solid reason not to let him go. Yeah, he’d be getting home close to 10, but he wasn’t going to fall asleep before then anyway.  No, there would be no other kids there, but he would be okay with that and be very low maintenance. Yes, I usually went out to the bar after the game with some teammates, but I didn’t need to do that – and even so I could always drop him off at home first. “All right,” I reluctantly said.

We got home, I hurried… he hurried… this little boy who usually has a habit of making things seem more complicated did all he could to make it as easy as possible. He helped get my stuff ready, and when I finally got out the door, he was quietly waiting in the car – wearing his replica of my jersey (name and number on the back). I was embarrassed… proud but embarrassed too. I kept hinting that he didn’t need to wear it. Part of me was worried he’d get teased… but I’ll be honest, I was worried I’d be teased. Not by my friends, but by some of the other guys who know I’m not a good player and have no problem ripping a guy in front of his kid. I didn’t want my boy to hear them mock me, because he’d ask what it meant and why.

But he wore the jersey proudly, and we made it in plenty of time. He kept himself busy as I warmed up, and once I got on the court I heard one voice calling out cheering for the Green team (my team)… my son. For 90 minutes, he sat outside the fence and attentively cheered for my team as we fell behind 6-0 before scoring. At 8-2 with less than a minute left, his tired voice was as loud as ever as he cheered for us to score one more before the buzzer. I thought to myself, I actually played a decent game.   glad he came and got to see that.

And then it happened. With less than 10 seconds left, I found myself open in front of the goal while a teammate worked his way in my direction… 6… 5… 4… I never thought he’d get the ball to me but somehow he did, and I shot… less than 2 seconds before the buzzer, there it was… my first goal in nearly 8 seasons of playing.

And my son saw it all.

I was so pleased he was there, and I felt so low for having tried so hard to talk him out of it.

He beamed with pride, re-energized by the goal. He “let” me tell my wife about the goal, and while she was pleased – the disparity in their reactions only reinforced how lucky I am that he was there. Pretty soon he’s going to be too old to want to go. I’ll no longer be on the pedestal he’s built for me, and moments like this will be reduced to a line in an email.

But not this one… he was there, and although the goal itself is a meaningless accomplishment, the fact he was there means the world.

• 8 of the 9 parents said they feel they cannot help their child with their homework
• 0 of the 9 parents said they looked through their child’s math notebooks at least once a week

This troubles us to no end.

If your child is in an Algebra 1, Geometry, or Algebra 2 class, then they should have both a textbook and a set of class notes designed to illustrate how to solve homewok problems. Not to mention that the topics students learn in each of the three courses are progressive and build upon previously learned material, so any child who needs help on Day Q, should have an understanding of days A – P and those resources to help parents understand well enough to make a reasonable attempt at helping with homework. If this is not true, then the issue was allowed to fester too long.

We will run our unScientific study of parent conference comments in the coming weeks, but we will tease that “I can’t help my child with their homework anymore” and “I was never good in [Subject]” topped the list for high school instructors.

We are not suggesting that every adult needs to be at the top of their game in high school mathematics for the rest of their lives; however, they should certainly be able to read the child’s notes and skim the textbook and get the gist of it. Alas, none of the parents we surveyed regularly looked through their child’s math notebooks. As one staffer at J2 Content puts it “A notebook should read like a textbook. Teachers create lesson narratives that students are to either copy verbatim or take notes from. They are creating a resource. If a student cannot open to any page in their notebooks and explain to anyone [especially their parents] what is being illustrated there and describe the concept, then the child is not being an active participant in their education and that issue should be addressed immediately by the parent and teacher.”

What were your experiences with parents helping or being unable to help children with high school mathematics? Please share your thoughts below.

10. Homer Simpson (The Simpsons)
It’s very easy to be a complete moron when you’re animated, but Homer makes it seem like a calling. By being the dad who continually puts his kids lives in danger, Homer has become the archetype for the stupid but lovable patriarch

9. Peter Griffin (Family Guy)
Peter, on the other hand is pure evil disguised as a boob. Not only is he completely disinterested in the well-being of his family but, at times, he seems determined to drive them to patricide. Just the sight of his naked body alone would push any normal child over the edge.

8. Dr. Tobias Funke (Arrested Development)
Hilarity aside, Tobias has to be the most clueless dad to ever appear on TV. I admit it didn’t help that every other Bluth was completely self-involved but only a true moron would refuse to remove a hair transplant that is clearly killing him.

7. Phil Dunphy (Modern Family)
In Phil’s case, his stupidity may not be all his fault. Since two of his three kids are total morons, he probably makes an effort to stay at their level. Whatever the reason, being a stupid dad, clearly works for him.

6. Alan Harper (Two and a Half Men)
It’s hard to pick between Alan’s stupidity or his lack of spine when determining his worst quality. In any case, it’s a good thing, his son, Jake is so intellectually challenged. That way, Alan can get away with fatherly advice like, “fire…bad”.

5. Jim Orenthal (According to Jim)
The only advice worthwhile that this dad had to give is how to land a smoking hot wife when you’re an unfunny, overweight jagoff. Too bad he only had daughters.

4. Ted Lawson (Small Wonder)
Only on a terrible show like Small Wonder could a father be smart enough to build a lifelike android but so stupid he found her antics funny.

3. Herman Munster (The Munsters)
There is no question that Herman was a loving father but his childish reaction to adversity is really inappropriate. How is little Eddie supposed to learn to be a responsible adult if his role model stomps a hole into the the floor whenever he doesn’t get his way?

2. Arthur Spooner (King of Queens)
Maybe he has Alzheimer’s, maybe he doesn’t, but in any case, Arthur was a handful. I’ll say this much, if he wasn’t sick and it was all an act, he belongs on the list of genius dads.

1. Tim Taylor (Home Improvement)
Not only is Tim Taylor the stupidest dad on television but he revels in his stupidity. He seems to associate being dumb with being a man. So instead of educating himself, he decorates his body with manly accessories and puts his limbs in danger of being mangled. So the question is did his three boys grow up and decide to avoid being a living stereotype like their dad or did they meet an unfortunate end with the help of a miswired power mower?

Hear more from the King of TV on The Paul Goebel Show podcast and at his website, www.TheKingofTV.com. You can also follow Paul on Twitter @PaulGoebelShow.

• All six families celebrated with a special meal
• The “mother” in all six families received gifts and cards from her children
  • the ratio of handmade to store bought cards from the children was 7:5
  • the ratio of handmade to store bought gifts from the children was 9:3
• The “mother” in five of the six families received gifts and cards from the “father”
  • the ratio of handmade to store bought cards from the “father” was 1:4
  • the ratio of handmade to store bought gifts from the “father” was 0:5
• All five of the gift giving “fathers” said they would consider the gifts they gave to be “smaller than a typical birthday or Christmas gift”
• 2 of the 6 families interacted in person or sent gifts to a “grandmother”. 3 of the remaining 4 interacted by phone or sent cards earlier in the week.
• 3 of the 6 “fathers” said they “would be a little disappointed if their Fathers’ Days went the same way as Mothers’ Day did”

Moms play such an important (and often unappreciated) role in raising children, we found this data to be a little disappointing. This is definitely an instance where we hope our small sample size is skewing the data.

To the Moms out there, we hope you had a wonderful day yesterday, and that you found your day satisfying (and hopefully not all that out of the ordinary in terms of the kindness and respect showered upon you). To the Dads, we hope that you gave the mothers of your children (and your own mothers) the kind of days you hope for yourselves.

What were your experiences this Mothers’ Day? Please share your thoughts below.

Take for example Susan Mayer (Teri Hatcher) on Desperate Housewives. Throughout the series, she’s been married three times, divorced twice and had two children more than ten years apart. She also made the difficult career change from published author to preschool teacher. Her most important achievement, however, is that she has managed to stay sexy and beautiful for seven years (or ten according to the timeline on Wisteria Lane).

Then there are the tough, ass-kicking moms. CSI ‘s Catherine Willows (Marg Helgenberger) always gets the bad guy and still finds time to be a great single mother to her teenage daughter. I also have to acknowledge Nancy Botwin (Mary Louise Parker) on Weeds. Often putting her own safety on the back burner, she protects her two sons against every kind of drug dealing criminal in existence. Most importantly, she knows how to use her extreme hotness as her most effective weapon.

Sela Ward seems to have made a career out playing single moms. As Lily Manning (Once and Again) she struggled to raise two teenagers, find a cool guy to date, and begin a new career while facing the pressures of being a woman in her forties. Currently as Jo Danville (CSI: New York) she is the hottest 55-year-old crime fighting TV Mom on the east coast.

If I had to choose the actress that best exemplifies what a TV Mom should be, I would have to go with Lauren Graham. Her portrayal of Lorelai Gilmore (Gilmore Girls) showed America that getting pregnant at sixteen is nothing to be envied but if it does happen, it’s survivable. Lorelai was able to own and manage a successful inn and raise a smart and beautiful daughter that any parent would be proud of. Nowadays, Graham shows the other side of being a single Mom as Sarah Braverman on Parenthood. Her kids are a definite handful but Sarah is never above asking for help from her extended family. Whether she’s tending bar or fetching coffee, she is a true SuperMom.

Along with Shirley Partridge (The Partridge Family), Cordelia Chase (Angel), Christine Campbell (The New Adventures of Old Christine), and Elaine Nardo (Taxi) these women have set a standard for TV Moms who are smart, sexy and strong and that is just how I like them.

Hear more from the King of TV on The Paul Goebel Show podcast and at his website, www.TheKingofTV.com. You can also follow Paul on Twitter @PaulGoebelShow.