NewsPronto

 
The Property Pack
.

USA Conversation

The Conversation USA

The Conversation USA

Why are sitcom dads still so inept?

  • Written by Erica Scharrer, Professor of Communication, University of Massachusetts Amherst
imageFrom 'Father Knows Best' to 'D'oh!'Scott Vandehey/flickr, CC BY-NC-SA

From Homer Simpson to Phil Dunphy, sitcom dads have long been known for being bumbling and inept.

But it wasn’t always this way. Back in the 1950s and 1960s, sitcom dads tended to be serious, calm and wise, if a bit detached. In a shift that media scholars have documented,...

Read more: Why are sitcom dads still so inept?

More Articles ...

  1. Herd immunity won’t solve our COVID-19 problem
  2. 'Normal' human body temperature is a range around 98.6 F – a physiologist explains why
  3. Meteorites from Mars contain clues about the red planet's geology
  4. 'Telepresence' can help bring advanced courses to schools that don't offer them
  5. 3 lessons from how schools responded to the 1918 pandemic worth heeding today
  6. COVID-19 will turn the state pension problem into a fiscal crisis
  7. What Buddhism and science can teach each other – and us – about the universe
  8. A pragmatist philosopher's view of the US response to the coronavirus pandemic
  9. Uruguay quietly beats coronavirus, distinguishing itself from its South American neighbors – yet again
  10. Are we all OCD now, with obsessive hand-washing and technology addiction?
  11. India's goddesses of contagion provide protection in the pandemic – just don't make them angry
  12. Coronavirus shows how ageism is harmful to health of older adults
  13. No justice, no peace: Why Catholic priests are kneeling with George Floyd protesters
  14. Being convicted of a crime has thousands of consequences besides incarceration – and some last a lifetime
  15. Why hairdressers, gyms and the Trump campaign are asking people to sign COVID-19 waivers
  16. What the archaeological record reveals about epidemics throughout history – and the human response to them
  17. Was the coronavirus outbreak an intelligence failure?
  18. What is a derecho? An atmospheric scientist explains these rare but dangerous storm systems
  19. Police unions are one of the biggest obstacles to transforming policing
  20. Video: How simple math can help predict the melting of sea ice
  21. Why stocks are soaring even as coronavirus cases surge, at least 20 million remain unemployed and the US sinks into recession
  22. Churchgoers aren't able to lift every voice and sing during the pandemic – here's why that matters
  23. A short history of black women and police violence
  24. Am I immune to COVID-19 if I have antibodies?
  25. High-tech surveillance amplifies police bias and overreach
  26. Students demand removal of 'mild racist' from Georgia landscape
  27. China's efforts to win hearts and minds with aid and investment may make all the difference if there's a cold war with the US
  28. How DC Mayor Bowser used graffiti to protect public space
  29. More people eat frog legs than you think – and humans are harvesting frogs at unsustainable rates
  30. What colleges and universities can do to improve police-community relations
  31. Could China's strategic pork reserve be a model for the US?
  32. How 'Karen' went from a popular baby name to a stand-in for white entitlement
  33. Why soldiers might disobey the president's orders to occupy US cities
  34. Who killed Sweden's prime minister? 1986 assassination of Olof Palme is finally solved – maybe
  35. During Floyd protests, media industry reckons with long history of collaboration with law enforcement
  36. Neighborhood-based friendships making a comeback for kids in the age of coronavirus
  37. Is it safe to stay in a hotel, cabin or rental home yet?
  38. Adding women to corporate boards improves decisions about medical product safety
  39. Going online due to COVID-19 this fall could hurt colleges' future
  40. Globalization really started 1,000 years ago
  41. State prosecutors and voters – not the feds – can hold corrupt officials accountable
  42. Globalization really started 1,000 years ago
  43. First space tourists will face big risks, as private companies gear up for paid suborbital flights
  44. Life on welfare isn't what most people think it is
  45. City compost programs turn garbage into 'black gold' that boosts food security and social justice
  46. COVID-19 is deadlier for black Brazilians, a legacy of structural racism that dates back to slavery
  47. How the Federal Reserve literally makes money
  48. Why some nursing homes are better than others at protecting residents and staff from COVID-19
  49. Want to stop the COVID-19 stress meltdown? Train your brain
  50. Could pressure for COVID-19 drugs lead the FDA to lower its standards?