TV dads of the 1980s and 1990s evolved from a distant father who just worked all the time to a more emotionally present and educated dad like Jason Seaver (Alan Thicke) in Growing Pains, Steven Keaton (Michael Gross) in Family Ties, or Danny Tanner (Bob Saget) in Full House, who also enlisted a little help from friends and family, to the likes of brother in-law Uncle Jesse (John Stamos) and best freind Joey (Dave Coulier) to help make the family circle complete.
Others, like Carl Winslow (Reginald VelJohnson) on Family Matters, still played the strict father but were also softies at heart, or the jovial dads like Tim “The Tool Man” Taylor (Tim Allen) on Home Improvement, made dad time fun.