History Main / VisitByDivorcedDad

->''“I was working, sometimes two jobs, so I just wasn’t around much. I’m not making excuses—I should’ve been there, but I wasn’t. I’d come home, Grace would tell me which kid to hug, which kid to yell at. I’d read report cards, kiss’em good night, sometimes I’d make breakfast. And that was about it, ya know? But now when my kids are with me, it’s just me. I’m the one who puts the band-aids, I’m the one who rubs the tummies and shampoos the hair, holds them when they have a bad dream. Then they go back to their mother, and I realize what I'm missing. Before I didn’t really know, couldn’t put my finger on it. But now I know. Now I know.”''

* ''Series/TheFreshPrinceOfBelAir'' used it for a VerySpecialEpisode where Ben Vereen appears as Will's career-first father. Initially Will is excited, but when Uncle Phil tries to warn him against getting his hopes up, Will throws it back in his face. Of course, Mr. Smith plans on leaving without telling Will, triggering a CrowningMomentOfAwesome PapaWolf rant from Philip, as well as a combined TearJerker-cum-CrowningMomentOfHeartwarming at the end when Will's attempt to look strong in the face of this latest abandonment fails and, breaking down, asks Phil, "How come he don't want me, man?"

* Happens pretty regularly on ''Series/MyNameIsEarl''. One episode involved Earl discussing his list for Dodge's class [[spoiler: and it's revealed that he is Dodge's biological father.]] Another episode involved signing the kids out of camp to take them to Mystery Fun Land... only to find that the amusement park has been torn down. [[CrowningMomentOfHeartwarming Dodge and Earl Jr. forgive "Old Daddy" and cross "Never took the kids to Mystery Fun Land" off the list]].

* ''Series/StrangerThings'' has a variant: Lonnie Byers was an AbusiveParent who [[DisappearedDad walked out on his family]], ignores his wife and older son's attempts to contact him after his younger son Will's disappearance, and only comes back to town when Will is reported dead. Even then, he proves to be a CoattailRidingRelative whose only interest in the family is his hope to profit from a wrongful death lawsuit, so his ex-wife decisively kicks him out.

In a show where the main child character(s) is(are) mentioned to have divorced parents (or at least parents that aren't together anymore), it's usually the mom who has primary custody of the kid(s). However, often times, there will end up being an episode where the child's father visits (usually but not always as part of some custody arrangement).

* In ''Manga/KodomoNoOmocha'', Sana's (adoptive) mother's ex-husband shows up at their house a couple of times asking for money. Of course, due to the comedic nature of the show, he's likely to be (harmlessly) blasted with some sort of large weapon, sending him flying away. Played with in that Sana and her mom's ex-husband don't actually consider themselves father and daughter, and legally speaking, they're not--to go into greater detail:
** Shortly after she and her husband got divorced, Misako learned that she wouldn't be able to have children through biological means. Still wanting to have kids, Misako looked into adopting a child--after finding Sana (who was abandoned as a baby by her [[TeenPregnancy then-14-years-old biological mother, Keiko]]) and taking her to an orphanage, she was eventually able to legally adopt Sana as her daughter (and ended up raising her as a single parent).

[[folder:Comics]]

[[folder:Live Action TV]]

In a show where the min child character(s) is(are) mentioned to have divorced parents (or at least parents that aren't together anymore), it's usually the mom who has primary custody of the kid(s). However, often times, there will end up being an episode where the child's father visits (usually but not always as part of some custody arrangement).

* In ''Manga/KodomoNoOmocha'', Sana's (adoptive) mother's ex-husband shows up at their house a couple of times asking for money. Of course, due to the comedic nature of the show, he's likely to be (harmlessly) blasted with some sort of large weapon, sending him flying away. Played with in that Sana and her mom's ex-husband don't actually consider themselves father-and-daughter, and legally-speaking, they're not--to go into greater detail:

* ''ComicBook/{{Jonesy}}'': Inverted, the title character's mother is the one who's usually away while Jonesy lives with her father and she eventually comes to visit in the 7th issue. Jonesy isn't too thrilled at this due to thinking that her mother left them and it comes to a head near the end of the issue. However her mother reveals that that wasn't the case: she and Jonesy's father separated due to marrying young and ultimately growing apart as they got older. Jonesy's father was the one who volunteered to look after her while her mother went to the city to study to be a lawyer. But Jonesy's mother makes it clear that she really does love her daughter (and always has), and comes visit whenever she's able to. Jonesy's mom even goes out of her way to get an apartment with a spare room so Jonesy could have some place to sleep when she visited her in the city.

* In the movie ''Film/{{Armageddon}}'', one of the guys who has to go to space visits his son. The mom doesn't tell the boy that this is his father, but that he's a salesman. Later, after taking part in a plan that saves the planet, they see the man on TV. When the boy says, "That salesman is on TV." The mom responds, "That's not a salesman. That's your dad."

* Another kind of inversion happens in ''Literature/AmeliasNotebook'' where Amelia gets a letter from her divorced father, then she comes to visit ''him''. There still seems to be tension between her parents, though.

* A rare reversal in ''Literature/SweetValleyHigh'' as Lila lives with her single father and her mother lives in France. When Lila is nearly date raped and the therapy she receives isn't working, her dad reaches out to her mother. This leads to them eventually remarrying in Book #98: ''The Wedding''.

* ''Series/GilmoreGirls'', though in this case, the parents were never married to begin with. Multiple visits; one brief reconciliation with mom. One attempted reconciliation with catastrophic effects.

** It got the point where, in the 5th season, after [[spoiler: Joyce dies and Hank doesn't even show up for the funeral]], Dawn going to live with their dad is listed as only a slightly preferable alternative to foster care if Buffy were to be deemed an unfit guardian.

* Interestingly ''Series/TheSarahJaneAdventures'' has an example of a child with divorced parents living with their father. This trope isn't used because the Mum shows up so often that she's a DropInCharacter. It's later played straight when Clyde's father pays a visit for the first time in five years in ''"The Mark of the Berserker"''.
* ''Series/SportsNight'' has a Visit to Divorced Dad by Casey's son Charlie.

* Happens pretty regularly on ''Series/MyNameIsEarl''. One episode involved Earl discussing his list for Dodge's class [[spoiler: and it's revealed that he is Dodge's biological father.]] Another episode involved signing the kids out of camp to take them to Mystery Fun Land...only to find that the amusement park has been torn down. [[CrowningMomentOfHeartwarming Dodge and Earl Jr. forgive "Old Daddy" and cross "Never took the kids to Mystery Fun Land" off the list]].
* ''Series/{{Blossom}}'' is the living-with-father variety. On a couple of occasions, the mother (who just walked out on the family one day) comes back for a visit. The last time she came to visit, Blossom's dad tells her not to come back.
* ''Series/FakingIt''. Unfortunately, the first time we see Amy's dad, it's immediately after she and Lauren discover that her mom is having an affair with him behind her new husband's back.

* ''Series/VeranoAzul'' has the local {{Meganekko}}'s father dropping by during summer vacation. As it's a Spanish series from TheEighties, coming right after the very conservative Franco dictatorship, merely speaking on-screen about divorce was ''revolutionary'' back then.

* Happens to Buster in ''WesternAnimation/{{Arthur}}'', though sans melodrama on his part. It eventually culminates with Buster leaving for an extended period to travel with his father. Later to be used as fodder for a spin-off series.
* An interesting subversion of this trope occurs in the Emmy-nominated ep of ''WesternAnimation/AsToldByGinger'', "Hello Stranger", where Ginger invites him to see her read a poem. However, [[DaddyDidntShow he never shows up]]. Dad would, however, later visit Ginger in "An Even Steven Holiday Special" and "Losing Nana Bishop".

* After [[DaddyDidntShow not coming to a family picnic]] in the Nick run of ''WesternAnimation/{{Doug}}'', we finally meet Roger's father in the Disney run episode "Doug's Movie Madness". Despite what's implied about him before, he proves to be a good, if not better parent than others. When all the children want to see an R-rated movie. Doug's parents use trailers and reviews that can lie to a viewer, to make their choice to not let Doug see it. When Roger asks his dad to see it, he says he'll have to watch it first to judge it fully and ends up walking out half-way in since in this case, the trailers actually kept a lot of the bloodier parts out. He tells Roger this who still doesn't understand. Later on, all the kids told no go to see it anyway and Roger's father is the only parent who catches their kid doing this, physically takes Roger from the movie and has a better, gentle, talk with him about it. Doug's parents don't find out until after and while Roger learned that sometimes parents do know what they're talking about and a better understanding of his dad, all Doug learned was that he got nightmares, and grounded without fully understanding why his parents did it in the first place. The other kids never even get caught.

* ''WesternAnimation/HomeMovies'' (on multiple occasions; the divorced dad eventually evolved into a {{Recurrer}}.)

* ''WesternAnimation/TheWeekenders'' had Tino's dad show up for one episode, causing a temporary awkward moment as his dad and mother's boyfriend initially have no idea what to say to one another--however, [[CommonalityConnection the two men do end up becoming friends after bonding over]] [[LethalChef Tino's mother terrible cooking.]]

* After [[DaddyDidntShow not coming to a family picnic]] in the Nick run of ''WesternAnimation/{{Doug}}'', we finally meet Roger's father in the Disney run episode "Doug's Movie Madness". Despite what's implied about him before, he proves to be a good, if not better parent than others. When all the children want to see an R-rated movie. Doug's parents use trailers and reviews that can lie to a viewer, to make their choice to not let Doug see it. When Roger asks his dad to see it, he says he'll have to watch it first to judge it fully and ends up walking out half-way in since in this case, the trailers actually kept a lot of the bloodier parts out. He tells Roger this who still doesn't understand. Later on, all the kids told no go to see it anyway and Roger's father is the only parent who catches their kid doing this, physically takes Roger from the movie and has a better, gentle, talk with him about it. Doug's parents dont find out until after and while Roger learned that sometimes parents do know what they're talking about and a better understanding of his dad, all Doug learned was that he got nightmares, and grounded without fully understanding why his parents did it in the first place. The other kids never even get caught.

and then wind up bonding over Tino's mom's [[LethalChef terrible cooking]].

* The ''[[Literature/TheBabySittersClub Baby-Sitters Club]]'' movie had an example, where Kristy's DisappearedDad visits for the summer. He only reveals himself to his thirteen-year-old daughter (ignoring his fifteen-, seventeen-, and seven-year-old sons), forcing her to keep it secret and basically lie to her family and friends all summer, before he leaves unexpectedly because his job prospect didn't pan out. The main series has another example where Dawn and Jeff's dad visits Stoneybrook briefly before a summer trip. He has breakfast with his ex-wife, her NewOldFlame husband, and her stepdaughter. It's just as awkward as it sounds.
** The SpinOff series, ''Friends Forever'', had Kristy's dad get married again and finally remember that he has kids--because he wants the three oldest ones to be in the wedding. He doesn't even seem to remember that the youngest child (who was a baby when he left) exists, and is kind of a JerkAss throughout the whole thing.

* The film ''Film/DriveMeCrazy'' has Melissa Joan Hart's father visit her and take her on a hot-air balloon ride to bond. While up in the air, he gives her the book "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance" to better understand him. She replies "This stupid book is supposed to explain why you're never around?" and flings it over the edge. Creator/RogerEbert wrote in his review of the film that he cheered at this part.

* A rare reversal in ''Literature/SweetValleyHigh'' as Lila lives with her single father and her mother lives in France. When Lila is nearly date raped and the therapy she receives isn't working, her dad reaches out to her mother. This leads to them eventually remarrying in Book #98: The Wedding.

* ''Series/WhosTheBoss'' (multiple visits; one included a brief reconciliation with the mom)

** It got the point where, in the 5th season, after [[spoiler: Joyce dies and Dad doesn't even show up for the funeral]], Dawn going to live with their Dad is listed as only a slightly preferable alternative to foster care if Buffy were to be deemed an unfit guardian.

* Inverted in ''Series/TheSecretLifeOfTheAmericanTeenager''. Amy and Ashley live with their dad George([[spoiler: or did until Amy moved in with Ricky and Ashley went on a road trip with Toby]]). Their mom, Anne, and their baby brother Robbie live in another town near Anne's ailing mother. The girls (and occasionally George) sporadically visit Anne and Robbie. Anne keeps up semi-regular phone communication, but never really physically visits them, except when she's dropping Robbie off for his time with George.

* ''Series/VeranoAzul'' has the local {{Meganekko}}'s father dropping by during summer vacation. As it's a Spanish series from TheEighties, coming right after the very conervative Franco dicratorship, merely speaking on-screen about divorce was ''revolutionary'' back then.

* Presumably occurs at the beginning of ''VideoGame/AmongTheSleep'', judging by the sound effects when Mom goes to answer the door in the first cutscene and via clues revealed throughout the game. Said 'visit', unfortunately, is nothing more than an entirely offscreen argument between Mom and Dad, ending with Mom shouting 'NO' loudly and clearly and apparently slamming the door in his face before giving you the present he had for you. By the way, you're a 2-year-old. [[spoiler:Dad returns at the very end, after Mom has been revealed as alcoholic, and you open the door and let him in. It's assumed this visit was actually to take you away after winning custody.]]

* After [[DaddyDidntShow not coming to a family pinic]] in the Nick run of ''WesternAnimation/{{Doug}}'', we finally meet Roger's father in the Disney run episode "Doug's Movie Madness". Despite what's implied about him before, he proves to be a good, if not better parent than others. When all the children want to see an R-rated movie. Doug's parents use trailers and reviews that can lie to a viewer, to make their choice to not let Doug see it. When Roger asks his dad to see it, he says he'll have to watch it first to judge it fully and ends up walking out half-way in since in this case, the trailers actually kept a lot of the bloodier parts out. He tells Roger this who still doesn't understand. Later on, all the kids told no go to see it anyway and Roger's father is the only parent who catches their kid doing this, physically takes Roger from the movie and has a better, gentle, talk with him about it. Doug's parents dont find out until after and while Roger learned that sometimes parents do know what they're talking about and a better understanding of his dad, all Doug learned was that he got nightmares, and grounded without fully understanding why his parents did it in the first place. The other kids never even get caught.

In a show where the main child character is mentioned to have divorced parents (or at least parents that aren't together anymore), they're pretty much always shown living with their mom, who's typically depicted as being the more mature, responsible and "stable" parent. However, often times, there will end up being an episode the child's father visits (usually but not always as part of some custody arrangement).

** Misako learned that it was extremely unlikely that she'd be able to have biological children the same year she got divorced. Still wanting to have kids, Misako looked into adopting a child--after finding Sana (who was abandoned as a baby by her [[TeenPregnancy then-14-years-old biological mother, Keiko]]) and taking her to an orphanage, she was eventually able to legally adopted Sana as her daughter (and ended up raising her as a single parent).

* ''ComicBook/{{Jonesy}}'': Inverted, the title character's mother is the one who's usually away while Jonesy lives with her father and she eventually comes to visit in the 7th issue. Jonesy isn't too thrilled at this due to thinking that her mother left them and it comes to a head near the end of the issue. However her mother reveals that that wasn't the case, the two separated due to marrying young and growing apart as they go older. Jonesy's father was the one who volunteered to look after her while her mother went to the city to study to be a lawyer. But never stopped loving her and comes visit when she can, even going out of her way to get a apartment with a spare room so Jonesy could have some place to sleep when she visited her in the city.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheWeekenders'' had Tino's dad show up for one episode, causing a temporary awkward moment as his dad and mother's boyfriend initially have no idea what to say to one another, and then wind up bonding over Tino's mom's [[LethalChef terrible cooking]].

* In ''Manga/TonariNoKashiwagiSan'' Sayaka arranges to meet with her father, and brings Kazuki along for moral support. She only wants to know one thing: [[spoiler:[[WasItReallyWorthIt Was it worth marrying her mother]] despite how it ended up]]? The answer is quite simple: [[spoiler:Yes, because Sayaka was born.]]

** After Misako and her husband (who she married at a young age) got divorced, Misako learned that she wouldn't be able to have children through biological means. Still wanting to have kids, Misako looked into adopting a child--after finding Sana (who was abandoned as a baby by her [[TeenPregnancy then-14-years-old biological mother, Keiko]]) and taking her to an orphanage, she was eventually able to legally adopted Sana as her daughter (and ended up raising her as a single parent).

Compare WhenYouComingHomeDad

* ''Series/OneDayAtATime''

* The film DriveMeCrazy has Melissa Joan Hart's father visit her and take her on a hot-air balloon ride to bond. While up in the air, he gives her the book "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance" to better understand him. She replies "This stupid book is supposed to explain why you're never around?" and flings it over the edge. RogerEbert wrote in his review of the film that he cheered at this part.

* A few times in ''Series/TheSuiteLifeOfZackAndCody''. The twins' father also comes to see them graduate from high school.

* After [[DaddyDidntShow not coming to a family pinic]] in the Nick run of ''WesternAnimation/{{Doug}}'', we finally meet Roger's father in the Disney run episode "Doug's Movie Madness". Despite what's implied about him before,he proves to be a good, if not better parent than others. When all the children want to see an R-rated movie. Doug's parents use trailers and reviews that can lie to a viewer, to make their choice to not let Doug see it. When Roger asks his dad to see it, he says he'll have to watch it first to jugde it fully and ends up walking out half-way in since in this case the trailers actually kept a lot of the bloodier parts out. He tells Roger this who still doesn't understand. Later on, all the kids told no go to see it anyway and Roger's father is the only parent who catches their kid doing this, physically takes Roger from the movie and has a better, gentle, talk with him about it. Doug's parents dont find out until after and while Roger learned that sometimes parents do know what they're talking about and a better understanding of his dad, all Doug learned was that he got nightmares, and grounded without fully understanding why his parents did it in the first place. The other kids never even get caught.

* A few times in ''Series/TheSuiteLifeOfZackAndCody''.

* Presumably occurs at the beginning of VideoGame/AmongTheSleep, judging by the sound effects when Mom goes to answer the door in the first cutscene and via clues revealed throughout the game. Said 'visit', unfortunately, is nothing more than an entirely offscreen argument between Mom and Dad, ending with Mom shouting 'NO' loudly and clearly and apparently slamming the door in his face before giving you the present he had for you. By the way, you're a 2-year-old. [[spoiler:Dad returns at the very end, after Mom has been revealed as alcoholic, and you open the door and let him in. It's assumed this visit was actually to take you away after winning custody.]]

** After Misako and her husband (who she married at a young age) got divorced, Misako learned that she wouldn't be able to have any biological children of her own. Still wanting to have children, Misako looked into adopting a child--after finding Sana (who was abandoned as a baby by her [[TeenPregnancy then-14-years-old]] biological mother Keiko]]) and taking her to an orphanage, she eventually adopted Sana as her daughter (and as a single parent at that).

** After Misako and her husband (who she married at a young age) got divorced, Misako learned that she wouldn't be able to have any biological children of her own. Still wanting to have children, Misako looked into adopting a child--after finding Sana (who was abandoned as a baby by her biological mother) and taking her to an orphanage, she eventually adopted Sana as her daughter (and as a single parent at that).

* After [[DaddyDidntShow not coming to a family pinic]] in the Nick run of "WesternAnimation/{{Doug}}", we finally meet Roger's father in the Disney run episode "Doug's Movie Madness". Despite what's implied about him before,he proves to be a good, if not better parent than others. When all the children want to see an R-rated movie. Doug's parents use trailers and reviews that can lie to a viewer, to make their choice to not let Doug see it. When Roger asks his dad to see it, he says he'll have to watch it first to jugde it fully and ends up walking out half-way in since in this case the trailers actually kept a lot of the bloodier parts out. He tells Roger this who still doesn't understand. Later on, all the kids told no go to see it anyway and Roger's father is the only parent who catches their kid doing this, physically takes Roger from the movie and has a better, gentle, talk with him about it. Doug's parents dont find out until after and while Roger learned that sometimes parents do know what they're talking about and a better understanding of his dad, all Doug learned was that he got nightmares, and grounded without fully understanding why his parents did it in the first place. The other kids never even get caught.

* In Manga/SangatsuNoLion, the Kawamoto sisters' deadbeat dad divorced their mother years ago, before the youngest sister Momo was even born. Since their mother's passing they've lived with their grandfather. One day their father shows up again out of the blue, reopening painful wounds and trying to take advantage of the girls.

* Inverted in ''TheSecretLifeOfTheAmericanTeenager''. Amy and Ashley live with their dad George([[spoiler: or did until Amy moved in with Ricky and Ashley went on a road trip with Toby]]). Their mom, Anne, and their baby brother Robbie live in another town near Anne's ailing mother. The girls (and occasionally George) sporadically visit Anne and Robbie. Anne keeps up semi-regular phone communication, but never really physically visits them, except when she's dropping Robbie off for his time with George.

* In Manga/SangatsuNoLion, the Kawamoto sisters' DeadbeatDad divorced their mother years ago, before the youngest sister Momo was even born. Since their mother's passing they've lived with their grandfather. One day their father shows up again out of the blue, reopening painful wounds and trying to take advantage of the girls.