Line #138 Main/BumblingDad


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4	%% This list of examples has been alphabetized. Please add your example in the proper place. Thanks!
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11	[[quoteright:350:[[WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/rsz_the_simpsons_2_1.png]]]]
12	[[caption-width-right:350:[[Main/CharacterCatchphrase D'oh!]]]]
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14	->'''Mr. Bergstrom''': Lisa, your homework is always so neat. How can I put this? Does your father help you with it?
15	->'''Lisa''': No. Homework's not my father's specialty.
16	->'''Mr. Bergstrom''': Well there's no shame in it, I mean, my dad--
17	->'''Lisa''': Not mine.
18	->'''Mr. Bergstrom''': You didn't let me finish--
19	->'''Lisa''': Unless the next word was "burped", you didn't have to.
20	-->-- ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons''
21
22	Born out of the SitCom DysfunctionalFamily, he's a deliberate subversion of the Standard50sFather. Now so ubiquitous the older trope is nearly [[ForgottenTrope forgotten]].
23
24	Although he's clever at times, he's not usually allowed to be smart. He has no idea that ShortcutsMakeLongDelays. He's lazy, gluttonous, and has miscellaneous other glaring vices. His children may love him, but they often don't respect him. However, he is still a sympathetic character; the source of his charm is his complete love and loyalty to his family, even if the main way he shows it is by fixing problems he caused himself.
25
26	His family is made up of at least one child nearing or in their teenage years, and a wife (usually [[UglyGuyHotWife much prettier than Dad]]) who spends her time ParentingTheHusband. If he has one or more teenage daughters, at least one will be a BrattyTeenageDaughter or a DaddysGirl; whether they are or not, the dad will be a BoyfriendBlockingDad in regards to the girl(s) -- and quite often [[AmazinglyEmbarrassingParents Amazingly Embarrassing]] to the girls and the boys alike.
27
28	Naturally, this is filled with problematic messages. This trope essentially agrees that dads shouldn't be expected to do anything but watch sports and drink beer, but rather than being due to traditional gender roles, it's because they're simply too stupid and incompetent to accomplish anything else. While indirectly paying women a compliment by depicting them as the more capable gender, women are therefore expected to be the responsible ones and to shoulder all of the work of keeping a household stable. Asking a man to do something, like look after the kids, is only asking for disaster, and the long-suffering woman can only sigh and clean up his mess. Traditional gender roles are therefore still enforced. The reasoning is simply re-framed in a way that infantilizes men. It also present the mother as either cruel or indifferent when there is no explanation for why she doesn't try to [[AnticsEnablingWife stop some of the more dangerous behaviour]].
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30	Many a Bumbling Dad has been on the receiving end of FamilialChiding.
31
32	This trope is still mostly seen in [[SitCom sitcoms]] and cartoons, along with many commercials, especially ones aimed at kids. In {{anime}}, this type of character is taken more respectfully, since it usually consists of a goofier dad, more involved with his family than the stereotypical {{Salaryman}}. This is even more common when his children have [[ParentalAbandonment no visible]] [[MissingMom mother]]. When the mother is visible she'll often be presented as [[FoolishHusbandResponsibleWife knowing better]] but doing [[AnticsEnablingWife nothing to stop the dad]].
33
34	This is an example of how a SubvertedTrope can end up becoming the norm. Back in the day, fathers were assumed to be [[Standard50sFather wise and in charge]], and the bumbling dad was something fresh and unusual--which was arguably what made it so funny in the first place. Today, despite some pushback, sitcoms have made bumbling dads an UndeadHorseTrope, and consistently competent fathers are a comparative rarity.
35
36	----
37	!!Examples:
38	[[foldercontrol]]
39
40	[[folder:Advertising]]
41	* Popular in many, ''many'' television commercials -- especially for products associated with domestic tasks like cooking, cleaning, and childcare, as this plays into the complementary trope and stereotype that MenCantKeepHouse.
42	** One such commercial that stoked up a significant amount of ire in the United Kingdom which invoked this trope was an ad for the oven cleaner Oven Pride, which somehow managed to create a triple standard(!) by implying that not only are dads too stupid to figure out how to use a bottle of chemicals but that mums [[StayInTheKitchen should stay in the kitchen because they’re the only ones smart enough to use the product.]]
43	* This trope's over-use in advertising is frequently Lampshaded and held up for scorn on advert deconstruction forum Website/AdTurds.
44	* Eggo Waffle commercials have dumped their live-action gimmicks in favor of crudely-drawn cartoon shorts featuring a bumbling dad trying to steal his daughter's waffles.
45	* A commercial for Verizon internet showed a bumbling dad whose wife had to boss him around -- for the good of the family -- to stop him from neglecting his chores in favor of playing with the new computer under the guise of "helping" his daughter with her homework. The way it was played out came across as so unfunny and pointlessly insulting it was actually removed from the air after complaints.
46	** Heck, several phone and cable commercials will still treat the dad like a goofy dumbass even when he's doing exactly what he's supposed to and buying the advertised service!
47	[[/folder]]
48
49	[[folder:Anime and Manga]]
50	%%* ''Anime/AiNoWakakusaMonogatari'' has Mr Laurence and Fredrick March.
51	* In ''Manga/{{Bleach}}'' Isshin Kurosaki, Ichigo's widower father. [[spoiler:However, we learn later on that Isshin is in fact an exiled captain-level shinigami, and that his goofiness is a put-on. He's still goofy after TheReveal, just more of a badass. Also, most of his goofiness in relation to Ichigo was actually him being a StealthMentor, teaching Ichigo how to fight without Ichigo even realizing it]]. He is still, however, a completely incompetent boob when it comes to Yuzu and Karin.
52	* ''Manga/{{Boruto}}'':
53	** Naruto and Sasuke. There's a good balance of it being PlayedForLaughs and PlayedForDrama. Not helping is Naruto not having parents to begin with, and Sasuke's parents being somewhat incompetent.
54	** The "Family Day arc", shows a lot of humorous bumbling dad moments with Naruto, Choji, and Sasuke as they spend Parent and Child Day with their respective daughters.
55	*** In the first episode, Naruto goofs up buying a Kuraa-ma toy Himawari wanted and ended up buying a Shukaa-ku toy instead, which initially disappoints her until she changes her mind by the end.
56	*** The next episode opens with Choji getting kicked out of his house by his wife for being lazy and eating the sweets she bought for the family to enjoy, and almost losing an eating contest with Chocho in an attempt to win his wife's affection back.
57	*** The last episode has Sasuke trying to bond with Sarada. Sadly, with a combination of [[NoSocialSkills poor social skills]] and bad advice from [[TricksterMentor Kakashi]], he [[AmazinglyEmbarrassingParents ends up embarrassing]] her. It isn't until he remembers how spent time with his own father, and getting more practical advice from his wife Sakura does he succeed in bonding with her.
58	* ''Manga/CaseClosed'': Kogoro Mouri is a loser, but his care towards his daughter Ran is utterly remarkable, which makes him a PapaWolf all the way. He may burn through a bar's worth of alcohol and tobacco in a day, but if anyone threatens his little girl Ran and his charge Conan ''he will have their face for a doily.''
59	* Ouka, father of Recca Hanabishi, in the ''Manga/FlameOfRecca'' manga is like this, [[spoiler:despite being a stoic badass leader of Recca's 8-headed dragons, Resshin]]. In the anime, however, he's just like a normal, [[TheStoic stoic]] dad.
60	%%* Hajime in ''Anime/HellGirl'' at times.
61	* ''Literature/{{Inukami}}'': Dai Youko, Youko's father, is the goofy dad type; described as an [[OneOfTheKids "adult child"]], he throws tantrums when he finds out Youko's in love with her tamer. However, he's far from incompetent. Instead he's the only one capable of fighting the BigBad in single combat.
62	* ''Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventure'': Joseph Joestar is this in Part 4, due to becoming a senile old man. One example of his bumbling, has his son Josuke entrust the elderly Joseph with his money to buy Shizuka baby supplies, only to unwittingly spend all of it, to Josuke's ire.
63	** Joseph was something of a bumbling granddad in Part 3 as well. A lot of the humor came from him screwing up in one way or another.
64	** Jotaro becomes a more serious example in Part 6. Due to his rather bad parenting, as in, not being around a lot, divorcing his wife at some point, and not talking to her as much, his daughter Jolyne begins the story with less than pleasant feelings toward him. Once he appears to bail her out of jail, Jolyne beats a guard up in order to extend her stay just to get away from him.
65	* ''Manga/HikariNoDensetsu'': Hikari's dad always has his nose in a newspaper and it's actually hard to tell if he's invested in what's going on or not. We never see his face because [[https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/6_9_3.png this]] is his default position most of the time.
66	* ''Manga/{{Lady}}'' has a granddad example with Lynn's grandfather. He loves her with all his heart, but is also very airheaded. His reaction to hearing that [[spoiler:Edward]] kissed Lynn?
67	-->'''Lynn's grandfather:''' ''"Why is that a big deal? I kiss her everyday!"''
68	* Sojiro Izumi, Konata's widowed, perverted, {{Otaku}} father in ''Manga/LuckyStar''. It should be mentioned that the manga implied Soujirou is actually the least BookDumb living member of the Izumi-Kobayakawa household.
69	* All the fathers in ''Anime/OjamajoDoremi'', to some degree. Special mention goes to Kenji Senou, Aiko's single father.
70	* ''Manga/OuranHighSchoolHostClub'' has Fujioka Haruhi's widowed father Ranka. He's an odd person considering he's a WholesomeCrossdresser, bisexual, and can be a bit silly at times (especially in some of Haruhi's flashbacks when she was little). His bumbliness is very much portrayed as endearing, and a trait he shares with Haruhi's LoveInterest Suou Tamaki. On the other hand, he's the rare bumbling dad who crosses to [[GoodParents Good Father]] too. It's obvious that he loves Haruhi genuinely and has done his best to raise her ever since his wife/Haruhi's mother Kotoko died, working hard in his very uncommon work in the ''okama'' bar to support both of them - to the point that at least once Haruhi rebukes him not for leaving her alone, but for overworking himself for her.
71	* Nanjiroh Echizen in ''Anime/ThePrinceOfTennis'', though it can be said he's also a case of ObfuscatingStupidity.
72	** In the manga, Tezuka's father Kuniharu is hinted to be a bit like this too. Quite a contrast with his kid and ''his'' dad.
73	* In ''Manga/RanmaOneHalf'', both Soun Tendo and Genma Saotome were often {{Bumbling Dad}}s more typical of the American form of the trope than the Japanese style (as opposed to the JustForFun/{{egregious}} Principal Kuno in the same series, who was very much in the Japanese mold despite his obsession with Hawaii). This was even more pronounced for those times when they ''did'' act like the competent martial artists they were supposed to be. Genma's a rather... ''interesting'' case in that he's often more straight-up malicious than your standard Bumbling Dad. There are quite a few stories where he doesn't even have a hint of good intentions behind his actions, and he's motivated by pure selfishness/sadism.
74	* ''Manga/SandChronicles'': Masahiro is hardworking and has good intentions but also a bit of a scatterbrain, and his daughter Ann says she used to think of him as "naive and unreliable" as a child.
75	* ''Manga/ShinjiIkariRaisingProject'' transforms [[Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion Gendo Ikari]] into one of these. He is an AdaptationalNiceGuy, but the times that he embarrasses Shinji with his LargeHam {{Cloudcuckoolander}} tendencies are legion.
76	* In ''Manga/SoulEater'', [[CloudcuckooLander Shinigami and Spirit]] count. Though the case of the former, it's partly the result of putting on a more child-friendly persona, which he then apparently [[BecomingTheMask became]] fond of.
77	* ''Literature/TheStoryOfSaiunkoku'' has Kou Shoka, who fills the role not only for his daughter Shuurei but also to a lesser degree for both Seiran and the young Emperor, Shi Ryuuki. He mostly comes off as kind and good-natured but hopelessly inept, [[spoiler:at least until it's revealed that he's also the highly skilled assassin known as the Black Wolf and that his bumbling is mostly an act]].
78	* Tenchi's dad Noboyuki in ''Anime/TenchiMuyo''. He is a pretty competent architect, but when off-duty he exemplifies the trope.
79	* Omakes in ''[[Manga/TokyoGhoul Tokyo Ghoul[=:re=]]]'' reveal Yoshitoki Washuu to be one to his AntagonisticOffspring, Matsuri. His various attempts at family bonding fail miserably, primarily because of how completely different [[TokenGoodTeammate father]] and [[LackOfEmpathy son]] are in personality and [[JockDadNerdSon interests]].
80	* Ichigo's dad in ''Manga/TokyoMewMew'' is a bit...off his rocker, but nonetheless a very nice guy. Ichigo speaks of him and her mother as her "ideal couple", and hopes that she and her love interest Aoyama will be like them one day.
81	** Recca's adoptive father, Shigeo Hanabishi, however, plays this trope straight in both versions.
82	[[/folder]]
83
84	[[folder:Comic Strips]]
85	* ComicStrip/AdamAtHome: Protagonist [[TheDitz Adam]] is this, as he's clueless most of the time, obsessing over coffee and generally acting more like another kid. He can afford to be that, with a wife [[WomenAreWiser who has more common sense]].
86
87	[[folder:Films -- Animated]]
88	* The Father in ''WesternAnimation/{{Coraline}}''. In contrast, the Other Father is attentive, caring, and much cooler.
89	* Professor Bomba from ''WesternAnimation/Epic2013'' is already unused to interacting with humans, let alone his own daughter.
90	* Buck Cluck from ''WesternAnimation/ChickenLittle'' struggles with being a father due to being a widower and not knowing how to be there for his son.
91	* In ''WesternAnimation/LadyAndTheTrampIIScampsAdventure'' Scamp sees his father as one of these, a lazy dad who could never understand his desire to be a wild dog. Little does he know that his father was THE wild dog back in the day.
92	* As pointed out by ''WebVideo/TheNostalgiaChick'' in her episode on Franchise/{{Disney Princess}}es, there was a pretty huge trend in "infantile, impotent fathers" that the Disney girls had to put up with during the company's Renaissance era; while they were always well-meaning and wanted the best for their daughters, they tended to get easily fooled, were intelligent but eccentric, were too caught up in traditional values, etc.. Interestingly enough, the main aversion to this is Fa Zhou, wise, poetic, kindhearted RetiredBadass and father of WesternAnimation/{{Mulan}}, who wasn't even really a princess.
93	[[/folder]]
94
95	[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
96	* Played with in ''Film/AmericanBeauty''. Kevin Spacey's character is initially a depressing version of this, but as the movie continues, he manages to shirk the mantle.
97	* Al in ''Film/BetterOffDead'' is well-meaning and rather ineffectual, but he's also one of the most ''normal'' people in the [[EccentricTownsfolk entire town]] of Greendale.
98	* Subverted in ''Film/CheaperByTheDozen2003''. Tom is unable to control the kids at times, but he's clearly frustrated, not stupid. Although many claimed Tom was stupid, this clearly is not the case.
99	* ''Film/HoneyIShrunkTheKids'' Wayne Szalinski is a [[AbsentMindedProfessor more highly intelligent version]] of the bumbling dad. But he is far from irresponsible, even though his inventions have done bizarre things to his loved ones. Big Russ Thompson, on the other hand...
100	* Gang-du from ''Film/TheHost2006'' is clumsy, immature, and absent-minded, which explains why his wife left him. He feeds his daughter Hyun-seo ''beer'' and can't even gather enough money to buy her a cell phone. In fact, he's so clumsy that he inadvertently allows his daughter to be captured by a giant monster from the river Han. Still, as incompetent as he is, he loves his daughter more than anything else in the world and fights with all his might to save her. And as it turns out, the authorities are even more inefficient than he is.
101	* Played with in ''Film/{{Juno}}'', where the protagonist's father and stepmom look clueless in the beginning but appear wiser and emotionally supportive as the movie advances.
102	* Inverted in ''Film/{{Maleficent}}'', where three female pixies are bumbling moms and the only male involved in raising the child is shown to be quite good at it.
103	* ''Film/MeanGirls'' has Cady's father who doesn't know that kids aren't allowed outside when they're grounded.
104	* Played With in ''Film/MomsNightOut''. Alysson imagines all sorts of horror scenarios when Marco and Sean are in charge of the kids. However, most of the shenanigans, including the fathers and their kids winding up in jail, are the fault of the mothers.
105	* ''Film/MrMom'' is about a bumbling dad who has to stay at home and take care of the kids while his wife works. Once he stops feeling sorry for himself about being unemployed and his wife being the breadwinner, he gets it together and gets quite good in the role.
106	* Clark Griswald is very much this in the ''Film/NationalLampoonsVacation'' movies.
107	** Pretty much, every movie where Chevy Chase plays the dad, starting with ''Cops and Robbersons'' and going rapidly downhill. His role as Clark Griswold might have been an aversion if he could have kept his plans from going to hell, but that was rarely ever his fault; fate just doesn't like the Griswold clan.
108	** Whatever it may be, Rusty Griswold is looking to receive this same treatment in ''Film/{{Vacation}}''.
109	%%* The clueless dad in the fluffy tween comedy ''Film/{{Sleepover}}'' embodies this.
110	* Subverted in ''Film/{{Suffragette}}''; Maud's husband Sonny seems to be this at first when he fails to dress his son in the morning and the child still wears a pyjama when he's sent to the carer. However, it soon turns out that he is not loyal to his family, but [[spoiler:ruthless enough to give the son up for adoption without Maud's consent, [[DeliberateValuesDissonance which the law of that time allowed]].]]
111	* ''Film/ThunderRoad'': Played for both comedy and drama. It is humorous to see Arnaud bumble his way through trying to connect with his daughter, but it is also an immense source of stress in his life that he can't connect with his daughter nearly as well as his ex-wife.
112	* ''Film/YouAreSoNotInvitedToMyBatMitzvah'': Downplayed with Stacy's dad Danny. He's not really that dumb, he just doesn't understand his kids as much now that they're growing up. He is the kind of guy to sleep on a couch in the store while his wife and daughter go shopping, though.
113	[[/folder]]
114
115	[[folder:Literature]]
116	* Averted in ''Literature/ABrothersPrice'' - the fact that the Whistlers are such a well-organized family is attributed to Jerin's grandfather Alannon, as the grandmothers were a ragtag bunch of soldier-spies. Jerin's father seems to have done a good job, too, and Jerin is a very competent [[PromotedToParent replacement dad]] for his younger siblings. His love interest points out that he's good at parenting in an attempt to convince her relatives that he'd be a good match.
117	* Papa [[SpeciesSurname Bear]] of ''Literature/TheBerenstainBears'', though he does have moments when he's the voice of reason, particularly when Mama loses her temper.
118	* In ''Literature/DeepSecret'' and ''Literature/TheMerlinConspiracy'', Ted Mallory is a generally competent individual and a best-selling author, but he absolutely does not understand his teenage son Nick.
119	* Frank Heffley in ''Literature/DiaryOfAWimpyKid'' is a bumbling dad. He acts like he's in his 80s. Not only does he regularly yell "Dagnabbed rotten teenagers!", but in the webcomic, he tries to get Classical music playing throughout the town to scare the teenagers away, is apparently teenager phobic, can't figure out how Gregory's game system is even hooked up to the TV, and says people at drive-thrus are idiots...yet he tries to place his order ''through a garbage can''.
120	* Mr. Fitzgerald in ''Literature/TheGreatBrain'' is a mild case. As a newspaper editor, he is obviously intelligent and often quite competent at most things. However, he can be gullible from falling for an obvious con man to honestly believing in Tom's prank that a dinosaur is roaming the countryside outside their town. He also has a tendency for things like getting the family lost trying to find a new fishing hole on a camping trip. It's clear his wife has long become used to having to keep her husband from bumbling too much and focused on the smarter things he does.
121	* Several in ''Literature/HarryPotter'':
122	** A downplayed example in Arthur Weasley (Ron's father), who somewhat gives off this vibe, although he seems to be competent enough when it really counts and a fair amount of the bumbling comes down to his fascination with Muggles and Muggle technology, and the reader knowing just how little he knows about either. Otherwise, he is a hard-working, loving father, excellent as his job, a [[ActionDad skilled fighter]], and, notably, not bigotted against Muggles or non-Pure Bloods, unlike most Pure Bloods.
123	** [[GenerationXerox Ron possibly fulfills this trope during the epilogue era.]]
124	** Vernon Dursley might count as a rare villainous version, being a buffoon, [[FatBastard extremely overwight]], bigotted against wizards, abusive towards Harry, and spoiling Dudley rotten (though Dudley manages to make a HeelFaceTurn after Harry saves his life).
125	* This is the premise of Jill Murphy's ''[[http://www.amazon.co.uk/Mr-Large-Charge-Jill-Murphy/dp/0763627399 Mr. Large in Charge]]''.
126	** Though in the AnimatedAdaptation of this series, ''The Large Family'', both the mother and father are portrayed of either equal competence level, or Mr. Large being slightly more competent compared to the slightly bumbling Mrs. Large.
127	* Creator/ShirleyJackson portrayed her husband, the literary critic and folklorist Stanley Edgar Hyman, as an absentminded one of these in her first book of family stories, ''Life Among the Savages.'' By the second collection, ''Raising Demons'', he's an insufferable bumbler, as when he pompously instructs Shirley how to open a malfunctioning refrigerator door and ends up detaching it and staggering around the kitchen with it. She's also more forthcoming, albeit allusively, about his many affairs with younger women.
128	* ''Literature/KrisLongknife'': Henry Smythe-Peterwald XII. To Kris, he's a man who has tried to kill her multiple times, probably ''did'' have her baby brother killed, conquers stars by subterfuge and sabotage, and is so wrapped around the finger of his newest empress that he's clueless that her in-laws are running his country into the ground. To Vicky Peterwald, he's all of the above--including being clueless that her stepmother put a hit out on his surviving child from his first marriage--but he's also still her father whom she loves.
129	* ''Literature/TheRoyalDiaries'': PlayedForDrama (or [[DeconstructedTrope deconstructed]]) in the case of Ptolemy XII (aka Auletes), Cleopatra's father, in ''Cleopatra VII: Daughter of the Nile''. Unlike his intelligent and bookish daughter, he's an alcoholic, self-absorbed ShelteredAristocrat who loves partying and playing the flute and has no regard for ruling, which makes him deeply unpopular with his people and makes it easy for Cleopatra's evil older sister Tryphaena to seize the throne. During their exile, his incompetency frustrates and upsets Cleopatra and forces her to come to terms with the fact that she must be the more mature one of the two.
130	[[/folder]]
131
132	[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
133	* Gomez Addams of ''Series/TheAddamsFamily'', had eccentric habits and interests and could lean towards CloudCuckoolander tendencies at times, but was still depicted as a selfless, loving, and attentive husband and father. In addition to being HappilyMarried, he and his wife Morticia usually worked together to solve various family problems.
134	%%* William Francis Tanner, better known as Willie Tanner, the dad from the show, ''Series/{{ALF}}''.
135	* Bobby Rivers in the Australian sitcom ''Series/AllTogetherNow'', a middle aged [[BritishRockStar ex-rock star]] [[DiscoDan stuck in the 60s]]. When he finds out he's the father of preteen twins as the result of an old fling years earlier, [[PromotionToParent he tries to make up for lost time]].
136	* Played with in the Hallmark Channel movie ''Film/ChristmasInTheAir'', in which the father appears to be a classic example of this. The root of this, however, is him struggling to run his business and raise his kids in wake of his wife's death. Once he hires a professional organizer, he gets it together.
137	* Cliff Huxtable from ''Series/TheCosbyShow'' was created specifically as an antidote for this. Creator/BillCosby was tired of all the father figures on TV being essentially dominated by their kids and created a competent, intelligent, but still ''funny'' father character for himself. It's still present in a downplayed form, as his family ''refuse'' to let him try to fix household appliances.
138	* Earl Sinclair on ''Series/{{Dinosaurs}}''. The episode "Dirty Dancing" has Earl watching a show called "Totally Ineffectual Dad", which is all about the father being a bumbling dad. At one point an advertisement for the show mentions that it is followed by other shows with the "bumbling dad" concept, such as "Dad's a Moron" and "Father Knows Nothing".
139	%%* Walter from ''Series/DrakeAndJosh''.
140	* In ''Series/DoctorWho'', though we never saw any of his family aside from his granddaughter, it's heavily implied that the Doctor was one of these, due to most of his incarnations being wonderfully eccentric.
141	* In ''Series/EverybodyLovesRaymond'', there is Frank Barone, a blustering uberboor with no concept of sensitivity or restraint who embodies this trope: his husbanding skills to Marie are non-existent, and his concept of bringing up sons involved intimidation and lots of shouting combined with insults and rough treatment--all for their own good, naturally. His sense of personal hygiene is hazy and he is a voracious glutton as well as an exemplar of DoomItYourself.
142	** His son Raymond views wife Debra as almost a surrogate mother and he is inclined to be lazy and to let her do all the work. When prodded to do chores, he has gone so far in ineptitude as to burn out the kitchen with an accidental fire; he has bought a new vacuum cleaner for no better reason than that he found the saleswoman attractive; and his parenting of three children is wildly inconsistent, veering from permissive to Victorian Father. There is every sign that his brother Robert, who married late, is learning from a master in his relationship to wife Amy.
143	** A few episodes of the show suggest that Ray ''deliberately'' invokes this trope--by messing up simple tasks, he gets out of doing work. Granted, that's just as frustrating...
144	* Carl Winslow from ''Series/FamilyMatters'' was this on occasion. For instance, in the "Opposites Attract" episode when Harriet asks, "Why must I take part in such a pointless activity?" Carl responds, "Because we are men and we thrive on pointless activity." Additionally Carl is shown as being no better at household repairs than Cliff Huxtable, with one early episode involving an attempted repair being titled "Mr. Badwrench."[[note]]A play on the longtime Mr. Goodwrench (now GM Certified Service) automotive service brand familiar to many as the longtime sponsor of the #3 UsefulNotes/{{NASCAR}} car of Dale Earnhardt.[[/note]]
145	%%* Steven Keaton on ''Series/FamilyTies''.
146	* In the series ''Series/FatherKnowsBest,'' the titular father complains about this trope in the ShowWithinAShow called ''Father Does It Again,'' exclaiming that such a "stumblebum" husband could [[ThisIsReality only exist on television.]] After watching the show he becomes WrongGenreSavvy, convinced his family is pulling a sitcom-style deception to keep him from going hunting.
147	* Also averted by Uncle Phil on ''Series/TheFreshPrinceOfBelAir''. Yes, he has his moments of stupidity, but overall, Uncle Phil's portrayed as competent and knowledgeable way more often than other sitcom dads. And he's also an excellent lawyer and an even better judge, although his skills as a handyman and cook are even less impressive than Bill Cosby's above.
148	* In ''Series/{{Friends}}'', Ross and Monica's father Jack Geller is a goofy man who makes inappropriate comments all the time.
149	* ''Series/GameOfThrones'':
150	** Mace Tyrell is entirely PlayedForLaughs as a bumbling, sycophantic MommasBoy.
151	** Tytos Lannister is remembered as a good man who nearly ruined House Lannister.
152	%%* Bob Duncan from ''Series/GoodLuckCharlie''. Several episodes show that Bob might not be so bumbling as he appears, though, and that he's ObfuscatingStupidity to both his wife and kids for the sake of a quiet life.
153	* Mr C in ''Series/HappyDays''. Not quite as bumbling as later examples, but an early subversion of "Father Knows Best" type dads (to quote one [[ExecutiveMeddling meddling executive]]: "He doesn't look like a father. [[RealityIsUnrealistic He looks like]] ''[[RealityIsUnrealistic my]]'' [[RealityIsUnrealistic father]].")
154	* Tim Taylor in ''Series/HomeImprovement''. Unlike most bumbling dads, however, he is actually very competent at his job. At least, he would be if it weren't for his almost mental-illness-level [[MadScientist compulsion to "improve" things.]] When he isn't creating outdoor grills that can achieve geosynchronous orbit, he's actually a very skilled handyman. He's far more "[[NoOSHACompliance No concern for safety or moderation]]" than "Doesn't know what he's doing". As far as his family goes, Tim is a little closer to the standard for this trope, usually not always understanding how he should act in various circumstances, as having effectively raised himself after his dad died, he's not clear how a family works. This conversely means that in any episode where someone dies, Tim ends up being much more competent and capable.
155	* Eric Sweet, on ''Series/HouseOfAnubis'', after he was revealed to be Eddie's father. He tried hard to rebuild their relationship, but was a bit clueless, making it get awkward for the both of them at times. However, he wasn't a complete moron, he was just not used to being a father.
156	* Genta Igarashi from ''Series/KamenRiderRevice'' is an embarrassing, hammy goof who spends his time filming himself doing different challenges, tricks, and records instead of taking care of the family's bathhouse business, much to his children's chagrin. [[spoiler:However, given the later reveal that he's an experimental HumanDemonHybrid and was once an executioner for the organisation that remodeled him and was responsible for his parents' death, him losing his memories and [[AmnesiacsAreInnocent becoming his present self]] almost feels like a well-earned happy ending.]]
157	* Tim Allen's character in the SpiritualSuccessor ''Series/LastManStanding'' actually subverts this trope. He's a very caring and loving father, but there is no question that he is more intelligent, rational, and mature than his kids, if at times a bit brusque. More often than not, he acts as the OnlySaneMan within his family.
158	* ''Series/LoveAndDestiny'': Le Bo, Ling Xi's adoptive father, is more interested in drinking alcohol than in listening to his daughter.
159	* In an odd dramatic example, Don Draper of ''Series/MadMen'' tends to be cluelessly oblivious, if well-meaning, towards his children (particularly [[DaddysGirl Sally]]), in sharp contrast to Betty (who is [[AbusiveParents generally quite cold and hits Sally for her acts of rebellion]]).
160	* Most people who remember ''Series/MakeRoomForDaddy'' probably remember the many times Danny Williams was this, his excuse being that his work as a nightclub singer kept him from spending a lot of time with his family. Much of this took place later in the series after Danny had married Kathy. In its earliest inception, the show was noted for more serious portrayals of Danny and Margaret's conflict, to the point that Margaret talked about leaving (pretty edgy for 1953). When the actress playing Margaret quit, though, they just said that Margaret had died.
161	* Hal from ''Series/MalcolmInTheMiddle''. However, he shows great intelligence and patience for an example of this trope - his relationship with his family is as far as the similarity goes. Certainly his wife is more of an antagonist than him. In fact, it's frequently hinted that Hal used to be a happy, intelligent, emotionally stable guy before marrying Lois.
162	** There's also a great episode where Hal becomes increasingly reckless and carefree when Lois isn't around to temper his more compulsive attributes.
163	** Hal is the INSTIGATOR for most of the madness in the Middle household, and the part of the equation the kids get their mischief from. Lois might be more strict and punishing, but Hal is the one with all the crazy schemes.
164	* Al Bundy of ''Series/MarriedWithChildren'' is a more caustic version of this. In the case of [[JadedWashout Al Bundy]], it's more along the lines of a reasonably competent man who's been surrounded by insane circumstances for so long it's hard for him to care anymore and he doesn't apply himself. He hates his life, his wife, his kids, his job, his neighbors, his boss, and everything else he has to deal with, and when he proves he knows what he's doing nobody cares. Why even bother?
165	* ''Series/ModernFamily'' has Phil Dunphy as an overgrown manchild who loves to do extremely silly things, especially with his youngest son (the two older daughters are far too cool). He really tries to project the "cool dad" image, often leaving discipline to his wife. But while he does love bumbling around, he also provides well for his family (for the first few seasons he is the sole breadwinner for a family of five) and tries to be a devoted father and husband.
166	* A stock trope on ''Series/TheMunsters'' was that Herman Munster would screw up in some well-meaning way as a father/family patriarch and the rest of the family would rally around to get him out without damaging his ego (too much). Also from the series was Grandpa, who didn't let the fact his daughter was [[SheIsAllGrownUp All Grown Up]] stop him from acting just as bad as Herman in the fatherhood department.
167	* Michael from ''Series/MyWifeAndKids'', on the other hand, was a subversion of the bumbling dad trope GoneHorriblyWrong, or [[TruthInTelevision perhaps true to life]]. Instead of being a bumbling dad whose controlled by his wife and children... his relationship with them throughout the series can be summed up with this quote, "I [[JerkAss Bugs Bunny'd]] you."
168	* Felix Unger in the TV adaptation of ''Series/{{The Odd Couple\|1970}}'' mostly averts this (being an incredibly good cook and housekeeper), but his dorky demeanor usually draws his children's attentions towards [[CoolUncle Oscar]].
169	* Josh's dad Alan on ''Series/PleaseLikeMe'' is a well-meaning guy who nevertheless manages to behave irresponsibly with a certain regularity.
170	* Averted by Jimmy Chance on ''Series/RaisingHope'', who is shown to be a loving, attentive, and good parent. His father (and mother) are shown to be bumbling parents in flashbacks.
171	* Largely averted with Dan Conner on ''Series/{{Roseanne}}''. While he could be a little bumbling (such as needing help finding his lost pants) and occasionally lazy in regards to household chores such as cooking, he is, for the most part, attentive, hard-working, and an excellent father to his children, providing CoolAndUnusualPunishment when the need arises and [[PapaWolf not being afraid to take on anyone who hurts his family]].
172	* Creator/WilliamShatner plays one in his TV series, ''Series/ShitMyDadSays''. The title says it all.
173	* ''Series/StepByStep'': Frank Lambert was a clear example, usually by trying too hard to be the father. This often annoyed or outright angered eldest stepdaughter Dana many times, who viewed him as uncouth and uneducated ... but many times, Dana could rely on Frank to stick up for her in her time of need.
174	* Bill Miller on ''Series/StillStanding'' is your typical fat, lazy, drunken, sports-loving manchild who's not great at being a parent, especially to his [[JockDadNerdSon nerdy son]] Brian. But unlike most examples of this, his wife Judy is just as immature and incompetent at parenting as Bill is.
175	* Ted Wheeler from ''Series/StrangerThings'' lives and breathes this trope. He's useless whenever the family gets into an argument, speaks in lame baseball metaphors to a son who couldn't be less interested in sports, and instantly believes everything the government cover-up team tells him.
176	%%* The very first bumbling dad on television may have been Stu Erwin, in a show that's known as ''The Stu Erwin Show'' or ''Trouble with Father'' or ''Life with the Erwins'' depending on who you ask.
177	* Inverted in ''Series/UpAllNight'', as [[http://www.slate.com/articles/double_x/doublex/2012/06/what_to_expect_and_up_all_night_the_doltish_dad_on_screen_is_changing_.html noted here]]. Chris began sort of this way, but as a stay-at-home dad got things under control. His wife, Reagan, who continued working as a TV producer, is instead the one who tends to bollix things up when she takes charge.
178	* Deconstructed in ''Series/TheUnicorn''. Wade's introduced as a fairly typical single TV dad, with a messy house and two daughters who are given free rein. However, this is because he's been spinning his wheels since his wife passed away. Once he begins processing his grief properly, the house gets cleaned up and he gets his kids back in line.
179	%%* Michael Rappaport's character in ''Series/TheWarAtHome'' managed to combine this trope with {{Jerkass}}.
180	%%* Jerry from ''Series/WizardsOfWaverlyPlace'' has his moments.
181	* Played with on ''Series/SchittsCreek'' with Johnny Rose. Because he was once a suave, globetrotting billionaire and is now broke, he has many moments where he bumbles through seemingly ordinary situations. Yet, he is also shown to be hard-working, intelligent, and at times clever, but that doesn't stop his adult children from endlessly razzing him over things like his not knowing anything about social media or his adoption of buzzwords like ''rollout''. He also is a very bad gift-giver, having tried to give his CampGay son a basketball hoop and giving {{Tomboy}} Stevie a case of makeup.
182	* ''Series/WeAreLadyParts'': Both of Amina's parents are lovingly awkward, but her father is less perceptive and in tune with her emotions and has a tendency to say the wrong thing. Her mother teasingly dismisses him as a manchild.
183	[[/folder]]
184
185	[[folder:Music]]
186	* CountryMusic parodist Music/CledusTJudd has "Where's Your Mommy?", a parody of Music/TobyKeith's "Who's Your Daddy?" that features a man struggling to keep a baby entertained and clean while the mother's away.
187	* Music/FrancoDeVita: The theme of "No Basta" (It's Not Enough), and depicted very realistically. In it, Franco calls out a father who trivializes the problems his child consults to him, [[TheTalk including the concept of sex]] or being bullied in school. Said father does try to make his child happy by buying toys and the like, but never gives himself time to actually ''be'' with the child and share time together.
188	* Kaito often gets portrayed as this in Music/{{Vocaloid}} fanworks that make him and Meiko the DesignatedParents of the Crypton Future Media Vocaloids, though usually not to the extent of the typical sitcom dad; sweet and well-meaning, but naive, childish, and obsessed with [[TrademarkFavoriteFood ice cream]], as opposed to the usually more mature if somewhat hotheaded and booze-loving Meiko.
189	[[/folder]]
190
191	[[folder:Newspaper Comics]]
192	* The comic ''ComicStrip/AdamAtHome'' embodies (and lives on) this trope with its [[TheDitz bungling]] and adorkable ([[SubvertedTrope though still rather competent]]) title character, apart from his reasonably more attractive (and assertive) wife, his two kids (his son is somewhat of a CheerfulChild and his daughter is quite bratty) and [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking more recently]], [[PreciousPuppies a labradoodle]].
193	* Usually averted by Darryl [=MacPherson=] of ''ComicStrip/BabyBlues''. We're talking about a guy who changed a diaper in the men's room at the mall.
194	* ''ComicStrip/Blondie1930'': Dagwood Bumstead ranges between a Standard50sFather and this. Justified by his IdleRich background -- he never learned to do most of the things required of him as a working-class father.
195	* Roger Fox from ''ComicStrip/FoxTrot'' gives Homer Simpson a run for his money.
196	** In one strip, he managed to burn his silhouette onto the wall trying to light the furnace.
197	** In another, even more ridiculous strip, Roger flooded the house when he tried to use the ''dishwasher'', and that was while Andy was out of town. And that's only ''one'' of the things he screwed up when he was in charge of the household while Andy was away.
198	** That's not even mentioning his [[RunningGag regular failure]] to [[GrillingPyrotechnics properly operate a grill...]] using a "whole bottle of lighter fluid" at a time, more or less. One grill strip brought it to EpicFail levels. After he piles on the lighter fluid and charcoal, it makes a fire blast that continues upward into space. [[spoiler: In the second to last panel, it destroys one of the Mars rovers. The last panel implies [[NoodleIncident this has happened before]].]]
199	** [[HorribleCampingTrip Every single one of Roger's camping trips has been horrible from the get-go]], whether at Skeeter Falls (during a mass mosquito infestation), Cactus Flats (in the middle of ''August''), or a cabin in the woods. And in classic BumblingDad form, he doesn't ever notice that he's the only one to enjoy them: one year, he quits his job (more on that later) and once he gets it back, announces that they won't be able to go camping that year, is puzzled by the kid's (and wife's) obvious joy.
200	** He once bought a mobile phone... that's bigger than a backpack and has 10 power cords to charge it up.
201	--->'''Roger:''' Look, the moment the warranty expires I'll get one of those flip-top jobbies. You know, the kind Captain Kirk uses.\
202	'''Andy:''' ''Franchise/StarTrek'' takes place in the 23rd century, Roger. What exactly are you trying to say, Roger?
203	** Roger once quit his job to spend more time with his family. When he told Andy and the kids, their reaction was a unanimous "Are you insane?!?". Thankfully he managed to get it back.
204	** Surprisingly, Roger wasn't always like this; there was a period of the strip where he was rather competent (at least 60% of the time, as opposed to 10% in the later ones) as a father and not ''just'' at chess. (Now it's a RunningGag that anyone can beat him unless they're trying to lose.)
205	** One gag constant from the strip's beginning is his need of youngest son Jason's help to operate the computer because he can't even remember how to turn the thing on.
206	*** In one arc the kids accidentally destroy the computer and only fess up after about a week of Roger being blamed for it (as he was the next to use it).
207	*** In one arc he buys a tax program for Windows... because there's a window right there in the office.
208	*** In one strip he pushes the computer off the desk because it told him the hard drive needed backing up.
209	** Roger is very, very bad at chess.
210	*** Jason once agreed to play chess with his father, and immediately rattled off both his and Roger's moves and thanked him for the good game, leaving Roger thinking he might have gotten too predictable.
211	*** Jason once set up a computer chess game where Roger had 16 queens and the AI had 16 pawns. Guess who lost.
212	*** [[https://foxtrot.com/2020/11/08/whoopies/ In a 2020 strip]], it's shown that he spends large amounts of money on a pay-to-win chess app... and ''still'' loses.
213	** Roger is generally a complete idiot when it comes to matters of money and technology. He bought lots of stock in "[=GrowCo=]" because a friend said it was a "good buy". The company crashes and burns the very next day (and their only response to questions about this is "So sue us").
214	--->'''Roger:''' Of course I didn't invest all our money in [=GrowCo=], I'm not a complete fool.\
215	(reads stock pages)\
216	'''Roger (thinking):''' ''Only 65% of one.''\
217	'''Andy (pinching her nose):''' How much is it down?
218	*** Roger doesn't even know what [=GrowCo=] ''does'', despite still being completely convinced that it will rise again.
219	--->'''Roger:''' Hey, the stock today raised up a point! Time for some champagne!
220	--->'''Andy:''' ''(facepalming)'' With only a net loss of-
221	--->'''Roger:''' ''(interrupting)'' Who cares about nets? Tennis players! And fishermen! I don't care about nets!
222	** Roger is also [[BaldnessAngst very sensitive about the fact that he's going bald]].
223	* Lampshaded by Frank [[https://www.gocomics.com/luann/2020/03/08 here]] in ''ComicStrip/{{Luann}}''. In fact, the specific comic strip he is pointing to appears to be that ''Luann'' strip itself.
224	* Larry the crocodile from ''ComicStrip/PearlsBeforeSwine''. He is [[TheDitz completely idiotic]], even compared to the rest of Zeeba Zeeba Eata, and he is quite an [[TheAlcoholic Alcoholic]]. Once he didn't even bother to rescue his wife, Patty, when Zebra kidnapped her, and they only got her back when Zebra realized he was only hurting their son Junior.
225	* Wally of ''ComicStrip/StoneSoup'' is another notable aversion. He takes care of the kids as much as his wife, ''and'' he can cook.
226	* Jeremy from ''ComicStrip/{{Zits}}'' sees his father Walt as this. In reality, Walt is perfectly competent at anything he learned during, say, the first half of his life - he just doesn't seem to have bothered to learn anything new since he was in his twenties, making him completely clueless about new technology, modern trends, and anything else that Jeremy considers important.
227	[[/folder]]
228
229	[[folder:Theatre]]
230	* Played to tragicomic effect in Canadian playwright EdRiche's one-man show ''Theatre/PossibleMaps''. While the protagonist's father, a university professor, wasn't ''stupid'' by any means, he was [[AbsentMindedProfessor somewhat scatterbrained at best]] and manic depressive with what looks like a touch of autism at worst. Most of the play revolves around the protagonist reminiscing about what a chore it was for the family to put up with him and his own anxieties about the possibility of inheriting the man's mental frailties.
231	* Old Gobbo in ''Theatre/TheMerchantOfVenice''. This arises partly from the fact that he's [[BlindMistake too blind to recognize his own son]].
232	* The title character of ''Theatre/KingLear'' is a tragic example. The old man is well on his way to senility, asks his daughters before the court how much they love him, and is enraged when his youngest daughter Cordelia replies, "As much as a daughter should"--which, as she explains in a subsequent monologue, means she loves him so much despite his flaws that she's willing to remain unmarried so she can continue to care for him. Instead she's banished from court and marries the King of France and things go downhill.
233	[[/folder]]
234
235	[[folder:Video Games]]
236	* Asura from ''VideoGame/AsurasWrath'' was like this before being betrayed. Unlike most of the other examples, however, this isn't out of actual idiocy: Since his Mantra is that of [[UnstoppableRage Wrath]], he's so angry about almost everything that the only parenting he knows is of the two-step variety: 1) Find reason daughter is crying. 2) Apply punch to the face of said reason.
237	* Boggy from ''VideoGame/BanjoKazooie'' is a polar bear who is utterly incompetent at parenting. In the original game, he abandons his kids at Christmas to go sled racing, leaving Banjo and Kazooie to find their missing presents. In ''Banjo-Tooie'', he has given up sled racing to watch his big-screen television set, leaving his wife to take his kids to [[AmusementParkOfDoom the Witchyworld amusement park]], and Banjo and Kazooie to round them up for her.
238	* Wally Warbles from ''VideoGame/{{Cuphead}}'' is an interesting example. He's shown as short-tempered and aggressive, but he's not exactly bumbling, being as tough a boss as the others in the game. His unnamed child mentions the two of them "bringing the pain" together and doesn't seem to be ashamed of him. Despite this, Wally still shows signs of incompetence, most namely during his bullet hell phase, in which he strains himself to the point of losing his breath.
239	* ''VideoGame/{{Octodad}}'', who due to being an invertebrate creature with poor motor controls has difficulties performing tasks that would be otherwise simple for human beings ([[CutscenePowerToTheMax at least in gameplay]]).
240	%%* The Irresponsible Dad in ''VideoGame/HappyWheels''.
241	* Jun Kurosu's father, Akinari Kashihara, in ''VideoGame/Persona2: Innocent Sin'', which contributed to his divorce, and lead to [[spoiler:young Jun's embarrassed lies about his father, which created a shadow copy of Akinari that Nyarlathotep took over]]. Somewhat de-Bumbled in the second half of P2, ''Eternal Punishment'', enough to at least keep his marriage intact.
242	* ''VideoGame/Persona4'': Ryotaro Dojima downplays this. While he isn't a totally incompetent parent, he still feels he's not doing good at raising his daughter Nanako on his own after his wife's death. The protagonist can help Dojima reconnect with Nanako in both their [[RelationshipValues Social Links]]. Sadly, he does play this trope straight later on, but in a very tragic light. [[spoiler:Once he suspects the protagonist of being involved with the murders, Dojima takes him to the police station to question him, while leaving Nanako alone at the house, which makes it very easy for Taro Namatome to kidnap her, throw her into the TV World, and much later [[note]]Provided the protagonist makes the right choices[[/note]], permanent death.]]
243	%%* VideoGame/ViewtifulJoe's father, Jet Black.
244	[[/folder]]
245
246	[[folder:Web Animation]]
247	* Pop of ''WebAnimation/HappyTreeFriends''. It's usually fatal for Cub when he's DistractedByTheShiny. He means well, but he doesn't exactly live in a world that pities mistakes or oversights. (Or seemingly safe and sensible decisions for that matter.)
248	* Tucker from ''WebAnimation/{{Anon\|Machinima}}'', especially in Season 6. His sexual health advice to teenage son Connor is especially awkward. Don't be silly, wrap your willy.
249	* Martin Blyndeff from ''WebAnimation/EpithetErased'' is a {{deconstructed}} case. Martin is an incompetent, forgetful ManChild of a father. This is portrayed as a serious character flaw rather than an endearing trait, as his constant mess-ups are shown to seriously affect his daughters, with his bumblyness being more like ParentalNeglect, if not outright [[AbusiveParents abuse]]. In the very first episode, he forgets to pick up Molly from a field trip, leaving her alone in a museum at night, his irresponsability forces Molly and Lorelai to run his shop in his stead (and due to his lack of disciplining, Lorelai ends up pushing most of the work onto Molly, causing her great stress), and his frivolous spending results in his daughters being malnourished as they can't afford proper food. This results in him being treated as a HateSink by the narrative.
250	[[/folder]]
251
252	[[folder:Webcomics]]
253	* In ''Webcomic/ElGoonishShive'', Mr. Verres seemed like this initially with such blunders as [[http://www.egscomics.com/?date=2002-05-27 telling Tedd that Grace is infertile in her half-squirrel form]] and [[http://www.egscomics.com/?date=2006-02-13 agreeing to foot the pizza bill for 8 teenagers]]. However, he eventually subverted this starting [[http://www.egscomics.com/index.php?id=1020 here]].
254	* A recurring theme in ''I Harth Darth'' was [[Franchise/StarWars Darth Vader]] being a well-intentioned but understandably awkward dad to Luke and Leia.
255	* Ben Winchester's father in ''Webcomic/{{Loserz}}''. See [[http://the-qlc.com/loserz/go/523 this strip]]
256	* [[SubvertedTrope Subverted]] in ''Webcomic/PennyAndAggie'' with Aggie's father Nick, a widower who is intelligent, compassionate, and wise, and with whom Aggie has a close relationship. [[LampshadeHanging Lampshaded]] in the first chapter, when Penny fails to trick him into allowing her access to Aggie's diary and thinks, "Why can't he be clueless like every other dad?"
257	* Noah in ''Webcomic/{{Rebirth}}'' can be this during his particularly bad attempts to be kind to Neo. Like trying to be nice and inviting him to breakfast...while forgetting it was also his birthday.
258	* In ''Webcomic/ZeusGodlyGoodtime'', Zeus is a well-meaning but [[AmazinglyEmbarrassingParents very embarrassing]] father to [[VideoGame/GodOfWar Kratos]].
259	[[/folder]]
260
261	[[folder:Web Video]]
262	* In what fellow troper Creator/BishopBarron calls "The Homer Simpson Effect," popular works like ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' and ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'' depict fathers as boorish, stupid, and unvirtuous to make the women in the family look better. While he understands this as a {{Deconstruction}} of patriarchal norms, the Bishop cites Creator/{{Aristotle}} to argue that women can be virtuous without relegating good fathers to the trash heap.
263	* ''WebVideo/{{Dad}}'''s heart is bigger than his head; he means well, but he embarrasses Daughter, struggles to have any sort of authority, and is generally a goof.
264	[[/folder]]
265
266	[[folder:Web Original]]
267	* Teddy Almanzor from ''Podcast/LessIsMorgue'' is Riley's tiny, ineffectual father. He doesn't even believe that Evelyn exists, and doesn't seem to fully understand what a podcast even is.
268	[[/folder]]
269
270	[[folder:Western Animation]]
271	* ''WesternAnimation/TheAdventuresOfJimmyNeutronBoyGenius'': Hugh Neutron. Many times, Hugh would screw up one of Jimmy's inventions.
272	* ''WesternAnimation/AdventureTime'': Hunson Abadeer is Satan in this universe. When it comes to Marceline his daughter, he reverts into a light parody of the trope.
273	* ''WesternAnimation/TheAmazingWorldOfGumball'':
274	** Gumball and Anais' dad Richard; in fact, he's such a bumbling dad, it's even shown that ''[[EnforcedTrope the universe literally falls apart]]'' when he gets a job. By contrast, his wife Nicole is a neat freak perfectionist to the extreme, though since [[{{Workaholic}} she actually enjoys being busy all the time]] it works out fine for the most part. The show actually explains why he's like that: after [[DisappearedDad his father abandoned him and his mother]], she became extremely overprotecive of him, not allowing him to do anything and as such led him to become a complete moron.
275	** Banana Bob, who is Banana Joe's father. Banana Barbara could also count as a [[GenderInvertedTrope Bumbling Mom]] since she's as stupid as her husband and son.
276	* ''WesternAnimation/AsToldByGinger'': [[DeconstructedTrope Jonas is an example of how this trope can affect children in real life]]. Jonas left the family years prior to the series and only recently began trying to reconnect with them despite seeming borderline incapable of keeping his word. One kid sees him through rose-colored glasses and wants him and their mother to get back together so they can be a happy family ([[BrokenPedestal and is later sobered up to the reality]]), the other is bitter and resentful at being abandoned, and both children seem to have issues with trust linked to their father's lack of reliability. To top it off, Jonas is very aware of how much of a flake he is and eventually gives his ex-wife away to a second husband who is far more reliable than he was.
277	* ''WesternAnimation/{{Bluey}}'': Bluey's father Bandit is a very {{downplayed}} case; although Bandit tends be goofy and act quite brashly at times, a lot of his bumbling tends to come from his [[CompetitionFreak competitive nature]] or sheer bad lucky than any lack of wit or common sense. He is overall portrayed as being a lot more down-to-earth and understanding than most other examples of this trope. He's also a highly competent dad and can even be a StealthMentor at times through the games he plays with his daughters.
278	* ''WesternAnimation/{{Bunnicula}}'': Mina's single dad, Arthur Monroe. Despite the fact that he's a [[GoodParents good father]] to Mina, he's barely aware of his surroundings. For example, he thinks Mina's thirteenth birthday is her third birthday, and when Bunnicula creates a bunch of Mina clones, the only thing he notices wrong is that the clones served him pancakes instead of waffles for breakfast, rather than the fact that there's only supposed to be one Mina.
279	* ''WesternAnimation/{{Clarence}}'': The titular character doesn't live with his dad, but his stepfather Chad can play this role, being a total ManChild.
280	* ''WesternAnimation/CodenameKidsNextDoor'': Monty Uno is the most prominent parent of the main characters, and his various quirks are a constant source of embarrassment to his son Nigel/Numbuh 1. [[spoiler:In the BigDamnMovie, it's revealed that he is in fact Numbuh 0, a legendary hero to the KND, and his bungling nature are a result of [[LaserGuidedAmnesia decommisioning]].]]
281	%%* ''WesternAnimation/CowAndChicken's'' Dad who is more insane than bumbling. Mom too.
282	* ''WesternAnimation/DannyPhantom'': Jack Fenton. One good look at him and you can tell he's not meant to be treated seriously... at least until he [[LetsGetDangerous gets dangerous]] (especially when [[PapaWolf his family is at risk]]). He is also something of a GeniusDitz, having invented at least half the Fenton gadgets, which go between being useless (The Fenton Ghost Gabber) and [[GoneHorriblyRight working a little]] ''[[GoneHorriblyRight too]]'' [[GoneHorriblyRight well]]. (Fenton Ghost Catcher, Ghost Peeler, Ectxo-Skeleton).
283	%%* ''WesternAnimation/{{Daria}}'': Jake Morgendorffer, who [[{{Flanderization}} grew increasingly clownish]] as the series progressed.
284	* ''WesternAnimation/DextersLaboratory'': Both parents, though their primary flaw was being clueless to ''Dexter's Laboratory'' (and he has a memory erasing gun, so it's more like they look stupid by comparison to their supergenius son.) Also, Dexter's father turns out to be a stunt biker when his job is finally revealed (up to then, he left every day dressed for an office job), making him much cooler and more competent than the typical example.
285	* ''WesternAnimation/DinosaurTrain'':
286	** {{Downplayed}} with Mr. ''Pteranodon''. While he's by no means an idiot, he's prone to getting flustered (such as when he meets his favourite dinoball player), and his [[SitcomArchNemesis rivalry]] with Larry ''Lambeosaurus'' gets him into trouble a few times.
287	** Larry ''Lambeosaurus'' is a straight example. He's very, very stupid. In one episode, he gets stuck in a mud put because he insists he can reach a few leaves hanging above it; and in another, he thinks all animals are dinosaurs.
288	* ''WesternAnimation/ElTigre'': The title chracter's father Rondolfo Rivera, AKA the legendary hero White Pantera, isn't as bumbling as most examples, but he comes off as way too goody-goody, especially for his AntiHero son and CardCarryingVillain papi.
289	* ''WesternAnimation/TheFairlyOddParents'': Cosmo and Mr. Turner. The show is fair enough to show that Mrs. Turner isn't that much brighter... That may explain Timmy. It should also be noted how Wanda used to be not much brighter than Cosmo, who had gone through severe {{Flanderization}}, and in fact in the pilot episode, they describe themselves as "two halves of a whole idiot".
290	** Practically all the dads ([[ManChild and adults, for that matter]]) are bumbling. Special mention goes to Chester's dad.
291	** And in one episode Mr. Crocker. Ironically, despite normally being a ChildHater, he's shown to [[EvenEvilHasStandards genuinely]] [[TookALevelInKindness care]] for [[strike:Denzel Jr.]] [[strike:DJ]] Poof. Though, his parental skills are quite questionable since Crocker tried to teach him how to shave in total darkness and how to drive... despite the latter being an infant.
292	* ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'': Peter Griffin is often this at best while being a PsychopathicManchild at his worst.
293	* ''WesternAnimation/TheFlintstones'': Both Fred and Barney were bumbling dads when Pebbles and Bamm-Bamm came along. They'd been bumbling husbands since the start of the show, though, so it wasn't really new for them.
294	* ''WesternAnimation/{{Freakazoid}}'': Dexter's father takes it to [[TheDitz ditz levels]]. When imprisoned, he can't even learn to do ''tally marks'' correctly.
295	* WesternAnimation/{{Goofy}}: In ''WesternAnimation/GoofTroop'', ''WesternAnimation/AGoofyMovie'' and, earlier, in [[WesternAnimation/ClassicDisneyShorts his '50s cartoon shorts]] where he attempted to play a Standard50sFather named George Geef. A perfect example of this trope in action is "Father's Day Off", in which Goofy, as Geef, [[ADayInHerApron assumes his wife's duties while she goes out for the day]]. However, it's easy to forgive Goofy for being bumbling as a family man, because bumbling has always been part of his overall personality.
296	** WesternAnimation/{{Pete}} can also be a fairly bumbling dad on ''Goof Troop'' depending on the episode and has more of the stereotypical traits such as laziness and gluttony, but generally speaking, he's actually ''[[AbusiveParents worse]]'', with most of his "bumbling" coming in non-parenting forms such as [[DidNotThinkThisThrough not thinking through his schemes]].
297	** While on the subject of classic Disney characters, [[WesternAnimation/PlutoThePup Pluto]] can also be seen as this in a handful of shorts where he becomes a father to at least one or more puppies, such as in "Pluto's Quin-Puplets" and "Pluto, Junior".
298	* ''WesternAnimation/TheGrimAdventuresOfBillyAndMandy'': Billy's dad. Like his son, he often doesn't care about anything and has a small IQ. Interestingly he was originally the more sane member of the family due to his wife's mental breakdown around Grim, then Flanderization hit in.
299	-->'''Mandy:''' I guess we know which side of the family Billy got his ''brain'' from...
300	* ''WesternAnimation/HazbinHotel'': Lucifer Morningstar (yes, ''that'' [[{{Satan}} Lucifer]]) is shown to be this when it comes to his daughter, Charlie.
301	* ''WesternAnimation/{{Hilda}}'': Hilda’s father Anders is this: he’s a freedom-loving explorer, who constantly gets into risky misadventures on air, and is bad at sticking to timetables and paperwork. While he’s absent for most of Hilda’s life, he does love her dearly and the two have a good relationship. In the finale he eventually settles in Trolberg to make up for his previous neglect and be in her life more.
302	* ''WesternAnimation/InsideJob2021'': Deconstructwed by Rand Ridley. On the surface, he's a perfect example of this trope: a lazy, hedonistic stoner who mooches off of and constantly embarrasses his daughter Reagan with his {{ZanyScheme}}s, but seems to genuinely love her. However, his erratic behavior is the result of decades of hard drinking and drug use that have been unchecked, and it becomes gradually clear that he's an abusive father who genuinely abused Reagan throughout her childhood and serves as a constant toxic influence on her. It culminates in the first season finale, which reveals [[spoiler:he erased her OnlyFriend from her memory so he could force her to [[GradeSkipper skip grades]] so he could fast-track her to success]], making it clear he only ever saw her as a meal ticket at best.
303	%%* George from ''WesternAnimation/TheJetsons'' is quite bumbling.
304	* ''WesternAnimation/JohnnyTest'': Zig-zagged with Johnny's dad Hugh. Although he runs an EXTREMELY tight ship when it comes to his family's manners, responsibilities, and keeping the house clean (the latter of which borders on OCD), he's often shown to be wholly incompetant in matters outside the domestic sphere. His attempts at maintianing control are flauted more often than obeyed, and even his workaholic businesswoman wife thinks his obesessions go too far sometimes.
305	* ''WesternAnimation/KimPossible'': Downplays this trope with Kim's father, who is a rocket scientist and is more an AbsentMindedProfessor than a real bumbling dad, and who has often dispatched sage advice, even if he does still refer to her as "Kimmy-cub". Ron's Dad, on the other hand, once showed up in public wearing a cape.
306	** There have been times when he bumbled due to being distracted when he's advising Kim. Like that time he accidentally launched a rocket ahead of schedule when talking to Kim on the phone.
307	%%* Sylvester of ''WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes'' is this to Sylvester Jr.
308	* ''WesternAnimation/TheLoudHouse'': Not just the father, but both parents seem to shift between this, being GoodParents, and ParentsAsPeople, depending on the episode.
309	* ''WesternAnimation/MilesFromTomorrowland'': Downplayed with Leo Callisto; he may be a bit more laid-back and goofy than his wife Phoebe, but he's certainly no idiot.
310	* ''WesternAnimation/MollyOfDenali'': Subverted with Walter. While he is goofy, he's no idiot as he is very talented with machines. He is overall a competent worker and father to Molly.
311	* ''WesternAnimation/OhYeahCartoons'': The short "That's My Pop" starred a ChildProdigy bear girl named Naomi whose father was a complete imbecile who could barely read.
312	%%* Bob Oblong from ''WesternAnimation/TheOblongs''.
313	%% * ''WesternAnimation/PeppaPig'''s Daddy Pig is a rare preschool kid's show example.
314	* ''WesternAnimation/PhineasAndFerb'': Lawrence Fletcher, while neither dumb nor irresponsible nor lazy, can be quite dorky and is also extremely laid-back and mellow when it comes to everything. He's also completely useless when it comes to Candace's quest to bust her brothers, as his reaction to their insane exploits ranges from mild confusion to approval.
315	%%** Dr. Doofenshmirtz is also a glaring example of this trope, highlighted [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SC_LyOxiQ88&feature=related In Vanessa's song]].
316	* ''Franchise/ThePowerpuffGirls'': Professor Utonium, despite having a talent for science and inventing, as well as his unconditional loving nature to his three superheroic little girls, still falls victim to this trope, [[AdultsAreUseless because almost every adult in Townsville is an idiot for the sake of plot]]. Not helping the case is when you consider the context that he's the only adult, the only male, and the only non-superpowered member of the Utonium family.
317	* ''WesternAnimation/TheProudFamily.'' Oscar Proud is an unsuccessful inventor of snack foods. He regularly engages in, and loses, competitions with his {{Rival}} "The Wizard." He is the frequent victim of cartoon-slapstick mishaps. His mother, the [[CoolOldLady cool grandmother]] Suga Mama, insults him constantly. And to top it all off, many episodes portray him foolishly overprotective of his daughter Penny.
318	* ''WesternAnimation/ReadyJetGo'': Carrot is this due to being very silly and often clueless compared to his wife. However, he provides helpful information to the kids and is a great baker, making this thankfully downplayed. It helps that Celery is also goofy at times.
319	%%* Dick Daring in ''WesternAnimation/TheReplacements''.
320	* ''WesternAnimation/RickAndMorty'': [[Characters/RickAndMortyJerrySmith Jerry Smith]] is a rather dark deconstruction of this trope. He's not especially bright even when compared to his kids, but his wife is a great deal smarter than him and his father-in-law is an outright OmnidisciplinaryScientist. His incompetence and relative lack of intelligence do provide some comedy, but they've also left him extremely insecure, resentful of his entire family, and have caused some severe problems with his marriage.
321	* ''WesternAnimation/Rugrats1991'':
322	** Stu Pickles is a downplayed example. He's good-natured, loves to invent, and has a child-like personality. He builds toys for income but said toys can be hit or miss depending on how well they work. He may not be the brightest dad, but is still helpful to his wife and two sons in many ways, and he loves them all very much. He is also an equally loving uncle to his niece Angelica (even if he and Didi have to discipline her for her bratty behavior).
323	** Chas Finster is a kind, well-meaning man, but is also clumsy, awkward, absent-minded, and frequently a HorribleJudgeOfCharacter.
324	* ''WesternAnimation/SanjayAndCraig'': Vijay Patel is more of a dork rather than an outright idiot.
325	* ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'':
326	** The page image, quote source, and TropeCodifier himself, Homer Simpson is almost certainly the most iconic example of this trope - an [[AlcoholicParent alcoholic]], lazy, disgusting, [[ItsAllAboutMe self-centered]], insensitive, occasionally [[AbusiveParents abusive]] TooDumbToLive JerkAss who constantly neglects his job, for which he is entirely unqualified for, and spends a solid chunk of the series having to haphazardly deal with problems he's caused that puts his family - and occasionally, ''the entire town'' - in danger. That said, [[DependingOnTheWriter although how big of an asshole he is can vary wildly]], one thing that remains relatively consistent is that he [[JerkWithAHeartOfGold does deeply love his family]], is extremely faithful to his wife, and can be one hell of a PapaWolf when the situation calls for it, often to the point of ChronicHeroSyndrome.
327	** Kirk Van Houten (Milhouse's father) is not "bumbling" per se, but has elements of the ExtremeDoormat. Ever since his initial divorce from Luann, and to some extent after they re-connected, he's suffered from an extreme lack of self-confidence, and this effects his ability to accomplish things well or to be taken seriously by others.
328	* ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'': Randy Marsh has [[{{Flanderization}} drifted in this direction]] over the years; in the beginning, he rarely appeared (and the first episode he played a major part in needed him because he was a scientist); now, he usually gets caught up in every stupid fad, and is frequently portrayed as the single dumbest individual in any of the kids' families, while his wife is one of the [[OnlySaneWoman sanest]] ([[AdultsAreUseless ...of the adults, at least]]).
329	* ''WesternAnimation/WordGirl'': Becky Botsford's adoptive father has no idea she's the titular character, and often makes stupid mistakes and screw-ups.
330	** Really, the show has no intelligent adults in it at all. Well... none that aren't also either insane or evil.
331	* ''WesternAnimation/StevenUniverse'': Greg Universe is an interesting example. The Crystal Gems consider him to be this trope, due to his inability to help with many of the dangers and threats that the characters face. However, [[SubvertedTrope as an actual father]], he's a very loving and supportive parent who tries to raise [[HalfHumanHybrid Steven]] as best he can, having built the house Steven lives in (despite living in a van himself), covers their living expenses, and was the one to raise Steven for several years due to the Gems having no concept of child-rearing and Steven's mother Rose Quartz [[DeathByChildbirth giving up her physical form to give Steven her gem]].
332	** ''WesternAnimation/StevenUniverseFuture'' presents a DoubleSubversion for Greg. "Mr. Universe" reveals that he may be a loving parent, but he didn't raise Steven with structure, neglected him of any kind of normalcy, couldn't provide a stable home, a proper education, or even a medical visit for his son. At the end, Steven realizes this and resents him for it.
333	* ''WesternAnimation/TaleSpin'': In a way, Baloo, though he wasn't married to Rebecca, and wasn't Kit's actual father.
334	* ''WesternAnimation/TotalDramaPresentsTheRidonculousRace'': Dwayne is this. He screws up so many times, he and Junior are lucky to get as far as they have.
335	* ''WesternAnimation/TheXs'': Mr. X is your typical bumbling father, who knows 50 ways to destroy a man with his bare hands alone.
336	[[/folder]]

Context Main / BumblingDad