Line #7 PlayingWith/BumblingDad


1	'''Basic Trope''': A comically incompetent father in a DomCom.
2	* '''Straight''': Bob means well, but he often grabs the IdiotBall and gets his wife Alice and their children Carol and Danny into all sorts of [[NiceJobBreakingItHero misadventures with him]]. He is also a very flawed [[ThisLoserIsYou (yet sympathetic)]] individual.
3	* '''Exaggerated''': Bob is an incompetent {{manchild}} who is TooDumbToLive. His wife and kids are [[AmazinglyEmbarrassingParents embarrassed]] to be around him.
4	* '''Downplayed''':
5	** The family share possession of the IdiotBall pretty fairly, but Bob carries the most.
6	** Bob sometimes makes stupid mistakes every now and then, but when disaster strikes, he is [[StandardFiftiesFather the one who protects his family]].
7	** Because of RuleOfFunny, Bob occasionally trips and misinterprets things (and the results get out of control), but he is still [[TheSmartGuy very well-read and professional]] and it's easy to see why he's the primary bread-winner of the family.
8	* '''Justified''':
9	** Unfortunately, [[ManChild emotional maturity]] and common sense are not (and never have been) prerequisites for parenthood.
10	** Bob's family is a rather DysfunctionalFamily.
11	* '''Inverted''':
12	** Bob is a StandardFiftiesFather.
13	** Bob is a hard-working househusband with a [[DeadpanSnarker snarky]], [[SarcasmMode sarcastic attitude]] and Alice is a [[TheDitz ditzy, disoriented]] mother, who sits around, [[TheAlcoholic drinking wine]] and watching TV, instead of providing for her family.
14	** Bob is TheSmartGuy and the plots of the series revolve around how the rest of his family [[TooIncompetentToOperateABlanket can't follow his instructions to literally save their lives]].
15	* '''Gender Inverted''': Alice is MaternallyChallenged.
16	* '''Subverted''': Bob seems dumb, but that was ObfuscatingStupidity.
17	* '''Double Subverted''':
18	** But it turns out, he was really that dumb. When he seemed smart, he was FeigningIntelligence.
19	** Bob really is a genius. However, he is an AbsentMindedProfessor who still needs a CloudcuckoolandersMinder to function.
20	** Bob is a GeniusDitz and his moment of intelligence corresponded to his being asked a question in his area of expertise.
21	* '''Parodied''': [[WomenAreWiser Alice]] ends up [[ParentingTheHusband parenting Bob]] more often than [[FreeRangeChildren her kids]].
22	* '''Zig-Zagged''': Bob is a very loving and attentive father, and he's also extremely good at his job and is an excellent provider. The problem is that he's also as stubborn as a mule when it comes to trying to fix something himself when it breaks down, rather than calling a professional. [[DoomItYourself On those occasions, his competence flies completely out the window.]]
23	* '''Averted''': Bob is a competent father.
24	* '''Enforced''':
25	** "[[Series/TheWaltons All]] [[Series/LeaveItToBeaver those]] [[Series/TheBradyBunch perfect]] DomCom families on TV ... [[SickeninglySweet they make me sick]]! I'll make a DysfunctionalFamily, with a [[TheFool blithering]] [[TheDitz idiot]] as its head!"
26	** One of the parents needs to be somewhat on the ball for the sake of ConservationOfCompetence, and you want the characterisations to be relatively consistent rather than a constant game of IdiotBall. You know that every time the dad is shown to be somehow "superior" to the mom, you'll have a protracted battle with the MoralGuardians, but [[DoubleStandard not so the other way around]]. What are you gonna do?
27	* '''Lampshaded''': "He's like all those bumbling dads you see in sitcoms."
28	* '''Invoked''': Alice specifies in her Lonely Hearts ad that she's looking for a ManChild with whom to settle down and raise kids.
29	* '''Exploited''': Bob deliberately makes it look like he can't do anything right around the house so he doesn't have to.
30	* '''Defied''':
31	** Alice breaks up with Bob when she sees that he is too immature to raise a family, and not likely to change any time soon.
32	** Alternately, Bob decides, "Enough fooling around; I'm expecting kids soon," and spends more time with Alice. He also learns basic household chores from her.
33	** "You're going to be a competent father even if I have to keep [[ShotgunWedding this damn shotgun]] pointed at your head for the rest of your days, [[PapaWolf son]]!"
34	* '''Discussed''': "I hope Bob Jr. doesn't inherit his dad's bumbling tendencies. It'd be a real hassle when we're married."
35	* '''Conversed''': "Seriously? Another bumbling dad show? I'd like to see a competent, take-charge father on a sitcom for a change."
36	* '''Deconstructed''': Bob's stupidity and lack of responsibility has a decisively negative effect on his children and his wife, leading to the [[BigScrewedUpFamily breakdown]] of the (presumably already dysfunctional) family. In the end, Alice questions [[WhatDoesSheSeeInHim what she even saw in him]] in the first place and sues for a divorce.
37	* '''Reconstructed''': Bob is dumb and irresponsible, but he sincerely loves his family and is capable of stepping up when it's important.
38	* '''Played for Drama''': Bob's mistakes and selfishness negatively affect his family.
39	* '''Played for Laughs''': Bob's mistakes are why HilarityEnsues in this story. He probably earns a living as a clown for hire because it's the best he can do with his ineptitude ... and he's a runaway success at that.
40	* '''Played for Horror''': Bob is not just a {{Manchild}}, but a ''PsychopathicManchild'', LethallyStupid and actively hates being tied down. His family fears the day he will somehow get them all killed and the last thing they will ever hear on Earth will be something along the lines of "[[Series/FamilyMatters Did I do that?]]"
41	* '''Implied''': Bob is referred to alongside his more accomplished wife and children in a MyFriendsAndZoidberg manner.
42	* '''Plotted A Good Waste''': Billy the angst-filled teenage son continually dismisses his father as the biggest pile of incompetence and clumsiness to have ever walked the Earth this side of WesternAnimation/{{Goofy}}, but then [[TheReveal it turns out]] that every time Bob has appeared in the series so far as a bumbling dad is [[Series/KevinCanFuckHimself Billy having a "sitcom" hallucination]] and the "real world" version of Bob is not only a competent man, he [[ThroughTheEyesOfMadness is getting increasingly worried about what is happening in Billy's head ever since that car crash five years ago]].
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46	%% Optional items, added after Conversed, at your discretion:

Context PlayingWith / BumblingDad