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My Two Dads

My Two Dads was a comedy series that ran on TV from 1987 to 1990.

Marcy Bradford, mother to twelve year-old Nicole, passes away, leaving Nicole to live with her father. Trouble is, Marcy was dating two different men when Nicole was conceived, and she never knew which was the father. DNA testing was not yet available, and the blood typing was inconclusive.

The obvious solution is for Nicole to live with both men. This is suggested to be what Nicole's mother wanted, so that Nicole could benefit from each dad's best traits: one man is sensible and organized, while the other is artistic and carefree.

A few years into the series, DNA testing became available. Nicole got tested, but decided not to look at the results, preferring to live with both dads and never knowing which was biologically her father.

This series provides examples of:

All Work vs. All Play
...And That Little Girl Was Me: Subverted. Nichole is worried about going to the prom, and Judge Margaret tells her about another teenage girl who was teased at her prom. When Nichole asks what the girl did, the judge says she destroyed the other girls with her psychic powers.
Nichole: Wasn't that Carrie?
Margaret: It's all I've got. I was really popular at school.
Children Raise You: Both men, but especially Joey have to grow up and try and be responsible parents to Nicole.
Daddy DNA Test: They throw it away without looking at it.
Daddy's Girl: Nicole. Having only father figures around makes it sort of hard not to be a Daddy's Girl.
Dead Artists Are Better: Joey decides to take advantage of an erroneous report of his death to mass-produce a bunch of paintings and sell them at huge mark-ups.
Disguised in Drag: In the third-season episode "Kind of a Drag", Michael poses as Joey's wife to get rid of a pesky woman and accidentally becomes the object of desire for one of Nicole's male teachers.
Do It Yourself Theme Tune: Greg Evigan (Joey) co-wrote and performed the theme song "You Can Count On Me."
Has Two Mommies
Luke, I Might Be Your Father
Not What It Looks Like: One episode has the dads walk in on Nichole and Cory (the geeky one of her two not-boyfriends). Cory shouts out "It's not how it looks!" then adds: "Actually, how does it look?"
- This trope was used a great deal with Joey and Michael, also. The writers seemed to really enjoy throwing them together in homoerotic situations that someone could easily misinterpret.
Odd Couple: Michael and Joey
Reports of My Death Were Greatly Exaggerated: One episode has a typo in an obituary causing everyone to think Joey was dead.
Sink or Swim Fatherhood
Starving Artist: Joey, as Michael will remind him.
Theme Tune Cameo: Greg Evigan (see Do It Yourself Theme Tune) sang it on screen in "The Wedge."
Who's Your Daddy?: The show's central concept.