Series / Two Fathers

Two Fathers (兩個爸爸 liang ge baba) is a 2013 Taiwanese Series. It's a Slice of Life Dom Com.

Tang Xiangxi and Wen Zhenhua both dated the same girl and was notified when she gave birth to a baby girl and disappeared. Not knowing who the father was, the two bachelors decided to raise the baby together. The show picks up when Wendi is 7 years old.

Not to be confused with Papa And Daddy (a Taiwanese 2021 show about actually gay parents) or My Two Dads (an American 1987 series with a similar premise).

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Tropes

• Abhorrent Admirer: Ms Jia to Zhenhua.
• Abuse Mistake: Ms. Fang accuses Xiangxi of "taking advantage of me." Her brother freaks out upon hearing this, and they both quickly assure him it's fine—she means taking advantage of her financially, not sexually. His car was hit twice (once by her, once by someone else) and he's trying to get her to foot the bill for both repairs.
• Bumbling Dad: Downplayed Trope. At his worst, Xiangxi is this. Usually he's better.
  Zhenhua: I'm fine with taking care of things while you play with the kid. But have some sense of responsibility! When will you grow up? I don't want to take care of two children, okay?
• Establishing Character Moment: The family goes to store. Zhenhua says no junk food treats allowed. Xiangxi and Wendi use Puppy-Dog Eyes to convinces him to buy some.
• Friends Turned Romantic Rivals: First, Zhenhua and Xiangxi were friends. Then both were simultaneous dating Wenwen, without the knowledge of the other. Then Wenwen decided to Dump Them All and disappeared, leaving her daughter of indeterminate paternity with the two men. The men pick up the pieces, restore their friendship, raise their daughter together, and decide to adhere to Bros Before Hoes from here on out.
• House Husband: Zhenhua plays this role. He takes care of cleaning the apartment and feeding the family. He works as well, but as a florist he makes less money and has more flexible hours than Xiangxi who's a lawyer and the main breadwinner for the family.
• Homoerotic Subtext: Zhenhua and Xiangxi live together, have a daughter together, function like a couple, and have very married sounding conversations. Most people assume they're a gay couple. Sometimes they correct that assumption, while other times they play along or even lean into it.
  • Episode 3
    Xiangxi: Did Zhenhua give you these flowers? Don't misunderstand. It doesn't mean anything else but his gratitude.
    Ms. Fang: Do you mind that I accepted the flowers, or are you jealous that he gave them to me?
    Xiangxi: That's right. He… is my man. Do you understand now?
• I Need to Go Iron My Dog: Zhenhua scrambles to find an errand to get Xiangxi out of the house so he won't see his long lost father visiting.
  Zhenhua: There are no more eggs for breakfast tomorrow. Go get some.
  Xiangxi: Eggs? I don't want eggs.
  Zhenhua: No, no no! It's… We ran out of milk as well. Go on quickly.
  Xiangxi: Milk? I bought milk a couple days ago.
  Zhenhua: No. You didn't put it back in the fridge and it has gone bad. I've told you so many times you should put it back into—
• A Minor Kidroduction: To set up the premise, the pilot episode opens on the day Wendi is born, followed by a quick montage of the family in the following years. Then the story really opens when she's 7 years old, and the dads are well established in their routine of raising her together.
• Odd Couple: Xiangxi is a goofy but successful attorney, and Zhenhua is a quiet florist.
• Platonic Co-Parenting: The premise of the show is that Xiangxi and Zhenhua are not a couple, but overall function much like one, living together with their shared daughter. They are routinely mistaken for a couple. On the day Wendi was born, Xiangxi and Zhenhua talk about doing a DNA test to determine paternity, but it appears they never actually went through with that. They vehemently asset they're both her "real father." Xiangxi is "Daddy" (爹地 diedi) and Zhenhua is "Papa" (爸比 babi).
• Puppy-Dog Eyes: Wendi uses them to argue to Xiangxi that they should keep the cat.
• Red Oni, Blue Oni: When Wendi gets into a fight at school, Xiangxi is ready to get angry and aggressive to defend her. Zhenhua keeps his temper and reminds Xiangxi they need to set a good example for Wendi.
• Secret Test of Character: episode 2
  Xiangxi: I thought you were a hot-headed teacher without her own opinion who only catered to parents. But now I know that you really care about your students. You even argue with their parents. I trust you to take care of Wendi now.
  Ms. Fang: What do you mean? So you did all that on purpose?
• Single Parents Are Undesirable: Inverted Trope. Overall, Xiangxi and Zhenhua demonstrating themselves as caring, attentive fathers makes them more attractive to women, not less.
• Sleep Cute: In episode 1, Wendi and her dads stay up late getting her summer homework done last-minute, and all fall asleep together on the couch.