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Well Done Son Guy / Live-Action TV

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People desperately seeking parental approval in Live-Action TV series.

  • Against the Wall: Has both Donnie and Abby searching for ways to gain their father's approval and pride during different parts of the show. Abby, in particular, has a strained relationship with her senior uniform-cop father since joining the Internal Affairs division as a detective.
  • Angel:
    • Wesley goes through the same rigamarole with what turns out to be his father's Evil Imposter in "Lineage". But the impersonation was perfect because Wesley's real father is that bad — both as a father and as a ruthless asshole. It was previously mentioned that he locked Wesley under the stairs. And let's not forget their phone conversation in "Belonging"; Wes calls up his dad, hoping for his approval now that he's become the leader of Angel Investigations, but dear ol' Dad only cares about when, what, and how he'll screw up next.
    • Angel himself clearly feels this about his strict father. One of the first things he did after becoming a vampire was to kill his father, thinking this would prove who had the real power. Darla points out that because Angel killed him, his father would never be able to approve of him.
    • In "Somnambulist", Angelus later sired an enthusiastic but unimaginative protege named Penn who re-enacted the murder of his family over the centuries over the issue.
    • In a deliberate parallel to Angel, Kate Lockley is implied to have had a strained relationship with her father. While not a cruel man, her father never showed her any approval or affection after her mother died — Kate recalls that as a child, she found more parental affection in the mother of one of her girlfriends. Her father never even told her "a beautiful lie" (ie: Heaven) to comfort her after her mother's death. It's implied that she became a policewoman to follow in his footsteps, but rarely received more than curt acknowledgment from him.
      • In "Sense and Sensitivity", the Sensitivity Training Guy with his magic stick causes her to have a breakdown and express her feelings about this at his retirement party. He finds this deeply embarrassing and files it under 'We Shall Never Speak Of This Again.' Later he dies without ever having formally approved of her. This is not in the least Angel's fault, for once, but it involves vampires and puts the final nail in the coffin of his friendship with Kate until After The Fall.
      • The former episode throws in a weird perspective on Angel's issues re: this trope. This is before the flashback, but Sensitivity Training Guy says "tell me about your parents" and Angel snarls "They were delicious." Sounds like the kind of smack he talks when trying to scare bad guys and actually seems to lower the probability that he killed them, but then it turns out he did, and can make jokes about it. Sick puppy even at his best.
  • Arrested Development:
    • Michael is constantly trying to get his father — who tried to "toughen him up" by shouting down all his ideas — to recognize his accomplishments, while GOB is sick of being in Michael's shadow. Michael gets his father's approval (although it would have been a more touching moment if he weren't on the lam) but GOB doesn't and doesn't deserve to.
    • Michael is so busy trying to save the family company and get his father's approval that he doesn't notice his own son's attempts to gain his approval.
    • With Tobias so focused on his acting dream, his wife Lindsay being a Spoiled Brat, and them being preoccupied with their own rocky relationship, they sometimes forget they have a teenaged daughter Maeby... And Maeby notices.
      Maeby: (trying to get her parents to notice her) Here are the fake airline tickets. If they don't see this, I really might go to South America.
      George Michael: That says 'Portugal'.
      Maeby: (oblivious) That's right.
      Narrator: Maeby's parents didn't see the tickets.
  • In Auction Kings, Elijah learns the auction business at his dad's request. Jon also tends towards this, but not towards his dad, but rather Paul.
  • Battlestar Galactica (2003):
    • Flashbacks in the finale revealed that Dr. Gaius Baltar, resident narcissistic genius, not only tried to overcome his shame of having been born on a farm planet as son of a farmer but had taken his old senile father with him to Caprica and secretly visited him every day, desperately trying to please the cranky old man.
    • The show also features the less common mother-daughter variant of this trope, when Kara Thrace goes to see her mother after earning her commission as a Colonial officer — the first in her family to do so — only to be berated for not graduating higher in her class. The fact that her mother was frequently abusive during her childhood in the belief that Kara had a "special destiny" means their relationship was already....strained.
  • Bering Sea Gold: At the end of Season 3, Steve Pomrenke finally congratulates his son Shawn for his improved gold-catching performance that year, in spite of their normally contentious relationship.
  • The Big Bang Theory:
    • Leonard wants his mother's (near impossible to receive) approval and affection. He's not at all helped in this area by the fact she's more likely to thank his roommate for picking her up from the airport when Leonard is the one driving and she views Leonard's (actually very complex) work as the embodiment of laziness and ripping off others (he works in designing experiments to test hypotheses and validating experiments, which is an extremely important part of science — laziness is coming up with something on the drawing board and thinking you're done without having proved it). To a lesser extent, Penny has some Daddy approval issues, feeling the need to lie to him about still dating Leonard (the only one of her boyfriends he's ever approved of) and feels like he is less accepting of her because she's not a boy and rejects a lot of the tomboy activities she was involved with as a child. Although it's implied that she overblows it a bit and compared to her siblings (who from what we know from mentioned noodle incidents include a brother that makes meth and a sister that once shot her husband) she might just be the golden girl of the family.
    • It also does not help that Leonard's mother is a Distaff Counterpart of Sheldon, making any form of emotional reciprocation practically impossible or done in a way that Leonard did not expect.
  • Boy Meets World: Frankie Stecchino. One episode even revolved around him faking a love of wrestling just to bond with his father.
  • The Big Leap: Justin was kicked out of the house after coming out to his dad, who's never fully processed what Justin went through. When the two come back into each other's lives, Justin lashes out because his father still doesn't understand why dance is important to him and why they have such a fraught relationship.
  • Breaking Bad: Though they're only father and son on a more symbolic level, Walt can be this for Jesse. He has complimented Jesse all of once, and that was to say that his meth is as good as Walt's. It was enough to get Jesse to partner up with him again. Basically, anytime Walter compliments Jesse, especially in later seasons, it's nothing more than a manipulation tactic to keep Jesse on his side.
  • Brooklyn Nine-Nine: Amy Santiago has an obsessive need for approval from Captain Holt, which is often Played for Laughs as she goes to great lengths to impress him.
    • Amy's partner Jake Peralta is also desperate for fatherly approval — early in the series, he wants it from his own father, but after Roger Peralta resurfaces and turns out to be a pretty terrible person, Jake becomes increasingly interested in winning Captain's Holt's approval. In the last episode of Season 3, Holt calls him 'son', which Jake is very happy about.
  • Charite: Georg Tischendorf studies medicine to overtake his father's practice someday, even though he'd rather study arts, gets into a fraternity because his father was a member there once and, when his father tells him that he won't allow him to marry a woman who's studied and works, demands that Ida whom he has courted gives up on her plans.
  • Cheers:
    • Sam's father apparently never once gave Sam praise in his life for anything (even complaining when Sam made him breakfast in bed as a kid). It's left a few scars. The only time he praises Sam is when he's been unknowingly made a patsy by a corporation for their softball team.
    • Frasier offhandedly hints in one episode his own father wasn't much of an emotional presence in his childhood. Frasier would alter some of the details, but the gist remains the same.
  • The Closer: Whenever Chief Brenda Leigh Johnson delivers a rare compliment, whichever member of PHD is being complimented lights up like a supernova.
  • The Colbert Report:
    • Stephen Colbert makes occasional vague references such as "the fathers we can never seem to please." His need for paternal approval appears to have been mostly displaced onto substitutes such as "Papa Bear" Bill O'Reilly.
    • Ironic since Colbert fears and hates bears — a hint at the actor's real opinion of Bill.
  • Community:
    • Pierce Hawthorne is shown to have behavioral issues due to never receiving acceptance from his father.
    • Jeff, too, has several trust issues stemming from his Disappeared Dad.
  • Subverted on Corner Gas. The one and only time Oscar Leroy praises his son, Brent is simply creeped out by his father acting so out-of-character.
  • The female version occurs in The Crown (2016). Phillip sarcastically suggests that Elizabeth only puts up with the grueling duties of Queen to make her father love her as much as Margaret. This clearly struck a nerve in Elizabeth.
  • Will had this with his father to the point that an originally awesome scene in The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air drove him to break down and deliver this heartbreaking moment between him and Uncle Phil.
  • The Daily Show with Jon Stewart: One segment of "Even Steven" concerning the Elián González debacle dealt with Steve Carell's daddy issues. In a weird reversal, considering the aforementioned Colbert Report example, Stephen Colbert roleplayed as Carell's father.
    • And in The Daily Show with Trevor Noah, Ronny Cheng has... a number of issues that come to light in a segment on Virtual Reality.
      Trevor: Oh man, Ronnie, it sounds like nothing's good enough for you, man.
      Ronny: Yeah, I know. Now I know how my dad feels, am I right? (Forced laughter)
  • The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance: Spending his whole life with a living legend for a father has naturally given Rian a bit of a complex, and at the show's start he's obsessed with making his own mark, even if it means forgoing his father's help.
    • Conversely, Seladon is The Dutiful Son to her mother, the All-Maudra, yet feels as though this is taken for granted in comparison to her sisters, particularly the (in her eyes) Cloudcuckoolander sister, Brea.
  • Deadliest Catch: Captain Phil with his sons, Jake and Josh; Captain Jonathan with his son, Scotty; the captains in general to the greenhorns.
    • Sig outright said he considers Jake Anderson as his son.
    • Subverted in Season 6 King Crab with Wild Bill's son, Zack Larson, though it got better as Zack Larson is on the Kodiak for Season 7. Season 8 revealed that Bill didn't think he was pulling his weight, though Zack's tweets seemed to indicate he didn't see anything unusual about it (or at least didn't consider it to be "yelling").
      • Wild Bill: "Zack's a great kid, he just has no balls". Considering Wild Bill's dad was a Marine drill sergeant who was so scary that young Bill would leave as soon as he got home, Bill's concern for his son — who he didn't even want to become a crabber — is positively cuddly. The other captains chime in that their dads were the same (with the addition that their dads would tell everyone but their kids how proud they were of them), although grandfathers tended to be pretty cool.
  • Daredevil (2015): Benjamin "Dex" Poindexter has shades of this. His obsessive perfection of his pitching aim is due to bubbling anger over losing his parents so early on in his childhood. This trope is even in play for Dex's relationship with Wilson Fisk. At the start of Season 3, Dex is bullying Fisk and treating him with disdain. By the end, before their relationship sours, Dex is treating him like a father he fears disappointing.
  • Death in Paradise: Humphrey Goodman. Humphrey's father is convinced that Humphrey is wasting his life playing a game of cops-and-robbers instead of becoming a barrister like him (and his brother). In "Unlike Father, Unlike Son", Humphrey's father comes to the island to convince him to come back home to England for his ex-wife, Sally. Finally having had enough, Humphrey tells his father that he is a very good detective and that he is happier on Saint Marie than he ever was in England and is staying there. After watching his son solve the case, Humphrey's father realises he is happy for him to remain in Saint Marie.
  • Dexter:
    • Debra Morgan had this kind of relationship with her father Harry, even following in his footsteps as a cop to gain his attention. It's not that he wasn't proud of her, but honing her brother Dexter's extra-curricular activities (to which Deb wasn't invited for obvious reasons) meant that he couldn't spend as much time with his daughter.
    • Likewise with Christine Hill, the daughter of Arthur Mitchell/Trinity. She even killed Frank Lundy to gain her father's approval. After she accidentally put him at risk of being discovered, he disowns her. She doesn't take it well.
    • Dexter, too. Everything was to live up to Harry's expectations. When he realizes that a) Harry was using him as an outlet for his own vigilante impulses and b) Harry was deeply revolted by what he'd made him into, to the point of suicide, he...takes it pretty hard.
  • Doctor Who:
    • Rory seemed to have a mild case of this with his father Brian Williams, as seen in "Dinosaurs on a Spaceship". While Brian clearly loves his son, their banter during the episode implies that Brian thought Rory wasn't "manly" enough (didn't carry a trowel in his pockets, was a professional nurse). He also implied that Amy was a better wife than Rory deserved. During the course of the episode, as Brian is accidentally whisked along into one of his son's adventures with the Doctor, he starts to respect Rory more.
    • "Spyfall": It's revealed in Part 2 that Daniel Barton has a very fraught relationship with his mother, who's unimpressed by his achievements in technology and running a hugely powerful MegaCorp. He asks her what he'd have to do to get a "well done" out of her, prompting her to say the phrase in a very sarcastic fashion. It's also implied that she cares less about his success and more about a lack of meaningful communication from him, given that apparently the most effort he's put into their relationship recently was sending her a friend request on Facebook (a social network he hates using).
  • The Drop the Dead Donkey episode "The Day of the Mum" featured Damian's mother, along with home movies of his childhood. It quickly becomes apparent that his Freudian Excuse for being a Jerkass obsessed with fame is getting some kind of acknowledgement from a woman whose Catchphrase is "Ignore him, he's just doing it to get attention."
  • Elementary: Played with in the case of Joan Watson and her mother. She shows hints of this which Sherlock is quick to point out she's dressing for a job interview rather than a brunch with her mother. Subverted in that Joan's mother isn't criticizing her current job occupation because it's not as respectable as a surgeon but because it doesn't make Joan happy. Joan's mother is actually glad that Joan is working with Sherlock because this does make her happy.
  • Competitive Dad in The Fast Show is an extreme version of this sort of parent.
  • For the People has Leonard Knox trying to live up to the standards of his high-profile US Senator mother.
  • Forever: Henry grew up idolizing his father, a man who taught him to live by his principles. He is horrified to learn that his father's shipping company has been transporting slaves, and calls him out on throwing aside his morals when the company was in debt and needed income fast. Henry swears never to take anything from his father again since his wealth was based on slavery. Nevertheless, when Henry's father is dying, and gives Henry his pocketwatch, telling him how proud he is that he raised a son who is a better man than he was, Henry is moved to tears. He accepts the heirloom after his father explains it's been passed down in the family for generations and thus was not from blood money. He may have lost respect for his father, but he still craves his approval.
  • Frasier: The relationship between Frasier, Niles, and Martin has echoes of this; much of Frasier and Niles' Sibling Rivalry exists as a result of their attempts to gain Martin's favour, which, given the near-insurmountable differences in taste and personality between father and sons to begin with, was a difficult task in itself.
  • Friends: Rachel's younger sister Jill shows up after their father cuts her off financially. Jill reports that Dr. Green told her to go learn financial responsibility from Rachel because she's "the one daughter he's actually proud of". Rachel is so delighted to hear that her father is proud of her that she briefly forgets she's supposed to be consoling Jill.
  • There are a couple in Game of Thrones:
    • It's implied that Sam Tarly had this relationship with his father Randyll, at least before he threatened to kill him if he didn't renounce being his heir and join the Night's Watch.
    • Robert Baratheon to Joffrey, despite, of course, unknowingly not being his biological father is a tragic and twisted example in that many of the atrocities Joffrey commits are actually done in a misguided attempt to gain his father's love and respect. Attempting to act tough and manly and instead actually being monstrous is trying to live up to what he believed to be Robert's standards.
    • Balon Greyjoy to Theon. Theon's quest for his father's respect drives him to extremes in Season 2 that completely alienate him from the Starks, only for him to realize too late that the man he should have been trying to emulate was Ned Stark.
    • Tywin Lannister to Jaime, Cersei, and Tyrion, who all seek validation from him that he always fails to provide, instead being quick to highlight their shortcomings, much to their chagrin. Tyrion has a heartbreaking expression when Tywin tells him he's sending him to King's Landing as his substitute because "You're my son." In the books, he's furious with Tywin instead, assuming this means that Tywin is giving Jaime up for dead and is making Tyrion his Replacement Goldfish. This is seen again with Tyrion in the third season premiere when he wants Tywin to acknowledge his successes as Hand of the King and officially name Tyrion the heir to Casterly Rock. Not only does Tywin deny him both but he gives Tyrion a "The Reason You Suck" Speech instead. However, Jaime and Tyrion get over it by the time Tywin presides over a sham trial of Tyrion for Joffrey's murder.
      Tywin: [to Jaime] You are blessed with many abilities few men possess...and what have you done with these blessings, eh? You served as a glorified bodyguard to two kings. One a madman, the other a drunk.
      Tywin: [to Tyrion] You are a low-born, ill-made, spiteful little creature filled with envy, lust, and low cunning.
      Tywin: [to Cersei] I don't distrust you because you are a woman. I distrust you because you are not as smart as you think you are.
    • Roose Bolton to his Bastard Bastard Ramsay Snow, both so that Ramsay can get rid of the stain of being called a "bastard" and because he genuinely cares what his father thinks of him. Eventually, after the capture of Moat Cailin, Roose gives him a "Well Done, Son!" moment by having him legitimized as Ramsay Bolton, during which Ramsay looks like a kid at Christmas.
  • Gilmore Girls: Variation: Lorelai has long since resigned herself to never earning the respect of her parents, though she's pleasantly surprised to finally get it from her father after she helps him set up his new business. In a total reversal, though, she's actually horrified whenever she earns the respect of her mother.
  • The George Lopez Show: When George and Angie decide to kick Jason out of the house (their daughter's then-boyfriend) for his steroid-filled anger, George tells his father, only to find out his father was the one who encouraged Jason to take the drug. Jason returned and comes clean, saying that it was the only way to earn any respect from his father. George relented saying that if even this wasn't enough to gain that recognition, then nothing will.
  • Glee:
    • Blaine too. In "Sexy", he mentions to Kurt's father (who at this point has a healthy, supportive, relationship with his son) that he isn't exactly close with his father and that he felt the reason his father once had him help rebuild a car was that his father thought it would make him straight.
  • In Help! I'm a Teenage Outlaw, Sir John's spoilt son Giles will do anything to gain "Daddy"'s approval. He never succeeds.
  • Heroes:
    • Both Mohinder Suresh and Elle Bishop have sought the approval of their fathers as their driving motivation. Mohinder is trying to prove the theories of his deceased father, while Elle's father sends her out to kill people for him.
    • For all of his wacky murderous brain-stealing shenanigans, it seems all Sylar really wanted from life was the approval of his parents. Then again Sylar has a lot of problems, obviously. So he could have either mommy issues, daddy issues, neither, or both. Though in the past few episodes he has apparently developed his dead mother's personality, going so far as to shapeshift into her (and use her voice) when he's talking to himself. Clever camera angles make this hard to determine but when he's with another character Michah the camera shows him change back and forth. Creeeeeepy.
    • Mohinder and Sylar twitted one another about their daddy issues back in Season 2. Specifically vis-a-vis Chandra Suresh, whom Sylar had temporarily adopted as a surrogate father figure.
  • Played out darkly in Homicide: Life on the Street with one-shot character Chuckie Prentiss. Chuckie has struggled his entire life to win his neglectful and taciturn father's respect after the man dismissed him as a weakling when he nearly drowned during a childhood accident. He finally earns the old man's respect when he browbeats Chuckie into shooting him to put him out of his misery when he's left bedridden by terminal cancer, but Chuckie is left horrified and guilt-ridden by what he had to do to get it.
  • House:
    • In the episode "Son of Coma Guy", House reveals that all he wanted to hear from his abusive, non-biological father were the words, "You were right. You did the right thing."
    • Additionally, Chase fulfills the trope to the extent that a UK advertising campaign for the show used "What price approval?" as his tagline. In typical Housian fashion, he finally got it as he was being fired.
      • Chase had issues with his own biological father, who left him when he was a kid and never voiced any approval of him. He did not even tell Chase he was dying of cancer, and it is speculated this caused Chase's need to get approval from House at any cost.
  • House of Anubis:
  • How I Met Your Mother:
    • It was revealed that the six words Robin wants to hear her dad say are "Robin, I'm proud of you, eh."
    • This is a huge issue of Barney's, as multiple episodes show, most notably "Showdown" and "Cleaning House", and he doesn't even know who his father is. And now that he has met his father, after getting radically worse, he may actually be getting better.
  • iCarly: Spencer Shay in during the episode iHire An Idiot, but with his grandfather.
  • The eponymous protagonist of I, Claudius is treated with disdain by all but a few of his family—and that few does not include his mother Antonia. She constantly criticizes him and at one point tells someone else that she just doesn't like him that much. The most painful moment is when she makes preparations for her suicide. Although she gave Claudius instructs on how to prepare her body for burial, when he goes to do it, he finds that she asked her chief slave to do it because she didn't trust him to get it right. When he later has a vision of his deceased family near his death, all her ghost has to say is that his nose is running.
  • Iron Fist (2017):
    • In Season 1, Ward clearly wants to be treated as something more than a minion by his father, and resents that he dotes far more on Danny than him.
    • A flashback in Season 2 shows that Davos desperately wanted his mother's approval, who shunned him after he lost the duel with Danny.
  • JAG: Lieutenant Williams in "Desert Son" feels that his father has always considered him a failure. What's worse, is he's right, and his father's low opinion of him is well-founded.
  • Law & Order: Criminal Intent:
    • Bobby Goren is this with his mother, even though he knows she's incapable of being rational. It's only on his mother's deathbed that he realizes he was the product of an affair with a man who later violently assaulted his mother and that that's a large part of the reason that he was The Unfavorite growing up (to her because of his connection to her attacker, and to his "father" because he knew Bobby wasn't his son), and realizing that he never had a chance of getting the approval he craved started him on a downward spiral.
    • Zach Nichols with his father. It's particularly difficult for him because he grew up being adored and spoiled, only to seriously disappoint his parents (especially his father) with his choice of career. When they encounter each other in "Three-in-One", Nichols Senior tries to be polite, but he can't fully bite his tongue on the subject of his disapproval, and they come to a head, with Zach finally confronting his father about the proverbial elephant in the room. And then, for what's implied to be the first time in years, his father praises him and agrees to a change in tactics, and they make a huge breakthrough in the case as a result of their newfound ability to cooperate. The final scene between them (also Nichols' last on the show) is an awesome moment for the formerly-estranged father and son.
      Dr. Nichols: You know, in therapy, when we've had a really good session, we jokingly say, "today, we've been to Lourdes."
      Zach: Meaning you've achieved a miracle cure?
      Dr. Nichols: No, just meaning it was a very good session. But I believe it may be that...you and I have been to Lourdes.
      Zach: Should I take that as...approval?
      Dr. Nichols: Don't presume. (Clears throat) Don't presume.
      (Dr. Nichols smiles. Zach smiles back.)
  • Law & Order: Special Victims Unit has a non-comedic mother-son case in Rafael Barba, who at one point describes his mother's faith and high hopes for Barba's childhood friend. Then he notes, with some bitterness: "She never said that about me."
  • Lost:
    • Jack's father, Christian, has, in his own words "sacrificed certain elements of [his] relationship" with Jack in order to mold Jack into a great surgeon. An emotional conversation in which Sawyer relays Christian's last thoughts about his son to Jack gives him some closure...but it's not until the series finale that Jack encounters his father in the "flash-sideways," subsequently revealed to be the afterlife, and they have their true reunion.
    • Jack almost follows in his father's footsteps when dealing with his own son, David...except David doesn't exist and is a creation of Jack's afterlife used to help him with his father issues.
  • Luther: In addition to the relatively normal tactic of serving in the military to follow in his father's footsteps, the killer in the second episode is so desperate for his father's approval that when the latter, behind bars for killing a cop, orders him to embark on a terror campaign against the police to get him released, he obeys without question.
  • Mad Men:
    • May as well be subtitled "How our horrible childhoods have ruined our adult lives". Exhibit A: Walking inferiority complex Pete Campbell, whose father died in a plane crash before giving Pete the validation he craves. By Season 5, it's clear that no matter how high Pete rises at the agency, he's never going to feel he gets the respect he's owed.
    • Exhibit B: Peggy Olsen busts her back trying to get Don Draper to say things like, "Good work, Peggy", or "I'm proud of you." Eventually, his failure to do so leads to her leaving Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce entirely... which may have actually been necessary before he finally could say it, in the Season 5 finale. This is a doubly-rare case: it crosses gender lines (the approval-seeker is a different gender from the one she's seeking approval from — and, to Mad Men's credit, they never even bat an eye at that aspect) and the approval-seeker isn't genetically related to the "father" figure at all (but she definitely considers him a mentor, and says so when she's giving notice from SCDP).
  • In The Mandalorian the titular character has a bit of this going on with the Armorer who’s implied to a sudo mother figure, after The Tribe took him in as a foundling. He’s noticeably apprehensive sounding when telling her about how his previous armour getting damaged by a Mudhorn, saying he was saved by “an enemy” (i.e the baby Jedi he was sent to kill or capture) and feeling unworthy of her approval refuses the signet she offers him. During the finale when the Armorer learns of Mando’s bond with The Child, she bestows the signet on his armour designates them as a “clan of two” essentially earning her and by extension The Tribe’s approval.
  • M*A*S*H:
    • Margaret Houlihan seeks validation from her distant father.
    • Father Mulcahy starts to get elements of this when he finds out a Cardinal will be visiting the 4077th, to the point where he becomes obsessed and starts snapping at everyone. He's suitably humbled when a patient's predicament reminds him how comparatively small his problem is. In his sermon the following morning, he freely admits that it was this trope that was causing him to lash out.
      Mulcahy: I want to tell you about two men. Each facing his own crisis. The first man you know rather well. The second is a patient here. Well, the first man thought he was facing a crisis. But what he was really doing was trying to impress someone. He was looking for recognition, encouragement, a pat on the back. And whenever that recognition seemed threatened he reacted rather childishly. Blamed everyone for his problems but himself because he was thinking only of himself.
      • This sermon is immediately followed by the cardinal hugging him, patting him on the back, and praising him as "a tough act to follow".
  • Medici: Piero de' Medici is like this, eager to prove himself to his father and take a larger role in the family bank and civic politics. This is baffling to Cosimo de' Medici, who had to be forced to become a banker and kingmaker.
  • Merlin: Throughout the series, Arthur (yes, that Arthur) attempts to gain his father's approval, frequently risking his life in order to impress him/follow orders. His success is decidedly mixed. Uther may not show it overtly but he loves Arthur and willingly risks his own life several times to save him, such as drugging Arthur and taking his place in a duel with an undead knight. And if you're wondering, he did that because the undead knight could not be defeated and would cut down anyone in his way to kill Uther (then and only then would he go away), and unless Uther took his place, Arthur was the one in the way. After Uther's death, growing beyond his father's skewed expectations of him is central to Arthur's arc, culminating in him accepting Merlin's magic in the final episode.
  • Mock the Week: Parodied in a "Scenes We'd Like To See" round. "I've just climbed Mount Everest without any food or survival gear. (Beat) NOW DO YOU LOVE ME, DADDY?!"
  • Murdoch Mysteries:
    • Dr. Julia Ogden was determined to become a medical doctor (a woman in late Victorian Toronto!) like her father, but she had to go against his wishes. Julia believes he favoured her younger sister Ruby. However, after his death, Julia learns from the people of Toronto's upper-class society that he was very proud of her many accomplishments.
    • John Brackenreid craves his father's approval, and usually he gets it because he's a pretty great son and his father, Inspector Thomas Brackenreid, is a pretty great guy. Seen in episodes when John pursues amateur theatre (both the son and the father are major theatre enthusiasts), plays football (soccer) and his father is their coach, or when he gets drunk for the first time (the Inspector is a heavy drinker, but advises John not to drown his youth in alcohol) or when John decides to become a cop like his father. His parents try to make him quit, but John persists. Inspector then compliments him and says he's not that surprised because John is as stubborn as his mother.
  • NCIS:
    • Tony. So. Much. When he's not being a Jerk with a Heart of Gold, his desperate need to impress Gibbs makes him almost The Woobie.
    • Tony's real dad appears in an episode originally aired in January 2009. Yes, that Dad — the one who left him in Maui by himself for a week when he was a child. By the end of the episode, it's fairly clear that while Tony nevertheless loves his father and would still like his approval, he doesn't need it as badly as he once did because he has Gibbs.
    • In Season 9 episode "The Penelope Papers" it is revealed that McGee has almost exactly same issues with his own father. It has also been made painfully clear that Ziva was brought up with an authoritarian father, seeking his approval.
  • Never Have I Ever: Devi says her greatest wish would be to hear her mom's proud of her, as despite being an honor student she's largely berated by her mom for her head-strong, un-traditional ways.
  • Don Eppes of NUMB3RS has moments of this, especially early on in the series, though it's clear from an outsider's perspective how much his father loves him. It's pretty strongly suggested that the amount of attention his parents devoted to Charlie's genius has led Don to believe (wrongly) that he's The Unfavorite.
    • Colby also seems to be this with Don, especially when he feels like he's let Don down. Just look at the smile on his face in "Thirteen" when Don calls him "brother" and tells him he's approved his request to stay.
    • Megan Reeves also suggests that she was once this with her father. Unfortunately, it seems he never did give her the validation she craved, leading to a lot of hurt and resentment.
  • Only Fools and Horses: Even after her death, it's very clear that everything Del does is because he wants to make his Mum proud.
  • Penny Dreadful: Peter Murray, son of Sir Malcolm and a sickly child, undertakes an expedition to Africa with his father only to win his approval and recognition as a man. He dies of dysentery in the Congo.
  • Our Miss Brooks: Gary Nolan resents his father's inattention, being practically abandoned as his father ignores him while running his newspaper, the Madison Express. When Miss Brooks meets Gary Nolan's father, Lawrence, he blames Miss Brooks for Gary's failing mark in English and neglecting him. This is in spite of the fact that Gary sees nobody at home but the servants, and appears to only have dinner with his father once a week.
  • Perfect Strangers: Larry ends up locked in a flooding basement trying to prompt his father to for once say, "Well done, son," as something other than the response to "How would you like your steak?" When Larry is able to engineer their escape, his father enthusiastically congratulates him: "Well done, son!"
  • The Power Rangers series has several characters who are out to impress their fathers and/or close relatives.
  • Psych:
    • Shawn appears to have spent most of his life either trying to live up to his strict, not-easily impressed father Henry's expectations or actively rebelling against Henry's attempts to mold him. For his part, Henry isn't exactly shy about letting Shawn know when he's disappointed with him. Henry even arrested at least once.
    • This has changed over time: Henry and Shawn have a much better relationship and have shown a great respect for each other.
  • Red Dwarf: Subverted Trope in the episode "Better Than Life", when Rimmer reflects he never heard his father say he was proud of him, before entering the titular Lotus-Eater Machine. In the fantasy world, he is an incredibly popular and successful figure, but when his father appears, it's to fulfill the Cat's fantasy of hearing him call Rimmer a total smeghead. It's after this point that Rimmer's subconscious rebels against him and converts the fantasy world into a horrible nightmare. Subverted again in the episode "The Beginning", when Rimmer learns that his father is actually the gardener, and is instantly freed of the crushing weight of expectations upon him.
  • The Ranch: Both Colt and Rooster long for their father's approval.
  • Revolution: Jason Neville's relationship with his father Tom Neville is...dysfunctional. In the episode "The Song Remains The Same", Jason asked his father, "What'd I do wrong? I did everything you asked me to. I hurt people. Killed people. For you." The sad thing is that before the blackout, their relationship was happy and normal, as shown in a flashback in "Soul Train".
  • RuPaul's Drag Race: Taken to tearjerker levels whenever the drag queens talk about less-than-accepting parents, especially fathers. It can lead to a heartwarming moment when a queen's father (especially if formerly estranged) sends a supportive video message.
  • Saturday Night Live: Colin Jost has turned this into a semi-running gag on "Weekend Update":
    Wednesday was National Hug Day...Dad.
  • Scrubs:
    • Many stories relate to J.D.'s need to have Dr. Cox (his mentor and father figure, since his actual father was never there for him) say he's proud of him...no matter how many times he already has.
    • Also, in one episode, Turk pined after Dr. Cox's acceptance.
  • Smallville:
    • Lex's main reason for becoming evil is the fact his father never gave him any credit. So one of the richest men in the world, who created an army of clones, studied spaceships and had a prison for superhumans, was unhappy, all because his father (Lionel) wouldn't say "Well done, son." And then he kills Lionel in Season 7. Talk about messed up.
    • Considering what kind of father he had, that last action makes a whole lot of sense.
    • After a lifetime of trying to get Lex to be a good evil, strong, worthy successor, Lionel went and had a Heel–Face Turn right after Lex finally crossed serious lines, and wound up as a replacement father figure to Clark by way of the Jor-El AI, meaning that the same person he always envied for having an incredibly supportive father he could never get to accept him (Jonathan Kent) now had his father, the one who'd put him through so much. Too cruel.
  • One of the recurring parental issues of The Sopranos. Tony goes out of his way to please his contemptible mother, who resents her children for being happier than her. At the same time, Chris, Tony's nephew, and A.J., Tony's son, try hard to earn praise from the old man or just live up to his perceived expectations, only to get frustrated when he doesn't give them any real credit.
  • Stargate SG-1 has an interesting example with Vala and her Dark Messiah daughter, Adria. Adria is an unrepentant Big Bad, but she won't harm her mother and tries repeatedly to convince Vala to join her side. Vala, and the rest of her team, try to figure out how to use Adria's need for her mother's approval to their advantage, but Adria is extremely hard to manipulate since she has fancy mind-reading powers.
    Vala: She has the knowledge of Ascended Beings, twisted as it may be, but I sense that there is a part of her that is just like any other kid, that wants her mother's approval. So I'm hoping I can use that somehow. I mean, why else would she care what I think, right?
  • Star Trek
    • Star Trek: The Original Series:
      • In the episode "Journey to Babel", it's revealed Spock has this problem with his father who disapproved of his decision to enlist in Starfleet instead of following his father into the Vulcan Science Academy. Spock even refuses to give a blood transfusion to his father because he's trying to be the perfectly logical Vulcan his father would expect him to be (the ship is in danger, the captain is incapacitated, and if Spock is confined to Sickbay, the ship will be without both its commanding officers during a time of crisis). Kirk has to fake recovery to ensure Spock gives the transfusion that will save his father's life. The audience does learn that Sarek is actually proud of Spock (he just won't admit it to Spock) and at the end of the episode, he does indicate approval of Spock.
    • Star Trek: The Next Generation:
      • In the episode "Final Mission" (the one where Wesley Crusher departs), Wes confides that everything he's done on the Enterprise was to make surrogate father figure Captain Picard proud. Picard states at the end that he's always been proud of Wesley (despite never having said so). Cue the Sentimental Music Cue.
      • Will Riker doesn't get along with his father. As it turns out, his father is the kind of jerk who would cheat at playing games against his own son.
      • When Picard is near-death, Q conjures a vision of Picard's father, a winemaker, who apparently never wanted his son to join Starfleet.
      • Lore is normally extremely arrogant and considers himself superior to both humans and Data; but when speaking with his "father," Dr. Soong, he breaks down and reveals that his creator's opinion of what constitutes a defect is more important to him than his own.
        Lore: Why didn't you just fix me? It was within your power to fix me!
      • The series revisits Spock's daddy issues when he appears, and Picard, having previously mind-melded with Sarek, offers Spock the opportunity to experience what Sarek shared with him. Spock nearly breaks down in tears upon feeling how much his father really loved and admired him.
    • Star Trek: Deep Space Nine:
      • Enabran Tain is first introduced in Series 2 as The Spymaster who controlled the Obsidian Order, recruited and mentored Garak. Over the next few years of the show, it becomes clear that Garak will bend over backwards to do anything Tain asks of him even though Tain both exiled him and tried to assassinate him. Despite this guaranteed loyalty, Tain always criticizes Garak and treats him quite harshly. Only when Tain is on his deathbed is it revealed that Garak spent his entire life seeking a time when Tain would treat him like a son instead of a subordinate or a protégé. The last thing Tain ever does is give him one brief moment of that.
      • Despite their antagonistic (and definitely non-biological) relationship, this seems to be what Quark seeks from Odo. Quark's final comment on the relationship is "That guy loves me — it's written all over his back."
      • Odo had a strained relationship with the scientist who was assigned to study him when he was first discovered and with whom he does have a sort of parent/child relationship since Dr Pol was responsible for Odo learning how to shapeshift and take humanoid form in particular. At one point, an alien infection does make Odo lash out at Pol, bringing Odo's desire into the open — even for Odo himself, who hadn't realized just how deep his own feelings ran. They are eventually reconciled.
      • Jadzia Dax spent years fearing that she didn't live up to predecessor Curzon's expectations, especially because he washed her out of the academy program and never explained why he allowed her to re-apply. Only by Calling the Old Man Out does she finally learn the truth. He let personal feelings for her get in the way of his job by throwing her out of the academy to avoid temptation (something he felt deeply guilty for doing) and her successful re-application let him off the hook.
      • Dukat's relationship with Sisko is, in part, a twisted variation of this. Despite all differences, Dukat respects his opponent, to the point of calling him an "old friend", and expects Sisko to behave the same way towards him (without much success). This culminates in a long discussion in "Waltz", where Dukat is desperately trying to force some kind of approval out of the Captain:
        Dukat: I don't think you're being entirely honest with me, Benjamin. You're not a man who hesitates to make snap judgments when the situation calls for it. It's one of the signs of a good commander. Now I'm asking for your opinion of me and I find it hard to believe you don't have one.
        Sisko: All right. I think you're right. You have been judged unfairly. I've judged you unfairly. But I think you probably had good reasons for everything you did on Bajor.
    • Star Trek: Voyager:
      • This is the plot of the episode "Life Line". The Doctor, an artificially intelligent hologram, learns that his creator (and the man whose image he's based on), holographic genius Dr Lewis Zimmerman, is dying. The Doctor pleads with Captain Janeway to be transmitted back to the Alpha Quadrant, assuming Zimmerman will be proud of how he's exceeded his programming... only to find his creator is a cantankerous jerk who believes he's an obsolete model better suited to scrubbing plasma conduits on waste transfer barges. Needless to say, much angst and hilarity ensue before the two are reconciled.
      • Tom Paris's father Owen Paris was a Starfleet admiral and Tom never felt that he could live up to his reputation. Things were strained between them and only became worse once Tom was cashiered from Starfleet, joined the Maquis (not even for noble reasons, just to pay his bar bills), and then ended up in a Federation penal colony. It was only after the Voyager got lost in the Delta Quadrant and later established communications to Earth that the two re-connected, especially once Tom and B'Elanna became a couple and had a child. In the novels, things became strained between them again due to circumstances in part beyond Tom's control and Owen died in a Borg attack.
    • Star Trek: Picard: Narek's family regards him as the Black Sheep, so many of his actions involving the synths are actually about measuring up to his family's Zhat Vash legacy.
  • St. Elsewhere: In "Once Upon a Mattress", after getting shot in the previous episode "After Life", Fiscus comes to the conclusion that his father Jonas has never liked him since he never showed interest in his activities growing up and always seemed to be annoyed by him. Jonas confirms that he never liked his son but says that he always loved him.
  • Supernatural: It is safe to say that this entire universe has daddy issues.
    • Dean has gotten so little of his dad's approval despite always following his orders and being a good hunter that in the Season 1 Finale, when his dad (possessed by the Big Bad) tells Dean how proud he is that Dean brought the Colt and used a bullet to save Sam's life, Dean realizes he's possessed and aims the gun at him — correctly thinking that the real John would have been furious instead of proud. Even when Dean gets an attaboy and sign of trust from his father, it comes with a Dark Secret that endangers his relationship with his brother, and then his dad dies for him. Since Dean just wants his family to be with him and happy, that's about the worst sort of fatherly recognition he could get.
    • Sam feels the same need for his father's approval, but acts out against his father's wishes instead of trying to act as the perfect son Dean struggles to be. Mainly because Sam feels like his flaw is what he is, and not something he can change, whereas Dean thinks that if he just does enough, he can earn approval.
    • All the angels suffer this, more or less, because God is a crappy parent.
      • Castiel's devotion to his father leads him to start rebelling against fellow angels and siding with humans, whom he thinks of as his father's "works of art". He undergoes death by explosion, eventual power loss, and various human indignities during his exile from Heaven, but he seems to be taking it all in stride — until he hears from Joshua that his father doesn't give a crap about any of it, and would rather stay away and let the Apocalypse happen. Castiel then gives up, drinks a liquor store, and begins his downward spiral. At the end of Season 5, however, God does show some kind of intervention and raises Castiel from the dead a second time, and a re-angelfied Castiel flies back home at the first opportunity. Come Season 6, he's still carrying out his father's wishes by leading one faction of Heaven against the archangel Raphael. And that's since Gone Horribly Right...
      • Lucifer, despite his rebellion, is basically a kid throwing a temper tantrum because he wanted Daddy to notice him again and return his affections. Michael's relationship with God intentionally parallels Dean's with John, except Michael is perfectly willing to kill what used to be his favorite brother if he believes that's what Daddy wants. Raphael has retreated into nihilism ("You're living in a godless universe.") and Gabriel into hedonism, and that's the four that have ever actually "met the Man."
      • Uriel's faction have actively given up and want to side with Lucifer. Anna is probably the closest to indifferent to God's opinion of any angel appearing on the show; it's fitting she's also the only one with a consistently female appearance.
      • Joshua is so Zen it's creepy, but then he's the only one God actually talks to. He may also be Jesus. Zachariah comes down somewhere between Gabriel's hedonism and Raphael's nihilism, but less tastefully, and it's harder to link to God as such. He may just genuinely be a self-interested racist dick, though his preoccupation with making things play out in accordance with divine prophecy, the only thing God left behind for his children, may indicate issues of this type. Angels were created to serve and He gives no feedback for thousands of years, how are they not going to be legions of daddy issues?
    • The demon Azazel, original nemesis of the Winchesters, evidently had this with Lucifer, based on his desperately devoted behavior in the convent flashback, and his whole program was geared toward getting Hell open to free Lilith so she could bust out Lucifer, in both cases using the 'very special child' Lucifer told him to procure; i.e. Sam, but Lucifer doesn't betray any awareness that he died for it. He in turn encouraged this from his own 'children,' such as the demon known as Meg.
  • Taken: In "Acid Tests", Eric Crawford, well aware that he is The Unfavorite, desperately tries to impress his father Owen in the hope of getting a pat on the back. His efforts fail at every turn and typically only serve to irritate Owen. In "Charlie and Lisa", 22 years after Owen's death, Eric's increasingly unhappy wife Julie tells their daughter Mary that it is amazing that not getting something as simple as a pat on the back could have such a negative effect on him and, by extension, her.
  • Temps de chien: Stéphane (the main character's neighbor) seems to be this given that, while having a meeting with his healing group where everyone has to scream how they feel, he ends up screaming "LOVE ME, DAD!"
  • Titus:
    • Often the entire premise behind this show, where Christopher is always ready for his father's condescending remarks. Hilariously done in the first episode, while joking role-playing Titus recalls every proud moment he had being shot down by Papa Titus (graduation, first job, becoming a manager, etc.) When he finishes with "I opened my own car shop and now I make more money in one year than you ever made in any year of your life, what do you think about that?!" The real Papa Titus appears behind him, cracks open a beer, and says, "I think without me pushing you boy, you never would have made it."
    • Reiterated in the stand-up show Norman Rockwell is Bleeding (the Anti-Dad! part), ending with
      Christopher: I have my own TV show and production company!
      Dad: And that shit got cancelled, didn't it!
  • Trail of Lies: Felix always felt that his father favored his younger sister Paloma and that no matter how well he did in his job at the family's hospital, it would never be enough for him.
  • Trotsky: Trotsky admits that, though confident in his beliefs and choices, he still wants his father's approval, while feeling guilty for doing things he dislikes.
  • The Umbrella Academy:
    • Poor Luther has this bad with his adoptive father and mentor Sir Reginald Hargreeves (much like to Cyclops and Professor X). He’s was the favourite child and The Leader and constantly sought his approval and while the rest of Luther’s siblings gave up on him due to his impossibly high standards, Luther was most devoted. He continued to be loyal to Hargreeves, even when the guy sent him on a dangerous mission alone which got him badly wounded and resulted in him getting a gorilla-like body after Hargreeves gave a serum to save his life. It’s not until Luther learns Hargreeves sent him to the Moon for no reason other than to get him out of sight, that Luther gets Heroic BSoD and grows to hate his father and becomes the Broken Ace. Fortunately Luther eventually realises he never needed his father’s acceptance and becomes his own man.
    • Played for Laughs in Season 2 as Luther before the aforementioned realisation, seeks other father figures such as The Don Jack Ruby and due to a Despair Event Horizon during a boxing match falls short of his expectations too. Luther is even trusting to the physically older version of his Timey-Wimey Ball brother Five, leading to this paradox induced outburst from the older Five in a teenage body.
    Five: You are experiencing daddy issues, this time with your own brother which is honestly is making me a bit crazy. But listen I am 14 days older than him, I have seniority here so it’s me you should be listening to Luther... I’M THE DADDY HERE! (cue several strange looks from onlookers)
    • Diego has a bit of this going on as well. Despite badmouthing Hargreeves whenever he can and getting angry at Luther for being loyal to the old man, when face to face with Hargreeves himself, he loses all his cool and even regains his Speech Impediment when Hargreeves gives him a Shut Up, Kirk! While Diego might not exactly want his father’s approval, disappointing Hargreeves still badly effects Diego the same as it does Luther. His girlfriend Lila correctly guesses Hargreeves’s shadow still weighs heavily on Diego, even if he denies it.
    • Averted with Klaus who’s happily content to live down his father expectations. Yet ironically he’s the one who gets to talk to Hargreeves while visiting his father in the afterlife and indulges in Calling the Old Man Out. Hargreeves does show some regret at Klaus’s words, particularly in how he treated Luther but still refuses to take blame saying, he had to set high standards for his kids, for them to take saving the world seriously. Klaus says he (Hargreeves) was always a callous prick in response.
    • Vanya is a Well Done Daughter Girl with Hargreeves and the rest of her siblings in general. She’s probably got it even worse than Luther or Diego since she (seemingly) lacks any powers has struggling to reach an impossible standard and feels worthless as result. It goes from Bad To Worse when she learns she does have powers which Hargreeves kept repressed and made her forget she had, causing her go on a Unstoppable Rage and cause the apocalypse. In Season 2 Vanya has Journey to the Center of the Mind and is confronted by her father and siblings who still look down on her, though thanks to her brother Ben she is able to Heel–Face Turn for good.
    • Lila has this going on with her adoptive mother The Handler and her efforts to prove herself and please the latter, blind to the clear manipulation and lies The Handler puts her through. By the end of the second series, the siblings are able to make Lila see how she’s being used like how Hargreeves used them and she defects from her mother, upon learning she ordered the assassination of her real parents.
  • Victorious: It's revealed that Jade wants to prove to her father that her career in the creative arts isn't stupid. An episode revolves around her wanting to make a play she's putting on as perfect as possible because she knew her father would be in the audience.
  • The West Wing:
    • In "The Two Bartlets", Toby points out that the President is haunted by the need to make his father like him. This is expanded on in "Night Five" when Josh's therapist is called in because Bartlet has been unable to sleep for five nights straight (because of the conversation with Toby). Stanley the therapist notes that all his life, Bartlet has been reaching for ever higher goals in an attempt to gain the approval of his father, and it's resulted in him having the same job as Abraham Lincoln. It culminates thus:
      Stanley: I think Lincoln did what he thought was right, even though it meant losing half the country. I think you don't do what you think is right if it means losing Michigan's electoral votes.
      Bartlet: You don't know anything.
      Stanley: I'll be the first to admit that.
      Bartlet: I'm not trying to get my father to like me.
      Stanley: Good. 'Cause it's never, never going to happen.
    • "Two Cathedrals", where it's pretty strongly implied that Bartlet's impassioned rant in the National Cathedral is directed more at his father than at God.
      • President Bartlet may not have been able to get his own father to love or approve of him, but he has an alternative "Well Done, Son!" Guy in his chief of staff, Leo McGarry (played by the late John Spencer). Just before a debate between Bartlet and the Republican candidate, Leo gives Bartlet a beautiful smile and says, "There's no such thing as too smart. There's nothing you can do that's not going to make me proud of you."
    • The President himself is the guy to his daughter Ellie. "The only thing you ever had to do to make me happy was to come home at the end of the day."
    • Josh has strong tendencies of this — but not towards his real father (who is deceased and, by all accounts, was very proud of him). Instead he craves the approval of Leo McGarry, who became a father figure to him after his own father's death. At one point, one of the characters notes that Josh is not afraid of losing but he is afraid of letting Leo down.
  • The Wire: Lester Freamon is this trope personified. Cedric Daniels can even do a humorous impression of it.
    Cedric Daniels: Did he do that thing where he stares at you over the top of his reading glasses? You know, with that look that says "I'm the father you never had and I don't want to be disappointed in you ever again".-
  • The X-Files:
    • Agent Dana Scully spent a lot of time and energy trying to prove to her parents, but especially her dad, that her decision to join the FBI was a good one. She doesn't find out how proud of her her dad actually was until he's dead.
    • Agent Spender had this going for the Cigarette-Smoking Man, his biological father, of all people. Well, at least until he tried killing his mom.
  • Young Dracula: Ingrid. Her father gives Vlad all the attention, even though Vlad doesn't even want to be a vampire and she does.
  • Gretchen on You're the Worst behaves completely differently and lies about her life around her parents out of fear of disappointing them. She goes to great lengths to hide Jimmy from them, and when he finally meets them, he calls them out on that.

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