Some people aren’t meant to be fathers. They’re too selfish or stubborn to put someone else’s well-being ahead of their own. In TV and movies, these men are usually portrayed in extremes, going from being bad parents to pure evil. To help everyone appreciate their own fathers more, we’re examining the worst dads in TV and film.
Suggested Reading
Kanan - ‘Power’
All these fathers are terrible, but only one used his son as a pawn in a murder plot and then killed him when he couldn’t go through with it. Kanan is a horrible person and an awful father.
Lou - ‘The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air’
That moment when Will goes back to calling him Lou, because he knows this person isn’t his father, he’s just some guy, is so heartbreaking.
Rowan Pope - ‘Scandal’
Rowan Pope actually made some good points about the way the world works. Unfortunately, his solution to those problems is to run a secret, shady spy operation that tries to take over the government.
Frank Mitchell - ‘Moesha’
Frank was such a hypocrite. He wanted Moesha to be some perfect little girl forever and was extremely judgmental anytime she made a mistake. Meanwhile, he had his own big secret he’d been keeping from everyone for years. He didn’t deserve Moesha or Dee.
Lucious Lyon - ‘Empire’
Lucious put his own child in the garbage when he was a little boy trying to figure out how to express himself. We don’t need to know anything else about him. He’s the one who’s trash.
James “Ghost” St. Patrick - ‘Power’
Let’s be honest: Tariq just got Ghost before he could get him. He would’ve sacrificed Tariq in a minute if it served his purposes.
Joe Jackson - ‘The Jacksons: An American Dream’
Joe Jackson lived vicariously through his children’s fame and controlled their every move. He was so obsessed with perfection his nearly destroyed them.
Troy - ‘Fences’
Troy couldn’t get past the disappointment of his life and took it out on his family, never worrying about the disappointments they might have been carrying around.
Bill Thomas - ‘What’s Happening!!’
When he divorced Mabel, he seemed to think that meant he was also divorced from Raj and Dee. It always felt weird when he showed up, like he didn’t really fit with the family.
Ol’ Mister - ‘The Color Purple’
If you ever wonder how Mister became so horrible, look no further than Ol’ Mister.
John Harris - ‘Waiting to Exhale’
Not only did he cheat on Bernadine and leave her without warning. He tried to take custody of their kids, not because he wanted to be their father, but because he wanted to punish Bernadine.
Fred Sanford - ‘Sanford and Son’
We’re sure Fred loves Lamont in his own way. But that doesn’t make up for constantly calling him “dummy” and making him do all the work in their business.
Lou - ‘Bel Air’
Turns out the new Lou is just as trifling as the original. He showed up blaming everyone else for his mistakes, including bad mouthing Will’s mother, which was a bridge too far for his son.
Bennie Upshaw - ‘The Upshaws’
All the hilarious one liners in the world will never make up for the time Bennie missed with his kids. Lucretia isn’t completely wrong about him.
Straight From 
Sign up for our free daily newsletter.
