There's a particular type of male TV character who punches above his weight more than any other: the sitcom dad.
It's an industry cliché: if you're making a comedy revolving around a married couple, then most of the time they must be played by some kind of sad-sack loser or blowhard, who nevertheless happened to pull a perfect, supportive, beautiful partner.
Either these guys have let themselves go since they married, or their wives had no standards whatsoever.
1. Peter Griffin (Family Guy)
We're pretty certain Peter was never a hot guy back in the day. And he's not exactly a pleasant bloke now. He's pretty much the most useless husband out there. Even worse than Homer.
Yes, we know she's a cartoon. But still. Look at Lois. Brian knows what we're talking about. Really? Peter?
They met when he worked as a towel boy for her rich family. We reckon the only reason they got it on was so that she could annoy her dad.
2. Phil Dunphy (Modern Family)
In his own way, Phil's a decent-looking chap. And for his age, he's got a body most of us would be jealous of.
That being said, he's still bumbling and childish Phil. It's quite impressive that he managed to even ask out popular high school girl Claire, let alone end up marrying her.
Phil's most definitely punching in the looks department, but he's at least more than made up for it by being a great father and loving husband, unlike most of the others on this list.
3. Uncle Phil (The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air)
Don't get us wrong, Uncle Phil is without doubt one of the greatest TV dads ever, and deserved to marry a beautiful and strong woman like Aunt Viv.
But still, Will and Carlton would surely admit that Phil won the lottery when it came to not one, but two powerful ladies (we're counting both incarnations of Viv, here).
The karma was probably having to put up with Will as payment.
4. Homer Simpson (The Simpsons)
Pretty much the same situation as Peter Griffin, but Homer at least has his moments of pure love for Marge: "All I can offer is my complete and utter dependence."
But most of the time, Homer is a useless husband, potentially the stupidest man on the planet, and frequently ruins their lives through some kind of scheme.
5. Larry David (Curb Your Enthusiasm)
He's a charismatic guy, we get that. And smart, and funny. Yet also insufferable and impossible to live with thanks to his bottomless well of anger and inability to let the tiniest thing go.
Technically Curb isn't a sitcom, and you don't see his kids much (because they were mentioned in the pilot then quietly dropped for ever more) so he's not really a sitcom dad but we're totally including Larry. His fictional wife Cheryl Hines could do so much better.
