Ep. 570 - The Ultimate TV Dad Tier List: Tony Soprano, Uncle Phil & Cliff Huxtable!!

**Matt** (0:00)
Hello and welcome to the Working Perspectives Podcast presents Four Dads, Bye Dads. We got a great one for you today.
Today, we're doing something a little different. Today, we're ranking dads. That's right, we're ranking them and stanking them. Can't wait to do this. So this is what we got going on, all right? We got, we have three dads, we're each bringing to the table, and we're gonna rank them by tier, okay? As you can see, the tiers on the screen, we have F tier, the absolute worst, D tier, not such good dads, C tier, average, B tier, talented and original, A tier, the iconic, and S tier, the legend.
All right. So first thing we're going to do, we'll rank them on the tier, and then we'll discuss, all right. So we each brought a dad. Bern, we're going to have you go first. Who is your father?

**Bern** (1:05)
I mean, for me, just thinking of historically, I went Cosby. I went straight Cosby.

**Matt** (1:11)
The Cos, love it. All right, here we go.
Pulling them up. The Cos, where's he go? Whoa, B-tier, talented and original.

**Bern** (1:26)
I think that's okay. I think that's actually pretty fair. I don't think he's a legend.
I think B-tier is fine. I think B-tier is exactly where Cosby should be. I don't have any complaints about that.

**Matt** (1:38)
I mean, I'll tell you this. It looks to me like watching the show that all Heathcliff wanted to do was get under Claire's skirt, the whole show.

**Bern** (1:47)
Yeah, he just didn't want to be bothered, really.

**Matt** (1:51)
Everything he wanted.

**Liam** (1:52)
Which is not surprising at all.

**Matt** (1:54)
He did, you know, yeah, I think it's a little favoritism. Honestly, I think he would be put higher without certain allegations, you know? I think they're taking the character's personal life into it.

**Bern** (2:07)
The personal life may have nothing down or wrong.

**Matt** (2:10)
Right. If this list was around in the, you know, the 90s, he's probably going S-tier or A-tier. You know what I mean?

**Bern** (2:17)
Probably going S-tier, yeah.

**Matt** (2:19)
He got dropped a couple.

**Bern** (2:21)
I think B-tier is appropriate for the cause.

**Matt** (2:23)
Well, let's think. How many kids did he have? Six?

**Bern** (2:26)
A ton. Yeah. There were the older daughters, there were the two older daughters, then there was Dio, then there was...

**Matt** (2:34)
We always had cockroach hanging around.

**Bern** (2:36)
Yeah. And then they brought in the niece even, Raven Simone.

**Matt** (2:43)
Yeah. What's a worst name for a friend on a TV show? Cockroach or boner?

**Bern** (2:50)
Boner is the worst. Boner is the worst. Yeah.
Boners to bone?

**Matt** (2:59)
Le Schmigs, what are you thinking of this pick?

**Liam** (3:02)
I got to be 100 percent honest with you. I do not have a lot of background with The Cosby Show.
I know it exists, and I know that Cosby was dropping roofies like Steph Curry, all throughout the apex of his career. That's what I know about The Cosby Show.

**Matt** (3:25)
Yeah. Sure. Sure. All right. So let's talk a little bit. So he was, they would say, is the idolized dad. Like if you look strictly at 80s, 90s characters, he's almost mathematically perfect, right? He's an OBGYN, so he loves the poos.
He was always home. He's deeply in love with his wife. He tackles every teenage crisis with a jazz soundtrack and a life lesson. You know what I mean?
Yep.

**Bern** (3:57)
He's got a sense of humor.

**Matt** (3:59)
I mean, the one thing I know...
Let's talk about a couple of things though. Like I remember from the show. There was one show where he did the Monopoly Money Lesson, right? Which when watching it as a kid, you're like, oh my God, that's the best. You know, when Theo says he doesn't need to study because he'll just get a regular job. And then, you know, old Heathcliff, Cliff, which that's a name you don't say anymore. Do you see Cliffs anymore?

**Bern** (4:26)
No, especially not Heathcliff.

**Liam** (4:28)
No, Heathcliff's definitely not. Except for Heathcliff the cat, the fake Garfield, remember him?

**Bern** (4:34)
Fake Garfield, he had Garfield knocked off.

**Matt** (4:36)
The Monopoly Money Lesson, Cliff uses Monopoly Money to break down like taxes, rent, the cost of baloney. And it remains like, you know, that was a, I liked that one. You know what I mean? But also you can look like, was he a little too perfect? He could be incredibly smug, slightly manipulative. And he rarely let his kids win an argument. And he always had to have the last word. I mean, but that's typical dad stuff.