Worst Fathers on TV

Television, as a source of entertainment, can be a means to escape our everyday lives. The more outrageous the events and characters are, the more entertaining they often turn out to be. Even the shows that strive for realism have to keep our attention. Television would be quite boring without its villains, many of whom are fathers. Soap operas have many examples of bad parents, but there are also some in primetime television. Here are my picks for the worst fathers on television today and in recent history.

The Devil (Ray Wise, Reaper)

Sam Oliver found out on his 21st birthday that his parents had sold his soul to the Devil before he was even conceived. Because of this, he was under contract to be a bounty hunter for the Devil, which meant tracking down souls that had escaped from hell and sending them back downstairs. The Devil taunts him, toys with him, sends him into dangerous situations, and threatens him and his loved ones. As if that weren't bad enough, Sam got even worse news a few months later: the Devil was really his father.

Eventually, the Devil introduced Sam to Morgan, another of his offspring, and pitted the brothers against each other for the opportunity to be his right-hand man. Morgan was the only one with such aspirations, but he was too much of a slacker to have any success. Sam won the contest but tried to give Morgan credit. It didn't work; the Devil knew the truth and took everything from Morgan.

Dan Scott (Paul Johansson, One Tree Hill)

Dan Scott is a sociopath. He is preys on his "inferiors"--especially his sons, Lucas and Nathan, and their loved ones. Even as a kid, he couldn't stand anything that he saw as weak. He pushes his sons, manipulates them, controls them, and belittles them; they are never good enough. In addition to his less malevolent machinations, he has endangered Luke's life by refusing to pay for his heart medication, tried to kill him, and murdered his own brother in cold blood.

Arthur Petrelli (Robert Forster, Heroes)

Arthur Petrelli is the cold-hearted father of Peter and Nathan Petrelli. He was one of the founders of the Company, an organization intended to benefit the world and those with special abilities. However, over the years, he changed. He stripped Peter of his abilities, absorbing them into his own body. When Nathan challenged his authority, Arthur tried to kill him. Determined to stop his evil father, Peter shot at him. Although the fatal bullet came from his gun, Sylar, another villain, stopped time and then guided the bullet telepathically toward Arthur Petrelli's head.

Stefano Di Mera (Joseph Mascolo, Days of Our Lives)

Is there anyone who hasn't heard of Stefano Di Mera? He's been around since the early 1980s. Even when he is absent from the show, the other characters are always talking about him. He has probably committed every crime known to mankind. He tries to groom his many children as his successors; the ones who rebel quickly realize the danger of crossing him. With Stefano, there is no middle ground; those who aren't with him are against him, and they will pay with their lives.

Victor Lord (various actors, One Life to Live)

Years ago, Victor Lord sexually abused his young daughter, Viki, and her horrible childhood caused her to develop Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID). After having been presumed dead for many years, Victor came back to town with an evil agenda. He needed a new heart, so he decided to get one. He arranged to steal the heart from one of his granddaughters, and he told Viki to choose which of her daughters would live and which would die. He was determined to get a heart from a blood relative. Never mind that it might not have been compatible!

Alexander Cambias (Ronald Guttman, All My Children)

Alexander Cambias is the worst father to hit Pine Valley. He is so controlling and demanding that his son, Alex Jr., faked his death at age 18 and started a new life as Zach Slater. Years later, Zach realized that he had witnessed his father kill his mother when he was a little boy.

Alexander faked his own death and then eventually came back to torment Zach. When Alexander learned that he had been mourning a son who had betrayed him, he decided to teach him a lesson. He became the Satin Slayer, a serial killer who murdered women close to Zach and his wife, Kendall.

Alexander is in prison, where he lives out his days in a wheelchair, courtesy of a bullet in his back. To this day, Zach hasn't gotten over his father's legacy, but he tries.

Alexander's other son, Michael, grew into an insecure, violent man who was eventually murdered for having committed rape.

These are the worst fathers on television; their evil deeds justify their inclusion on the list. There is one more TV dad that I feel compelled to include on this list as an honorable mention.

Ryan Lavery (Cameron Mathison, All My Children)

Alexander Cambias thinks of Ryan Lavery as the son he should have had. In fact, when he faked his death, he left everything to Ryan. Having had an abusive father, Ryan faked his own death to avoid fatherhood when his wife announced that she was pregnant. He never wanted children, and he even tried to have a vasectomy without his wife's knowledge. In spite of this, he has at least two children from having been a donor.

Now that Ryan knows about his children, he has somehow become Superdad in his own mind, despite the fact that he rarely spends any time with them. All he does is use them as pawns to get what he wants. Unfortunately, since the intended vasectomy didn't take, he'll probably end up with even more kids to use and neglect.

When compared with the other fathers on this list, Ryan seems out of place and out of his league. He's not a serial killer, pedophile, or sociopath. Still, he's a terrible father.