The best dad TV shows are just TV shows, of course. As long as the viewer is an adult of age, “dad” shows can be watched and enjoyed by anyone. But some shows get this specific designation for a reason. In the same way that some movies are labeled “chick flicks” for their propensity to appeal predominantly to women, “dad shows” contain pacing, subject matter, tone, and characters that appeal to the typical dad.
What is a “dad TV show?” These are usually not too heavy in terms of the plot, but they aren’t so light that they’re like a sitcom or reality show. They offer the right balance of humor, action, and character development to keep interest, but also help Dad unwind. For fathers of all ages looking for a great “dad TV show” to watch, a few from the last several decades stand out.
10 Welcome to Wrexham Is Sports and Fun Rolled Into One
Years |
Number of Seasons |
Rotten Tomatoes Score |
IMDb Score |
Where to Stream |
---|---|---|---|---|
2022 |
3 |
94% |
8.3/10 |
Hulu |

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Already renewed for a fourth season, Welcome to Wrexham is the perfect show for a dad who loves sports, Ryan Reynolds, Rob McElhenney, or all the above. Yes, even dads who aren’t necessarily into English football will enjoy this sports documentary series that follows the two aforementioned actors and their real-life journey buying a struggling Welsh professional association football club.
The pair, who are known for their entrepreneurial efforts as well as acting, decided to team up and purchase the Wrexham A.F.C. The team hasn’t made it to the Premier League and their goal is to help get them there with the guidance, management, and investment needed to do so. Watch the action behind the scenes and all the nail-biting tension of training and playing. Like a real-life Ted Lasso, Welcome to Wrexham is entertaining (both actors are known for their sarcasm and comedy), intense, and uplifting, all at the same time.

Welcome to Wrexham
- Release Date
- August 24, 2022
- Cast
- Ryan Reynolds , Rob McElhenney
- Main Genre
- Documentary
- Seasons
- 2
9 Bosch Is Action-Packed Entertainment
Years |
Number of Seasons |
Rotten Tomatoes Score |
IMDb Score |
Where to Stream |
---|---|---|---|---|
2014-2021 |
7 |
97% |
8.5/10 |
Amazon Prime Video |
Ending its run after seven seasons, Bosch, based on a character from Michael Connelly novels, is a police procedural that will have dads at the edges of their seats watching every episode in anticipation of the next. Titus Welliver stars as the title character, Harry Bosch, a detective on trial for killing a suspect in self-defense. In the first season of Bosch, the titular character is simultaneously fighting for his reputation and job while investigating the murder of a 12-year-old boy. The stakes rise higher and higher as Bosch takes on new, more dangerous cases.
Bosch was so popular that there was a sequel spin-off called Bosch: Legacy that launched as a continuation on Amazon Freevee following the main show’s end. That series was renewed for second and third seasons. There’s also a second spin-off coming that will follow a new character introduced in Connelly’s novel The Late Show called Detective Renée Ballard, though details aren’t yet known about when it will debut.

Bosch
- Release Date
- February 6, 2014
- Cast
- Titus Welliver , Jamie Hector , Amy Aquino , Lance Reddick , Madison Lintz
- Seasons
- 7
8 Dexter Is Devilishly Delicious
Years |
Number of Seasons |
Rotten Tomatoes Score |
IMDb Score |
Where to Stream |
---|---|---|---|---|
2006-2013 |
8 |
71% |
8.6/10 |
Netflix |
There’s something about Dexter Morgan (Michael C. Hall) that drew fans to the character, based on the novels by Jeff Lindsay. Dads love Dexter because he’s a bad guy who does seemingly good things. He tries to emulate a “normal” family man as best he can. But deep down, he has a Dark Passenger who pushes him to viciously murder people. His father Harry (the late James Remar), a police detective, helped Dexter control his needs when he was a teenager, teaching him to fixate on bad people who squeak by the justice system. In the present day, Dexter uses his job as a blood spatter analyst for the local police force to run his own side investigations and rid the world of these heinous individuals. But he only does this once he can prove that his victims are indeed guilty.
Dexter is fascinating, gruesome at times, and morally conflicting. But it’s an interesting story about fathers and sons, too. Following Harry’s death by suicide, unable to live with what his son does, Dexter is visited by his father’s ghost who helps him reconcile his dark thoughts. With the limited series revival Dexter: New Blood released in 2020 followed by both a prequel called Dexter: Original Sin and sequel series Dexter: Resurrection in the works, the show has become a franchise that will be at the top of every dad’s list.
7 Ted Lasso Makes It OK for Dad to Talk Out His Feelings
Years |
Number of Seasons |
Rotten Tomatoes Score |
IMDb Score |
Where to Stream |
---|---|---|---|---|
2020-2023 |
3 |
90% |
8.8/10 |
Apple TV+ |

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Ted Lasso was initially viewed as a hilarious sports comedy-drama about a fish-out-of-water American football coach (Jason Sudeikis) brought on to coach a struggling English football team. While he approaches the job with positivity and seriousness, Lasso doesn’t realize the owner hired him to tank the team and get back at her ex. But as everyone warmed to Ted — even the surliest players like Roy Kent (Brett Goldstein) — the show inspired hope. It is tremendously uplifting.
As the series progresses, some of the darkest Ted Lasso storylines transform it into a show about men’s mental health and not being afraid to talk about it. It’s a refreshing take on the archetypal male ego, making dads feel comfortable opening up about their feelings instead of repressing them. Ted Lasso has tons of heart and humor, and while dads might admit to loving the latter aspect of it, they’ll learn a lot from the former, too.

Ted Lasso
- Release Date
- August 14, 2020
- Main Genre
- Comedy
- Seasons
- 3
- Creator
- Brendan Hunt, Joe Kelly, Bill Lawrence
6 The Sopranos Is a Gangster Film Wrapped in a Show
Years |
Number of Seasons |
Rotten Tomatoes Score |
IMDb Score |
Where to Stream |
---|---|---|---|---|
1999-2007 |
8 |
92% |
9.2/10 |
Max |
Dads usually love gangster movies, from Scarface to The Godfather. The Sopranos, which was inspired by a real-life crime family, is like all their favorite gangster movies delivered in episodic form over eight seasons. The late James Gandolfini shines as Tony Soprano, an Italian American mobster balancing raising his family with his role as the leader of a criminal organization.
From the incredible cast to the action-packed, thrilling scenes and gripping plot, The Sopranos will have dads hooked from the beginning. The nefarious dealings are juxtaposed by Tony’s role as a husband and father, along with sessions with his psychiatrist Jennifer (Lorrain Bracco) where he talks through the challenges he faces. The Sopranos is as classic “dad TV” as they come.
5 Billions Is a Cat and Mouse Financial Gem
Years |
Number of Seasons |
Rotten Tomatoes Score |
IMDb Score |
Where to Stream |
---|---|---|---|---|
2016-2023 |
7 |
87% |
8.3/10 |
Amazon Prime Video |
Set in the corporate and legal world, Billions is centered around the cat-and-mouse games between United States Attorney Chuck Rhoades (Paul Giamatti) and Bobby Axelrod (Damian Lewis), an arrogant billionaire hedge fund manager who plays fast and loose with the rules. Chuck is determined to take down “Axe,” but Chuck’s wife Wendy (Maggie Siff) works and is close friends with his bitter rival, which complicates things.
Fabulously acted and brilliantly told, dads will struggle as they decide: do they side with Chuck, a man simply trying to do the right thing (albeit becoming obsessed with it) or the free-spirited Axe, who feels and acts as though he is untouchable? With an amazing supporting cast as well, the story in the first season of Billions is inspired by the real story of Preet Bharara who prosecuted hedge fund manager Steven A. Cohen back in 2013. While the plot diverts from there as both men resort to sometimes juvenile behavior (on a much larger political and financial scale) to get revenge on one another, it’s exciting season after season.
4 Reacher Is a Man for Whom Dad Can Root
Years |
Number of Seasons |
Rotten Tomatoes Score |
IMDb Score |
Where to Stream |
---|---|---|---|---|
2022- |
2 |
95% |
8.0/10 |
Amazon Prime Video |
Dad probably saw the movie Jack Reacher starring Tom Cruise as the title character, who is based on the character from the Lee Child book series. Alan Ritchson takes on the role in the episodic action crime series Reacher, a much more menacing figure with a big heart. He’s a former U.S. Army military policeman who lives as a drifter, traveling from one place to the next and taking down criminals. A vigilante of sorts, Reacher uses his strength, intellect, and unique abilities to eliminate threats, by whatever means necessary.
If dad loves amazingly choreographed fight scenes, high action, and a downright cool protagonist, he’ll fall in love with Reacher. Receiving rave reviews, the series is praised for being a faithful adaptation of the books.
3 The Boys Is Irreverent, Raunchy, and Political
Years |
Number of Seasons |
Rotten Tomatoes Score |
IMDb Score |
Where to Stream |
---|---|---|---|---|
2019- |
4 |
93% |
8.7/10 |
Amazon Prime Video |
3:08

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Admittedly, The Boys isn’t for all types of dads. Only those who can take vulgar humor, gruesomely graphic kill scenes, and graphic sexual content will appreciate The Boys. There are some incredibly shocking scenes in The Boys that make jaws drop to the floor. But for dads with an irreverent sense of humor, The Boys fits the bill. It centers around a group of superheroes run by a conglomerate called Vought International. They are supposed to be helping and protecting citizens. But their egos, particularly that of the all-powerful leader Homelander ( Antony Star), mean they save face more than actually doing anything remotely useful.
The story begins when an accidental death by one of these Supes leads Billy Butcher (Karl Urban) to form a group of vigilantes known as The Boys. His goal is to take down Supes and Vought, once and for all. But it isn’t easy to eliminate superheroes who can do everything from regenerating limbs to shooting lasers from their eyes and popping heads. Plus, Supes have incredible strength, which means they can literally tear bodies apart, and they do. Beneath the surface-level gore, The Boys is also a politically charged show that might not sit well with those on one side of the political spectrum. But as blatant satire, and one of the best shows to binge-watch ever, it manages to be both deeply funny and poignant at the same time.
2 Breaking Bad Is the One Who Knocks
Years |
Number of Seasons |
Rotten Tomatoes Score |
IMDb Score |
Where to Stream |
---|---|---|---|---|
2008-2013 |
5 |
96% |
9.5/10 |
Netflix |
Every dad likes to think he has a little bit of Heisenberg in him. The story in Breaking Bad is that of the descent of timid high school chemistry teacher Walter White (Bryan Cranston) into a menacing, dangerous crime lord who asks to be called Heisenberg. It’s a slow and agonizing burn, but in a good way. Following a terminal cancer diagnosis, White teams up with former student and drug dealer Jesse Pinkman (Aaron Paul) to sell his concoction of methamphetamine. He just wants to make enough money to leave behind for his family when he’s gone. But when his drugs are revered as the best, purest ever made for the streets, Walter discovers it isn’t so easy to get in and get out of the criminal underworld. What’s more, he doesn’t necessarily want to.
Achieving the power, influence, and respect he has felt he deserved for so long, White transforms into a man his family can no longer recognize and that others fear. Breaking Bad is arguably one of the best shows ever on television, certainly one of the best TV shows of the 2000s. For any dad who has ever felt fed up at his job, or regrets a missed opportunity, it’s a dark tale about one dad who went too far in trying to accomplish what he felt he had been missing.
1 Yellowstone Is Consummate Dad Fare
Years |
Number of Seasons |
Rotten Tomatoes Score |
IMDb Score |
Where to Stream |
---|---|---|---|---|
2018- |
5 |
84% |
8.7/10 |
Peacock |
Yellowstone and “dad” go hand in hand. If ever there was a show that is defined as a “dad show,” it’s this one. First, it stars Kevin Costner. Second, it’s set on a ranch in Montana. Third, it’s about a family fighting for their land against residents on an Indian Reservation and wealthy developers looking to get their hands on it. Yellowstone takes the best of so many other dad shows and combines them into one enthralling story.
The show has been so popular that it has spawned several spin-offs that all fall into the realm of dad TV as well, including 1883 and 1923 along with two upcoming shows 6666 and 1944, each of which touches on a different era of life within the Dutton family, dating back for generations. If Dad is looking for a new show to watch, Yellowstone or any of its spin-offs will delight.