Photo by CORBIS
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AARP The Magazine Father’s Day Survey Reveals Favorite TV Dad
July & August 2005
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Twenty-two years after the show went off air, people still have a soft spot
for Little House on the Prairie and its iconic dad, Charles Ingalls,
says a new AARP The Magazine Father's Day survey, which placed
Ingalls (Michael Landon) atop a list of top TV dads with 30% of the vote.
Playing second fiddle to Ingalls is Cliff Huxtable at 25% (Bill Cosby),
followed by Ward Cleaver, 10% (Hugh Beaumont) and Ozzie Nelson, 7%.
In a survey of over 1,000 Boomers, AARP The Magazine also asked
respondents a series of questions about relationships with their fathers. When
asked to describe the strongest emotion they felt in their relationship with
their father, 41% said love, while 35% said respect.
"Boomers' fathers were often shaped by the hardship of the
Depression and World War II, so I don't think it is too surprising that
respect is competing with love as the dominant emotion," said AARP The
Magazine Editor Steve Slon.
Other findings included:
- Surprisingly, only 36% of respondents said their father was the primary
disciplinarian, compared with 41% who said mom played the heavy.
- Only 28% of people said they looked to their father for advice raising
their own children, compared to 40% who solicited their mother's help.
- Both men and women are in regular contact with their parents. Seventy-four
percent of people say they currently stay in touch with their mother or father
by phone, email, mail or personal visits at least once a week; including 29%
who stay in touch every day.
- 52% of survey respondents felt closer to their children than their parents
were to them, compared to 29% who did not.
As for what people plan to get their dad for Father's Day: clothing,
cologne and a book topped the list.
Click here to see the
full results of the survey.
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