All parents were bad, fathers especially. Father's role got reversed. He became the subject of derision, the sort of do-do that Bill Cosby portrayed, always being outsmarted by either his children or his wife. He seldom got credit for wisdom or knowledge and he especially was outfoxed by his youngest child, who was less innocent than crafty. These days fatherhood is sort of nowhere in the media.
Few fathers appear as main characters in television sit-coms.
Frasier's father, for instance, a guy I like to think is my age, although actually I think he is younger, grumps around. Frasier pays him little attention and not much respect. Nor are there many other father figures about in television. Most TV sitcoms are young, sexually starved couples who are without children, or with small children. They are programs obviously aimed at that mythical group of viewers who are somewhere between Generation X and the Baby Boomers.