Edward MacDell

**Edward MacDell** is the father of Matthew and husband of Kimberly. He is an all-American patriot and a former staff sergeant from the Navy. He first appeared in "Cellsea". He is voiced by Gary Cole.

## Biography

In "Cellsea", Edward met Jessi when Matthew brought her over to the MacDell House. Edward accurately assumed that Jessi was Jewish on account of her last name, having met a few Jewish people with the last name "Glaser" before. He asked if her mother was also Jewish and told her that he loves watching Jewish TV shows such as *The Nanny*, *Seinfeld*, *Mad About You*, and *Friends*. Jessi questioned the legitimacy of the latter's Judaism but Edward raised a good point, when he said that since Ross and Monica were Jewish, it counts as a Jewish TV show. When Matthew and Jessi went up to Matthew's room, Edward joked that they shouldn't have too much fun. Edward told Kimberly that tonight, they should have a dish of ice cream for dinner. Jessi presumed later that Edward didn't know Matthew was gay and Matthew said that he and his father have kind of a don't ask don't tell policy. Matthew decided to keep his sexual orientation a secret from his so that Edward can continue to live out his fantasy of him being a straight boy who will one day marry *Carrie Underwood*.

In "Obsessed", Edward had Matthew take Jessi and Aiden over to his house. While Matthew made out with Aiden in his room, Jessi distracted Edward and Kimberly in the kitchen by asking them how they made their marriage work. Edward said that he made his marriage work by discovering his true love, The Navy. Kimberly said that Edward was a very funny guy but when she first met him, he was actually a very violent and abrasive man and even noted that Matthew used to have an older brother. Jessi looked extremely uncomfortable before Edward and Kimberly both started laughing and told her that this story was completely fabricated. Kimberly confirmed that Edward did not kill his son and Jessi awkwardly laughed her way out of that situation.

In "Four Stories About Hand Stuff", Edward's voice was heard but he did not appear on screen. He called Kimberly down to the living room, to tell her that the funny *Progressive* commercial she liked was on.

In "The Funeral", Edward had dinner with his family and was glad to hear how much fun Matthew and Kimberly had at the church bake-off. When he heard that Matthew probably won't be doing it again next year, Edward said that it would be nice to bring back the old dynamic duo of Kimberly and Brittany anyway.

In "What Are You Gonna Do?", Edward raved to Matthew about how great a show *Fuller House* was in the car. Matthew worked up the courage then and there to come out to him as gay. Initially, Edward seemed rather disturbed with his son having Aiden as a boyfriend but when Matthew started freaking out, acting as though Edward was going to punish him for being gay, Edward parked the car and stopped Matthew, asking for him to hold his horses. Edward told Matthew that he's always known he was gay since he was a little kid. He drove him to tap dancing classes, after all. Matthew told Edward that Kimberly was still not on board with him being gay and Edward told him that she was probably going to need a bit more time to wrap her head around the issue. Ultimately, Edward was completely unfazed by the conversation and was quick to move on and continue driving again, just talking about the *Fuller House* episode, "*The Moving Day*", making life business as usual for him and Matthew.

## Personality

Edward is an all-American conservative patriot, who is proud to be a citizen of the USA. He is an old-fashioned man, who believes that as a man, it is his responsibility to bring home the bacon and his wife's duty to cook it. Being a the kind of man he is, Edward is very uncomfortable with talking to his kids about their feelings and usually lets his wife take care of those kinds of issues.

As a former Naval staff sergeant, Edward is a very bold and strong man, who flaunts his veteran status with boastful pride. He also quotes military lingo in everyday dialogue, saying things to his kids like "permission granted, sailor."

At first glance, one might suggest that a conservative Christian man like him is homophobic, hence Matthew's reasoning to stay closeted in front of him. However, in "What Are You Gonna Do?", it was revealed that Edward has known since the very beginning that Matthew was gay and had no problem with it. However, because of Edward's discomfort with talking about his feelings, this causes poor communication within his family. On the upside, Edward is a very chill and mellowed out man, who doesn't ever freak out or get mad.

Edward is a very funny and jovial guy, who is not afraid to crack jokes around his friends and family, although a few of his jokes can be rather off-color, such as the time he implied that he killed his imaginary eldest son. He likes to watch TV and usually raves about how much he loves

## Episode Appearances

* Cellsea
* Obsessed
* Four Stories About Hand Stuff (Voice Only)
* The Funeral
* What Are You Gonna Do?
* A Very Big Mouth Christmas (Biblical Version; Mentioned)
* Sugarbush

## Trivia

* Edward is a veteran staff sergeant from the Navy.
* Staff Sergeant is not a rank in the Navy although it is in the Marine Corps and Army. The equivalent Naval rank would be Petty Officer First Class. This is likely an error.
* Edward loves watching TV. Some of his favorite shows include *Fuller House*, *The Nanny*, *Seinfeld*, *Mad About You*, and *Friends*.