My List of TV's Worst Husbands

One of the first lists I ever did was of my favorite TV dads and I thought I would look at the other layer of those characters. Being a great TV dad doesn't necessarily make you a great husband and you may not believe it, but there isn't going to be a lot of overlap with my list of TV dads. My years of vegging in front of the television set have revealed two major criteria for a bad TV husband: They are either so completely obsessed with their work that they neglect their loving wife OR they do all their thinking below the waist, can't keep their fly zipped, and will have an affair with any woman who doesn't look at them sideways. The husbands on this list don't all fall into these categories but these are the two major categories. It should also be mentioned that for some entries on this list, their being bad husbands is part of the character's backstory and may not apply to their current role on the show. Any questions, class? OK, here we go...this is my list of the worst husbands on television:

30.

Ted Baxter, The Mary Tyler Moore Show



Sweetheart Georgette Franklin (Georgia Engel) was way too good for this guy.

29.

Karl Mayer, Desperate Housewives



Karl (Richard Burgi) deserted wife Susan (Teri Hatcher) and daughter Julie (Andrea Bowen) after coming clean about his affair with his secretary. He married his secretary and then cheated on her. When she threw him out, he tried crawling back to Susan, who was not having it so he decided to have affairs with the neighborhood tramp Edie Britt (Nicollette Sheridan) and Susan's good friend Bree (Marcia Cross). This guy was a piece of work.

28.

Jack Malloy, Unhappily Ever After



Take Al Bundy and make him schizophrenic and you have Jack Malloy (Geoffrey Pierson).

27.

Richard Avery, Knots Landing



Richard (John Pleshette) was married to the lovely Laura (Constance McCashin) and had two small sons and did his best to keep Laura chained to the house, despite her desire to have a career and even when he thought he had Laura firmly under his thumb, he twisted the knife further by drifting into an affair with Abby Cunningham (Donna Mills), which put an end to the marriage and Laura's indentured servitude.

#27 - I remember disliking this character!
And what's funny is this actor went on to play many bit part characters - almost all of whom were unlikeable!

Holy ****, I completely forgot about this show.

If that Desperate Housewives guy was in the first season then i've seen him, don't remember him though. I only watched Season 1 of that show and the only thing that has stuck in my mind from it is the redhead and her weird stalker.

26.

George Truman, Will & Grace



The late Oscar winning director played a terrific father to Will Truman (Eric McCormack), but this guy was one lousy husband. He cheated on Will's mother (Blythe Danner) for years with Tina (Lesley Ann Warren) who quietly accepted it until George actually left her. George then turned around and cheated on Tina with Will's mom.

25.

Jefferson D'Arcy, Married...with Children



After her first husband, Steve Rhodes, (David Garrison) quit his job in high finance to become a park ranger (in reality, Garrison was cast in a Broadway show and wanted out), Marcy Rhodes (Amanda Bearse), met and married Jefferson (Ted McGinley), a lazy, empty-headed stud who kept Marcy satisfied in bed and felt that earned him the right to live off of Marcy's money. He spent most of his time participating in get rich quick schemes with Al Bundy (Ed O'Neill) and had no qualms about using his wife's money. And yes, when Marcy remarried, her character name actually become Marcy D'Arcy.

24.

Criss, 30 Rock



Criss (James Marsden) didn't have much of a career when he met Liz Lemon (Tina Fey), but was willing to give that up and sit at home while wife Liz brought home the bacon.

23.

Ari Gold, Entourage



Ari (Jeremy Piven) was a slick and calculating Hollywood agent who I'm pretty sure was more in love with client Vincent Chase (Adrian Grenier) than he was with his own wife (Perrey Reeves).

Very true, and she was such a great wife, but I love Ari. I think he was also inlove with Lloyd. And Pizza Boy.

22.

Murray Goldberg, The Goldbergs



Actually it's a real horse race as to whether Murray (Jeff Garlin) is a worse husband or father, but he definitely belongs on this list and he keep me in stitches every single episode.

I don't think Ari was in love with Lloyd, but Lloyd was definitely in love with Ari.

I miss Lloyd. Such a fun character.

21.

Norm Peterson, Cheers



Norm (George Wendt) was the only patron of Sam's bar who was there when he opened the doors and Sam (Ted Danson) had to show the door when it was last call. Of course, all this time at the bar was time away from Norm's wife, Vera. In the eleven seasons the show was on the air, we only met Vera once, but we never saw her face because Cliff (John Ratzenberger) accidentally threw a pie at her (Vera was played by Wendt's real-life spouse).

20.

Tim Taylor Home Improvement



Don't get me wrong...I loved this show and loved this character but this guy was a lousy husband...crude, sexist, and his views on men and women's roles in marriage bordered on neanderthal...he couldn't remember any of the significant days in his marriage to Jill (Patricia Richardson) and did his best to quash any attempt Jill made to have any kind of career. No matter what they fought about, the only time Tim would admit to being wrong was when over-the-fence voice of reason, Wilson (the late Earl Hindman) told him that he had to if he wanted to stay married.

19.

Wally Logan, The Brady Brides



Never understood what Marcia Brady (Maureen McCormick) saw in this guy...he was aimless, lazy, and couldn't hold onto a job. Wally (Jerry Houser) was definitely a better father than he was a husband but let's just say that it was no shock that when TV's most beloved family came back in a 60 minute drama called TheBradys, Marcia was an alcoholic played by a different actress (Leah Ayres).

Was Murray a bad dad? I never noticed that really. Only watched the show at random times when it was on and I was bored, i just found him a pretty hands off (largely because of the mum) but well meaning dad. Loving but not outwardly as it wasn't in his personality. I'm probably wrong coz as i said i didn't watch the show that closely but why was he a bad dad? Husband i could see more but i'm still not sure if i'd agree.

Norm was definitely haha. He had some nice moments here and there tho.