Since National Husband Appreciation Day is coming up (April 17th), we wanted to celebrate some great TV husbands, and shun the terrible ones. These hubbies are the best of the best and the worst of the worst in the contexts of their own shows; while there is great acting all around, we wanted to show you how lucky you are that you didn’t marry some of these guys!
Great Husband: Martin Goodman – Friday Night Dinner
Friday Night Dinner is a fantastic show, with a laugh-a-minute provided by the wonderful cast. The show focuses on the Goodman family, with the late Paul Ritter playing Jackie’s (Tamsin Greg) husband, Martin.
While Martin is a bit clumsy and forgets nearly everything his wife tells him, he is a charming, funny and often ridiculous man; and after being married for so many years, he still makes his wife happy.
Mr. Goodman tries his best at most of the things he does, even if they don’t go well, which makes him one of the best husbands on TV.
Bad Husband: Stan Smith – American Dad
American Dad is an animated show following Stan Smith (Seth MacFarlane), a CIA agent, father to two and husband to Francine (Wendy Schaal).
While Stan provides for his family, he’s not the best husband. He constantly forgets things his wife tells him, he misses anniversaries, laughs when his wife is in pain, and always puts himself first. He even scares her half to death while faking a romantic surprise.
Despite it being hilarious that he does all these things, Stan doesn’t exactly treat Francine with respect the majority of the time; making him one of our baddies!
Great Husband: Chandler Bing – Friends
Friends is such a well-known and popular show, and the relationship between Chandler (Matthew Perry) and Monica (Courteney Cox) is a marriage to remember.
Chandler makes the perfect husband; he constantly wants to make his wife happy by trying the things she wants to do, doing kind things for her when she’s out of the house, and so on.
He is always trying to make light of every situation, and while this isn’t always well-received, he does it out of the kindness of his heart and is truly what you would want in a significant other.
Bad Husband: Walter White – Breaking Bad
Walter White (Bryan Cranston) is an exceptional character, but not so much when it comes to being his wife Skyler’s (Anna Gunn) other half.
We all know the deal with Walter; he makes and sells meth, mainly to pay for his cancer treatment. This is the first sign that he’s a bad hubby. Despite family friends offering to pay for his medical bills, he still went ahead with the criminality, donning that memorable hat and those iconic glasses to become Heisenberg.
Despite him having good intentions (to provide for his family), he still gets mixed up in murder and constantly shouts at and belittles his wife – perhaps not the best partner…
Great Husband: Vision – WandaVision
The fantastic duo of Wanda (Elizabeth Olson) and her husband Vision (Paul Bettany) did wonders for Marvel – but what makes Vision such a good spouse?
Vision is yet another ideal partner. He is considerate, kind, and the inside jokes between the couple make it all the better. Even once Vision realises that Wanda maybe isn’t telling him the whole truth, he still wants the best for her.
He is selfless and really tries to give Wanda the benefit of the doubt when she’s in the wrong; and to say that he isn’t even human, he’s one of the most relatable husbands we know.
Bad Husband: Ben Harmon – American Horror Story: Murder House (Season 1)
American Horror Story (AHS) is an exceptional show with even more amazing characters, but Ben Harmon (Dylan McDermott) may be one of the worst TV husbands we can recall.
Ben is one of the least supportive, rude and nasty spouses we can recall. He has cheated on his poor and lovely wife, on one occasion while his daughter was in the house, and yells at his life partner for not sleeping with him so soon after she’d lost a child before its birth.
He may be handsome, but looks mean nothing when you’re married to someone as horrible as Ben.
Great Husband: Michael Shipman – Gavin and Stacey
Michael Shipman (Larry Lamb) is one TV husband that stands very tall against the rest of the wonderful roster of splendid spouses.
He is as close to perfect as you might get with a partner; he knows how to handle his wife when she’s being a tad ridiculous, he’s romantic, and is also a brilliant father to his son.
He knows how to make his wife happy but also when to tell her no in the kindest of ways; he’s charming and is always up for a laugh, making him a feel-good hubby.
Bad Husband: Peter Griffin – Family Guy
Similarly to Stan Smith from American Dad, Peter Griffin (also voiced by Seth MacFarlane) simply doesn’t know how to put his wife first.
Peter Griffin is an awful husband; as funny as his antics are, he doesn’t exactly support his wife. He’s missed her brushes with cancer and hardly ever does anything nice for her, unless you count pointing and laughing at her when she’s in pain…
He’s a funny guy for sure, but he truly takes advantage of his partner and it’s a genuine wonder as to why she hasn’t left him yet.
Great Husband: Derek Shepherd – Grey’s Anatomy
Just because some spouses make mistakes within their lives and their marriages, doesn’t mean that they can’t be redeemed and earn their place in the husband hall of fame.
Derek Shepherd (Patrick Dempsey) has made a few mistakes in his time, such as almost cheating on his wife and putting his needs ahead of her own, but we feel he can still be counted as a good husband.
He is kind, caring, and always seems to make time for his wife despite his busy schedule as a surgeon. Shepherd’s missteps only make him human, and his wonderful and charming nature is what’ made him one of the good guys.
Bad Husband/Partner: Joe Goldberg – You
Joe (Penn Badgley) is definitely not your ideal partner, we think we can speak for everyone there. While some may say he’s charming, and they’re right in saying so, this charm comes at a deadly price that’s masked as good-naturedness.
Joe and his new partner Love (Victoria Pedretti) seem to see eye-to-eye on the subject of murdering for love or to help someone else, which appears to have worked out well for Joe.
He is clearly a bad candidate for dating, though, as if something (or someone) in his partner’s life hinders them in any way, he more or less goes in for the kill – literally.
While we’re unsure if the couple did actually tie the knot, Joe is still a bad guy to get on the wrong side of.
Written by Melissa, who you can follow on Twitter @melissajournal
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