8 TV Dads With Bad Credit

Mike Brady, The Brady Bunch

Sure, the Bradys seemed like an idyllic family of the ’70s. But even back then, raising six kids, plus paying for a live-in maid, all on one salary couldn’t have been easy. Robert Reed’s Mike Brady never let on that he had money worries, but we can’t imagine the he didn’t. What about paying for college? The price of college has gone up dramatically since the Bradys were in school, but still. Six kids? On an architect’s salary? Plus big trips to Hawaii and the Grand Canyon? We can’t imagine that they didn’t have some debt.

We don’t ever get a sense of the Bradys’ financial situation until the first Brady Bunch movie came out in 1995. A local developer is trying to get the Bradys to sell their beloved home, and eventually learns that they owe $20,000 in back property taxes. This leads to a classic Brady exchange, and the formulation of a very Brady personal finance strategy.

Marcia Brady: [suggesting a way to raise money] I’ve got it! We could enter that Search For The Stars contest! First prize is twenty thousand dollars!
Greg Brady: That’s a great idea, Marcia!
Bobby Brady: Great idea, Marcia!
Jan Brady: Am I invisible? Do I not have a voice? I had that idea two days ago!
Peter Brady: [disgusted] Oh come on, Jan.

Poor Jan.

[Related Article: How to Plan a Debt-Free Summer Vacation]

Dan Conner, Roseanne

John Goodman’s Dan Conner is thought of by some as the ultimate TV dad. He is strong, funny, loving and very human. Roseanne was one of those shows that didn’t sugarcoat the struggles that American families go through, particularly with money. Dan always seemed to struggle with work, first as a construction and drywall worker, but he eventually laid it all on the line when he followed his dream of opening a motorcycle shop. Both he and Roseanne tried to make the business work, but the shop eventually folded, leaving the family in somewhat dire financial straits, deep in debt and Dan utterly demoralized. In the episode when the shop closes, Dan and Roseanne’s oldest daughter Becky pours salt in a very fresh wound. She’s angry because the closing of the bike shop means her boyfriend Mark has to leave town.

“If you knew how to run a business, he’d still have a job, and he wouldn’t be leaving! Now, I don’t have Mark! I don’t have college! I don’t have anything! You blew it, Dad! You blew it for everyone in this family!”

What a sweet kid.

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Tony Soprano, The Sopranos

James Gandolfini’s Tony Soprano was never really hurting for money, and we never got the sense that he was deep in debt, but given that he operated a largely cash business, it’s likely he had some credit problems. If, indeed, Tony didn’t have much of a credit history, he could have benefited from using a secured credit card, wherein he cuts a big check to the credit card company to serve as collateral against the line of credit they provide. That would have helped him establish a credit history.

But let’s be honest, Tony was almost always the creditor, not the debtor. Lots of guys owed him money, and if they didn’t pay, it wasn’t their credit score that took a hit. This provided a level of financial security, if not psychological stability, for Tony, as he once explained.

Anthony ‘Tony’ Soprano Sr.: Sil, break it down for ’em. What two business have traditionally been recession-proof since time immemorial?
Silvio Dante: Certain aspects of show business and our thing.

They forgot childcare.

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