"Fathers in the United States are a lot less supportive and accepting than TV sitcom dads, even falling short of the low bar set by Homer Simpson, a study of college students' views suggests."

Study: Real dads don't measure up to TV fathers By Marilyn Elias

Comments: It's an obvious point, but Dads on TV are not realistic. Even the bad dads like Homer have more time than real dads to take care of their family. Real dads face real problems that cannot simply be solved in 30 or 60 minutes, like they can on TV programs. Looking to the TV for parenting norms may make dads feel inadequate and children feel cheated.

Even if we realize this consciously, the images on TV can seep into our views and expectations in subtle ways. Remember, the TV set has funny effects on the brain. When you watch TV, your brain slips into a hypnotic alpha brain-wave state. The messages enter your brain unfiltered. These messages are not analyzed properly, and will not be analyzed unless you make a significant effort to retrieve and review these messages after you turn off the TV.

According to this recent study, educated college students still rank TV dads better than their real dads. Although there may be a few real "bad dads", overall many dads may be getting a bad rap because they can't measure up to the phony TV dads.

This Father's Day, stop and take a moment to consider the achievements of your real father and the problems he has overcome in order to fulfill the demanding roles of parent, breadwinner, and husband to his family. Get rid of the expectations you may have had because of television shows and appreciate the real thing - your Dad.

Happy Father's Day to all the REAL Dads out there!