Dads is an American television sitcom created by Alec Sulkin and Wellesley Wild which follows lifelong friends Warner and Eli, two successful video game developers whose lives are unexpectedly changed when their demanding fathers move in with them.
The series premiered in the USA on FOX on 17 September, 2013.
Dads premiered in South Africa on DStv's M-Net Series Showcase channel on Sunday 13 October 2013, at 17h00. It went on hiatus after 11 episodes had aired and resumed with Episode 12 on Tuesday 18 February 2014, at 19h30. New episodes broadcast weekly. There are 18 episodes in the first season.
Synopsis
From Seth MacFarlane, Alec Sulkin and Wellesley Wild, Dads explores the often treacherous terrain of the father-son landscape.
The multi-camera comedy series follows two successful guys – and childhood best friends – now in their mid-30s, whose relatively stable lives get turned upside down when their inappropriate and pain-in-the-neck patriarchs move in.
Eli (Seth Green, Family Guy, Robot Chicken) and Warner (Giovanni Ribisi, My Name is Earl, Ted, Avatar) are lifelong best friends and the co-founders of Ghost Child Games, a successful video game company.
Warner, married with two kids, is a bundle of nerves, as he tries to balance his career with his home life. He and Eli came up with the idea for the gaming company while stoned in college, and Eli has remained stoned ever since.
In contrast to Warner's seemingly stable life, Eli's is a bit messier, with brief stabs at self-improvement. He's a confident guy, but occasionally reveals his lack of good intentions and moral fibre.
Although Warner and Eli are at very different places in their lives, they are so close, their friendship often seems more like a marriage. And that relationship is more complicated now, as their dads invade their lives.
Warner's neuroses likely stem from having grown up in a family whose fortunes fluctuated wildly from year to year, due to the failed get-rich-quick schemes of his father, Crawford (Martin Mull, Two and a Half Men).
A self-described businessman (in wine-stained khakis) and a perpetual optimist, Crawford lives in a world all his own and still firmly believes the next big opportunity is just around the corner.
But whatever business savvy he thinks he has, Crawford always seems to sink the deal by putting his foot in his mouth – much to the chagrin of all of those around him, especially Warner.
Now that Crawford has moved in, Camila (Vanessa Lachey, True Beauty, Disaster Movie), Warner's matter-of-fact and beautiful wife, is constantly trying to get Warner to confront his father, but Warner can't seem to work up the courage to do so.
Eli's dad, David (Peter Riegert, The Good Wife, The Sopranos), is a towering monument to negativity who has spent his life jumping from relationship to relationship. Equal parts cheap and cranky, David relishes disappointment and has always prepared his son for it.
After hitting hard times, David turns to Eli, who reluctantly agrees to let his dad move in – even as he continues to blame David for his own shortcomings, including his inability to settle down.
Suddenly the two bachelors find themselves in very close quarters, and Eli's lovelife quickly takes a nosedive with David around. In fact, his longest relationship with a woman remains the one with his housekeeper, Edna (Tonita Castro, Go On, Seeking a Friend for the End of the World).
Trying to help both Warner and Eli through their myriad life challenges is Veronica (Brenda Song, New Girl, The Fixer), their witty VP of Game Development and voice of reason, who is never afraid to stand her ground with her bosses.
The invasion of the Dads will give these friends and business partners their biggest challenge yet. Between dubious schemes, passive-aggressive busy-bodying and light kissing-on-the-lips, will these beleaguered sons be able to hold the line in the face of two massive game-changers?
Dads is produced by 20th Century Fox Television and Fuzzy Door Productions. The series is created and written by Emmy Award-nominated writer/producers Alec Sulkin (Ted, Family Guy) and Wellesley Wild (Ted, Family Guy). Seth MacFarlane (Ted, Family Guy), Sulkin and Wild are executive producers. Marc Cendrowski (The Big Bang Theory) directed the pilot.