"This is me, Nicole Bradford. Cute, huh? This is my dad and this is my dad. How did I get two dads? They inherited me. This is the judge who brought us together. She's here to make sure we're one happy family, with one dad who's down to earth and one dad with his head in the clouds!"
- Nicole Bradford's opening narration.
The series begins in 1987, after Marcy Bradford (only seen in the second-season episode "In Her Dreams"), the mother of 12-year-old Nicole Bradford, has died. The two men who had competed for Marcy's affections in Key West during the summer of 1974, Michael Taylor, a successful but slightly neurotic financial advisor; and Joey Harris, a struggling, but laid-back artist; former friends turned rivals over their mutual interest in Marcy – are awarded joint custody of Nicole.[2]
Each week, the mix-ups and trials of two single men raising a teenage daughter provide the stories. Judge Margaret V. Wilbur, a family court judge who gave custody of Nicole to Michael and Joey, frequently visits the new family. She bought the building in which Joey lived, so is now the live-in landlord. Michael originally has his own condo uptown, but in Episode 2, Nicole stages a sit-in at school because she feels she had no home, and the men decide it is better to all live in one home. They choose Joey's loft.
Nicole's actual paternity is never revealed on the show, but in the episode "Pop, the Question," Michael and Joey – after a falling out – have a DNA test to determine which of them is Nicole's biological father. The test is conducted against Nicole's wishes; she is happier not knowing who her true father is, and she destroys the results before opening them. Michael and Joey later resolve their differences and reconcile. Judge Wilbur looks at the results, but throws them away without revealing them to the audience.
The series comes to an end (in the episode called "See You in September?") when Joey reconnects with a former girlfriend named Sarah, and eventually moves to San Francisco to live with her and her daughter, Grace. He stays in contact with Nicole, Michael and Judge Wilbur, all of whom remain in New York. Nicole writes a letter to Joey, in which she makes reference to going out to San Francisco to visit, and she ends by saying that no matter what, or where he is, or who he is with, she would always be happy with him as one of her two dads.
Cast and characters
Cast
The lead cast of My Two Dads: Paul Reiser and Greg Evigan (top); Staci Keanan (bottom)
The series regularly featured Giovanni Ribisi and Chad Allen as two boys (Cory Kupkus and Zach Nichols, respectively) who competed for Nicole's affections, similar to how her two dads had done for her mother's. Florence Stanley appeared as Judge Margaret Wilbur, who was responsible for assigning Nicole's custody, and who regularly looked over the family; she was also their landlady, being the resident owner of the apartment building where the family lived. Amy Hathaway played Nicole's worldly best friend, Shelby Haskell. The cast was rounded out by former football player Dick Butkus, who managed the cafe on the building's first floor. The cafe (Klawicki's) was the second spot in the show around which a plot usually revolved; the first being the family's apartment. In the third season, when Dick Butkus left the series, the diner was then run by cook Julian (Don), but there was no explanation as to what happened to Ed Klawicki. Ownership of the diner was explained to have been taken over by Judge Wilbur at this point, and it was renamed The Judge's Court Cafe.
Night Court crossover
My Two Dads had crossovers with another NBC show, Night Court. Judge Margaret W. Wilbur, played by Florence Stanley, appeared on Night Court. In turn, Richard Moll guest starred as his Night Court character Bull Shannon in the My Two Dads episode "Playing with Fire", protecting Judge Wilbur from a recently released criminal that she had sent to prison years before.[3]
In August 1990, USA Network paid Columbia Pictures Television Distribution about $250,000 an episode, for as many as 15 runs over a three-year period, a price that was the syndication record until Major Dad surpassed that price two years later.[4] Reruns of the show aired on the USA Network through the 1990s and again in the early 2000s.
Home media
Shout! Factory (under license from Sony Pictures Home Entertainment) has released the first two seasons of My Two Dads on DVD in Region 1. Season 2 was released as a Shout! Factory Exclusives title, available exclusively through their online store.[5]
Mill Creek Entertainment released a 10 episode best-of set entitled My Two Dads – You Can Count on Me on March 22, 2011. The single disc release features episodes from the first 2 seasons.[6]
DVD name
Ep #
Release date
Special Features
The Complete First Season
22
March 3, 2009
A look back at My Two Dads with Greg Evigan and Staci Keanan.
