Looking for source material

[altariel]

Anyone know any good critical or secondary sources on gangster/Mafia fiction? I can recommend general sources on crime fiction, but am stuck on anything more specific. Sub-sub-genre: Mario Puzo critical studies.

And a question from a friend: "Do you know of any British sitcoms featuring a widowed/single father with children? All I can think of are American examples, such as Full House and The Nanny (and they stopped running in the 90s). Similarly, I can't think of any British action/drama stories involving single fathers, whereas in the US there is Supernatural, Eureka, both still running, and Veronica Mars ran until 2007, so that one counts, I've decided. Is it just less common as a set-up in Britain?"

(We already have Single Father.)

ETA: You guys are amazing.

Comments

[steepholm.livejournal.com]

How contemporary does it have to be? There was an Ian Carmichael vehicle in the '70s called Bachelor Father. It wasn't great, but fwiw... http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0162786/

[altariel.livejournal.com]

Good heavens, I hadn't even heard of that one! Brilliant!

[dewline.livejournal.com]

For what it's worth, I can't think of any Canadian sitcoms with that premise at the moment.

[altariel.livejournal.com]

Interesting exercise, isn't it?

[curiouswombat.livejournal.com]

There was Single Father last year with David Tennant...

But that was drama rather than a sitcom.

[altariel.livejournal.com]

Drama is good!

[katlinel.livejournal.com]

Does Case Histories count? Jackson's daughter doesn't live with him full time, but we do see him taking care of her and her being part of his life.

ETA: To Serve Them All My Days has PJ as a widowed father for much of it.

ETA2: And there were three episodes of the recent Doctor Who which featured either a single father or someone who was functioning as a single father for the duration of the episode.

[altariel.livejournal.com]

Ooh, Case Histories is an interesting one. And of course To Serve Them All My Days! Now I think of it, wasn't Maria in The Sarah Jane Adventures being brought up by her dad after her parents divorced?

[kalypso-v.livejournal.com]

I've a nagging feeling there's been something on the radio, though all I can think of now is Soloparentpals.com (http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b016q027) (from the Woman's Hour drama slot).

[altariel.livejournal.com]

Great one, I never think of radio.

[steepholm.livejournal.com]

I suppose The Tempest is a kind of sitcom...

[altariel.livejournal.com]

Totally.

[parrot-knight.livejournal.com]

From the 1980s: there is the Thames TV sitcom Me and My Girl starring Richard O'Sullivan and Tim Brooke-Taylor, and the Yorkshire TV sitcom Home to Roost starring John Thaw.

[altariel.livejournal.com]

Fantastic! Thank you!

[toft-froggy.livejournal.com]

How about Edge of Darkness?

[altariel.livejournal.com]

Oh my goodness of course!

[oursin.livejournal.com]

Not a sitcom, but a movie with Kenneth More, Raising a Riot (1955), I think had him have to be at least temporarily single dad.

[altariel.livejournal.com]

I like that suggestion - thanks!

[chrisbutler.livejournal.com]

Open All Hours. Arkwright had raised Granville, I believe, although they were actually Uncle and Nephew.

[gfk88.livejournal.com]

And following on from this, we can make a case for Porridge too.

[lonemagpie.livejournal.com]

There's one with John Thaw as the dad - Home To Roost - but it was with an adult son anyway so probably doesn't count.

[altariel.livejournal.com]

All these sitcoms I watched in the 80s, where did I find the time?

[edge-of-ruin.livejournal.com]

Has anyone had "Goodnight Mr Tom"?

[altariel.livejournal.com]

Not yet, good one.

[solanpolarn.livejournal.com]

I used to watch The Upper Hand which has both a single father and a single mother in it. On Googling for it -- I couldn't remember the name of it in Swedish or English -- I found out that it was based on an American comedy series called Who's the Boss? though, so perhaps it doesn't count.

[altariel.livejournal.com]

Gosh, yes, I used to watch that all the time! I can't believe how many of these I've forgotten! And absolutely fine that it was a US show originally.

[gfk88.livejournal.com]

I recall the mother died halfway through The Cedar Tree, though come to think of it that wasn't actually a sitcom.

I can't remember whether any of the children in the excellent As Time Goes By belong to Geoffrey Palmer, but this may not qualify anyway as he's hooked up with Judy Dench by the time we get to meet him.

And you really ought to have mentioned Diff'rent Strokes in your introduction !

[altariel.livejournal.com]

Diff'rent Strokes, good one! And not just sitcoms, after action and drama series as well. I haven't heard of The Cedar Tree.

[gfk88.livejournal.com]

The Cedar Tree would've been before your time I reckon. It was a family saga sort of thing - posh family with three daughters IIRC. Used to be on lunchtimes.

Ah - the machine tells me it ran 1976-79 and was based in the 1930s.

[altariel.livejournal.com]

Sounds brilliant, right up my street.