What Exactly Is 'Dad TV'? Well, It Depends On Whom You Ask.

Some culture critics have tried to create a genre for shows like "Yellowstone," "Reacher" and "The Night Agent."

Like most parents with young kids, Yvette Holland Kirk looks forward to that sacred post-bedtime hour after her kids are actually asleep. Then, she and her husband can watch an hour of TV. They have made their way through shows like Prime Video’s “Reacher,” Netflix’s “The Night Agent” and Paramount+’s “Yellowstone” while sitting on the couch together at 9 p.m.

Over the past year, the term “Dad TV” has cropped up as a sub-genre to define the kinds of shows that Kirk and her husband tend to watch together. Crime shows or action-packed procedurals may be considered the original version of this genre. Not just because dads watched them but because your dad (or husband) was more likely to be next to you on the couch when you did.

As streaming has expanded, it has incorporated elements from successful network shows that are designed to appeal to male viewers and have large audiences. Think shows with a middle-aged male protagonist who is good at his job and works within a formulaic storytelling arc to solve a problem or defeat a bad actor who is endangering a core societal institution. The goal isn’t to remake the world; it’s to fix a broken piece within it while telling a story that is easy to follow and enjoyable to consume.

“Dad TV” is a term that you may or may not have heard because it hasn’t engrained its way into our cultural lexicon in the same way as the long-used and ubiquitous genre titles like rom-com, thriller or drama. This is true for Kirk who was unaware of the categorization and immediately found it lacking.

“I’m a little surprised though that those shows are classified as ‘Dad TV’ because maybe it’s more dad-friendly TV,” Kirk says. “I feel like almost always these are shows that the couples are watching together.”