Episode 82: Danielle Steel's "Daddy" (1991)
We dive into the soapy melodrama of 1991's "Daddy," where Patrick Duffy graces VHS covers in questionable states of undress, timeshares are apparently the worst financial decision you can make, and mysterious housekeeper Agnes materializes whenever someone needs to ask if anybody's hungry.
What You're Getting Into: Oliver Watson (Patrick Duffy) thinks he has the perfect family until his wife Sarah drops the bomb that she's leaving for graduate school in Michigan. What starts as pursuing her writing dreams quickly escalates to "I want to see other people" territory, leaving Oliver to single-parent three kids while everything spectacularly falls apart.
Peak Dumpster Moments:
The Agnes Mystery: We spend considerable time trying to figure out who the hell Agnes is, as this housekeeper appears out of nowhere asking "Anybody hungry?" with the timing of someone who definitely can't read a room.
Questionable Legal Advice Corner: Oliver's immediate response to teen pregnancy? "I'll pay for an abortion or we'll send her to one of those homes." For a movie called "Daddy" celebrating fatherhood, our supposed parental role model is surprisingly quick to suggest eliminating grandchildren.
90s Family Dysfunction: Between the toxic body image messaging ("If I eat anything, it will show"), the abandonment issues, and grandma getting hit by a bus, this family makes the Fishers from "Six Feet Under" look well-adjusted.
Christmas Tradition Tangent: We take a delightful detour to explain the organized, methodical gift-opening protocol that apparently no movie family has ever adopted, complete with clues, proper presentation, and strategic wrapping paper collection.
Romance Novel Evolution: A brief exploration of how Danielle Steel's relatively tame 1991 melodrama compares to modern romance novels, which have apparently evolved into "basically women's porn" according to current bestseller lists.
The Dad Sofa Experience: An extended meditation on the horrors of hospital "dad sofas" - those vinyl-covered torture devices that pass for furniture in maternity wards.
The Verdict: come listen to hear how man dumpsters we gave this schmaltzy soap opera that manages to be both incredibly earnest about family values and completely bonkers in its execution. Not the worst thing ever made, but definitely peak early-90s melodrama with enough unintentional comedy to keep you entertained.
Coming Up: We're heading back to Cousins Beach for more teenage angst and impossible timelines as we continue our Summer I Turned Pretty journey toward the series finale chaos that's apparently taking over the internet.