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PORTSIDE CULTURE

MOBLAND IS THE PLATONIC IDEAL OF DAD TV  
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Brian Tallerico
June 3, 2025
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_ We're all Harry Da Souza. There has been a lot of discussion about
the success of what some have called “dad TV,” shows not watched
exclusively by men but targeting them through casting, concept, and
execution. _

, Photo: Luke Varley/Paramount+

 

There has been a lot of discussion about the success of what some have
called “dad TV
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shows not watched exclusively by men but targeting them through
casting, concept, and execution. It’s not a new phenomenon. CBS used
the formula for years, keeping a series like _Blue Bloods_ on the
air long after its expiration date. And CBS’s owner, Paramount, has
really refined that recipe with certain Showtime shows
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all that’s happening in the Taylor Sheridan Universe
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this is not to imply that there aren’t plenty of moms out there in
love with everything Paramount+, only that the streamer’s aim seems
squarely and successfully at grown men with dad issues of their own
(either with their own pops or with their kids). As put in
that _HuffPost_ piece, they’re called that “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.”

Branding something dad TV isn’t an insult either. The term simply
denotes the kinds of fictional worlds that dads relate to and, often,
the kinds of characters they want to be more like. Per NPR
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“These are TV shows aimed at appealing to and reflecting the
perspectives of middle-aged guys—men over age 30 who are often, as
it turns out, dads—with a yearning to see fellows like themselves
reflected in some of the programs they watch.” Think of not just a
cultural force like _Yellowstone_, but programs like _Reacher_
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Ryan_, and _Tulsa King_: They all have things in common that put them
in the dad TV category, but there may be a new king in this castle and
platonic ideal of this genre: _MobLand_.

_MobLand_ was a massive hit for Paramount+
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out of the gate, breaking the record for the biggest global premiere
for the company on premiere day with 2.2 million viewers and
joining _1923_ and _Landman_ as the largest launches ever for the
streamer. How is _MobLand_ shattering high expectations by embracing
the tenets of dad TV? With some cleverly ludicrous plotting,
over-the-top performances, and loopy accents
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for sure, but also by checking off the boxes of any good dad TV show,
such as:

HEY, I KNOW THAT GUY 

The simplest way to explain the success of most of Paramount+’s
original dramas would be in analyzing the paychecks of their stars.
Sure, the TSU brand was a part of the success of _1923_ but probably
not as much as casting Harrison Ford and Helen Mirren. It matters to
get a familiar face or two on the ads, as shows with Billy Bob
Thornton (_Landman_), Jeremy Renner (_Mayor Of Kingstown_), and
Sylvester Stallone (_Tulsa King_) can attest. And _MobLand_ has an
undeniable hook of a cast, one filled with actors associated with what
could be called dad movies too. Tom Hardy, Pierce Brosnan, and Helen
Mirren are all excellent performers with the right material and they
represent franchises spanning from James Bond to The Fast And The
Furious. It also helps to fill out an ensemble with character actors
that scratch similar itches, such as Paddy Considine and Geoff Bell,
who both do excellent work to help ground the first season
of _MobLand_.

HE’S JUST LIKE ME, BUT A CRIMINAL

We could all be Jack Reacher with just a few more workouts, right?
Most of these shows center complex men in the middle of turf wars,
plunging viewers into “what if” dynamics that allow them to
question how they would respond to being a landowner in a different
era, a power broker in the Midwest, or even a fixer for a U.K. mob
family. Tom Hardy’s Harry Da Souza is a classic dad-TV archetype,
the guy who has to clean up for a powerful crime syndicate and try his
best to keep the peace. He’s the negotiator who keeps chaos at bay,
which is a role that many fathers would like to claim they play in
their own families. We’re all Harry Da Souza. Viewers like to think
that they would respond as instinctively as Harry, making him a
surrogate for their wish fulfillment, which is another essential
ingredient of dad TV. 

WORK/LIFE BALANCE

Blame Tony Soprano, but almost every dad-TV hit since the HBO
game-changer has centered a man caught between his work and his
family, another element to which so many working fathers and mothers
across the globe can relate. In _MobLand_, Harry misses couples
therapy with his wife Jan (Joanne Froggatt) and goes pale when he
discovers that his daughter Gina (Teddie Allen) is hooking up with the
genuinely awful Lord Joffrey of this show, Eddie Harrigan (Anson
Boon). But he’s got work to do to stop London from exploding into
violence, underlining the idea that no one can do it all. This is a
relatable core of dad TV: people trying to make their boss and partner
happy at the same—and generally failing to do so.

A RECOGNIZABLE PEDIGREE 

Taylor Sheridan is still the clear leader of this genre. But getting a
director like Guy Ritchie on your ads doesn’t hurt, and neither does
having writers who are well-versed in dad TV and movies. Creator Ronan
Bennett co-wrote _Public Enemies_ and brought us Peacock’s _The
Day Of The Jackal_. Meanwhile, _MobLand_‘s other scribe, Jez
Butterworth, counts _Edge Of Tomorrow, Black Mass, Ford V
Ferrari_, _Spectre_, and _Indiana Jones And The Dial Of
Destiny _among his credits. It’s also worth noting
that _MobLand_ started life as _The Donovans_, a prequel to
Showtime’s dad-TV staple _Ray Donovan_. It was reworked into a
standalone project, but one can pretty easily see the core
of _Donovan_ drama in this show about a fixer for an unpredictable
family that also plays with barely repressed childhood trauma. 

IT MAKES US FEEL SMART (BUT NOT TOO SMART) 

Audiences will flee to another network if they feel like all of the
above items on the checklist are in pursuit of something that thinks
they’re stupid. To avoid this, writers like Bennett and Butterworth
thread a needle of plotting, making sure it’s just complex enough to
keep viewers from scrolling on their phones while not losing them in
the metaphors and double crosses. _MobLand_ loves to drop in the
occasional chess reference—Brosnan and Mirren’s characters being
the protected King and strong Queen, of course—and has echoes of at
least a half-dozen Shakespeare plays about power and betrayal. These
little touches of intellectual flavor offset the beatings, explosions,
and shootings in a way that makes _MobLand_ more than a guilty
pleasure.  

* mobland
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* dad tv
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* paramount+
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