Tom Harper (Nicky, Ricky, Dicky & Dawn, seasons 1 and 2)

Thomas Louise "Tom" Harper is a character in the Nickelodeon series Nicky, Ricky, Dicky & Dawn. He’s the father of the quadruplets and husband of Anne Harper. Tom is portrayed by Brian Stepanek.

Why He Used To Rock

 * 1) Much like other characters such as Hugh Neutron from The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron: Tom is a very hilarious, comic-relief father of the Harper kids, and is funnier than his wife, Anne.
 * 2) He has many very funny moments, such as him wearing his "Quadfather" costume and being the quadfather in "The Quadfather", and wanting his old puppet theater set on stage for his kids to use over the new fancy puppet theater in "Piggy, Piggy, Piggy & Dawn".
 * 3) Just like Patrick Star from Spongebob and Sheen from Jimmy Neutron: He may be dumb, but he presented his idiocy hilariously.
 * 4) He’s one of the nicest characters in the show, as he’s seen to not get mad most of the time, and looks on the bright side of things for him and his family, and his kids, especially Nicky, inherited his kindness.
 * 5) His habit of doing child-like things is not only hilarious but also very charming, as he wants to enjoy some of the kid things his children are doing.
 * 6) Funnily enough, some of the kid things he did actually has helped his children out at times, such as when he put his toy train in the air vent, and when the kids went in the air vent and got stuck, with the toy train coming at them, it scared them that Dawn confessed she missed sharing a room with her brothers, and they admit that they miss her too.
 * 7) He does show some intelligence sometimes, as he comes up with good plans whenever his family are in a jam, such as dressing up Squishy Paws as a sailor dog to get more customers for his store, and also knows how to comfort and calm down his family whenever they are upset and sad.
 * 8) He seems to be more accepting of his kids’ crazy adventures, as he sees the fun they have with it, such as the time his kids got back at the family’s enemies, the Dynamites, with exploding Tennis balls, and he smiles and says "I love you kids!", which is sweet and funny at the same time.
 * 9) He’s not afraid to punish his kids whenever their activities go too far, being a responsible parent, such as when he took away the video games from Nicky, Ricky, and Dicky and gave them fit bits to exercise and stop being couch potatoes. He also installed a camera in their hats to make sure there was no cheating or being lazy, which was very smart of him. When he did catch them cheating, he chased them until they did their exercise of 10,000 steps, which was a fair punishment for not doing the exercise in the first place.
 * 10) He brings back the charm seen in the original Nickcom characters, such as Drake Parker and Josh Nichols, Carly Shay, and Cat Valentine.
 * 11) He loves his family very much, as he has a good relationship with his wife, Anne, and will do his best to make her happy. As for his children, he loves all 4 of them deeply, and will always help them whenever he can, such as when he comforted them during the times they were feeling sad because of their problems going too far, and when he had organized for Candace to perform at Get Sporty as a surprise for Dawn. This shows what a really caring husband and father he is to his family.
 * 12) Despite getting flanderized in Seasons 3 and 4, he was at his best in the touching finale, "Lasties with Firsties", as he, along with surprisingly Anne, we’re at their funniest in the series, especially the part where they did the music number and he played the Tuba. He and Anne were also their caring and lovable parent selves when they comforted their daughter, Dawn, saying it’s important that she’s happy for Mae, and that being her first best friend is better than being her first roommate. He was also happy to see when Dawn was happy again, seeing her with her brothers and her best friend, Mae, after they skydived, and saying that nothing will ever be boring in the Harper house. Therefore, this was a really great ending to his story.

Bad Qualities

 * 1) He was flanderized in Seasons 3-4.
 * 2) Even before his flanderization, he can be unlikable sometimes.
 * 3) He can be painfully unfunny at times, mainly because of his moments where his stupidity can be predictable.