Pam--While this  is  not  directly responsive  to  your  request,

          perhaps it  will  give  some ideas.  I believe the  single father

          sitcoms you have noticed are part  of  a broader motif, extending

          beyond simply either television or  comedy, making  a fundamental

          statement  about  Hollywood's  typical  construction  of   gender

          importance and  family  needs. Whether  the  sitcoms  and  others

          mentioned, or dramas, or countless Disney films, we are presented

          with  an "essential" family that consists of father-and-children.

          Mothers and motherhood are simply absent, rarely even considered;

          these basic father-and-children families find themselves entirely

          self  sufficient without  even  considering  the  possibility  of

          feminine influence.It seems a  way  of reducing the feminine even

          beyond a subordinate role until it vanishes

          altogether.Ironically, this seems  most frequent in entertainment

          directed at children (ie, Flipper), and  I recall being struck as

          a child myself in the 60s by the prevelance of this theme. Almost

          never, at that time, did  I  see  a reversal that concentrated on

          the single mother. This  also  seems  to  go beyond  the possible

          budgetary consideration of minimizing the number of cast, since a

          long-running  series  needs  fuller  relationships.  Forgive  the

          informality  of   these  ideas,  without  supplying  titles   and

          annotations. Brian  Taves,  Motion  Picture Division, Library  of

          Congress

                                 Tavesmail.loc.gov

          My ideas do not reflect the Library or Division.