Visit by Divorced Dad

In a show where a main character is being raised by a single mom, there will be an episode where the divorced dad visits.

This rarely works in the reverse; perhaps reflecting the trend of children living with the mother, but more often than not a single father's wife is just dead. And in Real Life, custody for children almost always goes to the mother.

Compare When You Coming Home, Dad?

Contrast Daddy Didn't Show.

Anime and Manga

 * In Kodomo no Omocha, Sana's (adoptive) mother's ex-husband shows up at their house a couple of times asking for money. Of course, due to the comedic nature of the show, he is likely to be (harmlessly) blasted with some sort of large weapon, sending him flying away. Although to be fair, Sana doesn't consider this guy as a dad, and he doesn't consider her his daughter, since Misako's marriage ended before she found Sana.
 * In Noein: Mo Hitori no Kimi e (To Your Other Self), both Haruka and Yu both seem to be being raised by single mothers and Haruka brings up child support and running away to Tokyo to live with her dad in an early episode. It turns out Yu's is just always at work, but Haruka's dad's monthly visits becomes a plot point when fellow quantum physicist Uchida plans to use it to catch him and get him to help her save the world from their mutual research. There's always bloody quantum.

Film

 * The Babysitters Club movie had an example, where Kristy's Disappeared Dad visits for the summer. He only reveals himself to his thirteen-year-old daughter (ignoring his fifteen-, seventeen-, and seven-year-old sons), forcing her to keep it secret and basically lie to her family and friends all summer, before he leaves unexpectedly because his job prospect didn't pan out. The main series has another example where Dawn and Jeff's dad visits Stoneybrook briefly before a summer trip. He has breakfast with his ex-wife, her New Old Flame husband, and her stepdaughter. It's just as awkward as it sounds.
 * The Spin-Off series, "Friends Forever," had Kristy's dad get married again and finally remember that he has kids - because he wants the three oldest ones to be in the wedding. He doesn't even seem to remember that the youngest child (who was a baby when he left) exists, and is kind of a Jerkass throughout the whole thing.
 * In the movie Armageddon, one of the guys who has to go to space visits his son. The mom doesn't tell the boy that this is his father, but that he's a salesman. Later, after taking part in a plan that saves the planet, they see the man on TV. When the boy says, "That salesman is on TV." The mom responds, "That's not a salesman. That's your dad."
 * A similar thing happens at the end of The Long Kiss Goodnight.
 * One that does not end well in The Rebound.

Literature

 * Another kind of inversion happens in Amelias Notebook where Amelia gets a letter from her divorced father, then she comes to visit him. There still seems to be tension between her parents, though.
 * In Animorphs Rachel is visited occasionally by her father, who lives in another city. She actually seems closer to him than to her mom because they have a lot in common.

Live Action TV

 * Desperate Housewives
 * Monk
 * The Parkers (on more than one occasion)
 * Kate And Allie (many occasions for both divorced moms)
 * One Day At a Time
 * Whos the Boss (multiple visits; one included a brief reconciliation with the mom)
 * The first visit actually revealed they hadn't been divorced yet. He came back from an extended trip after being served with papers. That led to the attempted reconciliation.
 * Gilmore Girls (though in this case, the parents were never married to begin with. multiple visits; one brief reconciliation with mom. One attempted reconciliation with catastrophic effects)
 * Hank Summers appears in the first-season Buffy the Vampire Slayer episode, "Nightmares," and is supposed to meet Buffy, but cancels, a few other times over the series's run.
 * Joss Whedon was raised by a single mother. Coincidence?
 * It got the point where, in the 5th season, after, Dawn going to live with their Dad is listed as only a slightly preferable alternative to foster care if Buffy were to be deemed an unfit guardian.
 * Played With and Gender Flipped in season six--when Buffy was temporarily dead Willow and Tara became Dawn's substitute mothers, but later they broke up and Tara moved out. In "Smashed" she and Dawn go out together in what seems intended to represent a sort of parental visitation.
 * A few times in The Suite Life of Zack and Cody.
 * Interestingly The Sarah Jane Adventures has an example of a child with divorced parents living with their father. This trope isn't used because the Mum shows up so often that she's a Drop in Character. It's later played straight when Clyde's father pays a visit for the first time in five years in "The Mark of the Berserker".
 * Sports Night has a Visit To Divorced Dad by Casey's son Charlie.
 * The Fresh Prince of Bel Air used it for a Very Special Episode where Ben Vereen appears as Will's career-first father. Initially Will is excited, but when Uncle Phil tries to warn him against getting his hopes up, Will throws it back in his face. Of course, Mr. Smith plans on leaving without telling Will, triggering a Crowning Moment of Awesome Papa Wolf rant from Philip, as well as a combined Tear Jerker-cum-Crowning Moment of Heartwarming at the end when Will's attempt to look strong in the face of this latest abandonment fails and, breaking down, asks Phil, "How come he don't want me, man?"
 * Castle inverts this trope, since Rick Castle is raising his daughter Alexis (or in his case, possibly the other way around) and they get the occasional visit from his even more irresponsible ex-wife. (Even one of his other ex-wives, who isn't Alexis's mother, occasionally turns up to spend time with her.)
 * Inverted in The Secret Life of the American Teenager. Amy and Ashley live with their dad George. Their mom, Anne, and their baby brother Robbie live in another town near Anne's ailing mother. The girls (and occasionally George) sporadically visit Anne and Robbie. Anne keeps up semi-regular phone communication, but never really physically visits them, except when she's dropping Robbie off for his time with George.
 * Gossip Girl has done this with both parents. Blair's father (who comes to visit once or twice per season) and Dan and Jenny's mother (who appeared in a minor arc in season one).
 * Modern Family, with Gloria's ex-husband (Manny's father).
 * Also reversed, when Jay's ex-wife visits (though both of her children are now adults).
 * Eureka does the Gender Flipped version when Zoe's mom shows up. In a twist, she's showing up because it's her turn to get custody, and Carter needs to convince her not to put Zoe on a bus back to Los Angeles.
 * Vampire Diaries has a two episode arc in which Caroline's dad shows up. Of course, then he proceeds to torture her.
 * In the Power Rangers episode "Return Of An Old Friend", the parents of the Rangers are kidnapped and used as hostages. This includes Kimberly's divorced parents, with the dad being in the middle of this.

Web Comics

 * Red String inverts this. Reika decides to visit her father while she's in Tokyo. Upon entering, she discovers that her father has not only remarried, but he already has a son that was born around the time of the divorce (plus another one on the way).

Web Original

 * Erikas New Perfume has the title character's father take her trick-or-treating in a four-comic Story Arc.

Western Animation

 * Braceface
 * The Weekenders
 * Rocket Power with Sam's workaholic father.
 * Pepper Ann: her father visits fairly often, though as a blimp pilot he's usually away.
 * Home Movies (on multiple occasions; the divorced dad eventually evolved into a Recurrer.)
 * Happens to Buster in Arthur, though sans melodrama on his part. It eventually culminates with Buster leaving for an extended period to travel with his father. Later to be used as fodder for a spin-off series.
 * WITCH features this a couple times with Will's dad, especially in the episode "Q for Quarry".
 * It happened in the original comics, too. However, Will's dad there isn't so nice...
 * In one of those rare reversals, Dr. Katz actually has custody of his son, and is visited by his ex-wife only once for Thanksgiving.
 * Inverted on Phineas and Ferb, where main character Dr. Doofenshmirtz occasionally goes through with his evil plans while his daughter, Vanessa, is visiting; most of the time she's with Doofenshmirtz' ex-wife, but unlike most of the men on this page he keeps regular contact. Even if she sometimes wishes he wouldn't.
 * Averted, however, with both Phineas and Candace's biological dad or Ferb's biological mom, about whom nothing is known. The creators have gone on record as saying they're unimportant, since they would just rather focus on the Flynn-Fletchers as a happily blended family. Notably, the kids all refer to both parents as Mom and Dad.
 * King of the Hill had a few episodes sort of like this, when Luanne, an Adult Child who lives with her aunt and uncle, got visits from both of her parents. The mom had previously been in jail, while her dad.
 * Wheel Squad had an episode where Jessica's father visited her.
 * It's unclear if Emilie might have a similar experience, since it's not known if her birth father died or simply divorced her mother.
 * An interesting subversion of this trope occurs in the Emmy-nominated ep of As Told By Ginger, "Hello Stranger", where Ginger invites him to see her read a poem. However, he never shows up. Dad would, however, later visit Ginger in An Even Steven Holiday Special and Losing Nana Bishop.