Shit My Dad Says

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.

A sitcom on CBS starring William Shatner. It was based on the Twitter account @shitmydadsays, created by Justin Halpern and consisting of quotes from his real-life father, Sam.

Officially stylized as $#*! My Dad Says and pronounced as Bleep My Dad Says.

The show did not go over well with critics, to say the least. It has a 28 rating on Metacritic. It was cancelled after one season. It's pretty comparable with another similar flop, Living With Fran.

Tropes used in Shit My Dad Says include:


  • Actor Allusion: In the pilot, his son Henry imitates him with long pauses. Ed (Shatner) says, "Why can't anyone ever do a good imitation of me?"
    • When asking what song there is for Ed to sing Karaoke, "Rocketman" is suggested to him. Luckily, he refuses.
    • In another episode, Ed slides across the hood of a car, reminiscent of Shatner's other big TV series.
  • Adaptation Expansion: From 67 tweets to a TV series.
  • Brick Joke: The sock in episode 3.
  • Bland-Name Product: "The Hotcake Corral" (Golden Corral)
  • Censored Title
  • Driving Test: Part of the pilot's plot. 74-year-old Ed must pass or face five years without a license.
  • Erotic Eating: ...The spaghetti...
  • Expy: Ed is very similar to CBS's other crazy bastard, Arthur Spooner
  • Fetish Fuel: Katie, who was Henry's girlfriend for one episode, with her being a mild example of the dominatrix type. However, some may find the awkwardness of it on Henry's part to be Fetish Retardant in a way that annoyed some most likely, since many would pay top dollar for that kind of sex that he got for free.
  • Getting Crap Past the Radar: It's right there in the title.
  • I Should Write a Book About This: "Come on, Dad, it's not like I'm going to make a living writing down things you say!"
  • Jerkass: Ed. And is really Playing Against Type and is kinda... off-putting.
  • Large Ham: Amazingly subverted with Shatner, who's rather subdued on this show. Justin, on the other hand...
  • Limited Wardrobe: Ed is often seen wearing a rifle green fishing vest.
  • Naked People Are Funny: Henry sees Bonnie naked in "The Manly Thing to Do". Her reaction is an odd Dull Surprise.
  • Notable Commercial Campaigns: During the original airing of the show's pilot, special ads for the Wall Street sequel Money Never Sleeps - which would open the next day - were headlined "$#*! Gordon Gekko Says".
  • Pet the Dog: Played literally. We get to see Ed's soft side with Root Beer the dog. Initially he warns the dog he's not one to show affection but quickly becomes very attached to the dog. At one point he only visits Vince and his wife just to be around Root Beer.
  • Rascally Raccoon: At 5 in the morning, Ed grabs a raccoon by the tail and swings it around and into his shed after it got into his garden cucumbers. The same raccoon becomes a Brick Joke late in te episode.
  • Real Life Writes the Plot: "Easy, Writer" has Henry writing a story about Ed (albeit not a Twitter account).

Henry: Dad, it was just one article! I'm not going to make a career out of quoting you.