Doug Gardner is the father of Sam Gardner and Casey Gardner and the husband of Elsa Gardner. He is an EMT.
Doug is portrayed by actor, Michael Rapaport
Biography
Doug is currently married to Elsa and has been for 22 years but they are currently separated due to her cheating on him which he found out about at the end of Season 1. He kicked her out of the house for a while because just looking at her disgusted him, but after having a panic attack, he allowed her to move back in to help out. She is currently living back home permanently as he believes its better for the kids when they are both around but they are only living as roommates until Sam and Casey have both graduated.
Doug has formed a closer relationship with Sam by helping him when he needed help with girls. He supported him when the idea came up about college and talked to him about attending an autism support group at the school instead of going to one-on-one therapy allowing Sam to make the decision for himself. After his panic attack, he took on Sam's suggestion of reciting the four species of Antarctic penguin to help him calm down which Sam also does himself.
It is revealed he left the family for 8 months back in 2004 because he couldn't accept Sam's autism. When Casey found out about it, she got upset and it affected their relationship for a while but they do still remain close. She was the one who convinced him to allow Elsa to move back in for a bit to help joking around how she would still torture her and he also taught her to drive when she turned 16.
History
Season 1
Season 2
Trivia
- Doug loves cheddar chips.
- Makes a mean chop suey
- Currently separated from his wife Elsa
- His never telling him partner on EMT,that Sam have an autism spectrum.
- Struggled to accept Sam's autism to begin with amnd even left the family for 8 months back in 2004 because of it.
- Until recently, he always had a closer relationship with Casey than Sam. They even went running together and he was her go to person to tell stuff to.