I had the pleasure of speaking with Joe Nieves who plays Tom Diaz on the Disney Channel original show, Stuck in the Middle. Joe was a very gracious person to speak with. He and I talked about how he landed the role of Tom Diaz on the show. Joe is a dad as well who has had a career as an actor playing cops, bartenders and bad guys on dramas and some comedies – Joe was the bartender on “How I met Your Mother”. Joe was excited to land this role and described it as a blessing and a dream come true to play the father to seven kids on the show.

The nice thing about a show like Stuck in the Middle is that it is a true family show. There is something special for everyone to enjoy from kids to parents. It is important to me to watch shows where the parents are not portrayed as dumb. This is certainly not the case with Stuck in the Middle. Both parents are portrayed as smart. They may be exhausted and there may be times where it seems the kids are getting the better of their parents but it is clear that the parents are parents who are on top of what is happening in their home. I loved the episode where the parents seemingly went away for an overnight and the kids were home alone with the oldest daughter in charge. The kids got into so much trouble but the parents were away of everything that they were doing because they could see it on the security cameras. They even called to mess with the kids a bit. Continue reading Discussing Fatherhood with Joe Nieves of Disney Channel’s Stuck in the Middle →