Dale Gribble - Family

Family

Dale had been estranged from his father, Bug Gribble, since he witnessed Bug kissing his wife Nancy, on the lips on their wedding day. In truth, Bug only kissed Nancy to hide his homosexuality as he was nearing a kiss with a Filipino caterer. When Dale entered the room, Bug, afraid of his son possibly rejecting him because of his sexuality, panicked and reached for the nearest female, not realizing that it was Nancy until the damage was done. Dale did not learn the truth until 20 years after, when he witnessed his father working as a cowboy at a gay rodeo. It was here that father and son reconciled their differences. Dale's mother is dead, this fact being learned in episode "Bobby on Track".

Although highly suspicious of the government and of other people, Dale is unaware (although everyone else knows, except for Joseph Gribble) that his wife Nancy has had an affair with John Redcorn for nearly 15 years, and that Redcorn is Joseph's biological father. In fact, Dale never even came close throughout the entire series about learning of the affair; the closest he has ever come to learning about it is in the episode where Peggy wanted to tell him, but she decided not to. John Redcorn even told Dale in the episode "Hank gets dusted" that he cheated with his best friend's wife for 15 years, and Dale just thought he was talking about Bill's wife Lenore; he never questioned what Redcorn said. It is unknown what would've happened if Dale ever did find out. This is apparently due in part to his blinding love for Nancy, his incredible naïvete, his belief for some time that John Redcorn might be gay, and that he is in denial of his wife's infidelity. An example of Dale's naïvete of Redcorn and Nancy's relationship occurs in one episode where he catches Redcorn sneaking in through a window with Nancy nearby. When Redcorn, believing Dale had found out about his relationship with Nancy, sees this, he tells Dale he regrets him finding out in this way. Dale simply replies, "Get off my mower and start massaging my wife," still in belief that Redcorn was simply Nancy's masseur with the task of curing her false recurrent migraine headaches (forcing Redcorn to say in an exasperated tone that Dale was "taking some of the fun out of this"). A recurring gag early on in the series was that whenever Dale would make a comment about being Joseph's father, John Redcorn would show up.

In contrast to the usually shallow demeanor he has towards his friends, Dale is fiercely devoted to his wife and son, and frequently displays his love for them. He blames himself for all of the problems Nancy herself caused between them while she was cheating on him, has an explicit (and misplaced) trust in her, and pampers her constantly; lavishing compliments, favors and gifts upon her, often in the embarrassing presence of John Redcorn. However, he never really showed much interest in spending time with her, and sometimes, usually in social situations, he would momentarily forget that he was married. Dale is extremely proud of Joseph, towards whom he is highly generous and supportive, especially for his athletic prowess, which Dale never possessed. Unlike Hank's demeanor with Bobby, Dale is extremely attentive to Joseph's needs and feelings, and is never afraid to express his affection for him. Although Dale's attempts at good parenting occasionally go astray due to his odd ideas, he is portrayed as Joseph's primary parent (especially in the earlier seasons when Nancy was still having an affair), and is usually the first person Joseph turns to when in trouble. Joseph, unlike Bobby, has very little conflict with his father and rarely seems to feel the need to rebel against him, probably due to Dale's emotional availability and acceptance of his son's activities and tendencies – an area in which he outshines Hank. While he is comfortable and unworried about his son's development, Dale is very protective of Joseph: despite his cowardly nature, he once rushed into what he believed was the tractor beam of an alien ship to save him, even though he was convinced that Joseph's real father was an alien.