Richard Beekler

Richard Beekler is the father of Alexis Beekler and Dylan Beekler, the husband of Carole Beekler and the unwitting pawn of Golan. He is a standard, run-of-the-mill family patriarch and served as a straight-man figure for the other characters. He only appeared in the pilot episodes of the series.

Biography
After the series was picked up to be a series, and the storyline was developed and slightly changed, they got rid of Richard and passed the family off without him, portraying Carole as a single mother. Richard completely disappeared from the series as a physical character, but has still been referenced by the other cast members.

Personality
Richard Beekler was a loving father and husband, but weak willed and easy to manipulate through sheer domination. Carole, Dylan, Alexis and especially Golan showed little respect for him, taking turns between ignoring him and hurling abuse at him.

Absence
Starting from the second season onwards, the show was completely rebooted and Richard was no longer present in the main cast. Statements from other characters established that Carole was now single. Later episodes revealed that Carole became single when Dylan was very young, and implies that something terrible or upsetting happened to or with him.

The show has yet to reveal if Richard has died or simply left the family. It can be said that as of now, it's canonical to the series that he never existed, given that in the pilot season, Golan was already with the family from the very start, but in the series, he wasn't with them until the first episode, when Dylan summoned him, but it can just as easily be said that somehow, he did exist and was a member of the family once as he can be seen in several background shots, but it's unknown if he is supposed to be his own character, an easter egg, or simply the show's animators reusing assets.

The reason for the diappearance of Richard, while only expressed through subtle and barely explained references, alredy has contradictions. In On Golan Pond, Alexis implies that Richard is no longer in the family because he died of Robot AIDS and in Golan the Impregnable, Dylan mentions that her dad walked out on the family. However, it is possible that Richard walked out of the family first, and later on in his life, something happened to him that caused him to die of robot AIDS, and the Beekler family received word of it.

Appearances in the Series

 * A picture of Richard can be seen on Carole's desk in the Pilot.
 * In On Golan Pond, Carole is worried she may have Robot Aids, Alexis comments "Come on, Mom! What are the chances you and dad die of robot aids?"
 * In Golan the Impregnable, a younger Dylan is about to state what happened to Richard only to be interrupted by Keith.
 * In that same episode, Dylan laments that all the men in her life abandon her.
 * Finally, during the credits of that episode, Carole can be heard calling Richard's name.

Trivia

 * Richard was voiced by Matthew Silverstein, one of the show's co-creators. Silverstein was also the co-creator of Comedy Central series Drawn Together.
 * The reason for Richard's removal is a mystery. One possibility is that Richard wasn't amusing enough when compared to the other characters and couldn't play off them properly, or that he didn't add anything to their dynamic. Another possibility is that the absence of Richard served to make the other characters more sympathetic, with Carole now being a single mother, Dylan not having a father, and Golan taking Richard's place as the major male role model within the household.