Andrew Landon

Andrew Landon
First appearance	Gifted
Last appearance	Is It College Yet?
Voiced by	????
Episode count	5 episodes; 2 Daria TV movies
Information
Gender	Male
Age	50-52
Occupation	businessman entrepreneur
Family	Michele Landon (wife); Jodie Landon (daugher); Rachel Landon (daugher); Evan Landon (son)
Significant other(s)

Andrew Landon is a businessman entrepreneur and inventor, the husband of Michele Landon, and the father of Jodie, Rachel, and Evan Landon.

Appearances in the Series

Andrew appears in the episodes "Gifted" (his debut), "The F Word," "Of Human Bonding, "Legends of the Mall", "Prize Fighters", " Is It Fall Yet? and Is It College Yet?. He gets mentioned in "The Daria Diaries" and "The Daria Database" books.

Background

"Nouveau riche and proud of it," states The Daria Database.

Andrew Landon is best known to his peers as the inventor of the folding coffee cup (see "Gifted" and "Partner's Complaint"), which is implied to be the base for his fortune. He's quite wealthy as a result, and attends a number of entrepreneur and industry conventions. He wasn't yet in Winged Tree Country Club during "Is It Fall Yet?" but was intending to schmooze his way in. He had got into another club in "Gifted", having been on the waiting list for three years.

He went to Turner, a traditionally African-American college, but has said in the present that, while it was a good college, he had to go to an African-American one and would have liked to have had the chance to go to a more 'high-class' one. This was part of his motivation to push Jodie into going to Crestmore University: a place he wishes he could have gone to.

He knows restaurant franchise mogul Terry Perry Barlow through conventions and the two are on friendly terms ("Of Human Bonding"). Per comments in "Is It Fall Yet?", he had recently met Katherine Sloane as part of his country club schmoozing (she's on the board); he acted like he knew the Sloanes socially but this seems to be an act, as he didn't know Tom Sloane and Tom wasn't aware Andrew knew his mother.

We don't see much of his interaction with Mack, except in "Is It College Yet?". When Mack wants to talk about Jodie, Andrew's initial, horrified thought is that Mack's got her pregnant. Later, he tries to nudge Mack into backing up his own plans for Jodie by pointing out Crestmore will put her closer to his college than Turner would.

Personality

Andrew's jokes mortify everyone (Is It Fall Yet?)

He seems to be perpetually looking for business connections and wanting to know who's who in the business world. He's encouraged Jodie (and Daria) to do the same thing. When talking about the institutionalised racism and sexism at Wizard Computers, he asked them "do you walk away because the guy at the top is an idiot, or do you join the people trying to change the way he does business?". Andrew also encouraged Jodie to go to Crestmore because of the important contacts she'd make.

Socially, he always seems cheerful and positive, shaking hands and being personable to everyone he meets, even if he's putting them down. He's been extremely friendly to Jake Morgendorffer both times they've met ("Gifted", "Of Human Bonding"), even though the end of "Gifted" made it clear the Landons thought the Morgendorffers were bizarre people. In "Bonding" he made a backhanded comment about the size of Jake's business compared his own, stating the pickings were too small for him but Jake should be able to get something; he seems to have intended this as encouragment.

Politically, "Gifted" and "Is It College Yet?" show him to be quite right-wing. He's virulently against welfare (he claims "welfare cheats" force companies to use foreign child labour) and is using "creative accounting" on his tax returns to avoid subsidising it. He may have some ties to Congressman Sachs, since Jodie got an internship at his office (although the show does not state the political affiliation of the Congressman). He's aware of (and contemptuous of) the bigotry at Wizard Computers but points to the Wizard Foundation scholarship as evidence that some of its employeees want to change that, and believed that this faction could win out if girls like Jodie and Daria would sign up.

Jodie has remarked that he "thinks he's Martin Luther King" when he's trying to give a pep talk, and can say some very silly things in the attempt.

He is somewhat overbearing (see Family below) and can dominate the conversation, and make some very bad, embarrassing jokes, such as in "Is It Fall Yet?" when he made a lame one in front of Tom about his mother's "power" at Winged Tree Country Club. He appears to not realize when he's done this.

Family

Andrew appears to love Jodie and wants her to achieve her potential, but he shows this by forcing her into more activities, work, and situations than she's willing or able to handle. In "Is It College Yet?", he thought Crestmore University would be the best university for her and casually overrode any objections she made. Jodie has made it clear she doesn't bother objecting to him anymore because she knows it will do no good, and in IICY, Andrew was stunned to realize Jodie had applied to Turner behind his back and was too afraid to tell him she'd got in. In a line cut from the DVD, he was not just unaware that Jodie was unhappy, he responded to the idea she might have a breakdown with "then it's a good thing breakdowns aren't allowed in our family".

He adores his son Evan Landon, apparently more so than his daughters (stating he "love[s] my girls but Evan, he's my son). Comments he's made about the boy seem to ignore that he's still an infant, as he talked about him being a "linebacker" as if he was old enough to play. He and Michelle have clashed over raising him.

He has another daughter, Rachel Landon, who was the "baby" of the family until Evan came along.

His relationship with Michelle has fracture points in it, as she's taken time out of work to look after Evan and is bitter about it; Andrew refuses to let her put Evan in daycare, which she wants to do so she can go back to work. She once referred to him with annoyance and contempt when he was networking in "Of Human Bonding". In the MTV flipbook "It Takes Two to Tangle", it's said their marriage is at risk because of "competing delusions of executive grandeur".

Andrew Landon in Fanfiction

Andrew's insistence that Jodie excels academically, whatever she wants, is a recurring theme in fanfiction.

In the story "A Hard Days' Night", he appears as the secret leader of an organization devoted to combating the forces of supernatural evil.

Andrew's folding coffee cup makes an appearance in Wouter's "Trouble walking" story.

Ruthless Bunny's "A Change in Plans", set during IICY?, has Andrew and Michelle discuss their daughter's life, her college prospects, and her experiences in a majority-white town. They also are dismissive of Mack due to his working class background.

JoeMerl's "Sitting on the Sidelines" has Andrew deal with the knowledge that his son Evan is never going to become a football player.