There's an episode where David thinks that Mark's a bad influence on D.J and Dan says he would rather D.J hung around with Mark than David. Who would you rather your kids hung out with? If I had sons I think I would rather them have an influence like Mark than David for the same reasons as Dan (He works hard to support his family). I have two daughters and I think I would rather them have an influence like Becky over Darlene as I find Darlene to be too disrespectful to her family.

I think that I would prefer Darlene over Becky because Darlene left David for college as when Mark got a job in Minneapolis Becky followed him. I think if you compare married Becky to married Darlene they are both good influences. I would prefer David over Mark because when Mark and Becky were dating she stole the motorcycle, eloped and ran away from home. When Darlene and David were dating he helped he get out of her black period even though they painted cows outside the diner and went to CHicago.

It depends on what aspect you are looking at. Personality-wise, especially in later episodes, David was a much better influence. But for work-ethic, Mark was better. David seemed to kinda just drift around, but Mark wasn't afraid of hard work. By the end of the show, I think David got his act together and was out there working and supporting his family. He did draw a lot, but just sitting around the house drawing isn't really a good influence. Darlene is also a good influence later on because she worked hard (in later years) and went out there and got her education. Personality-wise, she wasn't the nicest person. But she was independent, so that was good. I think basically anyone is a good influence if they go out there and do something, whether it be educating themselves or earning a living. And Becky herself worked hard at school in the beginning and had a job. So I think they were all good influences at different times in their lives.