Family Matters (TV Series)

TV Series (1989-1998). 9 Seasons. 215 Episodes. Harriette (Payton) and Carl Winslow (VelJohnson) are the backbone of this odd brood. The dry-witted Harriette, who some might say wears the pants in the family, has her hands full with not only working full-time at a department store but also tending to the needs of her ever-growing family. Carl, a tough Chicago cop, is a teddy bear of a man in a grizzly's body. Like many dads, he is beleaguered, put-upon and taken for granted, and charged with putting bread on the table, doing household repairs and suffering the traditional "slings and arrows" of fatherhood, such as tax return preparation, hormonal teenagers, and the annoying and inventively irritating suitor of his daughter, Steve Urkel (White). Completing the Winslow family is Mother Winslow (LeNoire) and Richie Crawford (McClure), Harriette and Carl's eight-year-old nephew. Mother Winslow, Carl's mother, possesses a fresh, open-minded attitude towards life that endears her to the grandchildren but confounds her son. Carl (whose lack of extraordinary talent, incidentally, is a regular target for her acerbic critical remarks). An outspoken and opinionated matriarch, Mother Winslow's special brand of wisdom and understanding provides the family with history and texture. Harriette and Carl's offspring include Eddie (McCrary) and Laura (Williams). Eddie, 19, is a typical, hormonal college guy whose interests include hanging out with his buddy Waldo Faldo (Harrison) -- who has a heart of gold and a head full of air -- girls, teasing his sisters, girls, testing his parents' patience and girls. Laura is a bright and gregarious 18-year-old who has clearly inherited her mother's take-charge personality and clever wit. Like Eddie, Laura is occupied by the trials and tribulations of dating -- that is, when she's not busy dodging the relentlessly lovesick Urkel. A brainy, cheese-fixated nerd, Urkel, 18, burst into the Winslow's house five-and-a-half years ago, worming his way into the Winslow household before they knew what hit them. A constant source of irritation to friends and strangers alike, Urkel is madly in love with Laura and hopeful that she will return his devotion one day; unfortunately for him, that day isn't coming anytime soon, so for the moment he has lent his heart to his equally cerebral, jealous girlfriend Myra (Michelle Thompson). As for Carl, no matter how hard he tries to avoid Urkel, he is often the victim of the young man's string of mishaps and accidents.