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amily Matters is an American sitcom
which originated on ABC from September
22, 1989, to May 9, 1997, and then aired on
CBS from September 19, 1997, to July 17,
1998. A spin-of of Perfect Strangers, the
series revolves around the Winslow family, a mid-
dle-class African American family living in Chicago,
Illinois.[1] Midway through the frst season, the show
introduced the Winslows nerdy neighbor Steve Urkel
(played by Jaleel White), who quickly became its
breakout character and eventually the
shows main character.[2]
Having run for nine seasons,
Family Matters is the second lon-
gest-running U.S. sitcom with a pre-
dominantly African American cast; it
follows Te Jefersons, which aired for
11 seasons. In terms of the number
of episodes, Family Matters (with 215
episodes total) is ranked third afer
Te Jefersons (253 episodes) and Tyler
Perrys House of Payne (254 episodes).
Te series originally focused on
the character of police ofcer Carl
Winslow and his family: wife Harriette
Winslow, son Eddie Winslow, elder
daughter Laura Winslow, and young-
est child Judy Winslow (who appeared
until the character was written out in
season four).[3] In the pilot episode,
Te Mama Who Came to Dinner,
the family had also opened their home
to Carls street-wise mother, Estelle
Winslow (usually known as Mother
Winslow). Prior to the start of the se-
ries, Harriettes sister, Rachel Crawford,
and her infant son, Richie Crawford,
had moved into the Winslow household
afer the death of Rachels husband.
Te Winslows nerdy teenaged next-door
neighbor, Steve Urkel, was introduced midway
through the frst season in the episode Lauras First
Date and quickly became the focus of the show.[4]
Te popular sitcom was a mainstay of ABCs TGIF
lineup from 1989 until 1997, before it became part
of the CBS Block Party lineup from 1997 until 1998.
Family Matters was produced by Bickley-Warren
Productions and Miller-Boyett Productions, in associ-
ation with Lorimar Television (19891993), and later
Warner Bros. Television (19931998). As the show
progressed, episodes began to center more and more
on Steve Urkel and other original characters also
played by Jaleel White, including Steves suave al-
ter-ego Stefan Urquelle and his female cousin Myrtle
Urkel.
Family Matters was created by William Bickley
and Michael Warren (who also wrote for, and were
producers of parent series Perfect Strangers) and
developed by Tomas L. Miller and Robert L. Boyett
(who also served as producers on Perfect Strangers),
all four also served as executive
producers of the series. Te series
was produced by Miller-Boyett
Productions, in association with
Lorimar Television who co-pro-
duced the show until 1993, when
Warner Bros. Television absorbed
Lorimar (a sister company under
the co-ownership of Time Warner).
Starting with season three, the series
was also produced by Bickley-War-
ren Productions.
Te series was flmed in front
of a live studio audience; the Lori-
mar-produced episodes were shot at
Lorimar Studios (later Sony Pictures
Studios) in Culver City, California,
while the Warner Bros.-produced
episodes were flmed at Warner
Bros. Studios in nearby Burbank.
Te shows original theme was Louis
Armstrongs What a Wonderful
World; it was scrapped afer the
ffh episode of season one (Straight
As), though it was heard only in the
pilot episode in syndicated reruns.
Te second theme, As Days Go By,
written by Jesse Frederick, Bennett
Salvay and Scott Roeme, and per-
formed by Frederick, was the theme for the majority
of the series until 1995; it was last used in the season
seven episode Talks Cheap, the only episode during
the fnal three seasons to feature it (this was heard in
season one episodes in ABC Family and syndicated
airings). A longer version of As Days Go By was
used during the frst three seasons, though in syn-
dicated reruns the short version is heard (in ABC
Family airings, the long theme was used for all of the
episodes during the frst three seasons).
F