Family Matters
American television sitcom (1989–1998) / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Family Matters is an American television sitcom that originally aired on ABC for eight seasons from September 22, 1989, to May 9, 1997, then moved to CBS for its ninth and final season from September 19, 1997, to July 17, 1998. A spin-off of Perfect Strangers, the series was created by William Bickley and Michael Warren, and revolves around the Winslow family, an African-American middle class family living in Chicago, Illinois.[2] Midway through the first season, the show introduced the Winslows' nerdy neighbor Steve Urkel (Jaleel White), who was originally scripted to appear as a one-time character. However, he quickly became the show's breakout character (and eventually the main character), joining the main cast.[3]
Family Matters | |
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Genre | Family sitcom |
Created by |
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Developed by |
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Starring |
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Theme music composer | Jesse Frederick, Bennett Salvay & Scott Roeme (first five episodes only: Bob Thiele, George David Weiss & George Douglas) |
Opening theme | "As Days Go By," performed by Jesse Frederick (originally in first five episodes only: "What a Wonderful World" by Louis Armstrong) |
Ending theme | Instrumental theme, composed by Jesse Frederick & Bennett Salvay (seasons 1–4) Gary Boren (seasons 5–9) |
Composers | Jesse Frederick & Bennett Salvay (both; seasons 1 and 2) Gary Boren (seasons 3–5, 8 and 9) Steven Chesne (seasons 4–7 and 9) |
Country of origin | United States |
Original language | English |
No. of seasons | 9 |
No. of episodes | 215 (list of episodes) |
Production | |
Executive producers |
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Producers |
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Production locations |
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Camera setup | Film; Multi-camera[1] |
Running time | 24 minutes |
Production companies |
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Original release | |
Network | ABC |
Release | September 22, 1989 (1989-09-22) – May 9, 1997 (1997-05-09) |
Network | CBS |
Release | September 19, 1997 (1997-09-19) – July 17, 1998 (1998-07-17) |
Related | |
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Running for 215 episodes over nine seasons, Family Matters became the second-longest-running live action U.S. sitcom with a predominantly African-American cast, behind The Jeffersons with 11 seasons and 253 episodes. Both have since been exceeded by Tyler Perry's House of Payne with 355 episodes as of 2023. Family Matters is the last live-action scripted primetime show that debuted in the 1980s to leave the air; the only scripted show that started in the 1980s and lasts longer in continuous production is The Simpsons.[lower-alpha 1]