Family Matters is an American sitcom about a middle-class African-American family living in Chicago. The series aired from September 22, 1989 to May 9, 1997 on ABC and, with a network change, moved to CBS on September 19, 1997 to July 17, 1998.

The show, a spinoff of Perfect Strangers, originally focused on the character of Harriette Winslow and her family: husband Carl Winslow, a police officer, rebellious son Eddie Winslow, smart daughter Laura Winslow, and youngest child Judy Winslow. They had opened their home to Carl's street-wise mother Estelle Winslow as well as Harriette's sister Rachel Crawford and her son Richie Crawford after the death of Rachel's husband. The Winslows' nerdy next-door neighbor Steve Urkel was introduced midway through the first season, and quickly became the focus of the show. It was part of ABC's TGIF from 1989 until 1997 before it became part of the CBS "Block Party" lineup from 1997-1998.

Having aired for 215 episodes, Family Matters is the second-longest running U.S. comedy with a predominantly African-American cast, surpassed only by The Jeffersons.

The Winslow family is a pretty normal family except for one thing, their neighbor Stephen Urkel. A genius and klutz Steve makes some really weird inventions while driving the Winslow's insane. Written by Katie

Originally, "Family Matters" a spin-off series of the successful "Perfect Strangers" was conceived to focus on the Winslows, a middle-class suburban Chicago black family. Harriet was the sarcastic elevator operator at the Chicago Chronicle newspaper while her portly husband, Carl, was a Chicago police sergeant; they had three children Eddie (14), Laura (12) and Judy (9). While somewhat successful in its early months on the air, "Family Matters" didn't become a true hit until the appearance of the Winslow's next door neighbor kid, Steve Urkel. The bespectacled Urkel, complete with high-pitched voice and suspenders, was the ultimate nerd who had an unrequited crush on Laura. His well-meaning but clumsy ways, in addition to countless back-firing contraptions and visits at inopportune times, caused no end of grief for Eddie, Laura and especially Carl; Harriet, however, was more understanding. Also a part of the action were Harriet's recently widowed sister, Rachel Crawford (she operated a local hangout, Rachel's Place), and her son, Richie; Carl's mother, Estelle; Eddie's slow-witted pal, Waldo; Laura's friend, MAXINE; and Myra Monkhouse, a beautiful teen-ager with a huge crush for Urkel. As the years went on, Urkel developed a special transformation chamber to allow himself to change into suave Stefan Urquelle, whom Laura fell for; it was a way for the nerd to finally win the object of his affection. Laura eventually got to appreciate Urkel's company, and eventually, fell in love with him. Carl was eventually promoted from sergeant to lieutenant, finally attaining the rank of captain. In later years, Urkel moved in with the Winslows (when his parents abandoned him in moving to Russia); and Carl and Harriet (long after their daughter, Judy, disappeared from the scene without explanation) adopted 3J, a local orphan who was friends with Richie. While many episodes seemed to focus on Urkel and Carl, a number of shows explored serious topics, including gangs, police brutality, teen-age drinking and guns in school. The show ran on ABC from 1989 through 1997 as a cornerstone of that network's "TGIF" programming block; it and "Step by Step," another "TGIF" series, switched to CBS for both series' final season. Written by Brian Rathjen