Who is Carl Winslow in Family Matters?

Show

Family Matters

Played by

Reginald VelJohnson

First episode

“The Mama Who Came to Dinner”Season 1, Episode 1, aired September 22, 1989

Role

Main cast

Network

ABC

Occupation

Chicago police officer, sergeant to captain

Show run

1989 to 1998Moved to CBS for its final season.

Also known as

Carl, Big Guy

Carl Winslow is the husband, father, and long-suffering straight man of Family Matters, a Chicago cop who wants a quiet house and never gets one. Played by Reginald VelJohnson, he appears in every episode of the series.

On Family Matters, Carl Winslow's story runs through Steve Urkel (Neighbor), Laura Winslow (Daughter), and Eddie Winslow (Son).

Other ABC sitcom characters from around the same time include Al Borland (Home Improvement) and D.J. Tanner (Full House).

Who is Carl Winslow?

Carl is a Chicago police officer married to Harriette Winslow and father to Eddie, Laura, and, in the early seasons, Judy. His mother Estelle moves into the crowded house when the series begins, and in the later seasons the family grows again when the Winslows adopt Jerry "3J" Jameson.

He starts the show as a sergeant, is promoted to lieutenant in season five, and becomes a captain in the final season. At home, though, his authority is constantly tested, mostly by the boy next door, Steve Urkel, who adores him and calls him "Big Guy."

Personality and comedy

Carl is short-tempered and stubborn, but he is also warm and deeply devoted to his family. He takes being head of the household seriously and usually loses arguments with Harriette anyway. His full name, Carl Otis Winslow, gives him the unfortunate initials C.O.W.

Most of all, Carl is the perfect straight man for Steve. His slow-burning exasperation at Urkel's latest disaster, often ending with a bellowed "Urkel!", gave the show countless laughs. Over the years, though, his irritation softens into genuine fondness, and the two become something like father and son.

Key storylines

Many of Carl's stories pair him with Steve's inventions. The two get shrunk to tiny size together, are transformed during a hostage standoff, and travel through time, including an episode where a stock tip from the future makes Carl the richest man in the world at a terrible cost to his family. In another, Carl has to arrest his own estranged brother.

Carl's police career also drives his own plots, starting with his promotion to lieutenant in season five. In the final season he is promoted to captain, and a train trip to Washington, D.C., with a stowaway Steve helps him make peace with a transfer he turned down years earlier.

Behind the scenes and legacy

Reginald VelJohnson was already known from Die Hard when he took the role. Carl and Harriette began on Perfect Strangers, where Harriette was an elevator operator, and Carl appeared there in the episode "Crimebusters" before ABC built Family Matters around the Winslows.

Carl is the only character to appear in every episode of Family Matters, across nine seasons on ABC and then CBS. VelJohnson's warm, sputtering performance made Carl one of the defining TV dads of the TGIF era.

Carl Winslow: frequently asked questions

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