Steve Urkel

Steve Urkel is the Winslows' next-door neighbor, a squeaky-voiced, suspender-clad nerd who barrels into their home uninvited and treats it as his second address. He's smitten with Laura Winslow, endlessly inventive, and utterly oblivious to how unwelcome his enthusiasm sometimes is. Every entrance comes with a catchphrase, a gadget, or a disaster in progress.

Jaleel White commits so completely to the voice, the hitched-up pants, the honking laugh that a character built from pure sitcom shtick becomes weirdly lovable rather than grating. The writing hands him slapstick and unrequited devotion in equal measure, and White plays both at full volume, turning a one-note pest into the show's engine and its heart.