Webster Long became an orphan when his parents, Travis and Gert Long, were killed in a car crash.

George Papadopolis played on the same football team as Travis Long when both were NFL stars. They were close friends, and Travis asked George to be the godfather of his child. The role of George was played by Alex Karras, who was a real-life football star for the Detroit Lions before he became an actor.

Alex Karras, who played George, married Susan Clark, who played his wife, Katherine, in 1980. The pair went into acting together, and "Webster" was originally supposed to be a show focused on their relationship. Just as the show was being put together, producers discovered Emmanuel Lewis and decided to add him to the show and put the focus more on him than on the couple.

George and Katherine were on a Greek cruise when they were introduced by the captain. They spent two weeks together before impulsively deciding to get married.

The show takes place in Chicago, where George once played football. When Webster runs away in the series premiere episode, he hides out at Soldier Field, where his dad used to play -- and George knows just where to find him.

Jerry Silver is Katherine's secretary. When he and George meet, they get off on the wrong foot, and George kicks him out of the apartment. At one point, Jerry quits working for Katherine to open his own gym.

Katherine describes herself as an omsbuds-person -- a consumer advocate of sorts. She later goes to school and becomes a psychologist. Retired football star George works as a sportscaster.

The family spent plenty of time at the Trocadero, a local diner. When the town wanted to get rid of the diner in season two to build a parking lot, Katherine went to war against city hall. The group later started hanging out at a place called Benny's starting in season four.

Webster's biological Uncle Phillip shows up just as George and Katherine are looking to adopt him. Uncle Phil argues that Webster belongs with him, not the Papadopolis family. Eventually, Uncle Phil moves on and George and Katherine become Webster's new parents.

In the season two episode "Burn Out," Webster burns down the apartment while playing with his chemistry set. He manages to save Katherine and George, and the entire family escapes without injury.

After they lose their apartment, the family moves to an old Victorian home owned by Bill and Cassie Parker, who live in a basement apartment below the home. The Parkers love Webster right away, and he becomes a frequent visitor to their place.

The Parkers struggle with the loss of their daughter Maggie, who ran away years before Webster and his family moved in. They are thrilled when Maggie returns, along with her son. The Parkers also have a son named Regis, who never actually appears on the series.

Despite her reluctance to have children, Katherine finds herself pregnant in the season two episode, "In the Family Way." She discusses all of her options, including abortion, before eventually losing the child to miscarriage.

Season two ended with a two-part episode called "Blast from the Past." As a snowstorm rages outside, the family reminisce over old memories -- as Webster gets stuck in a secret room in the house.

In the two-part season three premiere, the family heads to Tumbleweed Ranch in Lizard Flats, Arizona -- a dude ranch that George used to visit as a child. While there, Webster meets an old cowboy named Dusty and searches for a mysterious horse.

Uncle Phil is back and he has plans to be a star. While George and Katherine have a second honeymoon in Chicago -- which gets interrupted by a blizzard -- Webster heads off to Hollywood, where Uncle Phil is set to star in a movie.

Webster's buddy Rob appears in many episode of the show. In season three, his parents are going through a divorce and Rob is kidnapped by his own father, who shows up at Webster's house in a shiny new convertible to pick up his son.

In a failed backdoor pilot, Webster goes to stay with his Uncle Jake -- a former college friend of his father and George. Once a famous country star, Uncle Jake started working with foster children after losing his own wife and child.

After Webster is bullied and has his lunch money stolen, McGruff the crime dog comes to school to talk to the students about bullying.

After Bill and Cassie move to Florida, the basement apartment on the family's old Victorian home is empty. In the season four episode "The Landlords," George and Katherine unknowingly rent the place out to a circus clown.

While the family thinks George's father might be losing his vision, he eventually reveals a deep secret -- he is illiterate. With the help of the family, Papa finally learns to read in the season four episode, "Read It and Weep."

At the start of season five, Webster meets up with a jazz musician named Henry, who is eager to reunite with his old band back in San Francisco. Meanwhile, Katherine ends up in jail after she is accused of stealing from Henry.

Cousin Nicky is upset that his family his planning to move to Nigeria, because he would prefer to stay in the U.S. George and Katherine agree to take Nicky in while his family goes to Africa, which means that the Papadopolis now have two boys living at home.

The Four Tops appeared on three different seasons of "Webster." They performed a concert in season four, break up while visiting Webster in season five, then come to Thanksgiving dinner with the family in season six.

In the two-part episode, "The Web-Touchables," Webster dreams that he is back in the roaring '20s, complete with gangster wars and a full-on root beer bootlegging operation.

In a storyline that gets kind of creepy if you think about it too hard, Webster has a pen pal -- who turns out to be an adult male butler from England -- and who actually comes to visit the boy in a season six episode.

In the second-to-last episode of the show, a flood destroys all of he family's sentimental items stored in the basement.

In an offbeat series finale, Webster and his family go on board the Enterprise from "Star Trek: The Next Generation." While aboard, they attempt to help Lt. Worf experience emotions by showing him clips from the series.

"Webster" ran for 150 episodes over six seasons, from 1983 to 1989. It spent four years on the air before it was canceled, but continued in first-run syndication for two additional seasons.

He may look like a cute kid, but Emmanuel Lewis was actually 12 years old when he started playing 6-year-old Webster. He maintains in interviews that there is no medical reason to explain his lack of height and youthful appearance.