My Wife and Kids

Episodes

Characters

Main

• Michael Richard Kyle, Sr. – Michael is a father of three children and the patriarch of the family. He has been married to Janet Marie "Jay" Kyle since age 16, as a result of having gotten her pregnant with their first child Michael Kyle Jr. Michael owns an eponymous trucking business that he built from the ground up. He often exhibits a very interesting sense of humor, and occasionally does impressions of famous people such as Bill Cosby and Don King. Mainly teaches his kids valuable lessons, using the method of what he refers to as "Michael Kyle Signature Moments", which often involve trickery, in order to teach his kids a lesson; Kady is the only one of Michael's children who gets the least in trouble. He also shows some impatience with not getting to a particular place on time, as seen in the season two episode "Get Out". A running gag in the third and fourth seasons involved Michael saying; "Eh, nuh", in a nasal voice as a catchphrase, sometimes used by other characters, with different variations of this phrase used. Many jokes poking fun at Michael's baldness were also made during the show's run. As the series progressed, Michael became involved in increasingly outlandish situations, and often sought the advice of Kady's boyfriend Franklin Mumford when getting into a tight situation; also around this time Michael often took the suggestion by Jay that he cannot do something as a challenge, making a mess of the situation in the process. Michael is often harsh on Junior as he tries to prepare him for adulthood, showing little to no respect for him, and often mocks him. Despite this, Michael is always there to support Junior when he needs him.
• Janet Marie "Jay" Kyle – Janet, usually referred to by her nickname "Jay", is the mother of three children. Jay's role in the series is typically to be the voice of reason for the family, including Michael; for example, when Michael evicted Junior from the house in season three's "Jr.'s Risky Business" after catching him and his girlfriend Vanessa in Jay and Michael's bed after having sex, she is the one who tries to have Michael to rethink his decision. During the series, Jay's maiden name is contradicted as in the season two episode "Make Over", in which a frumpy-feeling Jay gets a new look, Campbell did not appear in 2 episodes due to her pregnancy. She returned in the episode "Thru Thick and Thin" and seemed to have brought back some weight much to avoid Michael. Her maiden name is said to be Thomas. In the pilot, Jay gets a job at a stock brokerage firm, much to Michael's chagrin, a job which she is subsequently fired from in the season two episode "Jay Gets Fired". In the fourth and fifth seasons, a running gag featured Jay often uttering a devilish laugh when she has a plan or when she thinks something is funny. When the other Kyles witness her laughing at something that's really not funny, they sometimes gave her a "not funny" gesture to make her stop.
• Michael Richard "Junior" Kyle Jr. – Junior is the only son and first child of Michael and Jay Kyle; initially, Junior was depicted as being simply an underachieving student and in the first season, his ascent into puberty was a recurring theme. While in the bathroom, Junior suffers a muscle spasm to his "joystick" while masturbating, much to his embarrassment when he is told this by the doctor treating him, when he ends up in the hospital. One of his greatest ambitions in the early seasons was to lose his virginity, which after a few failed attempts, does occur in the season three premiere "The Kyles Go to Hawaii"; later on in "Jr.'s Risky Business" from the same season, he and his girlfriend Vanessa Scott have sex for the first time—in Michael and Jay's bed—which gets Junior evicted from his bedroom and the Kyle house, though after some prodding by Jay to get him to change his mind, Michael allows Junior to live in the house again but he winds up living in a makeshift bedroom in the garage. Junior's physical, personal and mental gaffes/traits served an reoccurring jokes in the show. From season two on, the size of Junior's head becomes the subject of laughter for the family and the viewing audience. Tisha Campbell-Martin's character Gina Waters was the subject of many "big-head" jokes on her previous sitcom Martin. In the season 3 episode, "Sister Story", Michael's sister says Junior has his mother's head. From season three onward, Junior is usually portrayed as an imbecile. Other examples of Junior's less-than-intelligent moments include mispronouncing words such as dumb, psychology and Hors d'œuvres as "dum-bee", "pizzi-chology" and "Horse de ovaries" respectively. His low intelligence is on full display when Michael suggests that Junior name his baby after him, Junior wondered out loud, "Why would I name it 'Dad'?" Michael's impatience with Junior's lack of intelligence often got him slapped on the back of the head, though occasionally other family members did this to him as well. Despite this, he does display some savant-like characteristics. For example, Junior knows that the fact that humans having opposable thumbs separates the human species from animals. He also successfully built a jungle gym for Kady and is very talented when it comes to drawing, This aspect of Junior's character was highlighted heavily when they coordinated with ABC to develop an animated series. It was a parody of the series. Even though Michael's negotiations with ABC executives backfire, it ends up as a series of webisodes. In the season three episode "Graduation", Junior reveals to Michael and Jay that he and his girlfriend Vanessa were going to become teenage parents, much like what occurred with Michael and Jay when they were 16 years old. Their child, a boy named Michael Richard Kyle III, was born in the season four episode "The Baby". Junior is heavily involved in comic books and is also fluent in Klingon Language.
• Claire Marie Kyle – Claire is the middle child of Michael and Janet Kyle. In the first season, Claire was a sweet, friendly pre-teen who went through typical growing pains, such as having her first crush, wanting her first bra, and feeling embarrassed or irritated by her parents. After Jennifer Freeman took over the role in the series' second season, Claire was rapidly aged from 12 to 14, and her personality noticeably changed. She is depicted as an innocent, naïve young girl who behaves in a superficial and vain way, though she is never vicious or intentionally mean. In the season two episode "Letting Go", Claire begins dating Tony Jeffers, whom with the exception of a short-lived breakup in the season three episode "Claire's New Boyfriend" after Michael says that he approves of Tony leading Claire to briefly date a boy nicknamed "1040-EZ", she remains with Tony for the rest of the series. The season three episode "A Samba Story" began a running gag which involved Claire running into things, falling down stairs, or generally being ditsy. In season three's "Here Comes Da Judge", Claire becomes a vegetarian at Tony's urging, although this isn't referenced in further episodes. Claire's middle name was revealed to be Marie in the episode "He Said, She Said."
• Kady Melissa Jenny Spilken Kyle – The younger daughter and youngest overall of the Kyle children, Kady is the precocious one, commonly referred to as "the cute one". In season one's "Making the Grade", Kady is shown to be able to speak multiple languages as the then 5-year-old sings Itsy Bitsy Spider in Spanish and Swahili as well as English. At times, Kady aspired to be like Claire, doing all sorts of things like wanting to spend time with her at the mall. Although portrayed as sweet and polite, she can also be quite cunning and mischievous In season three, Kady tries to hang on to her status as the baby of the family by acting younger than her age, until Michael and Jay explain to her in the episode "Blackout" that it is actually more irritating than cute. That same season, she begins "dating" child prodigy Franklin Mumford. In the earlier seasons, Kady's doll Little Pippy made minor appearances in several episodes.
• Franklin Aloysius Mumford – Franklin is Kady's playmate and "boyfriend", first introduced in season three's "Jay the Artist". Franklin is a child prodigy, who is very skilled at playing the piano, which usually amazes first-time listeners, and is generally very intelligent, so much so that he had accomplished attending and graduating from Harvard University by age 7. Franklin has very strong feelings for Kady and sees her as his everything. He is also good friends with Michael, despite not being equals. He loves Kady with all of his heart and often says poetic comments to Kady, which often led Jay to slap Michael across the shoulder asking him, "Why can't you be more like Franklin?". Running gags involving Franklin include him uttering, "Isn't she great?", "Anyhoo", or "However", in a drawn-out tone when trying to change the subject or when he sees that he is talking with someone less-than-intelligent. This segue was also used by the other Kyle family members, usually Michael, on occasion. Franklin has a younger sister named Aretha, who is a very good singer, although Franklin believes that Kady is a better one. Michael tells him in season three's "Sharon's Picture" that because he is in love with Kady, and Aretha is just his sister, he is certainly going to find anything that Kady does to be superior to his annoying little sister. Because he is a genius and has already graduated from Harvard, Franklin was able to coach Michael and Junior on how to deliver Junior's fiancée Vanessa's baby because of his vast medical knowledge. Franklin never seemed to have trouble fitting in with other children his own age but the main focus with Franklin was the back and forth of advice shared between Michael and Franklin.
• Vanessa Scott-Kyle – Vanessa is Junior's girlfriend, who was first introduced in the season three episode "Jr.'s Risky Business", and whom Junior sees as "the greatest girl in the world", though a disapproving Jay believed Vanessa had an agenda with Junior. At the end of the first part of the two-part episode, Junior and Vanessa decide to make love for the first time, a decision which gets Junior evicted from the house by Michael after he and Jay, who were coming home from watching an opera performance, catch the teen couple in their bed. Vanessa explains to Jay that she is truly in love with Junior. Later in the third-season finale "Graduation", she and Junior break the news to Michael and Jay that Vanessa is pregnant, and that they are going to become teenage parents, like Michael and Jay did when they were 16; their child, Junior Junior, was born in the season four episode "The Baby". In the season five episode "The Wedding", she became Junior's wife.
• Tony Jeffers – Tony is Claire's boyfriend for the majority of the show's run. In season two's "Letting Go", he was depicted as not being very bright, sexually inactive because of his religious beliefs, though his subsequent appearances depict him as a nice, Christian teenager, though Michael often thought that Tony had an agenda that he is really using this as a ruse to try to trick Claire into having sex with him; Tony's actual demeanor and what Michael thought Tony was really like had Michael refer to him in the season two episode "Papa Said Knock You Out" as a "religious Eddie Haskell"; although Tony and Claire announce to Michael and Jay that they were thinking about having sex in the season three episode "The Big Bang Theory", Michael's beliefs about Tony were never the case. Tony often sought ways to prove his devotion to purity and to God using extreme measures, such as fasting for eight days and wearing a handmade religious hat to get the approval of God. Whenever Claire is breaking up with him or he falsely thinks she has broken up with him, he often wails. In season three's "Here Come Da Judge", it is revealed that his real first name is Honest and Tony is his middle name. In the Season One episode, "Breaking Up and Breaking It", Andrew McFarlane, the actor who played "Tony", also played the role of "Roger", another boy with a crush on Claire.

Recurring

• Jasmine and Calvin Scott are Vanessa's money-seeking parents. Calvin is feared by the Kyles because he is rather big, superhumanly strong, and it is shown that he eats a lot and even eats live meat, but Calvin is a childish, dimwitted, crybaby on the inside married to Jasmine, Calvin's disapproving and wealth-seeking wife. While Calvin's stupidity and immaturity annoys everyone else, Jasmine caters to it, and often treats him like a child.
• Dr. William Parks Klieger - Jay and Michael's marriage therapist.
• John – Junior's silly best friend.
• Rachel McNamara – one of Kady's classmates and best friends, who hates Michael.
• R.J. – an employee of Michael.
• Brian – an employee of Michael.
• Todd – an employee of Michael.

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