SYNOPSIS

Emmanuel Lewis was 40-inches tall and 12-years-old but looked half that age. A network executive saw him in a Burger King commercial and signed him on the spot - then ordered his writers to think up a series for him - fast... before he grew another inch!

George was a hulking former pro football player turned sportscaster on WBJX-TV and Katherine, a fluttery socialite with a career as a consumer advocate (later in the series, she became a psychologist). They had met on a Greek cruise and - though total opposites - married on impulse (George was generally an impulsive kind of guy). No sooner did they arrive back in Chicago when they discovered at their door the result of one of George's past impulses: a cute black 7-year-old named Webster. It seemed that George was Webster's Godfather. He had promised the boy's parents, teammate and best friend Travis and his wife Gert, that if anything ever happened to them he would look after their child. Well, they were killed in a car accident and there was no next of kin, so Webster had new parents in George and Katherine.

Adjustments were made by all, particularly Katherine, who was totally inept as a housewife or mother. Webster was cute enough to melt even her heart when he told her why he always called her Ma'am - "cause it kinda sound likes 'mom'." As for George, beneath those muscles beat the heart of a pussycat. Most of the stories in this series dealt with Webster's growing up and growing pains - but some were serious subjects such as retarded children, and the day they had to explain to Webster that his parents were not just "away."

Other cast members included: Jerry, Katherine's sarcastic male secretary; Cassie and Bill, who owned the large Victorian house into which the Papadapolises moved in the fall of 1984 - later on buying it and Uncle Phillip, Websters uncle who arrived planning to fight for custody of the little guy, much to everyone's discomfort. He later moved to Hollywood to start a movie career. A major cast change occured in the fall of 1987 when George's brother and sister-in-law decided to move to Nigeria to work on a UN agricultural project, and their 14-year-old son, Nicky moved in with George and his family. Nicky and Webster got along splendidly and the older boy provided Webster with the "brother" he never had.