Jason and Maggie share their suburban home with their children: 15-year-old Mike, 14-year-old Carol, 9-year-old Ben and later daughter, Chrissy [she grew up from a baby to a 6-year-old in one season].

Michael “Mike” Aaron Seaver [called “a hormone with feet” by his mother] is a fast-talking con man and an aspiring actor. He attended Thomas E. Dewey High School, Alf Landon Junior College and Boynton State College. His best friends are Eddie and Richard “Boner” Stabone [he joined the Marines].

Carol Anne Seaver is the brain of the family, but she would rather be considered sexy. Carol attended Thomas E. Dewey High School and later transferred to Columbia University to study law. For a time, she worked for GSM Publishing.

Benjamin “Ben” Hubert Horatio Humphrey Seaver attended Wendell Wilkie Elementary School and later Thomas E. Dewey High School. He inherited his brother Mike’s penchant for getting into trouble and chasing girls.

Christine “Chrissy” Ellen Seaver is the youngest in the family. She is curly-haired, cute, precocious and has an imaginary friend named Ike.

The Seaver’s opened their home for a time to Luke Brower, a 16-year-old youth found living on the streets. And the Seaver’s in-laws occasionally visited the house. They included Jason’s perky widowed mother, Irma (her husband Neal died in 1987) and her new husband, Wally [whom Jason didn‘t like] as well as Maggie’s parent’s Ed [he died of a heart attack] and Kate Malone who lived in Boston.

In 1982, Maggie got offered a job in Washington DC as media relations director for US Senator Howard, and so the family moved to the Capital. Mike remained behind living above the garage at the Seaver’s home while Carol was at college.