Major/Main Characters

Kevin Arnold - The series is told through his point of view, as we see him grow up in the late '60s/early '70s. --portrayed by Fred Savage (narration voiced by Daniel Stern)

Jack Arnold - Kevin's father; Korean War veteran; worked at NORCOM before starting his own furniture business; died in 1975. --portrayed by Dan Lauria

Norma Arnold - Kevin's stay-at-home mother; finishes college late in the series, then gets a job with a software company. --portrayed by Alley Mills

Wayne Arnold - Kevin's older brother; enjoys inflicting pain upon Kevin and Paul; takes over the furniture business after Jack dies. --portrayed by Jason Hervey

Karen Arnold - Kevin's older, hippie sister; moves to Alaska with her husband later in the series. --portrayed by Olivia d'Abo

Paul Pfeiffer - Kevin's best friend; Jewish; extremely intelligent; allergic to dozens of things; goes on to Harvard. --portrayed by Josh Saviano

Winnie Cooper - Kevin's on-again-off-again girlfriend throughout the series; has lived next door to Kevin most of her life; her brother was killed in Vietnam; studied Art History in Paris for 8 years. --portrayed by Danica McKellar

Minor/Recurring Characters

Randy Mitchell (21 episodes) - Kevin's friend throughout junior high and high school, though lacking in intelligence, as evidenced by his 730 combined SAT scores. --portrayed by Michael Tricario

Doug Porter (19 episodes) - Kevin's friend throughout junior high; has a love for junk food. --portrayed by Brandon Crane

Chuck Coleman (19 episodes) - Kevin's friend throughout high school; has a nervous tic. --portrayed by Andy Berman

Jeff Billings (15 episodes) - Kevin's good friend later in the series; has an out-of-town girlfriend and divorced parents. --portrayed by Giovanni Ribisi

Ricky Halsenbach (13 episodes) - Kevin's classmate; the first among the guys to get his driver's license. --portrayed by Scott Nemes

Craig Hobson (10 episodes) - Kevin's friend throughout junior high; dates Becky Slater; gets sent to military school. --portrayed by Sean Baca

Kirk McCray (5 episodes) - Winnie's boyfriend in junior high. --portrayed by Michael Landes

Brett (19 episodes) - Kevin's classmate. --portrayed by Jon Frear

Becky Slater (10 episodes) - Kevin's girlfriend in junior high; Kevin dated her only to make Winnie jealous, and when she found out, she punched him. --portrayed by Crystal McKellar

Carla Healy (12 episodes) - Paul's girlfriend in junior high. -- portrayed by Krista Murphy

Madeline Adams (4 episodes) - Kevin's junior high classmate, whom he later starts dating, but breaks it off after she badmouths Winnie. --portrayed by Julie Condra

Coach Cutlip (15 episodes) - Kevin's gym teacher, who comes across as a bit of a bully towards his students; took a part-time job playing a mall Santa. --portrayed by Robert Picardo

Mr. Cantwell (12 episodes) - Kevin's junior high science teacher; speaks in a monotone voice. --portrayed by Ben Stein

Mr. Diperna (10 episodes) - Kevin's junior high school principal; fires Norma after she is hired as a receptionist. --portrayed by Raye Birk

Miss White/Mrs. Heimer (7 episodes) - Kevin's junior high English teacher; Kevin develops a crush on her; goes into labor the day of Kevin's junior high graduation and needs him to drive her to the hospital. --portrayed by Wendel Meldrum

Wart (4 episodes) - Wayne's best friend; joins the Army; returns from Vietnam, suffering from PTSD. --portrayed by Scott Menville

Michael (4 episodes) - Karen's boyfriend-turned-husband; takes a job in Alaska in order to support his family, finally earning Jack's approval. --portrayed by David Schwimmer
Narrator: A suburban junior high school cafeteria is like a microcosm of the world. The goal is to protect yourself, and safety comes in groups. You have your cool kids, you have your smart kids, you have your greasers, and in those days, of course, you had your hippies. In a fact in junior high school, who you are is defined less by who you are than by who's the person sitting next to you.