“Step by Step” Stars Staci Keanan and Christine Lakin Explain the Surprising Common Thread Shared by Many '90s Sitcoms
“Step by Step” Stars Staci Keanan and Christine Lakin Explain the Surprising Common Thread Shared by Many '90s Sitcoms
Angela AndaloroMon, February 23, 2026 at 7:46 PM UTC
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"Step by Step"
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Staci Keanan and Christine Lakin starred on Step by Step and look back at the show in their podcast, Keanan and Lakin Give You Déjà Vu
The two discussed a common feature in sitcom houses and debated whether they were as commonplace as the frequency in shows would make it seem
Step by Step aired for seven seasons, from 1991 to 1998
Staci Keanan and Christine Lakin are pointing out an often overlooked fixture in '90s television.
Looking back at some family-based shows of the era, the hosts pointed out that the houses often featured two staircases — one near the front door and one in the back of the house, leading into a kitchen.
The Keanan and Lakin Give You Déjà Vu hosts took a minute to explain why you'd see that layout so frequently during a recent episode of their podcast.
"On all of these shows, there was a front stairs and a back stairs. So when Christine says front stairs, that term is used advisedly because something about these producers, their whole aesthetic or perhaps what was convenient for getting characters in and out of a room in different ways. There was always a front staircase and always a back staircase," Keanan noted.
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"Now I don't know how many houses have that in real life. I don't know if this was a big feature in the Midwest where one of the, you know, main producers was from. I mean, he was from Port Washington. I mean, I'm from Pennsylvania. We, in fact, did have a house with a front and a back staircase. It's a thing, but there is always that in these shows."
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Lakin agreed, noting, "Actually, our house in Atlanta where I grew up, when you walked in, there was a foyer and that was the front staircase. And then you would go into the house and by the the living room, like the family room in the back, we had a staircase there."
"But I also, I always really loved the idea that there was a staircase in the kitchen. It seems random, but it also sort of feels very accessible, when you're thinking about how you all come down and eat... I sort of always loved what that house in real life would have been."
Fans can see this layout in Step by Step, Full House, Boy Meets World, The Nanny, Sabrina, The Teenage Witch and more.
While they gave the impression of large, warm family homes on screen, Lakin pointed out that there was just an end to the stairs with a little landing area that featured a red light.
"The assistant director would, when it was your turn, because sometimes you couldn't really hear what was going on, or they needed to cue you a little bit early so that you would make it down by your line. We kind of figure out the timing during rehearsal. And then they would put the light on and half the time we weren't paying attention," she laughed.
The show, a 1990s take on Brady Bunch, starred Suzanne Somers and Patrick Duffy as "second time around" newlyweds blending a family of six kids. It aired from 1991 to 1998.
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