There have been several TV shows where a family of children get a semi -- honest ( or semi -- dishonest ) adult to pretend to be their guardian . On The MacKenzies of Paradise Cove, the MacKenzie kids were orphans, and they convinced a beach bum to pretend to be their uncle so they wouldn't be split up and sent to different foster homes . On Sons of Tucson, three young boys convinced a slacker to pretend to be their father because their real father went to prison . Every so often, this premise shows up . How many TV shows feature a family of children who convince an adult to pretend to be their guardian so they won't be split up ? I especially remember reading about one show where the kids let a homeless bum live in their house if he'd pretend to be their father . Trying to remember the name of this show is driving me crazy . Is there anybody out there who can identify this show ? Thank you in advance for your answers .

The very short-lived ABC sitcom from 1994 or 1995, "On Our Own" briefly featured a plot where the oldest son would dress up in drag to pretend to be an elderly Aunt. Eventually the was dropped and the oldest son took custody of his siblings.

I found the show I was looking for ! It was A Family for Joe starring Robert Mitchum himself . A Family for Joe was about sixteen -- year -- old Nick Bankston (David Lascher), 15 -- year -- old Holly Bankston (Juliette Lewis), 9 -- year -- old Chris Bankston (Ben Savage), and 7 -- year -- old Mary Bankston (Jessica Player) who have been recently orphaned . Rather than be split up and put into foster care, they find a homeless man, Joe Whitaker, to live with them and pretend to be their grandfather . Joe took his new responsibilities more seriously than they expected, and amid the quips, everybody learned little lessons in life around the sunny kitchen table . Robert Mitchum played Joe Whitaker . At first, A Family for Joe was a TV movie, and then it became a series . A Family for Joe only ran for nine episodes, and it should be on DVD .

Not quite the same, but in the early 80s there was a Western starring Merlin Olsen called "Father Murphy". Dozens of kids were left orphaned after a strike turned violent, and the title character pretended to be a priest running an orphanage--otherwise the kids would have been sent to a territorial workhouse.

I almost mentioned Father Murphy . Merlin Olsen wasn't exactly pretending to be a relative of the orphaned kids, but it is a good example of the "adult pretends to be a guardian to some kids" format . Thank you very much !

will smith live with his uncle phil on fresh prince of bel -air!!

will smith live with his uncle phil on fresh prince of bel -air!!

That was his real uncle, Phil wasn't pretending.