Harriet Winslow on “Family Matters”
Jo Marie Payton played the matriarch of the Winslow family for the first eight seasons of the popular sitcom, but halfway through season nine of the series, actress Judyann Elder took over the role. Payton had wanted to leave the show for several years, but couldn’t do so due to her contract. She was only absent for nine episodes of the series, and she later returned to appear in the finale of the show.