This is a segment from a special called ABC's Comedy Sneak Peek which aired on September 13, 1989 and during which Balki and Larry introduce their new spin-off show, Family Matters.
@Jason Harshman No they didn't, dumbass. Literally no one from Family Matters has ever said that, dumbass. That is why Harriot's actor eventual ly quit, cuz she hated that it became the urkel show. There is zero evidence Family Matters was failing before Urkel.
If it wasn't for Urkel, that show would have never been what it was. I guess you fault Jordan for "coming in" & reducing the Bulls to "gag-sondary" caharacters too right?
@@MrParkerman6 there literally is video where they said it dipshit. Stopmaking stuff up you troll azz loser. If you insist on talking out of your azz at least turn around so we can understand you better lame brain!
@@MrParkerman6 That's not why she left the show and she stayed until halfway through the last season so I think it urkel was the problem she would have left a lot sooner. The show would definitely not have made it as long as it did without steve urkel.
@@brandondixon207There was reality TV no doubt. But not till really the end of the 2000’s and 2010’s after the Writer’s guild strike of 07-08 did we see way too many shows like that.
It’s amazing that the apartment turned into a house. It’s amazing that Judy never came back down the stairs after season 5. It’s amazing how amazing the original Harriet was.
The house was explained later on as the Winslows buying it from the Marshalls in 1985 on Perfect Strangers. But there was so many inconsistencies, in the later seasons of Family Matters, that it got annoying. This was a missed opportunity for Family Matters/Perfect Strangers crossover. Jaleel White did an interview with the cast. He and the producers had season 10 planned. One episode was going to explain Judy's disappearance and had planned to have Valerie Jones play her. She is really one of Steve and Laura's daughters. Judy travelled to the past to assimilate herself as part of the Winslows in 1985 after being down on herself for not being talented as her older siblings: Stephanie Laurine, Bertram, Cornelius, her younger brother, Aloysius and even her adopted sister, Myrtle Sue. When the older Steve showed up, he grabbed her and took her back home. Hence, no one remembered Judy because he was able to prevent the pivotal moment and keep the timeline of Eddie and Laura as Carl and Harriette's only children before their adoption of 3J.
This makes me wonder how Family Matters would have been like had they never introduced Steve Urkel. It definitely wouldn't have lasted 9 seasons. Maybe 2 or 3 seasons, but that's it.
Yeah, I know that. But the audience liked him so much that he became a regular, and eventually, the show's main protagonist. My point was, had they never decided to give him that supposed one-off appearance, he would have never been in the show, and it would have been cancelled much earlier than it was.
NeoKokoro20 you do make a point, the show would be cancelled and it would be the end of it, but thankfully, Steve came in and save the show from being demise
The late 1980's and the early 1990's were THE PLACE TO BE for TV! I can't control it, but I wish I were a little older during that timeframe, as I was too young to appreciate most of it. It wasn't just because I was a kid and only liked cartoons, either. My memory is pretty hazy until the age of 8-ish. I remember some things, but not many.
I do remember 1989. I was three and then some of these episodes. It was great. Family Matters, Cosby Show, Fresh Prince, Martin, etc. we're the perfect shows. TV sucks now.
You want good TV? Go back to 70s and early 80s. The Facts of Life, Diff'rent Strokes, M*A*S*H, Happy Days, etc. Were amazing. Late 80s and 90s were a crap time for sitcoms. Family Matters was one of the only good shows.
Because sadly Perfect Strangers was on its way out as Family Matters was going forward. The original four shows for TGIF: Perfect Strangers, Family Matters, Full House, and Step by Step.
People never believe me when I say family matters was a perfect strangers spin off. Even though I was like 8, and I didn't know what the word spin off was, I recognized when shows did this. I'm Jim Carrey from the cable guy.
Yeah. I wonder what would happen if Urkel met the cousins. Larry would be thinking "I didn't know the circus was in town", while Balki would be absolutely delighted.
Though the 2 never did a crossover in Family Matters or Perfect Strangers, Urkel (Jaleel White) and Balki (Bronson Pinchot) did cross paths in the Warner Bros. animated film Quest For Camelot
haha i forgot that the house looked different in the pilot. it was a great show...but i realized towards the end they forgot it was originally conceived as a show about the closeness of family, and it turned into a show about Urkel
Take me back to this time. Of course I was a little toddler growing up watching these shows on TGIF, now it's nothing but a distant memory and these kinda shows are not on anymore ! 😢
Lol, I can't believe that this show was actually a spin off of Perfect Strangers! They shoulda had a cross episode where the cast goes on the other's show. Hilarious!
Isn't it interesting how the sets of these shows change over time? The Winslow's living room looks totally different. Notice also that instead of seeing a front porch outside the front door you see a foyer. These things change yet you don't notice until watching earlier episodes later.
Jaleel White single handedly saved Family Matters. It was going to be canceled after just one season if it wasn't for his character becoming a regular part of the show.
Thing was, that the producers had Steve as a popular guy who moved to New York from Chicago akin to Bobby Wilson(from the original Good Morning, Miss Bliss pilot) and Laura is smitten by him, she ignores Mark and asks him out to the dance. Jaleel White changed him from a popular kid to an awkward nerd after observing a kid in his class. This proved to be the right decision because Steve's clumsiness and awkward behavior saved the show.
Here’s the thing: I’ve looked up the ratings that Family Matters got in its first episodes before Steve Urkel first appears. It actually was winning its timeslot consistently before then. Whether it was meeting expectations, I don’t know, but it was winning its timeslot from the jump. That said, I wouldn’t be surprised if Family Matters would have ran only a season or two without Urkel, and even if it had a more substantial run, it’d probably be more forgotten today because Urkel wouldn’t have been a part of it. Also, a sign that a spin off program really succeeded is when people forget that it was ever a spinoff to begin with. No knock on Perfect Strangers which technically had an eight season run to its credit, but I don’t see it ever brought up nowadays; certainly less often than Family Matters either way.
Yeah and I liked perfect strangers more to me it was funnier as this with urkel was a little annoying and more sillier. Funny and silly are different and silly doesn’t always work.
So interesting that Perfect Strangers started it all. Every show that Urkel guest starred on and every show that spun off or had interwoven guest stars from it started with Balki and Cousin Larry. Full House, Fuller House, Step by Step, Sabrina, Boy Meets World, Girl Meets World, and many more, not to mention the Winslows of Family Matters! I miss when shows were great, wholesome, and had heart. They treated their audience with intelligence and tried to made a difference in our lives.
1:11 "Oh, Harriet! You get more beautiful every time I see you!" You should see her in the final season. By then, she's a completely different woman. 😉
That font and those clips are from the Pilot episode of Family Matters. It's funny, the episode featured a different actress as Judy even though Jamiee Foxworth was in this promo.
I always felt that while FM was a spin off of Perfect Stangers, the two series existed in diffrent realities which was why Larry and Balki never appeared. On Perfect Strangers, Carl and Harriet lived in Larry and Balki's building, while on FM they lived in the same house since the 70s. It was a rebooted version of the characters, similar to Florida and James Evans on "Good Times", they clearly weren't the same Florida and James from "Maude". That's just my take.
+Diamond King In the pilot it looks like Winslows lived in a different house in the 1st episode because when they show the front door there is a hall way instead of the outside
+Diamond King You are true. It was exactly the same thing as how Good Times was only the most tenuous spinoff from Maude (itself a spinoff of All in the Family). But it is a tragedy that Balki and Urkel never met. I mean, Urkel went everywhere from Full House to Step by Step, but never had Balki do a cameo on Family Matters with Urkel.
I grew up on Family Matters so I decided I wanted to check out perfect strangers and I have to say it is actually as funny as family matters in its own way
So this is the show that aired on ABC TGIF's lineup in the year 1989. Wow, years for every each ABC show to come in the past since this show "Family Matters" ended in year 1998 (in which I was born).
A spin-off vehicle originally centered around recurring "Perfect Strangers" character Hariette Winslow and Reginald VelJohnson, who was fresh off appearing as Sgt. Al Powell in the Bruce Willis blockbuster "Die Hard". That all changed 12 episodes in when Steve Urkel appeared at the Winslows' door.
Actually Larry did appear in family matters as the mean boss Larry was much older in that episode when Carl told . Harriet to stand up to her boss when he was being a jerk to everyone if anyone remembers that one
+cordy torres Yes it was funny seeing Mark Linn-Baker fat when he was so skinny on Perfect Strangers and Harriet gained weight too and then looking back seeing how nice Larry was to Harriet on Perfect Strangers. Mark Linn also played a goofy character on the Hogan Family and a jerk on Full House. LOL
+yoyo2ma that goofy character in question being Mark and Willy's Science Professor that got dumped by his girlfriend and initially lived in the Science Lab before briefly living with The Hogans.
Can yall believe is been 30 years ago that Family Matters came on?I was 2 when the show came I watch it since I was growing up in the 90s.That is been my favorite.Happy 30th Anniversary Family Matters
Interesting that Mother Winslow was originally the villain character for Carl to hate, instead of the wise sweet woman she turned out to be later when they cast Steve Urkel as the new "villain". It was a wise choice, nobody in the audience would want to hate that sweet lady.
I think it was because it was his mother...you know how they have mothers on shows that are always still trying to tell their grown child what to do...later in the show she was very sarcastic...
urkel was to be in the first episode only. if you ever watch the intro, the first season doesnt have urkel listed. but everybody asked where the neighbor kid was. so after the first few filmed episodes, they put urkel in as a main charchter
Oh my god I noticed that too. All of them had that swinging kitchen door that separated the living room and kitchen.And they were all two story houses that had a staircase in the living room and kitchen.
lobservateur83 Harriette was on the show for the entire run; only, in the middle of season 9 on CBS, Jo Marie Payton left, and was replaced as Harriette by Judyann Elder. The other characters you're probably thinking of--Estelle and Richie--actually made the move to CBS, but had been reduced to recurring status at the start of season 9. The both of them, along with Telma Hopkins as Rachel (who hadn't been a series regular since 1993), made their final appearances in the S9 Christmas episode "Deck the Malls".
Carl: Dear lord, thank you for this food and your many blessings. deliver us from evil! Even if it were to walk right through our front door!" LOLOLOL!!!!!
I remember watching this live when I was a kid. ABC was doing a Fall Preview show in 1989 for the upcoming television season. I was a 12 year old kid starting Junior High and was starting to get into girls. The good old days.
Supposedly it's just an urban myth that even Jamie Foxxworth has been quoted on. I think her last noticeable part in any scene was her part as the flower girl in mother Winslow's wedding.
Believe it or not.....this was actually the thing they were going for when they first planed the show. Carl was supposed to be the same Carl from DIe Hard. They changed it later on because they did not want the show to be related to a violent movie. No joke!
@@jmcd21182 Yep, he name was Sgt. Al Powell. The only "Carl" in Die Hard was "Karl Vreski" who was the blond terrorist that John hangs, and Al shoots at the end.
"Harriet used to run the elevator, but now she's got her own show... for about a season, then it's gonna turn into a show about some guy named Urkel. She's even going to quit halfway through the last season and be recast for the remaining eight episodes."
Steve Urkel saved the show from cancellation you can act pressed all you want the facts is the ratings were mediocre and the networks didn't need to have another Cosby Show Steve's unique character and scientific experiments is what kept people tuning in
Judy spoke a lot, in the first season. And I only remember them living in a house on "Family Matters". However, they were just moving during an episode of "Perfect strangers".
@curtistol No, she just disappeared without explanation. There were rumors they apparently were planning to have her randomly reappear in the next season that was to also have Steve and Laura's wedding, but the show was cancelled.
Screwed by the Network: A bizarre case of this toward the end. Despite the series continuing to do well in the ratings entering the 1991-92; ABC had been reportedly trying to cancel Perfect Strangers due to rising costs and advancing age (7th season). By early 1992, ABC decided to transfer the series from its 9:30 p.m. slot on the TGIF block to an newly-created offshoot block called "I Love Saturday Night", placing it alongside aging one-time ABC hits Growing Pains and Who's the Boss? plus a new animated series called Capitol Critters. Inevitably, the series (which finished at #32) plummeted to #65 in the ratings, allowing ABC to shelve it. Ironically enough, they did so by sticking reruns at its old slot during the summer of 1992 (the series would be placed on hiatus and have its final 6 episodes burned off over the summer of 1993, over a year and a half after ABC moved it to Saturday).
Remember when Family Matters and Step By Step were moved to CBS as a part of the new CBS Block Party Lineup!! Sadly both shows were cancelled due to poor ratings in 1998. And sadly losing the original Harriet Winslow Jo Marie Payton mid season whom grew tired of Urkel as well as Mother Winslow whom's last appearance was in a Christmas Episode.👍
@@martymcfly5434 Yep. In early 1997, CBS picked up Family Matters and Step by Step in a $40 million deal to acquire the rights to the programs from ABC. ABC then promised to pay Miller-Boyett Productions $1.5 million per episode for a ninth and tenth season of Family Matters. However, tensions had risen between Miller-Boyett Productions and ABC's corporate parent, The Walt Disney Company (which had bought the network in 1996 as part of its merger with ABC's then-parent Capital Cities/ABC Inc.). Miller-Boyett thought that it would not be a big player on ABC after the network's recent purchase by Disney. Miller-Boyett Productions agreed to a $40 million offer from CBS for a 22-episode season for both Family Matters and Step By Step. CBS scheduled Family Matters along with Meego and Step By Step as a part of its new Friday lineup, branded as the CBS Block Party. The network scheduled the family-oriented block against ABC's TGIF lineup, where the two series originated. Jo Marie Payton's contract had just expired and she was reluctant to continue, feeling the show had jumped the shark years prior. She agreed to stay to keep continuity but left midseason shortly after nearly getting into a physical altercation with White in what would be her last regular episode; in that episode, White (playing a gangster instead of his usual Urkel) was attempting to insert material that violated Broadcast Standards and Practices. The resulting dispute between White and Payton escalated to the point where Darius McCrary had to separate the two. Payton would appear in only one more episode after that-a Christmas episode that also brought back several former characters from the ABC run who had been written out on CBS-before Judyann Elder took over as Harriette for the remainder of the season. While Family Matters continued to lose viewership compared to previous years, it was initially a modest success on CBS, beating the show that replaced it, You Wish. Meego, however, was a ratings failure and was canceled after six weeks. After the holiday special season, CBS replaced Meego with Kids Say the Darndest Things, and with that show's child-centered focus, it was placed in Family Matters' 8/7c time slot. Family Matters was pushed an hour later and paired with Step by Step. The ratings for Family Matters fell even further in this later slot, and the entire block except for Kids Say the Darndest Things was canceled in spring 1998, with the remaining episodes burned off in the summer.
I remember this too. I remember Rachel trying to get Richie to talk and then I remember some mean lady telling Eddie to get his feet off the blanket. LOL. I was eleven at the time. Wow!
Steve didn't join the show until after half the first season. He wasn't supossed to in more than one episode, but he was so popular, that they kept him on the show. Harriet went up to her boss and talked to him in the second episode of "Family Matters". Are you sure he wasn't at "Perfect strangers"?
