When Family Matters Died 

lol yep.. The agencies should have been like "Didn't you LOSE a pre-teen daughter? WHY SHOULD WE TRUST YOU?" LOLLL

That was going to be my next question. Did 3J make the show jump the shark?

Yeah that's true. A lot of shows back then either adopted a child or became pregnant!!

@@FightOstinFight On "The King of Queens", Doug and Carrie wanted to have a baby for a couple of seasons, the show runs for 9 seasons, that makes sense. Fortunatelly they don't get a baby and keep Arthur as their grandpa baby. Having a baby on the show would have ruined the show. It's a show. It's not supposed to be hyper realistic.

@@SavedByGrace_CitizenEmperor ok. But when they do that. That’s usually when the show falls off. Brady Bunch, Married with Children, Growing Pains, Family Matters, and so on. I don’t even know what point you were trying to make.

The evil puppets were ok because it was a Halloween episode but everything else I agree with

Pretty much. At some point, you run out of situations for the show so have to either introduce more characters or get more outlandish...they did both. Most sitcoms go thru this cycle.

I agree, 100%!

@@mattm7798 Full House didn't need time travel and cloning to write stories and they were on the air just as long as Urkel.

@@jedimastayoda112 Technically Family Matters was 1 more season but Full House had turned it's character's in to caricatures too, just not as badly. Full House was also showing signs of running out of ideas. I agree not every sitcom goes into super out their territory like time travel, but most do have to either get really outlandish or add a bunch of new character's because they are running out of good ideas.

Agreed!!!

That camera work was also incredible! I don't think the Nutty Professor had even come out yet (when they started having 2 J. Whites onscreen at the same time) and NP was a movie(where you often see the best that camera artistry has to offer). I was in awe by it all(of what FM was doing technologically and with ideas). Plus, from early on, it had some elements of adult(not in an X-rated or R-rated sense) and chjIbren of all ages in the whole show. The Buddy Goodrich show detailed where Family Matters was early on(before Urkel mania really took over). They were a full family show at first. Then, later on, it morphed into just a chjIbren of all ages show(that adults followed if they grew up on it). Steve was an educated Dennis the Menace! The only problem was--they were too romantic and eIgeebeeteecue for chjIbren and--at the same time--it had become a mostly chjIbren only show. So, it seems that.parents should have had more of a problem with it...

Do you have a link to this episode

@@ghariiscool No, because with Family Matters, like most of the other popular sitcoms, requires purchase. For free, all you'll get is a few minutes per video. The Buddy Goodrich here is only a clip: a clip that does not tell you why it is that this particular show resembles what Family Matters was all about in the early years. It was one of the best old episodes: 1. There was a hit family TV show that most of the Winslows also liked. 2. The adult star's name on that show was Buddy Goodrich. 3. Carl, as a cop, asks nicely that he move his illegally parked car and for autographs while he's there. Then, he finds out what a bad guy Buddy is--when he would not move it nor let any of his assistants move it. Buddy parked it there so that he'd get out more quickly after work and won't budge(thinks of it as a star perk). Carl insists on it, Buddy gets enraged, and Buddy, after insulting Carl, eventually swings at him. 4. Carl arrests him. Afterwards, the family hears about him arresting Goodrich and they can't imagine what he could have done. He had a squeaky clean image based on his hit show and think Carl's wrong. 5. Goodrich visits the home and lays it on real thick with the family(who are in the living room). He is really there to bribe Carl so that he drops the assault charge. The family overhears the revealing conversation and now they all are disillusioned with Buddy. The reason why it embodies the Winslows was because they were watching the hit family show and that's what the Winslows were trying to be back then and they were also one-for-all...

So true

Yeah I remember that episode vaguely.

The one where he went back to become a billionaire?

@@ForrestFox626 Yeah, Urkel went throguh the quantum realm 🤣

I don't remember what the invention or episode was but I do remember there was one time when Steve was showing off one of his inventions and Carl barely reacted. This annoyed Steve at first until Carl pointed out that Steve had already invented a chamber that basically rewrites DNA, a teleportation pod, a clone machine and a time travel gadget so what was left for him to be surprised about at this point?

Get out of my house, Steve!

I was in Die Hard!! LOL

"We started out wanting to make a blue-collar Cosby Show, and you're turning into Quantum Leap!"

Totally. For a few years there, the character was part of general pop culture. I had heard of Urkel before I ever saw a single show.

“Go home, Steve!”

He had his own cereal and doll that's how ' over ' Steve Urkel was back then !!!

I remember 4th grade everyone did the Urkel laugh and wore the “Don’t have a cow man” Bart Simpson shirt.

Simpson was trash

I like your idea about Stefan. It might’ve been interesting to see Steve mature out of his nerdiness.

@@FunFactFilms I think in a way he kind of did in the last season when Laura started developing feelings for him and Steve wanted to change his appearance. He was still clumsy, but he wasn't as clumsy. Also at that point too, Steve was in his early 20's, so they probably wanted to portray him as a more mature young adult as opposed to the teenage nerd we remember.

Ya it did seem they were trying to age him up a bit in that last season.

Although I like your idea, I often wonder if Judy would've still been retconned regardless of Steve Urkel becoming a breakthrough character. Judy didn't even have an episode that focused on her or developing her character. Even in the episode when she was jealous of Richie, I think she was only in two scenes. Aside from only having one line or filling time, any "story" with her was usually be nicer to Richie or do better in school.

Ya I think the gradual disappearance of Judy isn't just because of Urkel either. It seems the creators didn't know what to do with her from the beginning, so once Urkel became huge he presented a convenient opportunity to cut costs by getting rid of her, hoping nobody would notice.

Same lol

My family called the show Steve. Similar but same idea.

Great show. I loved every season. No matter how ridiculous it got.

My mother called the show “Urkel” and never missed an episode 😂 up until around the 7th season.

Yep, that's definitely what my mom called it 😂

See also: Good Times, which was supposed to be about the mother of the family, until "JJ" stole the show from under her!

Great example.

@@HandofOmega The Good Times thrived more off the SETTING where everyone stood out in their way. However, the publicity for JJ either threw Rolle and Amos off or they were just plain jealous of JJ.

Exactly just like Family matters was a perfect strangers spinoff about Harriet and her family but once urkel was introduced he took over the show it became less about Harriet or the family and pretty much about urkel and his antics.

@@HandofOmega That seems to happen quite frequently. Family Ties was supposed to focus on the parents, but Michael J. Fox was so popular that Alex ultimately became the primary focus - although he fortunately never overtook everyone else.

There was an audience while filming? interesting

@@jevitigre most sitcoms were shot in front of a live audience in the 90s

@@jevitigre From the 50s up until the 00's (even some still today), most sitcoms were shot in front of an audience. That's where the laughs and stuff are coming from. When shows moved from multi camera to single camera it kind of died with it.

@@RetroDoneRight Thank you for the information, i thought the laugther were taped like those Latin American(especially Mexican sitcoms)

@@RetrocadePodcast Thank you for the information

It was close to getting a Tenth sesson but season seven is when it should've ended

What's crazy is that everyone stood out equally on Good Times from beginning to end. Even when you had secondary/replacement characters. The JJ actor just happened to make the best of what he had but it was the whole setting that made GT what it was............With Family Matters, the show was headed on the same level until Urkel started the most attention during season 3.

I saw a recent interview of Reginald VelJohnson on Entertainment Tonight around Father's Day this year when they were profiling TV dads. He also talked about how he got his role in Die Hard, which is a pretty cool story. It's on their RU-vid channel.

ALWAYS loved him.

this! The show was Family Matters show until it became The Steve Urkel show..

One can argue the show lasted longer because of Steve though. It probably would’ve ran it’s course much quicker if they kept the same format.

I felt the producers could have found a way to keep Judy with the family instead of ousting her after Urkel debut.

@@josephclegg3562 yeah I know.

I tuned out during the episodes where 3J and Little Richie started selling crack, and Carl had to arrest them. That was going too far. Also when Waldo was molested by his gym coach Mr. Diddles

@@kevinr.3542 sounds pretty disturbing.

@@kenrickbautista6141 it was an unusual choice for a family show

Absolutely an achievement.

Agreed.

Shawn Harrison (who played Waldo Faldo) said he left the show after the seventh season because his contract expired. He also said the series tended not to renew contracts as ABC continued to cut the program's budget. It explains why so many characters disappeared without being officially written off the show.

Why 9 years ? They could have made season 10.

I hated the entire Stefan arch. And I guess enough people did as well. Good for you that you enjoyed it, but it really felt like the show had lost it´s tracks to me and others around me.

There was supposed to be a season 10 to conclude the series and have all the family come back, including Judy, for Steve and Lauras wedding. The show was supposed to go back to its natural roots as the beginning of being about the family, but considering what happen after and in between, l seriously doubt it would have worked.

It was hard for Jaleel White to play Urkel at 20 years old.

Since he got more muscular as he got older, it was harder for him to play Steve Urkel.

exactly 👏

Facts! Don’t think this guy speaks for everyone. We enjoyed all the things he said were wrong with the show. Especially all of Steve’s inventions haha

That just means you're either very positively biased towards some aspect of the show, so you're unable to objectively critique the show, or you're an easily conditioned type of person who will like any subtle change to something that you have previously enjoyed. For example, some people are like this with certain actors, and have watched their most obscure roles, and are hardly able to find fault in even their worst performances. Note: there's nothing wrong with being biased, as long as a person is able to admit that they're biased.

I loved this show as a kid. This was one of many Friday night shows that brought my family together for the weekend. The memories of my family reflected with family matters as I got older into my middle and high school years. I still smile when I hear the opening and I immediately sit down to watch if it's on the TV almost anywhere im at too. The show for me is a memory of family time for me even to this day as my mother, father, godmother, and godfather are all gone. I do see where he gets his point of it loving its touch and why though. Every show does that. But for me my memories is what keeps my love of the show strong.

I could've done without season 8 and 9 but I still watched I wished it gotten a better ending

It sucks that the original Harriet decided to leave. Very awkward.

No you didn't

They didn't give her the treatment she wanted to leave earlier but she finished her contract ( from what I read )

@@MightMouse2174 I think everything goes back to when Jaleel White became the breakout star of the show....it became more about Urkel, his inventions, his catchphrases and his pursuit of Laura & less about the entire Winslow family......its almost like when Jimmie "J.J." Walker became the primary focus of "Good Times" & the rest of the Evans family were background players

@@novalove4790 I heard that at one point she would have stayed for the whole season, but had it after an argument for more screen time, and there were one or two episodes where she was nothing more than a glorified background character.

Indeed. I agree.

No it's not. Please don't lie again

@@maccusmc I don’t lie and it’s what I believe. You don’t have to agree with me and I’m fine with that.

@@ezaye1991 it was a joke. We used to tell them back in the day before people got offended by everything

@@maccusmc then head back to the lab, that joke sucked lol

After season 4, with half of the family gone and pushed to the backburner, the show was completely about Urkel. It was like 2 separate shows. The first half of the series was Family Matters, and the second half was like a spinoff of Family Matters, called Urkel.

@@josephclegg3562 The nail in the coffin was the mid season exit for Jo Marie Payton the original Harriet

Oh I agree 100%. Once Stefan came in, the show just got on my nerves. The creation of that character completely butchered Steve's main character trait of liking himself

Yes! I totally agree. It was such a reversal of Urkel's moral character.

Yeah that's about right. They have ended the show with 5 season and call it quits. The actors were getting too old to plays as teenagers anyways.

That episode was terrible. That was the episode when Steve moved in with the Winslow's. The writing was on the wall that the show was near its end.

I second that. Even as early as Season 3, I noticed Urkel becoming more “elastic,” so to speak, and the plots becoming more akin to a Teen-Com than a Family Sitcom. Season 2 was where the show hit its peak IMO, for the reasons both you and the video’s author mentioned.

Also the second season had its highest rating in viewership in the history of the show with a 15.8 rating and average 26.3 million viewers for that season, also was rank #15 in the TV ratings.

Agreed. I didnt like any other seasons after season 4 lol

@@elizabethholmes4933 Actually season 5 was also pretty good. While it starts to become corny in season 3, the show doesn't really fall off for me until season 7.

@@kurtcadet5223 oh thats true, season 5 dove deeper into the world of inventions lol 😆

People aren't saying she literally went up the stairs. "Went up the stairs, never came down" is a trope that, much like "Jump the shark" originated from _Happy Days._ There was a character in the first season who's last scene was of him walking upstairs and that was the last you ever see of him with no explanation afterwards.

I always saw it as a funny joke. Never assumed that's what actually happened. lol. But I didn't remember what her final scene was so it was good to get that refresher.

More than that, it typecasted Jaleel into that role. My suspicion at the time was Stefan was a way to let Jaleel get out from under Steve Urkel. In reality, Jaleel White’s career was launched and destroyed by Urkel. He did a few other small roles but flamed out by the late 90s. Just like Eddie’s actor, it ruined his real life as well.

I think he is okay, I kind of prefered Carlton Banks as a nerd.

I'm afraid you're wrong about that. Urkel is not "iconic" and the only thing memorable about him is that he was just another offensive stereotype, people may have found his antics to be funny and tolerable in the 90's. But by today's standards you'd be surprised at how many people find the character to be be nothing but completely and utterly offensive.

@@baymaxinarmor4133 How is he offensive??

@@MLBlue30 oh geeezzz it’s a wokie! Everything is so “offensive”… just keep walking and act like you don’t see it or hear it.

Good point

so sad about Michelle but Steve and Laura ere gonna eventually get together no offense to Mrs Elder but I missed JoMarie as Hariette it felt like Carl had remarried a woman with the same first name LOL like what happened

Myra was one of my first crushes, it broke my heart when I grew up and learned what happened

​@@aprilgosa5779 Oddly enough the actor who played Carl Winslow had made that same statement when Harriette got replaced.

I thought Michelle Thomas fell Sick later on. According to Jaleel White (Urkel) she had moved on to the Young and The Restless and apparently was having career difficulties leading her to work as an waitress . That’s my understanding of events 🙋🏽‍♀️..

@Buzz Your Girlfriend is Killing me Smalls my bad Rosetta

You could also argue that Alex P Keaton from Family Ties is another good example.

Yup that was season 3 episode 2.

Let’s be real, we all didn’t notice Judy disappeared until about the end of the 5th season 🤣🤣🤣

😂😂💀💀💀💀

She left to be a getto gagger

@@massdagod wrong

I wonder what took them so long to have him move in. He practically lived with the Winslows anyway.

Oh yeah, the show's quality went into the toilet when Steve moved in! Still not sure why that decision was made. Why were his parents written out of the series, when they were never shown to begin with???

And when 3J moved in. I mean, he was a cool kid and all, and an adoption storyline would have been fine with me to give Richie a brother but with still no explanation as to what happened to Judy, I couldn't support that.

@@brandonpage7087 In agree because they could not tell Steve to go home which was one of the funnier jokes in the show.

@@DM-ty4jb From what it sounds like based on interviews on RU-vid I've seen from Jaleel White and other characters from Family Matters, when Judy is brought up, it sounds like her parents were a factor in Judy not continuing on Family Matters... Plus when you think about it, Judy didn't have much of a role later on, and she was always doing bad in school. Didn't she get a D in English or something like that? But yeah, Judy's departure was peculiar without explanation until now really.

Perfect Strangers didn't move to CBS. It ended in 1993. The only reason family matters still got decent ratings after it got so stupid was because at the time networks didn’t put decent shows on Friday night. When family matters moved to CBS it went up against Sabrina the teenage witch and got crushed in the ratings and was soon canceled

Big bang made more sense being sci-fi than family matters

And I remember seeing it on CBS too

That Episode Dr. Urkel and Mr. Cool is a Parody of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

The family didn't even seem that close after Mother Winslow got married, because they never acknowledged Judy's disappearance.

@@josephclegg3562 it would seem so, i honestly barely remember alot of this show now, this video helped some, i mostly remember how ridiculous the Erkle stuff got over time

Exactly the first couple of seasons when urkel was just coming around was good but after that it got real goofy with the transformation chambers and the time traveling and cloning

@@travienantley674 Well, the first few seasons were about the Winslow family, and the situations they got in, and Urkel was a side character. I mean, the family so went in the background, that one of the daughters went upstairs and never came down. The show "Family Matters" stopped being about family. I personally think that they should have kept the show as it was, and then have a Steve Urkel spin-off series, which could be used for the sillier storylines.

@@dhenderson1810 also I never understood why Rachel left,and what happened to her restaurant

I never got why he was so obsessed with Laura after Myra came along... Here's a woman who is nicer than Laura, prettier than Laura, is your intellectual equal, and LIKES YOU FOR YOU! But, no, Steve, you still have to pine over this woman that often treats you like you're worthless, plays games with you, and wants you to be an alter ego most of the time.

@@keeneboy7700 I think the Urkel character was like some people is, he wanted what he couldn't have. Look at all the potions, transfomation chamber nonsense he did to get with Laura.

@@keeneboy7700 definitely. Agree. In the end, Laura didn't deserve Steve. Just like Lela didn't deserve Fry in Futurama. Lol

@@keeneboy7700 You got to admit that Laura looked her best around season 7 with her short & body looking good!!

@@keeneboy7700 Yes, go to the girl that record everything you see via your glasses

I’m the same age and same here. I remember the last time I watched this on TGIF, they went to Paris or something with a teleportation machine. I was like “this is too much”.

Yeah, even as kid I was asking myself, "Why isn't Urkel rich off his inventions?" Also I was getting tired of the Urkel messes up too much and Laura stabs his heart, but it's all resolved in 22min episodes.

@@MarsGundam I was done when he turned into Bruce Lee, Elvis, the network change. Less Waldo.

Ya they were the best

After adding Urkel in the mix, they should have renamed Family Matters as Urkel Matters, because he's what the show became about.

He was still typecasted as Steve Urkel though

It ruined his life!! Never had much of a career in Hollywood to date 😢 . Unfortunately he is no Eddie Murphy or Martin Lawrence or Tyler Perry.

@@tmcurly Did you see lately that he came out with the Weed product of his? Can't remember what the strain is called though, Purple Urkel or something

@@tmcurly Tyler Perry? How does he even have a career? He is horrible in everything he does

@lookingforlove839 For some creepy reasons Hollywood has a obsession whit black men in dresses.

I couldn’t stand him

Facts

Great show.

Jo Marie Payton told the producers that she'd do half of the last season, 9, which she did.

@@Rusty3659 right because it makes sense she passed on $150,000 a episode because why? Jaleel white carried that show and put up with her trying to control the show so Jaleel gave the producers a choice and they let her go mid season

Exactly. Same with JJ on Good Times. Too much silliness for me.

Family Matters didn’t fail so much as it had changed so much in the later seasons that it really wasn’t the same show. It was still funny, sure, but it became less family sitcom and more like a sci-fi version of Saved by the Bell.

@@powerofk Speaking Of Saved By The Bell do you remember the reboot? No I'm talking about the current reboot on NBC Peacock LOL! I'm talking Saved By The Bell: The New Class which actually ran longer than the original series! You want to talk about milking a franchise or in this case a tv character to death and I say with all do respect R.I.P. Dustin Diamond. Screech was brought back in season two of SBTB: The New Class and at first he wasn't too annoying but as the seasons go by he got screecher and screecher! Even his voice sounded worse! Seems like the producers where taken steps to have Screech and Mr. Belding be the new Carl and Steve Urkel and it sure looked and felt that way as the producers took Screech and Belding to levels that would make anyone cringe. A couple of changes like on the original series Screech wasn't popular with girls but on the later series he was picking up chicks and dates. Say what! Screech seemed to be a lot dumber too and he was maybe nerdy on the original show but he was also very smart. I guess producers forgot about all that?! The New Class ran from 1993 to 2000. Saved By The Cancellation!🔔🔕🏫📺

Eh, when the show starting going sci-fi it started losing me.

Seinfeld is boring.

My pleasure!

Got to love those recommendations.

Me to but when it was the full theme, not when they cut it in half after season 3.

I haven't even seen Perfect Strangers before, so I didn't really know that at first either.

To me, Waldo, Eddie, Weasel, Steve, and Harriet were the comedy gems. Lt Murtaugh too when he was there

Waldo was the funniest character.

And Waldo did as well.

Ya, that was a pretty big moment to be swept under the rug for awhile

Was that before the network switch from abc to cbs?

@@moseskuria1234 be4 I think

True I agree

Thanks Julian. This one took awhile to do. I’ve been working on it for over a month.

@@FunFactFilms no wonder we haven’t heard from you in a long time! 13 minutes of a video sounded forever.

Ya it did turn out to be a longer video than normal. Other life stuff was slowing me down too. But the hardest part was the writing! It took me awhile to analyze my thoughts and organize and structure them into writing. I enjoyed it but I wish I had gotten it done sooner.

@@FunFactFilms I understand, sir. Is there a Halloween movie you’re planning to upload soon since it’s coming up next month?

I haven't thought that far ahead yet.

There's an episode in seasons 6, 7, and 8 when they're talking about family which show reference to the original family, but the original family is not shown. First in season 6, when the family went to see a counselor about the strife Urkel was giving them and we were seen scenes of the original family from early seasons, then in season 7 when Carl was being audited and he said he had 7 people living with him, but it supposed to been 8 because of Judy, and in season 8, when Steve invented a time machine, and he and Carl altered the timeline where The Winslows never moved in their neighborhood and his kids, Eddie and Laura never were born. Carl never said anything about Judy. He only acknowledge of him having 2 kids.

@Joseph Clegg hence why Marie Jo Payton left the show midway through season 9.

@@SuperMarioBrosIIIJo Marie Payton wanted out. She had gotten tired of playing Harriette and she wanted to do other things. Basically she got tired of being an understudy to Jaleel.

the show could have realistically ended after season 7 because most shows have a decision to make after the high school and there is a crossroads. I mean Laura did finally show some attraction toward him during 7 and the last episode they hook up after the prom and the shows ends

That isn't true at all, dumbass. Webster was always intended to have Webster.

It died every time they shoved the Ross x Rachel relationship in your face EVERY season.