A charming, sitcom about the trials of a middle-class black family in suburban Illinois degenerated into a Happy Days-like farce before launching into the Twilight Zone.

Oh, well. Learn the fate of Judy "Crave" Winslow:

http://www.bet.com/articles/0,1048,c5sc45g...09-5218,00.html

Wow, that's a sad story. I knew she was a porn "actress," but I didn't know she had become so poor. How shitty that her parents blew her half mil.

Holy cow, I loved this show. Urkel was annoying as...well, you know...but somehow, I kept tuning in.

My parents and I used to tune in just because of Urkel. He wasn't as grating when he first came on the show. I even bought an Urkel book from a book order. The whole Stephan Urquel/Steve Urkel thing was stupid, though.

You know, I always wondered what happened to that damned Judy...

Wow, what a story there. Man, there's an E! True Hollywood story, I'm glad she's moving on. Yeah, loved the show myself, but the last two season, I tune in less and less and before I knew it, it was on CBS. I watched only the last episode and that was it.

I stopped watching when it switched to CBS. What happened then? Does anyone know of any good Family Matters websites that have episode guides?

I always thought Waldo was pretty funny and I actually liked Urkel in the early/mid seasons. I think I started to get jaded when he became Stephan Urkelle or whatever the fuck. Then the different Harriet appeared which was the last straw. Wasn't Carl gay in real life? Somehow that explains a lot.

Not as stupid as Bruce Lee Urkel. In hindsight, it was rather offensive.

This show hasn't showed in Australia for years, but there's something that's always bugged me - was there, or was there not, a little sister in the earlier seasons? I swear there used to be little girl who then seemed to completely disappear, and was never mentioned again.

That's the same girl who's mentioned at the top of the thread...Jamiee Foxworth, who played Judy.

Yep, that was Judy Winslow. She went up the stairs only to never return again. I heard that she is/was doing porn movies.

this show had a terrible record for disappearing characters: the little sister, and the aunt -- who left behind her son.

No kidding! All of the sudden, there was no little sister any more. Did they just decide that they didn't need her any more? And why in the hell did Richie stay with the Winslows instead of going... wherever with his mom? Bryton McClure was so annoying.

Bruce Lee Urkel? I don't remember that one, which is probably a good thing.

Wasn't there a later episode where Urkel put Carl in his transforming machine and Carl came out as a ginormous dweeb? I thought that was stupid.

It is amusing how when Waldo (full name: Waldo Geraldo Faldo, hee!) showed up, Eddie got much smarter because they had a new "dumb" character on the show. I always laughed when Waldo was added to the credits, and was shown being pelted in the head with a basketball. Heh.

Stephan Urkelle was beyond stupid (and Jaleel White has bug eyes without his glasses), but Myrtle Urkel, who loved Eddie? Even worse.

I remember Bruce Lee Urkel. Didn't he have to fight off a bunch of thugs ninja-style? God, how stupid.

I agree Urkel's inventions were stupid but, more importantly, has there ever been such a drastic change in genre in TV history? Domestic sitcom to Sci-fi? Cosby to The Outer Limits? The trials and tribulations of raising children to cloning and time-travel? WTF?!

Family Matters suffered from Happy Days Syndrome when a minor character started to dominate the show. Pretty soon, the premise changed to "Watch Urkel commit large scale property damage!" before it moved to another galaxy.

That said, I loved Lieu.

Hee! Lieu rocked!

And Bwuce Wee Urkel was sooooo annoying. Not as bad as Elvis Urkel, but almost.

Elvis Urkel?

Obviously I don't know this show as well as I thought!

The Bruce Lee version(s) of Urkel (and, if I remember correctly, Carl) is/are the main memory I have of this show. I remember that Steve had his DNA scrambling machine in storage somewhere, and he and Carl went there only to be surrounded by a bunch of toughs. He brags about the machine, pulls out a vial labelled "Bruce" and claims that he can't remember whose DNA it is. He lists a few famous Bruces, then Bruce Springsteen which gets the guys in the gang all excited. They let him (and Carl, I think) get in the machine and use the Bruce DNA, then when they step out Steve says in an insultingly stereotypical "Chinese" (or, more accurately, Elmer Fudd) accent, "Oh, now I wememba! Bwuce Wee!" and they beat up the gang.

I have no idea why that episode sticks in my head so much, unless how much I hated it impressed it into my brain.

Out of curiosity, since I stopped watching for the last several years, did Laura and Steve (not Stephan) ever actually start dating? I could have sworn when I was a kid watching it (don't know what I'd think if I watched it now) that show was leading up to that, and have always wondered if it ever happened.

Didn't Laura ask Steve to marry her in the finale? Or was I hallucinating that day?

No, that's what happened. Steve saved the world from outer space, or summat like that, and Laura asked him to marry her.

Anyone remember Steevil, the Halloween episode where a ventriloquist dummy of Urkel comes to life? It was pretty lame, but it did have great special effects, showing the dummy moving around with no body part offscreen and no apparent means of moving it.

They really dipped into the VSE territory when they adopted 3J. God, I hated 3J. What kinda name IS that?

Fuck, I hated that kid. HATED him. Can't even talk about him.

I liked Family Matters. Before Urkel came along, it was a genuinely entertaining and unique show with a nice message and very likeable characters. Even the uber-hip granny was awesome simply because Rosette LeNoire just played it so laid back. Mother Winslow was probably the most bad ass character in TGIF history.

Then Urkel, which I didn't mind so much. I didn't mind Aunt Rachel and her neurotic acting. I didn't mind Richie. I didn't mind Little Judy and her over-the-top diva character. I didn't even mind 3J.

But then they did the worst thing possible. They got a different actress to play Harriet. The best thing about the show, IMO, was the interplay between Carl and Harriet Winslow. Carl could be a jackass sometimes, but ultimately, he loved the hell out of his family and Harriet knew that, but it didn't stop her from cutting him dead with a perfect "oh please!" swagger.

When they fucked that up and brought in a bland, uninteresting middle aged woman to play Harriet for the final season on CBS, that was it. The same thing happened to me with Fresh Prince of Bel Air, too.

I hated Urkel. Or rather, I hated the way he would look all pathetic and sad when someone told him to fuck off, thus making the person feel bad for what they said. I'd have no qualms over telling him to stay away from me, given how annoying he was.



I don't know why he stayed with the Winslows, but I do remember it being mentioned that Rachel moved to Detroit. She came back during some Christmas episode. She was supposed to fly in from Detroit for Christmas, something happened to her plane, blah blah, she finally does arrive at the end of the episode to (What else) sing.

Any discussion of Steve Urkel must eventually lead to his dance-- The Urkel and the moronic accompanying song. Some of the lyrics were "Do the Urkel! Do do do do the Urkel! Do the Urkel now!" and "...hitch up your pants, stick out your pelvis, I'm tellin' ya baby, it's better than Elvis!" I think there was a lesson about having fun without alcohol buried somewhere in that episode, too, but its the Urkel dance that I am unable to forget. It doesn't help that that same year, some girls performed the Urkel at my grammar school talent show.

I don't know either.

I have always maintain that the episode of Full House featuring the Urkel Dance was the best episode ever.

"Do the Urkel! Do the ur-ur-ur-ur-ur-ur-ur-ur-Urkel!"

I will say that I didn't even watch the show on CBS. It was dead to me once I saw that Jaleel had to crouch to get his teenage look on.

And did anyone else find that Robot Urkel to be the most. terrifying. thing. ever?

Actually, it's "...bend your knees and stick out your pelvis."

*hangs head in shame*

The lyrics to The Urkel Dance

It must have been horrible to play that character like that. Jaleel was a good looking guy when he grew up.

His show on UPN bombed so well, though. It was like Kim Zimmer bad.

Wouldn't Richie have lived with the Winslows since Rachel wasn't exactly the richest woman in the world, single mom, and all that jazz? Plus, Harriette was Rachel's sister, so she would have taken care of Richie.

Reading the UrkelNet website reminded me of OGD, "Original Gangsta Dawg". I think he was my favorite alternate-Urkel. :)

Rachel wasn't poor. In fact, she wasn't really single; she was a widow.

I would love to hear Jaleel White's thoughts on the career-ending role of Steve/Stefan/etc. Actually, I want to hear from Jo Marie Payton or Reginald vel Johnson about getting their show snatched away from them.

Why did Jaimee Foxworth, Rosetta Lenoire, Telma Hopkins, and Jo Marie Payton leave the show? I don't have the true facts, but it's obvious that anyone who did not have a connection to The Urkel was expendable. Laura was his crush, Eddie his supposed buddy, Carl was Mr. Wilson to his Dennis, and you needed Richie for cute.

I stopped watching way before the move to CBS, but not soon enough to miss a six-foot, obviously pretty well-built young man slouching in jeans way too tight and cuffed for some reason, trying to be the biggest nerd around. I mean, it's not like the real sized pants aren't right there.

JO Marie was never happy after empahasis switched from Winslows to Urkel. In last season, no one knew then it would be last season, she submitted ideas for more Winslow. When the producers said no, she quit. The last 6 or so eps were filmed with a different actress. Then they filmed the season 9 finale and were expecting a season 10, which is why Steve and Laura did not marry. The crew destroyed set and alerted the cast the show was over. They should have expected it though.

They totally should have expected it. All the kids were grown and the new kids were not working out. Plus, that new CBS Family Friday (or whatever they called it) was doomed anyway.

I really hate television sometimes. But I suppose I should really hate the people who wanted more and more Urkel crammed down their throats until they vomit and wanted no more. No, I hate the producers for giving it to us. Especially after Jaleel's voice dropped, Urkel was a stupid idea.

I bet, however, that the producers made heaps of dollars in merchandising everything from Urkel dolls to Urkel-Os. I also bet that Jaleel saw very little of that money.

Urkel is the Devil. And Jaleel White is very average-looking when he's dressed normally. He only looks good in comparison to Urkel.

Does anyone remember his guest stint on Fresh Prince? Where he played a suave playah' out to corrupt a virginal Ashley only to come to his (8 p.m. timeslot) good senses and eventually back out? Yeah, me too. I found it...creepy.

Yeah, and look what happened to Bryton McClure. Helluva lot cuter than Urkel, IMO.

I stopped watching this show way before it moved to CBS (I didn't even know it was on CBS), but please tell me this didn't really happen in the series finale. Urkel was played out from day one, but damn, that's just sad.

Damn it, Symmetrically, now I feel dirty lusting after Older!Richie. Even though he's probably around my age (18).

The two-part series finale description, from TV Tome:



and...



So, apparently, Laura asked Urkel to marry him BEFORE this happened.

roybetter and Headcase, I stand corrected.

My favorite episode is the one where Laura accidentally sells Mother Winslow's quilt at a garage sale and has to get it back. Don't know why, but it has stuck with me years later.

This pic is the one that makes me feel like a dirty old lady. *drools*

I was reading, and found out that Mother Winslow's first name is Estelle. I really can't remember them mentioning her first name on the TV show. They either called her Grandma, or Carl called her Mother.

IIRC, she called herself Estelle, and I seem to remember her beaux calling her by her first name as well.

I went back and reread the thread. I found out recently (I can't believe I don't remember it from the original run, but then again, I was in Japan at the time) that Michelle Thomas, the actress who played Myra, died of stomach cancer back in 1998.

Oh, wow. This is the first time I've heard of the Myra death, and it's pretty sad to hear.

That second Bryton McClure pic, while hot, creepily reminds me of Corey Clark.

And out of all the Jaleel White roles he played, the worst one, IMO? Myrtle Urkel. While it was fun to see Myrtle fight with Eddie's girlfriend, Greta, imagine what it must have been like to dress in drag, barely 13, on national television.

I hope he got paid a grip.

Bryton McClure indeed has a nice body, but his face looks a little pinched to me.

Myrtle Urkel was an abomination. There are no words. I want my childhood back.

I never like it when any TV show turns from a normal sitcom into the "Name Here Show." You can tell this happens when a single character becomes the object of the audience's adoration, signified by hooting and hollering every damn time he walks into the room for the first time during an episode. "Family Matters" became "The Urkel Show," just as "Step by Step" (oh yes, you remember) became "The Cody Show." God I hate it when that happens. Actually, I dislike excessive noise from the audience in most cases. But it's even more annoying when one (progressively stupid and attention-whoring) character is the cause of it.

Bryton McClure reminds me too much of a younger Michael Jackson in those pictures to be at all attractive.

God, do I. And Cody was even more irritating and stupid than Urkel, if that's even possible. Not that the show was anything to speak of before.