Family Matters

The character Urkel gets a lot of trash thrown his way, but look at what the actor himself did: He stole a sitcom. It doesn't happen often. Now I'm not certain when he was first introduced on the show, but I believe it was during the first season. He was the "wacky neighbor" with a crush on Laura -- nothing more. Within two seasons, the show was his. He owned it. Huge plot lines revolved around him; he got as much if not more screen time and dialogue as anyone else, and in many cases, more than the entire cast. Some may not like him, but he stole the show out from under the original cast through pure energy and originality. He developed a dead-pan 'look' that rivaled Johnny Carson's and one-upped Mr. Roper's. His physical comedy was outrageous, sometimes slightly ridiculous, but ideally suited to a basic family sitcom. Anyone of-age who has watched some TV in their time knows who Urkel was -- because he was dominant. Like him or not, Urkel is a unique, unforgettable character in TV history, and for that massive achievement, he deserves credit.

The story of "Family Matters" is a story about two distinct shows wanting to go on. One show is a down to earth family drama about real life issues. Stuff like gun control, gang violence and getting by in school. Then something happens towards the end of the first season. Laura needs a date to the school dance, so the dad calls up a friend to set her up with a boy named Steve.

This brings us to show #2, the Steve Urkel show. Test audiences and producers loved Jaleel White's Urkel. And quickly the show changed gears to make him the focus. The show's tone also drastically changed. Soon it became a sci-fi show that happened to take place in a family's house. Urkel would invent robots, time machines, teleportation pods and cloning machines.

People are divided on the show. Either they loved the down to earth family drama, or they loved the crazy out there stories with Urkel. It is an interesting show to follow. It is like the way the Fonz took over "Happy Days", but where the Fonz was super cool, Urkel is a super nerd. The show had some all-time great moments, but watching it from beginning to end, there are more duds than you may remember. Was the quality decline of the show to blamed on Jaleel White's character? Or as Urkel would ask..."Did I do that?"

Family Matters started out as a rather ordinary Cosby Show-like sitcom about an everyday African American family living in suburban Chicago. But then something happened. Next door neighbor Steve Urkel was introduced. And just like that, ABC's TGIF line-up would never be the same.

I'll agree with most and say that the first six seasons were very funny. Classic episodes included Steve playing the role of Laura's husband for a school project, Carl teaching Steve how to drive, the introduction of Stefan, and the obligatory trip to Disneyland. Unfortunately, after Season Six (ie. when Steve finally moved in with the Winslows) it was pretty obvious the series was starting to wear thin. The writers seemed to be running out of ideas, often having to rely on Steve Urkel himself and his inventions for all the comedy, his cousin Myrtle was re-introduced for no reason, and even Steve's own character cooled down to the point where by the last season, he no longer seemed like the clumsy, nerdy Steve Urkel we all knew and loved.

Essentially, Family Matters was a very funny show for a while, but also one that should have stopped while it was still at its prime, rather than being forced to end after two or so seasons of lousy ratings.

Like it or not, "Family Matters" has placed a positive staple on American Television and has created some unforgettable moments that will be talked about from now until eternity. Part of the reason why "Family Matters" was a good show is not because of the topics that it covered during it's lengthy run on prime-time television but because it also was a perfect contrast to another popular African-American show known as "The Cosby Show." Even though the Cosby's were about a upper class African-American family, family matters was about a regular, average family who had average jobs and average lives.

"Family Matters" debuted at a good time in American Television. During this time, "The Cosby Show" was the king of all television and when that show ultimately ended, "Family Matters" began to pick up where "The Cosby Show" left off: that is presenting a good wholesome show that the whole family can watch.

Another part of the reason why this show was a big success, probably have already been mentioned, was because of Steve Urkel, the nerdy next door neighbor that always drove the Winslows' angry. I will go as far as to say that without the Urkel character, this show wouldn't had been as successful as it was.

In regards, "Family Matters" is a very good show. It's good to catch this show on syndication now so I could remember the good times of television.

You know the funny thing about "Family Matters" is that I'm not sure if anyone knows the title of this show, lol, I mean, it just became about Steve Urkel. One of the ultimate characters of the 90's, the kid who made it so cool to act like a nerd. I know Jaleel White hates his type cast now, but he has to admit that not too many actors can do what he has accomplished by creating an icon. No one could ever forget that famous line "Did I do that?" or Urkel's attire or his voice.

The first season was pretty basic, it was a just a typical family sit com, also a spin off of Perfect Strangers, we are learning about Harriet, the elevator operator and her loving family. Harriet is the mom and loving wife who is abrasive but extremely loving. Carl, her husband and the father, he's a Chicago police officer and is very hot tempered but also has a good heart. Mother Winslow, Carl's mom who has moved in with the family and is one "hip" grannie. Rachel, Harriet's sister, who has moved in with her baby, Richie, since her husband passed away. Eddie, who is the eldest son, he's not the sharpest tool in the box, but tries his best anyways. Laura, the second oldest, she's the smart goodie two shoes of the bunch and is extremely popular at school. Judy, the youngest, and the snappiest little girl. Richie, Rachel's son, who is the hot little guy and dancer of the group. And Steve Urkel, the nerd next door who quickly turns into one of the Winslow's.

Since the first season was pretty basic and unoriginal, there was only one thing that kept viewers watching and that was Steve Urkel. His crush on Laura, his attire, his voice, his kind heart, his clumsiness, everything about him screamed good ratings. As the seasons progressed, the show became more and more about him, so much to the point where he actually moves in with the Winslow's. The show had a lot of laughs in the beginning and was a lot of fun to watch, I still watch it to this day, I'll admit.

There are some flaws along with the show though, they quickly killed off characters that had potential and not to mention the actual family members, like Judy and Rachel. They left the show, Rachel had some reason where she left to help a family member, but she leaves Richie, her son, with the family. Judy just seemed to be a person that they HAD to add into the story, so they just never bothered with her again. The show also got to be unbelievable where they would put Steve in life threatening situations almost every episode. Then they also over did it with Steve eventually turning him from popular into annoying.

The main thing that kept the series running was the love story between Steve and Laura, she keeps rejecting him throughout the series. I know there are a lot of Laura haters out there, but I liked her character, she wasn't a bad person, she didn't treat Steve kindly all the time, but they became good friends and I thought she was a good person. I didn't like how the series ended, but I think they were just rushing at that point to end it since Jaleel was getting sick of his character.

Whole point being is this was one of the high lights of T.G.I.F.-Friday's night line up. I remember this being after Full House and how much Steve and Carl would make me laugh. The show is a pleasure to watch, just they should have quit while the writers were ahead. Replacing Harriet with a different actress and changing the whole point of what the original story was wasn't cool in my book. But here we are almost 20 years later and still talking about the show, that's gotta say something.