49 Fun Facts About Family Matters

Family Matters was a spin-off of which sitcom?

Perfect Strangers gave Harriette Winslow her start as a supporting player at Larry and Balki's newspaper, and the spin-off went on to outlast its parent by a full season.

What job did Harriette Winslow have on the parent show before her own series?

Elevator operator was Harriette's job at the newspaper where Larry and Balki worked; in her own show's second episode she loses it to automation and is hired back as the paper's director of security.

In which city is Family Matters set?

Chicago is the Winslows' home, and the real house from the opening credits stood on West Wrightwood Avenue in Lincoln Park until it was torn down to make way for condos.

What is Carl Winslow's profession?

Police officer Carl Winslow was meant to be the lead: the series began as a comedy about a big-city cop and his family before the nerd next door took it over.

Reginald VelJohnson came to Family Matters after playing which Die Hard character?

Reginald VelJohnson played Sergeant Al Powell, the LAPD officer who talks John McClane through the siege in Die Hard (1988), and reprised him in Die Hard 2.

Steve Urkel was originally written to appear in how many episodes?

One episode was all the writers planned for Urkel midway through season one, but audiences took to him so fast that he was made a regular and then the show's star.

In which episode did Steve Urkel make his debut?

'Laura's First Date', the twelfth episode, aired in December 1989: hunting for someone to take his daughter to a dance, Carl asks Steve, and Laura is mortified.

What is Steve Urkel's middle name?

Quincy sits in the middle of Steven Quincy Urkel, a name borrowed from co-creator Michael Warren's friend Steve Erkel, who was soon fielding prank calls asking for 'Steve'.

Which line was Steve Urkel's signature catchphrase?

'Did I do that?' outlived the sitcom: an animated film in which Urkel ruins a mall's holiday celebration was announced in 2021 as 'Did I Do That to the Holidays?', then released as Urkel Saves Santa.

What does Steve affectionately call Carl Winslow?

'Big Guy' is Steve's fond name for Carl, the neighbour he looks up to, even though an exasperated Carl spends much of the series ordering him to go home.

What is the name of Steve Urkel's suave alter ego?

Stefan Urquelle first appears in season five's 'Dr. Urkel and Mr. Cool', when Steve drinks a potion to mute his nerd genes; Laura swoons, then asks for the kinder Steve back.

In a two-part Family Matters episode, Stefan proposes to Laura on a trip to which theme park?

Walt Disney World hosts the inventors' contest where Steve turns into Stefan; Laura sabotages his invention so he can't change back, he proposes, and the engagement collapses once she confesses.

What device does Steve build to switch into Stefan at will?

A transformation chamber, built in 'Stefan Returns', lets Steve become Stefan on demand, but the formula wears off just as Laura tells Stefan she loves him.

In Family Matters' season seven finale, which invention of Steve's makes Stefan a separate, permanent person?

A cloning machine produces a second Steve in 'Send in the Clone'; at Laura's suggestion the copy is turned into Stefan for good, so each girl gets the Urkel she wants.

In season nine's Pop Goes the Question, how does Laura answer the two marriage proposals she receives?

She accepts Steve's: torn between the nerd and his suave double, Laura stops Steve just as he is about to leave town and tearfully says yes.

Which Urkel relative, played by the Urkel actor in a dress, pursues Eddie the way Steve pursues Laura?

Myrtle Urkel, Steve's rich Southern-belle cousin, falls for Eddie on sight and never lets up; when she finally gives him up in season nine, Eddie finds he'll miss the chase and asks her to stay.

What is the name of Steve's devoted girlfriend, introduced in season four?

Myra Monkhouse, in full Myra Boutros Boutros Monkhouse, arrives as a blind date arranged to get Steve off Laura's back; the plan works too well, and Myra soon treats Laura as a rival.

Which school do Steve, Laura and Eddie attend?

Vanderbilt High is where Laura runs against snobbish Cassie Lynn Nubbles in a school election; Cassie Lynn snaps photos of her seeming to embrace Steve to cheat her way to a win, until Steve turns the trick on her.

Which Family Matters regular first appeared as the henchman of school bully Willie Fuffner?

Waldo Faldo arrived in season two as Willie Fuffner's sidekick and landed in juvenile hall with him after a party's punch was spiked, then came back as Eddie's sweet, dim best friend.

Who played eldest Winslow child Eddie for all nine seasons?

Darius McCrary played Eddie in all nine seasons, taking him from a teenager who puts up with Steve out of pity to the loyal friend the nerd calls 'Eddo'.

What happened to youngest daughter Judy Winslow after season four?

She vanished with no explanation: Judy is last seen in 1993's 'Mama's Wedding', and from then on the Winslows carry on as if they had only ever had two children.

Who played Judy Winslow?

Jaimee Foxworth played Judy for four seasons but was not the first to do so: Valerie Jones had the part in the pilot before Foxworth took over.

What is Mother Winslow's first name?

Estelle is the one Winslow always glad to see Steve: he greets her as 'Estelle, my Belle', and she would rather have him stay than see him sent home.

Which disco star guest-starred as Steve Urkel's shy Aunt Oona from Altoona?

Donna Summer played Aunt Oona in 1994 and again in 1997; the Winslows coax the shy aunt out of her shell by taking her to a karaoke bar for a singing contest.

Harriette's widowed sister opens what teen hangout in season two?

Rachel's Place rises from the ashes of Leroy's, the hangout Steve accidentally burns down; Rachel takes over the site and reopens it as a diner of her own.

Who played Rachel Crawford?

Telma Hopkins, formerly of Tony Orlando and Dawn, played Rachel Crawford; she left full-time in 1993 to star in the short-lived sitcom Getting By.

What does Rachel's young son Richie call Urkel?

'Uncle Steve' is Richie's name for the neighbour who is at the house so often, chasing Laura, that the boy idolises him like one of the family.

What is the name of the boy the Winslows adopt in season eight?

3J, short for Jerry Jamal Jameson, starts out as the streetwise kid Steve mentors as a Big Brother; when he hides in the Winslows' attic to dodge another orphanage, they adopt him.

What is Eddie Winslow's job by the end of Family Matters?

Rookie police officer Eddie leaves college for the academy in season nine; in the finale a worried Harriette has him moved to parking duty, where he lands in a shootout anyway.

Who is Eddie's long-term girlfriend by the Family Matters finale?

Greta McClure stays with Eddie to the finale despite her father Dave, who owns the Mighty Weenie where Eddie works and wants him nowhere near his daughter.

Which Ivy League school accepts Laura in season seven, only for her to decline?

Laura is accepted to Harvard in season seven but turns it down because her parents cannot afford the tuition, telling them instead that she wants to stay near home.

What is Carl's rank by the ninth season?

Captain is the rank Carl wins in season nine: passed over for the commissioner's son, he defuses a gang fight, and the son himself says Carl deserves the job.

What was the ABC Friday-night block that Family Matters anchored called?

TGIF began as an ABC marketing slogan in 1989: branding Friday's family sitcoms as one block was meant to keep young viewers watching all night, and Family Matters stayed for eight seasons.

To which network did Family Matters move for its ninth and final season?

CBS took Family Matters from ABC for 1997-98 to anchor a Friday 'Block Party' modelled on the lineup it had just raided, but the ratings fell short and the show ended after one season.

What tiny European car does Steve Urkel drive on Family Matters?

BMW Isetta is the make of Steve's microcar, which breaks down when Laura nags him to drive faster and later carries him to victory in a drag race.

Which actor played Steve Urkel and his suave alter ego Stefan?

Jaleel White became so central that the producers had him play several parts an episode: not only Steve and Stefan, but Elvis Presley and Albert Einstein too.

Who took over as Harriette for the rest of Family Matters' last season?

Judyann Elder took over when Jo Marie Payton left mid-season; Payton says she had wanted out a year earlier and agreed only to launch the final season, then used her option to go.

Which song co-written by Jesse Frederick was the Family Matters theme for most of its run?

'As Days Go By' took over as the theme early in season one and lasted until the producers dropped the opening titles altogether in season seven.

What was the title of Family Matters' two-part series finale?

'Lost in Space' sends Steve into orbit after NASA buys one of his inventions; a satellite strike leaves him adrift, but he comes home a national hero.

Which Sega character did the Urkel actor voice in three 1990s cartoon series?

Sonic the Hedgehog was his other job of the 1990s: he voiced the character from 1993 while still playing Urkel, and in Sonic Underground he played Sonic's siblings Manic and Sonia as well.

Which Cosby Show child does the Urkel actor say he was first cast as?

Rudy Huxtable was written as a boy, the actor says, and his family was planning its move to New York when a little girl walked into the final audition and won the part.

Besides Stefan, Steve's DNA experiments turn him into a kung fu master modelled on which film star?

Bruce Lee Urkel comes out of a potion Steve calls 'Bruce Juice'; when a gang later takes him and Carl hostage, he tricks them into letting both use it, and the pair emerge fighting.

Steve Urkel crossed over to which ABC sitcom to console a girl upset about getting glasses?

Full House borrowed Urkel in 1991 as the cousin of D.J.'s friend: he tells Stephanie to get classmates laughing with her, so she wears Joey's joke glasses to school, where her teacher confiscates them.

Which short-lived breakfast product was licensed from Family Matters?

Urkel-Os cereal reached shelves in 1991 from Ralston, at the height of an Urkel craze that also put the character on lunchboxes, trading cards and a talking doll.

Where do Steve's parents move without him, leaving him to live with the Winslows?

Russia calls when Steve's father is invited to show hospitals there a medical camera he invented; his parents go without him, and a reluctant Carl lets Steve move in.

Which Louis Armstrong song was the original Family Matters theme for the first few episodes?

What a Wonderful World opened only the first five episodes before a new theme song replaced it; in syndicated reruns the Armstrong recording survives on the pilot alone.

Which other ABC Friday sitcom changed networks alongside Family Matters in 1997?

Step by Step made the same jump: it shared its producers with Family Matters, and the rival network built a copycat Friday block around the pair, though both were gone within a year.

Which All in the Family spin-off ran 253 episodes over 11 seasons, outlasting Family Matters?

The Jeffersons set the mark Family Matters chased: 253 episodes to its 215, the longest run for a sitcom with a mostly Black cast until Tyler Perry's House of Payne passed them both.

In the three-part opener of season eight, Steve's teleporter whisks the Winslows to which European city?

Paris is where the 'Urk-Pad' drops the family: thieves kidnap Steve to get the teleporter, and the chase ends with him thrown from the Eiffel Tower and beamed home in mid-fall.