Vote for why you think it jumped
Stefan Urqelle
Same Character, Different Actor (Harriet)
Judy disappears
Urkel!
Day One
Shark Bytes
I grew up watching "Family Matters" and I will cherish it always. Although it was kind of freaky with Jaleel White playing Myrtle in drag and its frequent sci-fi twists, it ranks high above today's sitcoms which are basically modeled off of older and better shows. In 2002 at age 91, Rosetta LeNoire who played Estelle Winslow unfortunately passed away. So with this post I wanted to pay my respects to her and her family. May she rest with the Lord.
It jumped when it became all about Urkel. It started focused almost completely about the neighbor. Then when he started inventing the transformation chamber and time traveling and whatnot it's like it became more of a science fiction show. I also hate it when a character just disappears with no explanation whatsoever and the family never mentions her again, like they did with the youngest daughter.
This is one of those shows that started off strong but then went terribly wrong. You will never find a better cast with so much talent but the writing just got too damn repetitive. Some examples:
1. Myrtle Urkel and her pursuit of Eddie. It was cute when she was a teen but having her come back as an adult still in love with Eddie was too much (the Steve-Laura angle should have been the only unrequited love situation developed).
2. Carl and Harriet's relationship. Something happens between them and Carl's masculinity is threatened. To abate this threat, Carl starts acting sexist and dumb and Harriet either makes an ego-bruising joke at Carl, kicks him out of the bedroom, or both. Carl later apologizes and they make up by "going upstairs" as a reminder that Carl is still the man. They kept going on with this subplot that I almost thought the new Harriet replacement was Carl's second wife after an ugly divorce.
3. The Transformation Chamber. It was bad enough that Urkel kept turning into Stefan (one episode was enough to show us what Jaleel White was nothing like Urkel). But then it kept being used to turn Urkel into Elvis and Bruce Lee. When Richie and Carl turned into martial artists, I completely lost it.
4. Carl and Steve kept saving each other's lives. This plot should have ended with an episode apiece to give each character a chance to be the hero. But they kept going on and on with it. I think Steve was in the lead, saving Carl a total of three times while Carl saved him twice (or maybe three times also, I can't remember). Was there not a better way to show that these two cared about each other? The best episode with these two had to be when Urkel is homesick at college and on Parent's Weekend, Carl surprisingly shows up. Very touching. That was quality writing. Too bad this originality never came through in later episodes.
5. Laura dating jerks that Steve warns her about. Steve basically lets Laura know that the guy is bad news, Laura gets angry and tells Steve to get out of her life until she finds out Steve was right all along. You would think that by the third warning, she would actually listen to Urkel.
All in all, this show had some great comedy and strong acting but the repetitiveness of the show's ideas is what killed it for me.
1. Myrtle Urkel and her pursuit of Eddie. It was cute when she was a teen but having her come back as an adult still in love with Eddie was too much (the Steve-Laura angle should have been the only unrequited love situation developed).
2. Carl and Harriet's relationship. Something happens between them and Carl's masculinity is threatened. To abate this threat, Carl starts acting sexist and dumb and Harriet either makes an ego-bruising joke at Carl, kicks him out of the bedroom, or both. Carl later apologizes and they make up by "going upstairs" as a reminder that Carl is still the man. They kept going on with this subplot that I almost thought the new Harriet replacement was Carl's second wife after an ugly divorce.
3. The Transformation Chamber. It was bad enough that Urkel kept turning into Stefan (one episode was enough to show us what Jaleel White was nothing like Urkel). But then it kept being used to turn Urkel into Elvis and Bruce Lee. When Richie and Carl turned into martial artists, I completely lost it.
4. Carl and Steve kept saving each other's lives. This plot should have ended with an episode apiece to give each character a chance to be the hero. But they kept going on and on with it. I think Steve was in the lead, saving Carl a total of three times while Carl saved him twice (or maybe three times also, I can't remember). Was there not a better way to show that these two cared about each other? The best episode with these two had to be when Urkel is homesick at college and on Parent's Weekend, Carl surprisingly shows up. Very touching. That was quality writing. Too bad this originality never came through in later episodes.
5. Laura dating jerks that Steve warns her about. Steve basically lets Laura know that the guy is bad news, Laura gets angry and tells Steve to get out of her life until she finds out Steve was right all along. You would think that by the third warning, she would actually listen to Urkel.
All in all, this show had some great comedy and strong acting but the repetitiveness of the show's ideas is what killed it for me.
It's almost tempting to put when Urkel appeared, but I do enjoy those episodes. Not as much as the pre-Urkel gems, but I do enjoy the episodes nonetheless. When I just got turned off cold turkey was the introduction of 3J, that little [CENSORED]. I mean...WHY?!?! Then Harriet's actress was changed...man, I understand stories ran out, but...maybe the show should've gone Brady and started doing a variety hour every week instead.
I agree with Jalen. The thing that sickened me most about the Family Matters is Myrtle, and the fact that they let a man portray a woman pursuing a man. I am shocked as I look through the comments, and no one even mentioned her! In one of the final episodes (or was it the last) Myrtle is at the Winslow's house, as usual with her antics, sits on Eddie, and then it is implied that he has an erection! If you watched the episode, you will remember what I'm talking about! Excuse me while I…barf…She was that nauseating…
I’m back. Then, Eddie harshly rejects her/him (this was not the first time, nor the second) and she/he begins to realize what a spectacle she/he is making of herself, and says she/he will leave Eddie. I think the audience cheered, for this baboon! Then Eddie begs her/him, practically crying! What the hell! Again, why am I not seeing the comments I wrote last night?
The whole thing with Myrtle was wrong. Wrong, wrong, wrong! It was awful beyond the power of words to describe it. And it is not in the least bit funny! An abomination I say. The whole thing stunk like steaming, heaping piles of cow dung! Or worse! Couldn’t they find a nice GIRL to portray Myrtle? Now, I can’t tell anyone how to write or create their show, but unless they wanted a gay theme, they shouldn’t have let a man play a woman pursuing a man. They should have hired a real woman, real I say, funny and talented, to play Myrtle. Jaleel was overwhelmingly ugly as Myrtle, and she was a million times more annoying, sickening, disgusting, repulsive and nauseating than Steve, and the role was not funny at all, not even the tiniest speck.
Here is what I would have done, and what should have been done. Firstly, I would have searched for a girl for the role, I say again a real girl. She would have the perfect body; perfectly clean, perfectly smooth, perfectly hairless skin (and I mean not the slightest speck, trace or hint of hair, save for eyebrows, mascara, and vagina area). I am NOT trying to be rude or vulgar, so please don’t feel that way. I’m just giving a detailed description what I would have done if I were the creator/writer or director. She would also be perfectly healthy, with perfectly clean and healthy teeth, AND gums, and perfectly clean and healthy tongue. She would have such a clean, healthy mouth, inside out, and there would be no halitosis, not even the tiniest speck. This is because she would also have perfectly clean, perfectly healthy breath. The only things that would be wrong with the Myrtle (and this is where the joke would come in), are; she would have projected teeth (I would make the actress wear these), and she would be slightly crazy.
Now Myrtle was about as crazy, if not crazier, than Nikki Parker on The Parkers. None of that was funny. I would write the character Myrtle to be crazy, but not that crazy.
I’m back. Then, Eddie harshly rejects her/him (this was not the first time, nor the second) and she/he begins to realize what a spectacle she/he is making of herself, and says she/he will leave Eddie. I think the audience cheered, for this baboon! Then Eddie begs her/him, practically crying! What the hell! Again, why am I not seeing the comments I wrote last night?
The whole thing with Myrtle was wrong. Wrong, wrong, wrong! It was awful beyond the power of words to describe it. And it is not in the least bit funny! An abomination I say. The whole thing stunk like steaming, heaping piles of cow dung! Or worse! Couldn’t they find a nice GIRL to portray Myrtle? Now, I can’t tell anyone how to write or create their show, but unless they wanted a gay theme, they shouldn’t have let a man play a woman pursuing a man. They should have hired a real woman, real I say, funny and talented, to play Myrtle. Jaleel was overwhelmingly ugly as Myrtle, and she was a million times more annoying, sickening, disgusting, repulsive and nauseating than Steve, and the role was not funny at all, not even the tiniest speck.
Here is what I would have done, and what should have been done. Firstly, I would have searched for a girl for the role, I say again a real girl. She would have the perfect body; perfectly clean, perfectly smooth, perfectly hairless skin (and I mean not the slightest speck, trace or hint of hair, save for eyebrows, mascara, and vagina area). I am NOT trying to be rude or vulgar, so please don’t feel that way. I’m just giving a detailed description what I would have done if I were the creator/writer or director. She would also be perfectly healthy, with perfectly clean and healthy teeth, AND gums, and perfectly clean and healthy tongue. She would have such a clean, healthy mouth, inside out, and there would be no halitosis, not even the tiniest speck. This is because she would also have perfectly clean, perfectly healthy breath. The only things that would be wrong with the Myrtle (and this is where the joke would come in), are; she would have projected teeth (I would make the actress wear these), and she would be slightly crazy.
Now Myrtle was about as crazy, if not crazier, than Nikki Parker on The Parkers. None of that was funny. I would write the character Myrtle to be crazy, but not that crazy.
WAIT. WHERE THE HELL ARE MY COMMENTS FROM LAST NIGHT?!!!!!!!!!
The show jumped when they let a man play Myrtle. I usually hate cross-dressing roles, and this was an abomination!
The show jumped when they let a man play Myrtle. I usually hate cross-dressing roles, and this was an abomination!
my name is david b conway ,/ and i am just writting all so just about family matters as well , my promble and complant just about stefan the last episode just when steve urkle just lost stefan what happend just to that episode ,/ love david
Urkel's stupid inventions after puberty (or lack thereof). There's an episode where Urkel and Carl get shrunk... seriously?
Also I can't believe Urkel kept liking Laura..she's such a bitch to him. She's the perfect example of a girl that thinks she's a lot hotter than she is.
Also I can't believe Urkel kept liking Laura..she's such a bitch to him. She's the perfect example of a girl that thinks she's a lot hotter than she is.
This show would have been canceled if it weren't for Urkel's guest appearance. It probably had one funny year or two with Urkel (maybe)
I think it jumped when they added extra characters like Waldo etc.
And then Urkel hit puberty or something and then he acted like something out of the twilight zone.
I think it jumped when they added extra characters like Waldo etc.
And then Urkel hit puberty or something and then he acted like something out of the twilight zone.
I like Family Matters and all but what I don't understand about the show is why would Carl keep letting Urkel help him handle things around the house and etc..when he knew he would cause accidents..I mean come on, that's more than likely would not happen in the "real world" to me. Eventually I would have told Urkel to stay his ass at home sometimes.
Leave a Comment
