TGIF Series: Family Matters, Revisited

Welcome back to our TGIF series, where we are revisiting the popular primetime scheduling block that ran from 1989 through 2000. 

This week, Dani researched Family Matters which ran from 1989 to 1997 and catapulted the character of Steve Urkel to iconic status. We share our own memories of originally watching the show and our thoughts upon rewatching several of the episodes. 

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Chapters

• 0:00 Setting The Stage: TGIF And Family Matters
• 2:00 Origins, Spin‑Off Roots, And The Winslows
• 6:30 Cast Deep Dive And Behind‑The‑Scenes Facts
• 17:30 Urkel’s Rise, Theme Songs, And Syndication Edits
• 26:30 Longevity, Networks, And Ratings Milestones
• 31:30 Harriet, Carl, And The Ensemble’s Careers
• 41:00 Departures, Recasts, And On‑Set Tensions
• 48:30 Trivia: Merch, Urkelbot, And Crossovers
• 56:00 Episode Rewatch: Pilot And “The Quilt”
• 1:03:30 “Rachel’s Place”: Stalking Gags And 90s Tropes
• 1:10:00 Gladiators, Gadgets, And Peak 90s Energy
• 1:14:30 “Good Cop, Bad Cop” And Racial Profiling

Transcript

SPEAKER_00: 0:01

Hello, everyone, and welcome back to Generation in Between, a Xennial podcast where we remember, revisit, and sometimes relearn all kinds of things about being 80s kids and 90s teens. Um, my name is Danny. Hi, I'm Katie. And today our topic is our second installment of our TJIF series. And we are gonna talk about the TV show Family Matters. Yay! Yay! Which uh, despite popular opinion, is not the Urkel show. No, well, it is and it isn't. Well, we'll get into it. It did eventually kind of become that, but it has always been called Family Matters. Yes. So did you watch this show? Yes. Okay, and did you like this? This is the difference I realized when I was re-watching some of the episodes we picked between this and Full House. Okay. I've re-watched a lot of Full House and then Fuller House in the years since it originally aired, right? But Family Matters I haven't.

SPEAKER_02: 1:02

Oh, okay.

SPEAKER_00: 1:03

Um I watched it when it originally aired, and I really haven't seen it again since then. So I think two or three of the episodes we watched for today, I vaguely remember, and then some I don't remember at all. Me too. Yeah. Well, we what we did watch several episodes, and there's reasons why we had we watched more for this one than we did Full House, and there's reasons why, and we'll get there. Um I I kind of I did not watch the end of Family Matter. Like the last couple seasons that I was not like the series finale, which is what we part of what we watched, the two-parter, I had never seen. I'm pretty sure I've never seen. Yeah. So we'll talk about that, everyone, when we get there. Uh so okay, let's just jump right in. So I'm gonna tell you what Family Matters is if you've never heard of it, if you've never watched it, or you just don't remember. Um, it was a spin-off, which we talked about on the full house. I know we talked about on our TGIF episode. It's a spin-off of the show Perfect Strangers, also on um CBS. No, ABC. ABC. Maybe CBS does come into play later. Okay. Um, it was created by William Bickley and Michael Warren. We said this already, and it revolves around the Winslow family, which was a black middle class family living in Chicago, Illinois. So just to remind you, Katie told us about how the spinoff created, Harriet Winslow was on Perfect Strangers. She was a character that worked at the newspaper where Larry and Balkie worked. She was the elevator operator. I couldn't quite remember. I don't remember what you said, but I was like, that's wrong. I think she worked in the mail room. I don't know why. She was the elevator operator back when that was a job. Those are gone now. Like, I don't do they still have elevator paper just to be fancy some places. Do they? But probably not at like a newspaper. I mean, I'd never say anywhere fancy. I could just see that in like, I don't know, buildings in Manhattan or something. Katie's like, I'm just guessing. I also guessed that she worked in the mail room, which was so yeah. And I mean, I also don't really travel much, so and when I do, I go nowhere that has people being paid to press buttons. So, anyways. Um, so Harriet's husband, Carl Winslow, also had uh appearances on Perfect Strangers, where he was a Chicago police officer. But ABC and the producers loved Harriet for her quick morale and quick no quick morale? What does that mean? It's just always right there. She could just access it at a moment's notice for her great morale and quick witted humor, is what they said. Got it. So they wanted to create a whole show that focused on her and her whole family. So of course they're gonna bring in Carl, then they're gonna bring in her son Eddie, her eldest daughter Laura, and her younger daughter daughter Judy. Fun fact, real quick, Judy was not there the whole series. And she did not have some big write-off moment. She basically got sent up to her room in the season four finale and just was forgotten after that. They never explained where she went. And that's so wild. Yeah. Apparently, there was like some her mom was like her manager, and apparently there was some like disputing stuff with her contract and money, and she never really had storylines and stuff, and so I couldn't find anything clear about why she left, but they never gave her a proper exit. And she was two different girls. So they had one actress play her in the pilot, but that was it. Okay. Because then when we skipped ahead to the next one, I was like, Oh, that's not the same actress. The little girl that was in the pilot, that was her only episode. Okay. Yeah. Got it. Then it was the other actress who we'll get to. And oh, she has some stuff. So yeah. So Family Matters was on for eight seasons from September 22nd, 1989 to May 9th, 1997. Wow. Then moved to CBS for its ninth and final season, which went way weird. It was like the finale, the two-part finale was like so bad. What? Um, and that was September 19th, 97 to July 17th, 1998. So we're gonna just gonna talk a little bit about the show. Um, I think I organized it, question mark. But you know me, it's gonna be random stuff thrown in and out. So uh the pilot episode had Carl's um mom, Estelle, join the family, who they called Mother Winslow. And then you also meet Harriet's sister Rachel, who had also just moved in recently with her infant son Richie, because her husband died. Here we go with widows again. Again. Yeah. And and I felt like they addressed that so um flippantly. Oh, yeah. She was like, you know, when when your uncle died and I moved in here. Well, anyway, well, like hello? It was hard, and that's it. Yeah. They and I don't think they talk about it much ever again. Maybe they do, and it's just I don't remember that, but yeah. More widows. ABC loves their widows in a sitcom, they gotta be somewhere. So here's the thing Steve Urkel is who people know the most from this show. Um, he was originally introduced on episode 12 of the first season. He was only supposed to be in 10 episodes only, but he was such a hit that producers went back and re-shot opening scenes for four episodes to have him in there. So some scenes don't really make sense. Like you see him somewhere, like they recut it so when the reruns would go, you would see Urkel. Oh. Yeah. So originally they didn't air that way. They originally correct. Wow. That was how they were originally shot. So um, what you see in syndication is not what originally aired in the late 80s. That's wild. Isn't that weird? I it kind of makes sense for an intro sequence, though, because well, not just an intro sequence. They did they they did the intro sequence, but then they also filmed a few scenes to put into the episodes. Wow. Yeah. Like I I can't remember the one I read about. Uh like he was in the shower being or something like that. I don't know. It wasn't I I don't remember the detailed of it, but yeah. So so then in syndication, instead of being introduced in episode 12, he's introduced in episode four with their reshot scenes. So in real time, no one met him until halfway through season one-ish. Yeah. But if you were to re-watch it now, which is what we were doing, or even the re-through, or even the reruns when they were on air, you'd see something different. You'd meet him way earlier. Wow. I know that's how much Urkel Power there is, guys. Um, because he was uh by the time season two came about, he was officially part of the main cast. Okay. Period. Dot from then on. So the theme song is also something that was different. Do you remember what the OG theme song was? It wasn't the Days Go By one. No. Uh, it was uh Louis Armstrong's What a Wonderful World. I do not remember that. I did remember that because I remember when I went to watch it, I was like, wait, I thought that Louis Armstrong song was in the beginning. Um it was the fifth episode of season one when they changed it. But then when they went back, the second theme song as days go by, um, they went and added it in syndication. So none of the episodes you'll watch have the OG theme song. Okay, even though it did have that. Um so that as days go by stayed the theme song until 1995, and then it went themeless, which is super weird. I know. The producers decided they're gonna have no theme song at all, and they also had were creditless in the beginning. You know how you it would show like the people like as a little song went. Yeah, the names of the cast and creators ran during the teaser scene, and that's it. Like at the end, and then you go to commercial and come back and it's just a show. Well, you you know, if you think about it, you can think of some other sitcoms that didn't have like a it just let in to the show, yeah. And that was it. I wonder why though, because that theme song specifically is so iconic and tied to the show. I know, like for why? I don't know. I don't know. So remember you were wondering when we were talking about the show if they filmed in Chicago? So the answer is no. They filmed mostly on a soundstage in Burbank, California, but some of the exterior scenes were shot in Chicago, including the iconic shot of the house. Okay, the house was 1516 West Wrightwood Avenue. The only reason I'm telling you the address is because it was demolished to make condominiums a few years back. And what year was that? I didn't write it down, so they tore it down. That's a bummer. I know. Gentrification at its finest. So, anyway, so that house was a real house. Okay, but everything else was a sound station. But the inside of the house was not now, right? Kind of like with full house. Like full house, yeah. Yeah, I think that was probably pretty commonplace. So Family Matters actually is the third longest-running live-action American sitcom with a predominantly African-American cast. They had 215 episodes over nine seasons. Um, the other two that are ahead of them are the Jeffersons. They had 253 episodes, and this surprised me. Um, Tyler Perry's House of Pain had 355 episodes. Cosby show's not in there?

unknown: 10:55

No.

SPEAKER_00: 10:56

They had, I looked it up, they were less than Family Matters. Wow. Which is surprising. That is surprising. Yeah. Huh. Yeah. So Family Matters uh also was the last. This is interesting too, live action scripted primetime show that debuted in the 80s to end its run. Like they had the longest running that started in the 80s. Um, the only scripted shows that started in the 80s and have lasted longer in continuous production. You want to guess? Simpsons? The Simpsons is one. Um, and is it a sitcom or just a show? It's just a show. Um, Law and Order? No, Bold and the Beautiful. Oh, okay. Yeah. Okay. But that's a good guess. Yeah. I think that Law and Order was until the 90s. I think you're right. Yeah. It was a little later. So yeah, The Simpsons is the top and then Bold and the Beautiful. Okay. But I just thought that was interesting. Um it, but Family Matters was. Wait a minute. What year did I say? Hold on. 87. Yeah. Which is crazy because I thought it was later than that. So so did I. I thought it was like squarely in the 90s. Nah, nah. Okay, so let's talk about the actors for a minute, and then we'll talk about some more random facts. So I'm gonna start with the lady who brought about the show to begin with, uh, is Joe Marie Payton, who played Harriet. Um, her big break for TV was in Perfect Strangers. Um, and that was also in 1987, but she was in a lot of other 80s movies and TV shows, for instance. She was in Troop Beverly Hills, Small Wonder, Um, Silver Spoons, 227, and then some shows in the 90s, um, like Moesha, Seventh Heaven, The Jamie Foxx Show, and Will and Grace. So you've seen her in lots of other shows. Yeah. And that goes for a lot of the actors actually in this show. Actually, a lot of 80s, 90s sitcoms. They were kind of all, and you'll notice with these actors in particular, a lot of the ones they share. You'll see.

SPEAKER_02: 12:56

Okay.

SPEAKER_00: 12:57

Um, she actually was a very accomplished singer. That's also a common thread with several actresses on the show. She got her start with musicals. Let's go. Yeah. Um, when she graduated college, she was on, she was in a national touring company of a musical by the name of Pearly. Do you know that show? Uh-uh. Me either. But yeah, she was on national tour for that. That's very cool. I know. Um, and plus, this was a fun Disney fact. She was the voice of Sugar Mama on Disney Channel's The Proud Family, both when it first came on in 2001 and then for the revival in 2022. So Okay. Yeah. I was like, I know her from a cartoon. What cartoon? And then when I saw The Proud Family, I was like, oh, that's it. Uh, because Caden used to watch that. So, okay, so that's Joe Marie Payton. Then we're gonna move on to Carl, who's the guy who played Carl. Do you remember one of the one of the classic 80s movies he was in? Is he in Die Hard? He's in Die Hard and Die Hard 2. Okay, yes. Um, and he's a cop. Yeah, so fun fact is he actually played a cop lots of times. He was a cop in Family Matters, Ghostbusters, Die Hard, Die Hard 2, and Turner and Hooch. Oh my god, I forgot about Turner and Hooch. He also um did the voice for his police officer character Al Powell in the two diehard video games. Oh my god. So he is. I hear a phone ringing. I think it's mine. I think Oh no, it might be yours. Well, I'll check it if it rings again. Um so okay. So he played a cop and all those. He was also in Crocodile Dundee. He was a driver. Oh, that's great. Yes, girl, don't get sucked into that phone. It's my daughter, and she's driving people so sorry. Yeah. We're gonna pause for a second so everybody can make sure everybody's safe. I will edit it. I you just have to remind me. Look, this is real time. This is real time making sure people are safe. Life don't stop when you're recording a podcast, guys. Uh, I mean especially when you don't get paid to be here. That's true. That is true. Um, all right. Well, she's answering questions, but it's fine. Okay. Yeah. So he was in Crocodile Dundee, like I said. He also was had lots of guest roles on 90 shows like Tales from the Crypt, Dream On, also Will and Grace, Diagnosis Murder, and The Hewleys. So you've seen him around. Um, this was an interesting thing that I read that even though he convincingly and frequently played not only um a husband but a father, he has never been either of those in real life. Really? I know. He's never been married. Nope. Never known a kids. Wow. He just gives out energy. He really does. I know. Yeah. He's a good actor, I guess. And probably never been a real cop either. Well, obviously. So I mean I figured that goes over. He's just good at all the things that they make him be on screen. Correct. That's awesome. So those are the parents. Okay. So now let's move on to the kids. First, we're gonna talk about Eddie, the oldest, Darius McCurry, who, full confession, I had a huge crush on. He's adorable. Huge. He still is, by the way. Is he? I haven't looked him up. Unfortunately, he does have some problematic things. But um, yeah. He got his big um, his big break in the 80s in a movie called Big Shots. Have you ever heard of this? It's like a kid's comedy movie. I had never heard of it. I watched the trailer. It looks like a fun 80s romp. So we may have to just go down that road one day. Um, but he had lots of guest roles too in his young acting career on 80s shows like Amen. Remember that show, um, What's Happening Now, Hooperman, which I don't know what that is. Hooperman, no. It sounds like basketball related. Yeah. Um he was also in the uh TV movie Mississippi Burning in 1988. Or wait, no, that was a that was not a TV movie. That was a regular cinematic movie. Um, in 97, he played Ali Muhammad Ali in a made for TV movie about Don King. Okay, yeah. Um and he was the voice of a transformer in the 2000 movie. He was jazz, and he played Malcolm in The Young and the Restless from 2009 to 2011. Okay. I had to throw that in. I know that's a little past our Zennial time, but that's pretty iconic. I love a soap opera moment. I I threw it in because he has so many acting credits since his beginning, and he's still acting. Wow. So he he just kept the ball rolling. He's also a songwriter and a music producer. So he is also musically gifted. Okay. As well as uh Joe Marie Payton. Like I said, unfortunately, he's had some legal battles over the years over things like child support and suspected domestic abuse, uh-oh. And some substance abuse things. Yikes. I didn't go into super detail just because, you know. You get the idea. But he got some stuff, guys. Okay. As we all do. Uh do we? Do we all have those? I mean, I guess as they all do in the Hollywood. A lot of people got I mean, I'm not excusing it. I'm just saying it's no, yay. We it pops up a lot. It pops up a lot. Yeah. I didn't mean yeah. Katie and I have child support problems. You know all our substance use issues. As is frequented, that comes up when we talk about celebrities. Let me put it that way. Okay, so that's Eddie. Let's move on to Laura. Yay. Uh, Kelly Williams is her name. She's mostly known from Family Matters, but she also had lots of guest roles in the 90s. Um, she was on Oddville, which was on MTV. She was on Moesha on the show Girlfriend. She was on The Parkers, and she played Alice on a short-lived TV show called What About Joan? And it was um on in 2000 to 2001 after Family Matters. I've never heard about it. She was also in smaller movies like the movie Ride in '98, In the Mix, and Stephen, the movie in the 2000s. I love that movie. Yeah. So she actually got her start as a kids' fashion model. And she's got a great smile and she's adorable. So of course she did. And like by the end of the series, they were making her super fashionable. I know. Like the way she was dressed. I noticed that, like her hair and stuff. I was like, okay. And it was so of the times. I loved it. So I could see that like that's how she got her start. Yeah. So she was a kids' fashion model. And um, the funny thing I read about her was even though she played Eddie's younger sister, she was one month older than him in real life. But she looks so much younger. She does. It's because she's short and he's super tall. So well, not super, but he's tall. He's tall. Yeah. Um, yeah. Her and Jaleel White were real friends on the set because they were the same age. And uh they shared a tutor, like a school tutor, and they had lunch together every day. That's really sweet. I know. Oh, I thought that was cute. Uh, and so then let's talk about Judy. Okay. Her name is Jamie Foxworth, and like I said, there was an One actress that played Judy on the pilot, her name was uh Valerie Jones, and then she was gone. I don't know why. Maybe she cried like the Michelle's. Maybe. Uh Jamie Foxworth, though, had some guest roles uh on TVs and TVs. I mean, yes, on the TVs, on the TVs. She was also on Amen.

SPEAKER_02: 20:19

Okay.

SPEAKER_00: 20:20

Um, she was on TV 101. Do you know what that is? No idea. Same. Uh, but she was only on Family Matters for four seasons, like I said. She guys went to her room and never came back. That's rough. Like, what? She was actually in a RB girl group called She, S period, H period, E Period. Oh, I know. Yeah. You know that? I remember that. I have no idea what they sing, but that is ringing a bell. Um, it was her and her two sisters, her real life sisters. Uh, the album was called Three's a Charm, and it was released in 1997 on Shaquille O'Neal's record label. This is the 90s thing. I know, 90s band with your sisters and the S dot H dot E dot also Shaquille O'Neal's record label. Yeah. Come on. Come on. But she kind of got a little infamy under her belt because from 2000 to 2002, she was making porn. What? Under the name Crave. And then not long after that, she was on the MTV show Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew to get help with her marijuana addiction. So she ran into some hard times. But I'm happy to say she's doing well now. Good. Um, but yeah, that was kind of her infamy moment. And when I looked at her IMDB, I was like, what is all this? It was like, like, I was like, what are these films? And then I was like, oh, because how old would she have been then? I mean, she was of age. But young. Yeah. Okay. I mean, but I because I mean she yeah, I mean, she was of age. Tennish on the show. I mean, she was only there for four seasons, and then she left. She went to her room, Danny. She's still there. Okay. So that was her little piece. I was like, I did not expect to find that. Okay. So now we're getting to Julia White. Yes. Who played Steve Urkel. So before Family Matters, which is what put him on the map, he also had guest roles on TV shows like The Jeffersons. He was on the magical world of Disney, Mr. Belvedere. Let's go. Um, and a show called Cadets. He also had guest roles in the 90s on shows, some as Urkel and some not as Urkel, but he had a lot of crossovers. Like they let, you know, they like to cross universes or whatever. So he was on Full House. He was on a show called Migo, which we talked about step by step, Fresh Prince, Diagnosis Murder. He was in the movie Big Fat Liar with Frankie Minez in 2002. Oh, yeah. He was in Dream Girls in 2006.

SPEAKER_02: 23:06

I remember him from Dream Girls.

SPEAKER_00: 23:08

He's also done a lot of other roles and voiceover work that it was not big stuff, but he was the voice of Sonic the Hedgehog and three cartoon series in the 90s. Aw. Cooper knew that. I was like, oh, I didn't know you knew that. Uh, but before his C Virkle audition, this was super funny. He was trying to find, like, guys, remember, this was before Amazon, okay? Before online shopping, he was trying to find a pair of like the classic nerdy glasses to wear to his audition, like the black frames with the tape, and he couldn't find any. So his dad, who was a dentist, gave him the glasses that he used to wear to keep particles out of his eyes before they had like the goggle thingies. And so he was like, okay, I'll wear them and I'll find another one at a different time. I'll just wear them for my audition. But the producers loved him so much, those are the kind of glasses they kept him in. Oh not the black frames. Right. You know, he had like the brown. Yeah, yeah, yeah. That was like really big. Isn't that funny? I love that. So dentist glasses inspired his look. Um, he was originally cast as Rudy on the Cosby show. Yes, Rudy was originally gonna be a boy. Okay, which is but they kept the name Rudy. Yeah, yeah. Uh, but Bill Cosby decided um last minute to make the character a girl. Like he was cast and he was on his way to filming and they changed it. Oh, that sucks. Although, you know, he got to be Urkel. I know. He almost also got cast as a main character on Saved by the Bill. Really? Yep. I don't know if it was like a named character or not, but yeah. Um, the only controversial thing I found about, well, no, actually lies. Another one's gonna come up later. One of the things that I found in more recent years of him, he was on Dancing with the Stars in 2012, and apparently he was pretty ugly to his partner at the time and then some of the other people around him. But I I'm gonna chalk that up to him being young and because he has apologized for that since. Yeah. I follow him on Instagram now, and I just find him so entertaining. Yeah, I mean, I think I think he had maybe a diva moment. I think he did. I think he did. And it comes up again, and he's a parent now, I think. And so, like a lot of his content, like there is some funny stuff, but sometimes it's just him, like whatever. And if he goes he goes to like 90s cons and stuff, and so he'll post pictures with like people from Save by the Bell or like full house stars or whatever. I don't know. He's just kind of fun to watch, and he's cute, yeah. He's a good looking, yeah. He's a kid, he's a grown-ass man, like probably close to our age. Yeah, he is. Um, but anyway, so we're gonna talk more about him in a minute, but we have two more characters to chat about, and that is Mother Wislow, of course, and Aunt Rachel. Of course. You say aunt or aunt. I say aunt. You do. I think when I talk about mine, I say aunt. Oh, really? But for some reason with that one, I say Aunt Rachel. And then some people say auntie. I don't say that. You don't. Okay. Wow, she was feeling things about that word. I guess I had a diva moment. Sorry. Okay. I don't say that. I can't be all right. So Mother Winslow was played by Rosetta Lenore, which is just a fun name. That's adorable. She was around a while and she had quite the career. She was on tons of TV shows and she was in lots of uh plays. She worked in theater from the 60s and 70s and early 80s, things that we would know. She was on Guiding Light, she was on Fantasy Island, Sesame Street, Tales from the Dark Side, Give Me a Break, and Amen. She died in 2002. So um, but she worked a long time. Her godfather was the famous tap dancer Bill Bojangles Robinson. Stop. That was her godfather of the brother. That's her godfather. Wow. Also, she was in the landmark all-black version of Macbeth, directed by Orson Wells in 1936. What? She was a young actress. Yes. Um, she played the first witch. Okay. In case you know that show, the the play. I said show. You know that show. That show. Next death. Another interesting fact about her, she took care of James Earl Jones as an infant. She was like his babysitter when she was a member of his father's acting troupe. I know. So when I tell you she had quite the career, like, quite the career. That's like so many intersecting circles of people. I know. And she, I remember watching when we were re-watching these episodes, thinking what a natural actor she was. And all of them, really, but her notably. I was like, she, you just think she's Mother Winslow. Yeah. Literally. Um, so that's her background. So let's talk about Aunt Rachel, Aunt Rachel, Auntie Rachel, whatevs. That was played by Telma Hopkins. Some of the things you saw her in, she was in Roots, The Next Generations. She was in the show Bosom Buddies. Do you remember that show? Uh-huh. She was also, and these are all like guest guest roles. She was in Fantasy Island, The Love Boat, Give Me a Break, Amen. The reason that you're hearing some of the same shows is because those are predominantly African-American shows and there weren't a whole lot of them then. So the reason why all these black actors were on some of the same shows is because there weren't there weren't that many. Yeah. So um I meant to say that earlier. She was in all three trancers movies, and I have never heard of them. But apparently there were three. 1984, 1991, 1992. Is it horror? I didn't even look it up. Oh I don't know. I figured somebody might know what they were. Yeah, someone's. She was also in the TV series Getting By from 93 to 94. She actually left Family Matters to film this, and then when it got canceled, she came back, but only as like a guest role here and there. She wasn't a recurring character every episode. Because they were probably like, okay, we'll let you come back a little bit, but you like left us. Yeah, that's kind of awkward. But I mean, she had a shooter shot. She did. So anyway, she also had some guest roles on ER and the Nanny and also the Hewleys. So another musically talented actress, she was half of the, well, probably still is half of the singing group, Tony Orlando and Dawn. She was Dawn. Before joining, she was a top background singer in the Detroit area. She sang background vocals on albums for Listen to This List: Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye, Wilson Pickett, Isaac Hayes, Deon Warwick, and the Four Tops. Wow. See, I don't know how, but I somehow knew she was a musician. Well, you there's a scene at the end of the first episode where it was her and Harriet and Mother Winslow at first, and then they all joined. And they all joined. But I'm just saying, like, for so I didn't necessarily know the other ones were also musicians, but I always knew she was. So I was like, dang, she had quite the career as a background vocalist. Um, and then another fun little fact, she played Joe Marie Payton's younger sister, but in real life, she is a year and a half older than her. Okay. Which is funny. That is funny. But you know, they do things to make you look older and younger, and you know. Right. Like just even their hairstyles, of course. Hers looked younger than Harriet's. Yes. Yeah. So those are the actors and actresses. Okay. Um, let's talk about how the show ended, and then we'll talk about some of the controversies and and all of that. So we already addressed this a little bit on our TGIF intro episode. So in 1997, Family Matters left ABC. So Miller Boyette, back again. I'm back again. Uh, they agreed to a$40 million offer from CBS for a 22-episode season for both Family Matters and Step by Step. And CBS scheduled Family Matters along with this show, Migo, who did we look that up? No. It just sounds weird. Migo, I don't know what that is. Um, and step by step as part of the new Friday night lineup to compete with TGIF, and they called it a block party. Yes. Um, they scheduled it against the shows on TGIF. Okay. So they wanted to compete. Didn't go so well. So uh anyway, interesting pieces of the puzzle here. Joe Marie Payton, who played Harriet, Harriet, sorry. I keep thinking of how to marry how I married an axe murderer. Oh yeah. Harriet Harriet sings that song. Yes. Harriet. Okay, sorry. Her contract had just ended, had just expired, and she was really reluctant to continue because the show she thought had jumped shark um with the weird that the show went from being focused about the Winslow family to being about Urkel and all his crazy stuff. And we talked about that a little bit on TGIF intro episode. But she said, okay, I'll stay, just to cre to keep continuity. But she left midseason that ninth season. Um because reportedly there was um a TIF between her and Juliel White while they were filming an episode. The episode was called Original Gangsta Dog. Oh no. Where he is playing, I think it was like Urkel's cousin or something. So Julielle White was playing him, but they had an altercation. Um, it was rumored to have escalated to the point where Darius McCreary had to separate them. They were just disagreeing about something that Urkel was doing with his character, or I don't know. And she had she had had enough. And she said, uh, okay, I'm I'm done. She wanted to be done anyway. And then it was like, okay, after that, she was like, I'm out of here. She did come back for one more episode after that. She came back for a Christmas episode called Deck the Malls. Oh, I love it. Which was season nine, episode 11. And that episode also brought back several other former characters from the ABC run. So brought them in to the CBS run for that little Christmassy episode. Um, and they brought them back, it's characters who were written out when they made the transfer. So they were like, Oh, here, you get one little shot just to show that we're still the same show. Oh, true. And even though it's not, but then after that one, she was replaced with Judy Ann Elder for the remainder of the season. Okay. And I mean, I know. We'll talk about it when we get to that episode. She wasn't the same, guys. She it it's she's not even the same vibe. Well, and it's not even her fault. Like after you have set this character in motion for nine and a half seasons, and then you're thrown into it, you're never you you can't be the same. It's like Aunt Viv on Fresh Prince of Bel Air. Yeah, I guess it was the same thing. I don't know. I just don't even think they tried very hard. I know. It doesn't, I don't think she's she's um she seems like a fine actress, but you know, there's certain act actors for certain roles, and I was watching her going, This is this is the only person they could find to do this. Not like her whole character was different, exactly. Like her sassiness was gone, no sass. She was very just muted. Yeah, that's what I it was very different, yeah. So that was kind of the first little kerfuffle I saw about. Um, and so I saw that she said in an interview years later in 2010, she said she just wanted something else to do, just to energize me a little bit more on the creative side. There were some things being said, and like I said, just ignore it because you know it's not true, but it did hurt because it made me look like a scandalous person that was jealous of this kid. So there's definitely some stuff happening there. She didn't really directly address it. Right. Um, I don't think Julia White has really either. I think he said he was kind of a dumb kid, and you know. I'm sure he would look back on it and be like, ugh, yeah. Yeah, I was being silly. Yeah. And so though it was never produced, there was a 10th season storyline already in place, Steve Urkel and Laura getting married. Because as you know, when this ser series ended, they were just engaged. Yeah. So the next season was gonna about them getting married and blah blah blah. But then it didn't happen. Okay um, but that's not the end of the story. Oh because on September 1st, September 1st. There it is. Hello, 2021. Oh, yeah. It was announced that an animated, your favorite, oh her eyes. I said animator. She was like, get out. No, Christmas film, Urkel Saves Santa, the movie, originally titled Did I Do That to the Holidays, a Steve Urkel Story. Get out of here right now. It was planned to air on the Cartoon Network as part of the block Acme Night in 2022. Then it was set to be released on HBO Max. However, in August of 2022, it was announced it would not be moving forward on HBO Max and would be shopped elsewhere as a result of the Warner Brothers Discovery merger. But don't be despaired, Katie, because you can find the film on digital streaming services because it was released on November 21st, 2023. You can watch what is it called? I don't know. Urkel Save Santa, the animated movie adventure. That's how it's called. It's called Urkel Save Santa because I looked it up. I was like, oh, this looks awful. It's not even good animation, in my opinion. Yeah. Sorry, shade to the animators out there. But it looks like it's just so commercial. Yeah, just commercialized. Yeah. Yeah. So, anyways, that's how it ended. So, okay. Well, so now just some random shit that I found. Okay. Okay. No particular order, my friends, as I do in my brain. So, fun fact I thought, I I thaw. I thought. Fun fact I saw. Um, Reginald Vell Johnson and Jaleel White both actually wrote some for the show. Okay. Yeah. I don't know when or what episodes, but they did they did take a stab at writing, so that's kind of fun. Um, Michelle Thomas, who played Myra.

unknown: 37:47

Yes.

SPEAKER_00: 37:47

This is actually very sad. Now, she did have a little cameo in the finale. That's but she she was on the show quite a bit after um because she like was in love with Urkel, right? And she was jealous of Laura all the time. She actually had to leave the show due to stomach cancer.

SPEAKER_02: 38:03

Oh my god.

SPEAKER_00: 38:04

She passed away um shortly before it was canceled, and she died the same year that it was canceled. She was only 30. Oh my god. And I did notice when she came back on that final episode, she did look much thinner. I noticed that too. But then I was like, oh, I've kind of forgot about her, so maybe I'm just misremembering. But I did notice how thin she looked. Yeah. Yeah. And that's sad. That's awful. I know. It's very sad. But that's why she had to leave the show and she did pass away. Um so speaking of appearances on the show and to transition us out of that sad tidbit, guess who was the only character to appear in every single episode? Oh was it Mother Winslow? No. I'll give you another shot. Laura. No, it was Carl. I was gonna say him, but that's too often. In every episode. That's awesome. Isn't that great? Yeah. But I do feel kind of bad for him, like, dang, he just never got time off. They're like, okay, you're not in this week's episode. And they're like, Carl? He's like, well, okay. Never get a day off. Yeah, never a day off. It's like, um, well, oh look, I'm gonna give sports analogy. No, it's like when um like a picture's throwing in a hair, and then it's like you you gotta keep doing all the exact same things you're doing. Don't change anything. Anything. So it's kind of like with that too. It's like, wait, Carl's not in this episode, get him in here. Like right away, right in one scene that he's in, you know. You know what? Okay, since we're talking about Carl, there is something you have to look up and watch. It's like a four minute, five minute thing is nothing long. Key and Peel did a family matter skit years back when they're it was in 2014 on their show, okay, mocking how the show shifted from being like a family oriented show, realistic like sitcom show, to the crazy, like Urkel oriented fantasy crap. It is hilarious. I'm gonna watch that. It's so funny. Um, basically, like Carl comes in, he's like cursing at the producer. He's like, What the fuck is this show? Like, why? This doesn't even make sense. And then Urkel comes in, he ends up shooting that. It's crazy. It's like outlandish. It's so funny. Anyway, look it up, guys. Key and Peel Skit. I didn't write what it's called. But uh Juliel White actually admitted that he found it to be quite hilarious and kind of accurate. He's like, but it's true. I mean, it kind of happened. Um, speaking of filming, a lot of the sets used for the scenes inside the house were also used in the series Valerie after it became the Hogan family, and step-by-step. I can see the kitchen now that you say that. But I'm not sure about the living room. I don't know which parts of the set, but I just said sets used for scenes in the house. I'm just thinking about it. So that could be bedrooms, that could be who knows what. I mean, I could see the kitchen, right? Because it's the kitchen for sure. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Um, okay. Uh, so let me tell you a little fact about how Julia White's character got his name, and it's super funny. The show's co-creator, Michael Warren, named the character after a friend of his named Steve Urkel with an E. Okay. And remember, Steve Urkel was only supposed to be on the show for 10 episodes. That's it. So it was supposed to be like little ha ha, here it is. Like, so his friend would think it was funny. So it his last name started with an E. Yeah, instead of a instead of a U.S. U. Okay. So he did not foresee the problems his friend would end up having, though, once Urkel became Steve Urkel became like this pop culture phenomenon. Oh my gosh. Including the numerous prank calls he used to get before caller ID existed. Oh no. Isn't that hilarious? Would you be so mad at your friend for that? Like, why did you fucking do that, Michael? All the names. Michaels. Why did why Michael? Why? Oh my god, that's great. I know. I thought that that was funny. Also, speaking of Urkel, he was on this show during a very weird time in his life because he went through puberty and became a man on the show. So they had to kind of adjust. They had to tell him to wear looser pants. Oh, so his growing male parts would not show as much. They told him not to lift a lot of weights because they didn't want him getting too bulky. And they told him he had to shave every day. Yeah. So he would keep with that youthful Yeah, kind of like gangly kind of feel. Yeah. Okay. I was like, well, that's you gotta devote to your character. Look, yeah, people do all sorts of things to look like their character. I mean, that's pretty mild. Hey, don't lift weights and shape. Don't lift weights and shape shape. Don't let your wang show through your jails. Like that's it's the least you can do. That's pretty easy. That they're all within your control, I feel like. Oh, yeah, for sure. And there was, speaking of Urkel guys, if you remember, there was tons of Urkel merch because capitalism. Y'all, he had posters, books, lunchboxes, clothes, trading cards. He had a talking doll. And guess what it said? Did I do that? Hey! I got one right on the spot. Also, good voice. I think you fixed your Kermit. That that valid that, like, uh, what is it? That's what I'm saying. It redeemed you. It redeemed me. Redeemed you. Tire for voiceover acting now. I could do one voice. T Virkle.

unknown: 43:46

Okay.

SPEAKER_00: 43:46

And Kermit with a southern accent. And Kermit when he's like in disguise in a cowboy hat. I could do that. If you need either of those, call me up. Done. Oh my god, I hate this new mascara. Why? What's it doing? I'm laughing so hard. My lashes just stuck together. It sucks. If I could remember the name, I would blast it right now. It's like some weird tubing mascara. Hate it, by the way. I don't remember which of our friends told me to use this, but it's terrible. And y'all are mean. I don't like it. I can't wait to take off this mask when I get home. Okay. Do you remember him having cereal? Speaking of Urkel? Uh-uh. He had a breakfast cereal. Because by the way, guys, in the 80s and 90s, that was the thing. You would get your own cereal for a while. Sure. Although I have seen it recently. Wicked has a cereal. Oh yeah. It's still a thing. I guess so. Okay. It was called Urkel O's. Not very creative. What did it taste like? Was it like Cherio's, but Urkel O's? I I didn't eat it. Oh. Me either. I mean, you didn't, yeah. I mean, well, I don't think I would. For people who don't lift weights and shake every day. Eat your Urkel. Have to hide your Wang. Your growing wang in your pants. So I guess we didn't eat it. No, okay. In 2021, though, he had a very interesting merch line he endorsed. So he reprised Steve Urkel in a promo with Snoop Dogg to launch Snoop's Purple Urkel Cannabis line. Okay. I have not seen that, but I would like to check that out. You gotta Google it. Gotta Google it. Um, another fun fact, and this is my last one, and then we can chat about those episodes. Do you remember the episode with the Urkelbot? No. Damn it. Well, then this isn't gonna be as exciting. Maybe. I I know I remember one where he cloned himself.

unknown: 45:41

Okay.

SPEAKER_00: 45:41

This is different. Well, no, he had an Urkelbot, and it was a person in a robot costume. Okay. The person who embodied Urkelbot was actually somebody else in 80s famous movie world, and it was Michael Boogaloo Shrimp Chambers, aka Turbo from Break In and Breaking 2. Ah, I was gonna say, why would a famous person become the Urkelbot, but because of the way it moved? Yeah. Okay. Yeah.

unknown: 46:12

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00: 46:12

Turbo from Breakin, guys. Was Urkelbot. I just that blew my Xennial mind. I like that. That's so many fun things in one. Yes. I know. I'm still processing what you just said. So, anyways, that's that fun fact. And those are the end of my that's the end of my factual information. Let me grab my notes. So, let me grab mine. I have two notebooks today, and I don't remember where. I think this was Family Matters notebook. All right, guys. So let me tell you what we did. I gave Katie a list of episodes. Some of them you'll see why we're talking about them, and then some uh were just fan favorites. Okay. So we had to watch well, we had to watch the pilot, and then we had to watch the horrible two-part finale. We well, we didn't have to. But you made it. We couldn't just watch, but what I meant was you couldn't just watch part two. True, true, very true. Because when I looked it up, I was like, okay, with the full house one, we could do part two, but that one was so outlandish and weird. Had to be weird. We had to do both. And I mean, look, they're 22 minutes each. I know, it's easy. Not that big a deal. All right, so the pilot episode we watched. Um okay, what do you have first? And then I'll say what I said. I'll share, I'll share my laugh with you in a minute, guys. Don't worry. Okay, I just said that I l loved Rachel writing on a typewriter. Oh god. I used to love me a typewriter. And how she and like her book that she was writing sounded so so funny. So crazy. You're like, he already got eaten by a shark. You can't bring him back. I feel like her whole family apparently has read all her chapters. Yeah. They're like, you gotta get rid of the shark. Yeah, you got to, you got to. It's or she goes she goes, it's stinking up your book. I know, Rachel. Well, I wrote that um it they did the whole plot line of like the mother moving in and inserting herself and being a problem. Right off the bat. Right off the bat. Right off the bat. And I'm like, can you imagine though? Yeah. No. I mean, I've what's interesting is I actually really enjoyed the episode. Yeah, it's good. And there was no Urkel in it. No. And I I have nothing against Urkel, but I just was watching it and I was like, I can see like what they were going for. Yeah. And I've already said I love multi-generational themes anyway. Uh so I was like, this is nice. And I did think, as cheesy as it was, and it was resolved way too quickly. Oh yeah. But the way Carl set the boundary, and like, I don't know. Okay. I just didn't, I thought it was okay. I you know what I hated the most? What is Eddie yelling at his parents at the dinner table? And then they're just like, oh, go talk to him. I'm like, oh no. That's true. That was pretty. They were just like, oh, like literally, he hollered at them. Hollered. Stood up. Hollered. No. No. And they were like, oh, go talk to him. I'm like, ah. That I didn't even really, that didn't even really register with me. I don't know why. Because I just thought if I did that, oh my God. If my kids did that, or if I did that to my parents just stood up and hollered in there, which I did. That did not, there was no, oh, let's go have a talk. Yeah. No, no, none of that. None of that. None of that. But also, like another problematic thing. Well, that wasn't really problematic. I just thought that was You're like, uh no. Eddie with the binoculars. And then Carl's like, I'll keep these. I know. He's peeping on a neighbor. He's like up in the attic, literally with binoculars, being like, oh, don't move the rooms, don't move rooms. Like, and I'm like, ooh. I know. I know. And it like wasn't addressed, or like, yeah, that was that was really weird. And another bedroom in an attic.

unknown: 49:59

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00: 50:00

Which later happened in Full House. Right. But these houses just like manifest new spaces when new people move in. Um, there was a line where someone said, or maybe it was Eddie talking to his parents. I don't know, but they said it's almost the 90s. Oh, yeah. And I was like, oh, that's so great. It's always the 90s. Oh, I said Eddie with binoculars question mark. Yeah, it's disgusting. What you just said. Um, and they're like, ha ha ha, big joke. And it's like, yeah, no, you're a peeping top. My hair is so wet. I'm having a day, guys. It's all right. Ugh. My hair's allowed. I'm sure mine's been wet on an episode or two. It's fine. Or three. It's not that deep. That's my saying as we go into the year. Oh, it's not that deep. I like it. Doesn't matter. I have a giant, enormous Mount Ereptus zit right in the middle of my face. If you're watching on YouTube, you can see it. Ha, yep, there it is. And then I woke up this morning to two more. So this is what it's like to be an adult with hormonal acne. So it's you know what though? It is deep, actually. Right. It goes very deep when you have cystic acne. But listen, I'm not gonna let it ruin my day. And it is what it is. You shouldn't. Listen, people have acne. That's what real life looks like. And look, I've said before: if you also suffer with adult acne, I'm with you. It sucks. It's measurable because it hurts, guys. It's on top of it. It's fucking painful. I didn't even notice it until you showed me if that helps. Girl, it is like I looked right at you and I didn't even notice. Of it is, I should have just painted it black, and then you could have been like, look at your new mole. Look at your movie star mole. Come on. Uh, I didn't have anything else on that one, but like you said, the the whole premise is that they're setting up the rest of they're telling us why the aunt lives there. Now there's gonna be a grandmother living there, and like who the children are in the home. Right. And there's a baby. Because I feel like every sitcom you had to have a movie. And he is adorable as he gets older. I don't, I'm sure it's not the same actor. No. But um, like I like his that his character sticks around. Yeah. So it was basically to set all that up with this uh the this um what's the word? The premise of the mother-in-law moving in and trying to take over everything, yes, getting pushed back a little. Right. That so now we moved on to episode 11 of season one called The Quilt. And I was like, oh, Katie's gonna be crying because about the blanket. I know. I cried too. Yeah, but this is a fan favorite. Okay, and you could see I can see why. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I mean, and I was like, damn, Judy was like way older. Yeah, go in front, and that was only 10 episodes later. I know. I I think it was so alarming to me because it was a different actress and like the same season, right? Laura looked the same, right? So did Eddie. Yeah. And I was like, well, whoa. You could tell that they just kind of I feel like Judy was just kind of like a throwaway character obviously. From the start. For like the whole lore. Is that she they didn't really need her? Poor kid. Yeah. Um, okay. Did you not love that all the stuff they had for sale in the garage sale so they could buy a VCR? Uh-huh. Oh my god. That was so great. I loved it. Like, I'm buying a VCR. And I mean, remember, I remember the day we got a VCR. Do you remember? In your house? I remember, and they were expensive. And remember how hard they were to program? Yes. Do you remember that? I do. Oh my gosh. I still don't think I could do it now today if you ask me. Like we have it so easy now. We just go click, click. Yeah. I found a voice button on my remote for the TV. So I just go turn on Netflix, the crown. I don't even have to like kitney little arrows, nothing. And it's like picks up where I left off. You just now found that button the other day. So proud of myself. Well, you know, I don't ever use anything voice because my voice doesn't translate. I'll be like saying something dumb and they'll be like, here is Greece too. And I'm like, I don't ever want to watch that. Like, what? Oh my gosh. That's so funny. Well, I said, like, um, when she's like got all the garage sale stuff in the living room lore and she's getting organized and pricing it so relatable that everyone's coming in and taking stuff out. Oh no, they just get more of it. Like that happens just if I'm organizing or like giving stuff away or throwing things away. I have to do it when no one's around because suddenly everyone will be like, oh good, you found my you know broken stuffy from when I was two, and I need it right now. Yeah, you can't take this. And I'm just like, uh well, you know that happens really bad at my house because I'd be getting rid of everything, guys. I'd be getting rid of everything. And I get on tears where I'm like, Me too. I can't, I just want to throw the whole house away. Me too. I'm like, let's move and leave everything here. Yes. We don't need anything, we need nothing. But then I go on other tears where I'm like, we need all new everything. Like, you know, I don't ever obviously I don't do either one of those two things, but I'm like, I hate everything we have. Like, oh, that's that's me. Mine's not a tear, mine's consistent.

unknown: 54:53

I hate everything all the time.

SPEAKER_00: 54:57

We we were joking, so we we made some remodels to our house a couple years ago all at once. And you know the book, if you give a mouse a cookie, they were the my kids were making that joke about me because we like we like um got a pool, and then I was like, oh my gosh, like the landscaping's terrible. So we did that. And then I was like, oh my god, our house is a is needs repainting. Look at because now we're out here all the time, and I noticed and we repaint the house, and I'm like, oh my god, our front door is so old, so we get a new front door. And then one day, like my husband's last straw, I like come home and I come in. I was like, you know what? I really hate our mailbox. And he was like, That's good grief. Like, come on, like now we need a new mailbox. We did get one, but and it it was like you fix one thing and then you Well, that's how it goes owning a home. I feel like it does, yeah, and it never ends. It never girl, I think we have to get a new roof. We're ready to loop back and redo now all the other things we've fixed since we've been there. It's like the new roof is the worst. The new roof is the worst, and I'll tell you why. Literally so important to have a good roof, right? Especially in Florida. But it's so expensive and it brings you no aesthetic joy. Right. Like it's not like if you landscape or paint or get new tile or get new colours. That's a mess when it's happening. It's a mess. It's loud. And and it's like here now, you know,$30,000 later, and you're like, thanks, I guess. Like what? Did your insurance pay for yours? Uh-uh.

unknown: 56:21

I'll see.

SPEAKER_00: 56:22

We're having an adjuster come out to see. Maybe not an adjuster. We're having a um not an adjuster, one you hire for yourself, not the insurance. Like a private one. Like a private one. Okay. To see if they're gonna ours was passed like when it's recommended to be redone. So we needed to. Well, ours is just a shitty roof. Well, maybe you'll maybe you'll get some relief then. Maybe. I know. I'm really because I think anyway, this is boring. Nobody cares about this shit. Moving on. All right. Um, okay, so the quilt. So yeah, so then um the lady comes. Uh-oh, uh, yeah. The rich lady. The rich lady. I said, Rich white ladies always be taking advantage of people. Uh-huh. And she buys the quilt, offers$200. She knew what it was when she was. She knew what it was. She knew. And then in her like little shop or whatever. And it's funny because Eddie had been taking pictures from the camera he found. And he's like, Oh, look, I have a picture of her getting in her car. And then, of course, Carl can track down the license plate. Now, is that legal? He ain't supposed to do that. No, it's not. I mean, she didn't steal nothing. You can't just look at people's shoes. I think that stuff's public. As a cop. Well, as a cop. As a cop, you can't. I just think he knew how. Like nowadays, any of us could do it. Right. But back then, like, that's abusing your power, right? Probably. For a personal benefit. I mean, probably. I don't know. That's just what I noticed. But the lady who bought the quilt was a bad guy, not Carl, okay. I know. He's not a bad guy. I'm just saying that is probably illegal. Probably. And so eventually, I did like how it let Laura shine. I know. Like in the scene where like Carl didn't do the talking for her. Yeah. He was there. Yeah. As he should be, but she explained. I didn't know what it was. I made a mistake. I've got your$200. Give it back to me. This is why it matters to me. And yeah, it was a little cheesy. But I was like, okay. Well, it's a sitcom in the 90s. Yeah. But I was like, all right, good. You know, like how many of us would just be go in there, guns blazing fork ends and be like, you suck. Yeah. And you took advantage of my kid and give it back. But they had her like do the talking. Yeah, they gave her agency. Yeah, which I really liked. Yeah. And it was a pretty quote. I liked it. Well, I cried in so much at the end when they were like talking about the family stuff. And I was like, oh my god. Just and I want to give it to you. I know. Yeah, that was so, so sweet. Um, okay, moving on. Moving on to season two, episode one, Rachel's Place, where fucking a lot happened in 23 minutes. So much. Like, hello? Like, Rachel. Oh my god. Okay. So, like, where do we even start with this? I'm trying to think of where it's like. It was Leroy. Okay. So the place where Laura Steve Leroy's is Leroy's. Yeah. And then it burns down. Urkel burns it down. Because he turns on the grill. Okay. Which okay. That's a whole thing. That burns down. Then Rachel decides she wants to buy it. She buys it. And then it's like six months later. I was like, wow. And it's open and it's going to go. And it's open and it's going. And I was like, that was a lot to happen. But that is the epitome of like sitcoms of the era. Yeah. So much happens in 23 minutes. So much. So much. Action packed. I did say that, like, because this is the first one where we I mean, I guess Steve was in the other one too, wasn't he? The quilt.

SPEAKER_02: 59:38

Was he in the quilt?

SPEAKER_00: 59:39

Yeah. Yeah. Because he came over for the garage sale. So you see him a little. But this was the first one where it really made me like, it's kind of gross the way he follows Laura around. Oh my God. I wrote, So, is Urkel really just a stalker creepster? Because, like, he is. She's saying, Leave me alone constantly. And She gets a job and then he gets a job the same place. The whole joke was him stalking her. Yeah. And making her feel uncomfortable all the time. This is the revisiting that I'm talking about. Right. Because I never really thought that before. I just thought, oh, Urkel, he's so silly. He likes Laura Laura's never gonna like hit like him. And we know by the end of the series she does, which is kind of weird and creepy either. And we'll get there. And and like, what's the lesson there? What is the lesson? If you bother a woman long enough, she'll eventually give up. See? And like if if any of my kids, son or daughter, had someone like that, and then they went and got a job and they're like, hey, that person that's like keeps pursuing me now, got a job, I have a job, I'd be like, You better quit. You better go, or you better tell your boss or something. But it's just like, meh. And then he burns it down, he still works there. He's like, what the fuck? I was like, so that's that's the joke. That's what we're teaching. Yeah, and then they do it both ways because then Myra does the same thing to Urkel. Correct. So she don't win in the end. Urkel wins. That's true. She don't. She don't. Patriarchy. Patriarchy. With stalkers. Patriarchy. Parentheses with stalkers. Stalkers. Okay. Can I tell you that the dancing in the Lee scene had me the 90s dancing? Oh man, it was so good. It was so great. And Eddie's like on a date. I know. Yeah. I loved it. Also, I wrote the saying, did I do that? is way more annoying than I remember. Even though I know what it sounds like. Apparently you do too, because your voice Did I do that? Like that is annoying. Like he's way annoying. I think I mean he's supposed to be, but like I don't remember being annoyed at the end. It was like grating. Yeah. Like G-R-A-T-I-N-G. Yeah. Not grating. Yeah. Grading. I know my enunciation because I'm Southern can be a little off. So sometimes I have to clarify. Right. Grating. Grating. Katie says good because she worked in journalism. Sure. That's what it is. It's happening. Okay. The five. Oh my God. Again, my eyelashes sticking together. If somebody at home is laughing, they're like, oh good. The super glue mascara that I gave Danny is working. No, nobody gave it to. Nobody gave it to me. You think somebody's punking me? Let me rip her eyelashes out. No, it's some somebody told me to buy tubing mascara. Tubing. I hate it. Like I just laughed really hard and my lashes clung. That's it. That's it. Coming off. The fire scene where he they're running down the street. The acting was so bad. So bad. Like, yeah. And then they're Laura's standing there like with her arms open. Like, like totally. You're right. A lot did happen in this episode. I'm telling you. Um, because also part of the episode is Rachel pitching her idea to get musters, and that was a whole storyline. I did like, and maybe this is just them, I don't know, but I liked when Carl and Harriet are talking about the money, and sh Harriet says, You worked hard for that money. And he says, We worked hard for that money. I was like, Yes. Yes, good. But and it was just a minor little thing, but I was like, that's important. That's to have in there, you know? It is important. Um, and how Mama Winslow invested, that was funny. And then I hear blank check. I was like, whoa, Katie, you need a mother Winslow. Uh yeah, I do. You're like, write a number.

unknown: 1:03:27

Yes.

SPEAKER_00: 1:03:27

Although your in-laws be giving y'all some good stuff a lot. They be giving us everything. I know. Anyhow. My joke is like anything nice in our house, they gave us. Which that, like our hot tub, they gave us. What? Yeah. Okay. Family members of mine. Take note. Katie be getting free hot tubs. But it's always used, but it's it's like they're used, which means like a hot tub they had a year that he got into. Girl, that's still new. Well, that's what I'm just saying. It's not like they go to the store and buy it for us. It's something they're getting rid of. Have they ever given you a car? Sort of. They kind of cut you a deal on one house, too. One that we had when we first got married, they had given Brant before we got married. My grandma gave me a car. Well, she died. And they cut us a deal on our house. Yeah. They helped us buy our pool and our roof. I know. My family out there. In-laws, my family. Come on. Come on. You gotta compete with these parson. Stay away from my gently used hot tubs, okay? Back up. Back up. Um let's move on. I don't know why I said this, but I said I forgot this storyline of maybe Rachel's place.

unknown: 1:04:35

I don't know.

SPEAKER_00: 1:04:37

She forgot it. I forget. I forgot what I forgot. I should have been a little more specific. Which storyline? That episode had like 10. Oh, that's okay. Moving on. All right, but let's move on because the next episode I loved a lot. And it was, and the reason we did this one is because it's a popular crossover episode. Yes. It's season four, episode one. It's called Surely You Joust. Oh my God. Yes. They were on American Gladiators. American Gladiators. Oh my god. This also, though, introduced Steve and his inventions. Steve Urkel. And this is the beginning of his inventions. But oh my God, I did you used to watch American Gladiators? Okay, same. We need to do a whole episode on that. We have to. Because there's a docu series about American Gladiators. Okay. So we should watch that and watch some like OG episodes. It might need to be a two-parter. I think we could see Docu, yeah, and then the series. I put it in our notes. So stay tuned, guys. American Gladiators coming next year. My dad liked that show, and that's a running theme. That any if my dad liked it, we could watch it. There is some and I watched a lot of the docu series like last year sometime. And guys, God, there's some fucked up stuff that happened. I am sure. Oh lots of drugs. Yeah. Lots of performance drugs. Lots of not getting treated well. And I'm sure just like body stuff. Oh my god. I can't even imagine. Lots of. I was thinking that when I was watching this one, I was like, ooh. I know. Yeah. I know. I mean, not everybody. There are a few who did not, but a lot of them did. Okay, anyway. So I love how like the beginning of the episode they were installing a satellite dish. Yes. On the roof. I always wanted one. Did y'all ever have one? No, we never had one. My rich friend said. I remember how exciting that was. But then you have bad weather and like you couldn't watch TV because a satellite dish would like be whatever. Anyway. Um, and Waldo Faldo. I totally forgot about him. Did you not watch this one? I did. I don't know. I don't have any notes, but I totally forgot about him. Um, I think I was watching this while I was getting ready for some take notes on it. He's so funny. He's so funny. And he's like yelling up the chimney. He's like, the TV's not on. They're like, he's like, there's nothing on the picture. Like, it's not on. The worst thing about it though is the only joke they ever gave him was that he was kind of like ditzy. Yeah. But he was so funny. He was so funny. And the clothes, everybody's clothes. His clothes, especially. Him and Eddie, I guess. Yeah. Oh my God. So good. I put the 90s clothes are so good. And then, like, it was just, it was fun to watch American Gladiator competitions again. And remember, like the gauntlet or whatever they called it. Is that what they called it? I think so. Is that the final chorus thing they went through? And it was just so funny. Yeah. That's all I wrote.

unknown: 1:07:30

Okay.

SPEAKER_00: 1:07:30

Then we get to season five, episode 15, which was kind of a serious episode. This is the good cop, bad cop, which is kind of interesting that they call it that. Yeah. The beginning of the episode had the group Shy in it. Oh yeah, when she's having the fantasy. I love a good 90s group. I actually love Shy. But I did not re- I was like, what song is this? I did not know that song. I did not know that song. I did not know that song. I do not remember that group. And then they all like slowly turn into Steve. Yes. I I love there were so many of those music group cameos back in the day. And they're my favorite. It was so good. And it was like Laura was just the right age to be like obsessed about them and how good looking they were. I love it. Okay. Then Eddie gets a ticket. Eddie gets a ticket? Yes. A speeding ticket. They talk about him getting a ticket. Okay. And he said Eddie got pulled over. And he's like, oh, don't worry. And Waldo's like, I think Katie fell asleep for this one. And he was like, I thought this was the one where Eddie was a cop. Is that a different one? Girl, that's the finale. Oh. Did you not maybe you didn't watch this one? I saw shy though. So maybe I did fall asleep. Well, this is kind of important. Tell me what happened and I'll tell you if I watched it. So, all right. Eddie gets pulled over. Okay. He had got a ticket before and didn't tell his parents about it. Okay. And they're like, Eddie, if you get one more ticket, I'm like, one more ticket. Yeah. Like, so you don't remember that? Okay. Did I watch this opening of it? Katie, I well, this is gonna this is one I watched um really early Saturday morning when I thought we were gonna record that day. So maybe I didn't finish this one. Because I did the, I did the thing. Well, this is this episode they address racial profiling by cops. Nope, didn't watch it. Jesus Christ. This is probably the most important one to talk about. Well, could you tell me about it and I'll I'll listen. No, because it's not the same. Well, how did you know Shy was in there? I must have started it. Oh, jeez. Okay, so all right. Basically, Eddie's in trouble with his dad because he had already gotten pulled over and gotten two speeding tickets. I didn't tell him about it. They're like, You get pulled over again, like you're getting your license pulled. Well, Eddie comes home one night and he's very upset because he did get pulled over. He's like, but I didn't do anything wrong. He's like, I really he's like, I wasn't speeding. I wasn't doing anything wrong. And this cop took me out. He told me to get out of the car. They had me on the cuffs on the ground. They said I was in the wrong neighborhood. He said I that was a black kid in a white neighborhood. Oh, dang. Or maybe the cop said that later. So, of course, at first, like he's trying to tell his dad, like, dad, it didn't do anything. I didn't do anything, and he didn't believe him. He's like, Go to your room. And he's like, the hardest thing about this is that you don't believe me. Like, this has been the worst night of my life, and you don't believe what happened. So, fast forward. So you really didn't watch it? I really didn't. This is good storytelling. This is uh keep going. Can't believe of all the episodes to not watch, but I did watch when Urkel went to space, right? So this one was a little more important. Uh this episode's talked about a lot because they did address um black men getting mistreated by police officers, which was not talked about a lot in primetime TV, even though it was kind of done in a roundabout way. Like even the name of the episode is good cop bad cop. They made it more about the individual cop and not the system as a whole. Okay. Which is pretty common that are now. Well, and people still have that narrative. But really, I mean, like, we we we know that the problem is a system that needs to be changed. Of course, there's there's quote unquote good and bad people in all career fields, sure, but the system as a whole is unjust to certain populations. Okay. So anyway, Carl ends up figuring out who the cops were that pulled him over and confronted him. And it was like an older guy and this younger new cop. And the cop isn't, I mean, he's like blatantly being an ass. And he's like, Well, he was a black kid in a white neighborhood. What was I supposed to do? Of course I'm gonna pull him over. Like it's it's very evident he's racist. And Carl goes on a very good speech, though. And I sat there, and I mean it this was groundbreaking at the time to address this on network TV and prime time. I'm wondering how emotional it was for the actors playing Carl and Eddie to film these scenes, knowing that this is real life, and in it, there was emotional scenes anyway, acting. You need to go back and watch it because I feel like that must have been very difficult.

SPEAKER_02: 1:12:22

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00: 1:12:23

And Carl was even saying, like, this is why I joined the police force. Like, and Eddie was like, and then he ends up coming home and telling Eddie, like, you need to go make a complaint against this cop, you know, and he's like, I don't want to, like, I just and he's like, Well, you have a choice, you can just stay silent and move on, or you can use your voice and speak up against wrongdoings. And he's like, That's why I became a cop, like, so I can change it. And I was like, and I feel like that was kind of a roundabout way of addressing it as a whole, even though the episode was about just one cop instead of the police system, right? But I mean, for the 90s, this was a big deal, yeah. And um, and I was just the whole time I was like, that must have been very emotional for them to have to, you know, to film that. So anyway. Wow. Yeah. Well, we'll have to hope you feel good about yourself now that you missed that. I feel thoroughly shamed. Actually, no, don't feel shamed. Don't feel ashamed. It's okay. But I will say, do definitely go back and watch that one. I mean, I really like pretty much enjoyed the episodes we watched, and that was what what a big remind. I know we're still gonna talk about a few more, but like that was the thing when I was watching, I was like, these are pretty enjoyable. Like, yeah, they're really good. Well, she said pretty much, guys, because we're moving on to the last two. We are here, and it was the two-part season finale, Lost in Space. Uh part one. Where yes, you were right. Someone gets lost in space, and his name is Steve Urkel, and it is the worst TV I have watched in so long. So this then was the season the series finale. The series finale. So this was on CBS. Yes, got it. Okay, and it is so bad. It's really bad. I'm not blaming CBS. I was just trying to like get my like bearings on CBS. I mean, we can probably blame them. We probably can. I mean Well, and like the whole premise is like they're getting married soon, but then Steve is the first student, which first of all, then I had to like recalibrate my brain. I'm like, student, how old are they? But he was 21, so they must have meant college student. Yes, he was a college student. First college or student in space was gonna be his program, and he was gonna go and and whatever he and and they were taking an invention of his, but then whatever invention they took like malfunctioned, which then he had to try to go fix, but then he got left behind in space. I mean, he was out in the space, guys, like out in space, fixing something on a roof of a spaceship. I don't know, they have roofs, I don't know. I don't know, something, something outside. Listen, all I wrote down for these two episodes was three things. You ready to hear it? I'm ready. First thing is WTF is the storyline. The second thing I wrote was this Harriet energy is not equal to the OG Harriet. Yep. And the last thing I wrote was, is this the 1970s spaceship? What did I write? I didn't write much. Oh, okay. You ready? Hard to get used to new Harriet. Forgot they decided to get married. Sun touring with Beauty and the Beast. One cop's wife says that. Oh, and she's like, like, it's so terrible. I'm like, that's a big fucking deal. I'm like, I'd be so she's like, he's the lead fork. And I'm like, the lead fork. That's the best utensil. That's the best one. Um, and they call Steve an irritating genius. I wrote that down. And it could be said of us guys. And then for like the part two, when he's like, so first of all, they're watching it all unfold, including his fiance on TV. It's like 24-7 on TV. And also, like, wouldn't she be like in Houston? Like, why are you watching it from your TV in Chicago? Wouldn't you be like there, like getting live updates on like your fiance? And I just thought Laura was not very panicked. Oh, I know. She's watching. Steve is lost. Yes. And then they're like, and then she's walked to the TV and she's like, come back to me safe, Steve. I'd I'd be like pacing, climbing the wall. I would be hysterically crying. I'd be like, me too. Like someone would be like, no. They'd be like, get this lady a Xanax. But I mean, devil's advocate, maybe that's just showing how much faith she has in Zanzib. No, it's just bad writing. It's bad writing. I was just like, so so Laura, just like the rest of the world, is just gathered around her TV. Like, even though this is a very good thing. The world's her watching a college student. And then Myra pops into the capsule for a second, and then they kick her out. I don't know. It was it was not good. And I will tell you, I really liked the pilot. I really liked the quilt episode. The Rachel's place was fine. I mean, whatever. It was you know what's interesting? The pilot didn't have Steve, and I loved it. The quilt one didn't have a lot of Steve. Right. And I loved it. Rachel's place was a eh. And then it sounds like the good cop, bad cop, which I'm sure Steve was in. He was. I probably would have. So that was the one with the satellite dish? Yeah. On the roof? Oh. I must I don't know where I went astray. You probably fell asleep.

unknown: 1:17:28

I probably did.

SPEAKER_00: 1:17:30

Katie fell asleep for the important part of the episode. Yeah. But it sounds like one I would like. So all that to say, I love JL White, and I love that, like, you know, he he created this iconic character that a lot of us can like connect to on a nostalgic level. And, you know, he is a a black man, and like we don't necessarily always see the same, especially from that time period, the same kind of breakout stars. Yeah. That we maybe would have seen because there wasn't as many opportunities for that to happen. But I like the show better without Urkel. Well, I will tell you, you're not alone in that because a lot of like Reddit threads I went down and like looking up blogs and all the things. One of the funniest things I saw was like a random fan Facebook post from years ago that was like, what are your favorite uh Family Matters episodes? And one guy wrote everything without Steve Urkel. Really? Because it's a great I like the premise is great. Well, I think I don't think he's wrong as a character. I think he's wrong as a main character. Uh-huh. Okay. And like, and I think the episodes where he because when you have a cast like that that's so big, everybody gets little moments. Like every you know, like Laura had the spotlight in the curl, and like give him a few spotlights here and there, but when it just became about him, it's basically it was it was and even if you had him in every episode a little just for some comic relief, but for it to all become his storylines, like the season finale or the series finale was about Ecle. Yeah, and and and that's not Family Matters, no, that's the Steve Urkel show. Like, yeah, like I was telling Danny before we started recording that I was talking to someone about this episode and um my friend, and she was like, Oh, yeah, the Steve Urkel show. I'm like, Well, it's family matters. She's like, Yeah, but didn't he have his own show? I'm like, no, it's the same show, right? So if they wanted, they sh yeah, I don't know. So I think that and that's not to his fault, he did exactly what they asked him to do, right? He's playing the character they asked him to play, and he got preached, but they messed up, they messed up writing. I agree with that, but they messed up all the way the bank because this show was on for freaking nine seasons, and we're still talking about it, and 40 million dollars for it to move networks. I mean, come on, that's a lot of money. That's a lot of money, and we're still talking about it, but I enjoyed it. Thank you for doing that research. Yeah, she enjoyed what she watched, guys. I enjoyed which is a lot. You gave me five or six episodes. No, it's a lot, but they're short. Yeah, they were short. I mean they're 20 something minutes. I actually thought that when we watched Full House, I I missed one. On Full House, too. So I should just selectively pick one each way. Yeah, because you didn't watch Fuller House. No, to be fair, you did see it. It just you didn't watch rewatch. I have seen that. Like I had never watched it. Good point. You also have never watched this episode. True. Not Saturday, not back in uh 1996 or whenever it was. But definitely go back and watch it because it's a good one. And I think you'll see what I'm talking about. Like see why it's on a lot of people's lists. All right, good. Well, that brings us to the end. That brings us to the end, and we'll have some more. I know we're still going to be delving into perfect strangers step by step. I'm not talking about I might do Boy Meets World because I did watch that one a little. And it's got they've got a whole like podcast and stuff. There's a lot of lore there. Well, we need to go ahead and say uh our friend Sarah and listener girl called me out on text. She was like, excuse me, Danny, you were of the age for Boy Meets World. Uh-huh. It came out in this year, and I I swear I just remember it being older. So then we had this whole text thread. Katie's working and probably saw 800 texts. It was like 32 texts. And I was like, what I was like going on about. She's like, this was the year it came out. You were right at the right age. They are our age. Which, granted, I know even if they're our age, you can film something for younger audience. You know what I'm saying? Yes. I'm like, I guess I was already moved on. Like, I don't know. I think we could do Mr. Belvedere too. I think that might be fun. Well, we'll see where we land. We'll see where we land. We gotta get through we got two more. We got we got for sure step by step and for sure perfect strangers. For sure. All right. So we'll see you guys back here on our TGIF series and for every episode of Generation in Between a Zennial podcast. See you soon. Bye.