Why and when did the first Harriette
leave the show? Who was the woman that
took her place as Harriette? I've
always wondered that!

She left because she felt her character wasn't being used enough. She left at the end of 1997.

Judyann Elders took her place. She only appeared in about 7 or 8 episodes as it was near the end of the series.

You will also notice during this last Season, Harriette wasn't really used much, and didn't appear in a whole lot of episodes as either actress. Like in the episode when Carl had to take care of His Boss's pet Parrot, Harriete was not seen nor mentioned in the entire episode, as if she didn't even exsist. I think since the show was almost done anyways, they should have just written her charachter out of the show. It seemed to work in the episodes prior to Judayn Elder's first appearance.

You can't write out the mother. That would not have worked.

Yea, I hate it when they write out people without explation and think nobody will notice. They did that to Judy and almost everyone noticed.

Finally, now I know why she mysteriously disappeared! I have been wondering this ever since the series ended years ago! Finally, the stress of that question has been lifted off of my shoulders! :happyface :happyface :happyface

Speaking of which, when DID the show end? I seem to remember a party of some sort, with a banner that said "1998" on it, but I could be wrong. *whew* this show lasted a long time, didn't it? Did it have any spin-offs or crossovers? (Besides Jaleel White being on Full House)

Jaleel White appeared in an episode of Step by Step as Steve Urkel during the 1991-1992 season, but their was never a spinoff of Family Matters.

Ok, cool. Now, what year did this show end?

Family Matters endded in 1998.

Wow, it went for a pretty long time. Thanks for the info!