I know she quit FM after 4 yrs. to do Getting By, but it was canceled shortly and she only made a few appearances during season 6. Why didn't she just simply come back on the show as a regular?

I often wondered about this too. But I think here is the simplelest answer. When Rachael came back to the show 2 years had passed and a lot had changed on the show over those 2 years. The focus in the early days of the show seemed to be more about the adults on the show Carl, Harriet, Mother Winslow. By the time she came back Storylines were revoliving much more on Urkel Laura and Eddie, and a bunch of new charachters like Myra, Waldo, Stefan, K.C., Maxine. I just don't think they had the room for her they once had and she probably realized this soon after she came back. JMO

I often wondered about this too. But I think here is the simplelest answer. When Rachael came back to the show 2 years had passed and a lot had changed on the show over those 2 years. The focus in the early days of the show seemed to be more about the adults on the show Carl, Harriet, Mother Winslow. By the time she came back Storylines were revoliving much more on Urkel Laura and Eddie, and a bunch of new charachters like Myra, Waldo, Stefan, K.C., Maxine. I just don't think they had the room for her they once had and she probably realized this soon after she came back. JMO

Very good points when Rachel left after the 4th season the show changed a lot and started to focus on the younger cast. But I wonder if it was Telma Hopkin's decison not to come back for the 7th and 8th seasons or the writers and producers. Maybe she did not like how the show changed and decided on her own not to come back. I guess we will never know.

The thing that was strange was that she wasn't on the show but her son Richie was.:lol:

Yeah, that's another thing I don't understand, if Judy's disappearance was really a budget concern, then why didn't they just get rid of Bryton McClure instead? His character wasn't that big either, and since his mom was leaving the show anyway, I'm sure the writers could come up with a reasonable explanation for why there both leaving.

Yeah, that's another thing I don't understand, if Judy's disappearance was really a budget concern, then why didn't they just get rid of Bryton McClure instead? His character wasn't that big either, and since his mom was leaving the show anyway, I'm sure the writers could come up with a reasonable explanation for why there both leaving.


Thats the thing I think the writers were really playing with our heads. Because there were many times that they could have explained something about Rachel's absence and the writers left us hanging. Like an episode in season 5 when Harriette told Carl he had to watch Richie. Carl went through everyone: Oh Laura, Eddie, or my mother can watch him and Harriette said there were all at the mall, and it makes you wonder HELLO! where is his mom? They did not mention her like she didn't exist. You don't know where she is or nothing. And another time when Richie lied about where his homework was and Laura bought Richie home and said to him "Don't you have something to tell your Aunt Harriette?" Again no mention of Rachel or anything, I mean she is his mom. Then when Rachel did make guest appearances in the 6th season she just appeared out of nowhere and they did not even explain where she was during the 5th season. But then in the 7th season IRS episode Carl says that Rachel lives with them. So I think the writers were playing with our heads.

Yeah, I think I remember another episode where Harriette tells Carl that they'll have the house all to themselves. She mentions why Laura,Eddie, and Mother Winslow won't be there and she also says that Richie is going to spend the night with a friend but she doesn't even mention Rachel.

Yeah, I think I remember another episode where Harriette tells Carl that they'll have the house all to themselves. She mentions why Laura,Eddie, and Mother Winslow won't be there and she also says that Richie is going to spend the night with a friend but she doesn't even mention Rachel.


I know it is like we were supposed to forget that Rachel existed. But the strange thing is that episode you referred to was in season 6, the same season that Rachel made guest appearances.

Yeah, the least they could have done was mention Rachel a few more times throughout the series. I think I remember 3 episodes of Diff'rent Strokes where Arnold didn't appear, but at least they mentioned in those episodes why he wasn't there.

Yeah, the least they could have done was mention Rachel a few more times throughout the series. I think I remember 3 episodes of Diff'rent Strokes where Arnold didn't appear, but at least they mentioned in those episodes why he wasn't there.

Yeah your right but in my opinion I think the writers were really playing mind games with the audience/viewers because it was so obvious in the way they left us hanging about Rachel's absence. It became more evident when Carl and Harriette would tell Richie to do his homework, and the episodes we referred to about Harriette mentioning why everyone would be out of the house and not mentioning Rachel and Carl saying Laura, Eddie, Mother Winslow can watch Richie and not mentioning where Rachel is. Then when they finally do mention Rachel it does not make sense: Carl telling the auditor that Rachel lives with them when during all of that time she is not shown or even mentioned by anyone not even by her own son. So it just sounds like the writers were playing with the viewers heads.

That's another thing I don't understand, I just saw that episode yesterday and the auditor asked Carl how many people live in his house. Carl said 6, which is true (Carl,Harriette,Eddie,Laura,Richie, and Steve), but Carl also mentioned that Richie still lives with his mother, so wouldn't that make it 7?

That's another thing I don't understand, I just saw that episode yesterday and the auditor asked Carl how many people live in his house. Carl said 6, which is true (Carl,Harriette,Eddie,Laura,Richie, and Steve), but Carl also mentioned that Richie still lives with his mother, so wouldn't that make it 7?


It was just all very confusing. When she appeared in the 6th season you don't know whether she is living there or visiting because she was not even seen or mentioned in the 5th season and they did not explain her sudden reappearance but then she disappears again but we are supposed to be believe she still lives there? Also that episode where Harriette mentioned they would be alone if Rachel still lived there why wouldn't she mention why Rachel would not be there? I think the writers were doing all of this on purpose.

Did Mother Winslow still live with them in the auditor episode? Because if she did then wouldn't that make it 7 people that lived in their house, or if you include Rachel, wouldn't that be 8?

Did Mother Winslow still live with them in the auditor episode? Because if she did then wouldn't that make it 7 people that lived in their house, or if you include Rachel, wouldn't that be 8?


No at that point Mother Winslow did not live with them because she married Fletcher in season 4. They mentioned that they moved closed to the Winslows so she can still visit them at anytime. So when you see Mother Winslow in the later seasons you know she is just visiting.

So she continued to visit throughout seasons 5-8, but she seemed to stop visiting all together during the last season, except for the Christmas episode, Rachel was also in that one.

So she continued to visit throughout seasons 5-8, but she seemed to stop visiting all together during the last season, except for the Christmas episode, Rachel was also in that one.

Yeah that final Season seemed to be a Season where many cast members did not appear very much at all.

Harriet: Although she was performed by 2 different Actresses that year you will notice there are a lot of episodes Harriet was nowhere to be seen. Like the episode where Carl had to watch Commishiner Guiess's Parrot for 2 weeks.

Richie: He was only seen in 3 episodes the entire season and 2 of them were Holiday episodes. Stevil 2 (the Halloween episode) and the Christmas episode from that year. It was strange too consdering he lived with the Winslows. What a Hermit!

3J: He was seen more than Richie, but there were quite a few episodes he didn't appear in and he was also living with the Winslows.

Mother Winslow: As Simpson Fan had mentioned she was only in the Christmas episode. Also something interesting about this episode is her name was not shown in the beggining credits of the show. She was listed as a guest in the ending credits.

Myra: She didn't seem to appear very much at all during the last season except for the Multiple episodes when Steve Breaks up with her and starts going with Laura.

Stephan: After the Crazy for you, and Crazier for you Multiple episodes, Stephan wasn't seen anymore. I guess he had not much reason to be. Although he did appear in that second to last episode.

I think the show ended at a perfect time, as it was obvious by this season Laura and Steve had officially tooken over the show and a lot of the other charachters had been pushed into the background. :(

So she continued to visit throughout seasons 5-8, but she seemed to stop visiting all together during the last season, except for the Christmas episode, Rachel was also in that one.

Yep she was only in the Christmas episode but at least with Mother Winslow when she is not seen you know where she is (living with Fletcher). However with Rachel you didn't know where she was all that time. She was just gone until she finally appeared in the season 9 Christmas episode.

Yeah, as each season passed, characters were getting less and less attention. Waldo's last season was season 7 and he did not appear in about half of those episodes. The 10th season probably would have sucked, we would have had to put up with a whole year of Judyann Eldar as Harriette and with Steve and Laura getting married, Myra probably would have gotten much less attention, as well as Stefan-but I wouldn't have a problem with that.