Would you rather them kill Judy off than nothing??

[GeorgiaboyJeff!]

I know death is a very disturbing & touching subject but it always bothered me how they just made Judy disappear like that. I always thought they could have given her a proper send off at least. Maybe Judy getting ill & dying off or maybe getting into a car accident. I think that could have been a very powerful episode. Judy dying with a two part episode dealing with the aftermath of her death & how each Winslow is affected by it. Like I said death is a very touching subject but it would at least explain what happened to her as if she never existed.

[ThomasE]

No. They (the writers) should have just given her a better role to play in the show or send her off to live with a family member or some school program out of the country. Rachel had no send off either. She was still living with the family although we did not see her for 2 and a half years when XMAS 1997. Harriette told Richie and the viewing audience that Rachel was in Detroit taking care of an aunt.

[GARFIELDKOOL]

Originally Posted by ThomasE

No. They (the writers) should have just given her a better role to play in the show or send her off to live with a family member or some school program out of the country. Rachel had no send off either. She was still living with the family although we did not see her for 2 and a half years when XMAS 1997. Harriette told Richie and the viewing audience that Rachel was in Detroit taking care of an aunt.

That was so weak by the writers. Rachel goes off and cares for an aunt so she leaves her little son behind in another city. That should have had a better explanation. As far a Juday, they should have explained that better. They must think viewers are stupid. The school program out of the country would have been better since she was absent during the majority of the show's run.

[ThomasE]

Well originally there was no explanition of Rachel. Carl had told the IRS auditor that Rachel was still living with the Winslows at the beginning of season seven but we never saw her and she was never mentioned after that until season nine when it was decided that we should find out what the heck happened to her and then they(producers) got her an appearance. It was one of those "take what you can get" situations.

[GCW]

Originally Posted by ThomasE

Well originally there was no explanition of Rachel. Carl had told the IRS auditor that Rachel was still living with the Winslows at the beginning of season seven but we never saw her and she was never mentioned after that until season nine when it was decided that we should find out what the heck happened to her and then they(producers) got her an appearance. It was one of those "take what you can get" situations.

I thought the way the writers handled the Rachel situation was so weird because I remember in episode in season 5, when Harriette told Carl he had to watch Richie, so Carl starts to say well Laura, Eddie, or Mother Winslow can watch him but they do not even mention why his own mother can't watch him. And you would think Richie would at least mention his own mother at some point, they just acted like she did not exist. As for Judy, I agree they could have just said she got accepted to a special school program or something in another state and she would stay with relatives.

[ThomasE]

I remember saying the same thing when I saw that episode on ABC. Me and my brother were like, "Where's Rachel?" That was wierd. I was thinking about this ep from season six.

[GCW]

Originally Posted by ThomasE

I remember saying the same thing when I saw that episode on ABC. Me and my brother were like, "Where's Rachel?" That was wierd. I was thinking about this ep from season six.

Also another episode from season 6,the episode when Laura went to cheerleading finals in Omaha. Harriette was telling Carl how they would have the house to themselves, she explains why Laura, Eddie, Mother Winslow and Richie won't be there but she does not even mention Rachel.

[GSU2004]

Originally Posted by GeorgiaboyJeff!

I know death is a very disturbing & touching subject but it always bothered me how they just made Judy disappear like that. I always thought they could have given her a proper send off at least. Maybe Judy getting ill & dying off or maybe getting into a car accident. I think that could have been a very powerful episode. Judy dying with a two part episode dealing with the aftermath of her death & how each Winslow is affected by it. Like I said death is a very touching subject but it would at least explain what happened to her as if she never existed.

That could have actually worked as a very special episode dealing with drunk driving or something. Given the young viewers the show had, ABC probably would have aired it later on in the TGIF night rather than at its normal 8pm slot.

[Furienna]

Actually, killing off Judy would have been preferable. But of course, what they should have done was give her a better role to play. Or why not look up Valerie Jones and have her play Judy again? The Judy thing is undeniably one of this show's two great short-comings. The other one was pairing up Steve with Laura instead of with Myra.

[GSU2004]

Originally Posted by Furienna

Actually, killing off Judy would have been preferable. But of course, what they should have done was give her a better role to play. Or why not look up Valerie Jones and have her play Judy again? The Judy thing is undeniably one of this show's two great short-comings. The other one was pairing up Steve with Laura instead of with Myra.

The biggest problem with Family Matters is that it was just too busy. It seemed like the show initially was ABC's answer to 227 and the Cosby Show. There was no need for Rachel to be a regular; she could have been reoccuring. There was no need for Richie especially towards the end where 3J was given more lines and scenes then he was getting. Mother Winslow also could have been reoccuring.

[GCW]

Family Matters just had too many characters. Judy and sometimes Richie were kind of in between. The show started to focus on Steve, Laura, Eddie, Waldo, Myra, Maxine and their school life, and then the subplots would focus on the older characters: Carl, Harriette, Mother Winslow and Rachel, or they would have a storyline focusing on Carl and Steve so I guess the writers had difficulty fitting Judy in. Still I think the writers should have given some thought about how to use Judy better. It did not make sense for them to bring in 3J at all when you already had Richie there who was hardly getting that much attention already, and they had already gotten rid of Judy.

And Furienna, I am not blaming Steve, just stating that in case you want to assume that again.

[GSU2004]

Originally Posted by GCW

Family Matters just had too many characters. Judy and sometimes Richie were kind of in between. The show started to focus on Steve, Laura, Eddie, Waldo, Myra, Maxine and their school life, and then the subplots would focus on the older characters: Carl, Harriette, Mother Winslow and Rachel, or they would have a storyline focusing on Carl and Steve so I guess the writers had difficulty fitting Judy in. Still I think the writers should have given some thought about how to use Judy better. It did not make sense for them to bring in 3J at all when you already had Richie there who was hardly getting that much attention already, and they had already gotten rid of Judy.

And Furienna, I am not blaming Steve, just stating that in case you want to assume that again.

3J's creation was probably the writers way of trying to bring more viewers back to the show (jump the shark moment). I agree that it made no sense especially with the lack of use for Richie. I don't think Judy even had a storyline evolving her when she was there alot. She had lines but no situations of her own. The episode where Laura sold the family quilt could have been centered around Judy. I still think if Rachel and Richie were not there, they could have worked with Judy's character more.

[GCW]

Originally Posted by GSU2004

3J's creation was probably the writers way of trying to bring more viewers back to the show (jump the shark moment). I agree that it made no sense especially with the lack of use for Richie. I don't think Judy even had a storyline evolving her when she was there alot. She had lines but no situations of her own. The episode where Laura sold the family quilt could have been centered around Judy. I still think if Rachel and Richie were not there, they could have worked with Judy's character more.

Judy had only two subplots. When she was getting a D in English and Harriette helped her with her book report, and one episode when she was jealous of Richie, because he got more attention (funny because she was right no one really paid any attention to her on the show) Laura and Judy share a nice moment in that episode. There was one episode when she ruined Harriette's dress but she only appeared briefly in that episode as well, she just basically told Carl she ruined the dress and that was the last you saw of her. It still did not help to develop her character. I agree that Richie was one of the reasons Judy was knocked out because he was used more, Rachel had alot of storylines as well having her own resturant and they really did a good job developing her character.

[Furienna]

But there must have been room for Jody too somewhere. I would rather have them get rid of Richie, especially since Rachel left. Richie and Rachel were just relatives, while Jody was nuclear family. They should have been able to come up with some plots for her, especially as she got older. If she only had lasted one season longer, she would almost have been ready for dating! Eddy and Laura were developed, so why not poor Jody? It's just terrible how little space she's given in her last season.

[GCW]

Originally Posted by Furienna

But there must have been room for Jody too somewhere. I would rather have them get rid of Richie, especially since Rachel left. Richie and Rachel were just relatives, while Jody was nuclear family. They should have been able to come up with some plots for her, especially as she got older. If she only had lasted one season longer, she would almost have been ready for dating! Eddy and Laura were developed, so why not poor Jody? It's just terrible how little space she's given in her last season.

I agree that they should have gotten rid of Richie instead especially since Rachel left, but they just made it more bizarre by having Richie who was just Carl and Harriette's nephew living there while his mother Rachel was gone and having Judy who is already Carl and Harriette's daughter disappear and never talked about again. The writers were just too lazy to even think about what to do with Judy, which is unfortunate when you hire an actor to play a character you are supposed to try to develop that character not just have them there.