Worst decline of all time?

[zombi2]

I was reading a "Worst TV Shows Ever" list and the more I looked into later episodes of this (I only watched earlier seasons mostly) the more I realized that my all-time worst would have to be "Family Matters" hands down. Even though there are shows I personally hate from first season to last and literally can stand two minutes of...this I will remember as the worst because it wasn't bad for awhile.

I don't know if I ever found it all that funny, kind of basic really but at least watchable and certainly an improvement over it's wretched lead-in "Full House". Now that I've caught up a bit...WTH?

Split personalities? Cloning? Matter transporters? Shrinking rays?
How did this happen? Writers actually came up with these ideas? Producers and directors said "Hell Yeah, that sounds great!"? ABC green-lit them? Was there any kind of progression to all this insanity if you were watching the show every week (not that there could be THAT much!)? Was there some kind of re-launch of the show at some point, like "Introducing the NEW Family Matters!" or something? I'm just finding it hard to believe that a normal family sitcom got this insane and this unbelievably stupid, especially if it happened suddenly with no kind of acknowledgement in the ads or in the show itself! "Jump the shark" has officially lost all meaning, a new phrase needs to be coined for this mess. I'm sure it can be found in one of these episodes but I'm nowhere near strong enough to sit through any more of them.

[Lorimar Television]

Well I guess it had some progression. When Urkel was introduced in season one he was just a nerd. Then in season two we start to see his intelligence. He built a miniature rocket for a science project. Season three he built a robot and jet-pack. Season four he had some inventions like a glue that was so powerful he couldn't remove his hand from Laura's shoulder. He had minor inventions like a musical toothbrush, and then in one episode we see his growing a "lawn chair". Season five was when it started to get bizarre with his DNA altering machine that turned him int Stephan Urquelle. But that wasn't the biggest jump the shark moment, that had to be when The Winslow's forget the existence of their youngest daughter/ sister Judy Winslow. That just ruins the show for me so I rarely watch after season four. I know there were more inventions in later seasons as well. I plan to buy seasons 1- 4 on DVD but then I'm done. (I already have 1- 3 so I just need one more season to complete my collection)

[Furienna]

I don't mind those "unrealistic" plots, which so many people hate. And while the Judy thing was just wrong, the poor girl was hardly missed, and the show went on without her. What I do hate about this show though is how Steve never got over his stupid crush on Laura, when Myra was so much better for him.

[Neutronman67]

Yeah Steve had a major lust over laura he could not control his urges thats what made him creepy, but the funny thing is both of the girls myra and laura were both out of his league, i wonder why myra never had a crush on Stefan every girl in the universe wanted to sleep with the dude lol

[Furienna]

Stefan was so boring! I can't understand what everybody saw in him. At least one person didn't immedately fall for his "coolness".

[coyface]

I definitely do not think that it was the worst decline of all time but I do think that by the seventh season it was certainly unwatchable at least for me. I mean I do agree with you that I never really found the show all that funny. The only period of Family Matters that I was actually really amused would have to be the second season. That season has the best balance of Steve Urkel and the Winslows and it is certainly a breath of fresh air from watching the last eighty episodes of the show. What really brought it down for me was when they got rid of the youngest daughter, Judy. That just made it simply hard to watch. As a kid, I started watching just the fifth season and I had no idea that they even had another child. Then I got curious of the show's start and begin to watch the first season through the fourth, and let me tell you that it certainly drained my spirit of viewing the show to see that character just diminish quickly and to never be seen or heard of again.

[Blackout]

the decline of the simpsons from seasons 10 to season 12 was like a basketball player scoring 30 points per game to scoring 2 points per game

[Lorimar Television]

While its true Judy was hardly missed I just can't get over the aspect that they don't even acknowledge her. It's sort of depressing to me, and the show is called family matters, so why didn't Judy matter to the family? Even earlier episodes they would leave her out for no reason, but atleast she was acknowledged. The show is dead for me after season 4. I will watch the later eps in reruns sometimes but they just aren't as enjoyable for me. __

[Furienna]

I agree with you that what they did was really wrong. But still, I can't say it destroyed the show or made it less enjoyable. As much as they should have done more with Judy, they still had several other characters to work with.

[Neutronman67]

Yeah they could have had a last episode where we the viewers see a goodby episode of judy, it could be where judy goes away to stay with her family members in Florida for a few years, then they bring her back on the show for the last episode.

[TMC]

http://officialfan.proboards.com/thr...family-matters

Just like the later seasons of Boy Meets World, and based on other threads I am obviously not alone. In its later seasons Family Matters jumped the shark in so many ways that it really killed the enjoyment of the show. Granted, the show had long since jumped the shark in certain ways, such as having Urkel start dating a girl other than Laura or having Judy go to her room and vanish completely off the face of the earth. But I would say things officially went downhill from the point Urkel start living with the Winslows.

To start with the obvious, the later seasons were less of a sitcom and more of a straight up sci-fi show. Urkel coming out with wacky inventions had been used plenty of times, and in earlier seasons it worked as a way to add some variety. The time he invented a robot? A personal favorite. When he invented a jet pack? Memorable, and served as a great way to do a crossover with another show. Even the first time he used a potion to turn into another person worked, and you could tell Jaleel White loved being able to hang up Urkel for most of an episode. By the time he started using a porta-potty to turn himself into a new person every single week it got to be a bit much.

Which leads into another issue I had; the wacky situations. Hey, its a staple of sitcoms and some of my favorite episodes were about Urkel and the Winslows getting into all kinds of shenanigans. The one where Carl taught Urkel to drive is one I still love. The one with the Bushwhackers will live in the memory of every wrestling fan. But when they started ripping off Child's Play with a talking dummy you could tell the writers were out of ideas.

The role of Urkel was also a big problem; by the late seasons he had officially become the main character of the show and everyone else had been pushed to the background. While Urkel was always the iconic character of the show he worked a lot better as a guest who was just part of the overall cast, and I suspect part of why the writing got so weird was because the focus purely on him limited the potential diversity of the storylines. You could also tell the other actors resented being pushed out of the spotlight-most of them sleepwalked through the final few seasons, as I recall the woman who played Hariette actually quit before the very last one even filmed, forcing them go with a last minute replacement. And what's more, you could tell that Jaleel White himself was tired of playing Urkel.

Which leads me to my last point: by the time of the last few seasons Jaleel was no longer physically right for Urkel anymore. As a scrawny kid those oversized glasses and awkward clothes worked a lot better, and before that magical experience called puberty it was easier for him to do that high pitched voice. By the time he turned 20 he had grown into a tall young man, he had started working out and filled out his body a bit, and his voice had gotten noticeably deeper and you could tell how much of a struggle he was having to keep doing the Urkel voice. I shudder to imagine how hard it must have been to try to sit down in those over-tight pants he had to wear.

Anyone got anything else to add?

[Furienna]

Whoever wrote that, I have to disagree with a lot of things there. For example, in what universe was it wrong for Steve to date another girl than that conceited Laura?

[Neutronman67]

The Worst Decline for Family Matters was season 5 it had some good and weak episodes, the first 4 seasons were raw and entertaining, i am thinking the producers were running out of ideas for episodes so the show started to suck a little bit by later seasons, i did find the Disneyworld episodes the winslow family took a breath of fresh air in season 6 in my theory.

[Neutronman67]

Furienna i agree with you it was never wrong for steve urkel to date other girls besides chasing his dream girl laura and threatening all of laura's boyfriends, myra never tried to change steve she loved him for being a nerd, now laura on the other hand did not like steve being a nerd and a scientist she wanted him to turn into stephan, the sad thing is laura was pushy aka bossy and she would most likely make steve urkel give up the scientist life and make him dress up like a normal guy.

[Furienna]

I don't think Laura had anything against Steve being a scientist or an inventor. After all, she too was school-smart with straight A grades and plans to become a lawyer. As shallow as she could be, she never complained about his love for science and technology. What she didn't like was the geeky side of his personality. But like you said, Myra loved everything about him (except that he couldn't get over Laura, of course).