Here are a few inconsisitencies - Sitcoms Online Message Boards

hch · 04-19-2002, 11:50 AM

All my years of watching "Family Matters", i have often noted some things that don't quite add up.

- Eddie's age. In the episode "Son" from 1991, Harriette gives out his birthdate as January 28, 1974, meaning he was 16 at the time, but in the episode "Nightmare at Urkel Oaks"from 1996, it's his 20th birthday. He would have been 22 at the latter time instead of 20.

- How long were they at Vanderbilt High School? In "Dream Date", Steve says that he's been at Vanderbilt for 4 years, meaning that they probably graduated in 1996. But back in the 1990-1991 Season, they are all starting in Vanderbilt. So they have been there exactly six years! It surely wasn't a middle school.

- Harriette's job. When she got fired from her elevator job, they claimed that she had been in the police academy about a few years before Eddie was born. This netted her a security job, and then in another episode later in the show, she is a customer service person in a department store. When did she leave the Chronicle? And then when she was let go from her department store job, she says that she had been working there 25 years or so. Doesn't that contradict the job she had when the show started?

- Mother's marraige to Fletcher. If Mama Winslow and Fletcher were married in "Mama's Wedding" from the fourth season, why is he seen so far and in between? And it seems like Mother Winslow still lives with the Winslows and is still single in the next season.

- Oh yeah, and in one episode where Steve tries to impress Laura like Jimmy did when he visited his long-lost daughter's home, Steve claims that he was riding his bike. But in a later episode, Steve reveals that he cannot ride a bike at all. What's the deal?

- Is it just me, or is the Apartment that eddie had when he was in college the same one that he and Steve had moved in for just one day?

There are a whole lot more, but these ones are the most glaring to me.

sreadtx · 04-24-2002, 11:54 PM

I agree with you that were several inconsistences involving Family Matters. I had wondered about some of the same thing my self. Steve & Laura were strait A students and they spent about 6 years in high school which to me doent make any because most average student can graduiate high school in 4 years.

rial1 · 05-03-2002, 04:53 PM

Let me solve one problem and give you some more...

About Harriette's Job: She was fired from her job as the elevator operator at the Chronicle in the 2nd episode, getting a different job but still at the Chronicle. Later on, in the episode "A matter of Principle" (season 5) she's being fired again (mentioning that she's been working there for 23 years) and she stays unemployed until the episode "The Looney bin" in the 6th season where she gets the job at the department store.

Now - some more inconsistences I found:

1) we all know that every waiter in "Mighty Winnie" wears this stupid hat with the hotdog. Now - in season 4 ep "Buds 'n' Buns" Eddie gets to be the restaurant's manager, and he is told that "Now You don't have to wear this stupid hat any more!" but later in the series he's still the manager with the silver winnie patch, but the hat stays on his head...

2) This is about the biggest inconsistence: exactly how many years have Carl & Harriette been married???
In a certain episode in season 3 (the one where they go to their honeymoon, with the wall-less cabin) Harriette says that they've been married for 20 years. In season 5, Carl says that they've been married for 19 years. In season 6, when they advise the young couple about marriage, Harriette says 22 years, and in season 7 when they go to their second honeymoon, she says 25 years.

ThomasE · 07-29-2002, 01:23 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by rial1
Let me solve one problem and give you some more...

About Harriette's Job: She was fired from her job as the elevator operator at the Chronicle in the 2nd episode, getting a different job but still at the Chronicle. Later on, in the episode "A matter of Principle" (season 5) she's being fired again (mentioning that she's been working there for 23 years) and she stays unemployed until the episode "The Looney bin" in the 6th season where she gets the job at the department store.

Now - some more inconsistences I found:

1) we all know that every waiter in "Mighty Winnie" wears this stupid hat with the hotdog. Now - in season 4 ep "Buds 'n' Buns" Eddie gets to be the restaurant's manager, and he is told that "Now You don't have to wear this stupid hat any more!" but later in the series he's still the manager with the silver winnie patch, but the hat stays on his head...

2) This is about the biggest inconsistence: exactly how many years have Carl & Harriette been married???
In a certain episode in season 3 (the one where they go to their honeymoon, with the wall-less cabin) Harriette says that they've been married for 20 years. In season 5, Carl says that they've been married for 19 years. In season 6, when they advise the young couple about marriage, Harriette says 22 years, and in season 7 when they go to their second honeymoon, she says 25 years.

Don't forget in season one when Harriette says that she and Carl have been married for 20 years.

A 1989 ep has Steve meeting the Winslows then during the 93-94 season Steve goes back to a date of 1986 when Carl said that he's do some activity with Steve 8 years later.

Then when the family seeks therapy because of Urkel, Carl does go back to the fact that Steve has been a problems for the last "6 years" This was a 1995 episode.

Potsie_Weber2002 · 07-29-2002, 11:06 PM

[QUOTE]Originally posted by hch
[- Mother's marraige to Fletcher. If Mama Winslow and Fletcher were married in "Mama's Wedding" from the fourth season, why is he seen so far and in between? And it seems like Mother Winslow still lives with the Winslows and is still single in the next season.

Well 3 different actors had played Fletcher, and he was only seen 3 times after they were married, each time as a different actor.

MaddFilmmaker · 10-21-2002, 05:15 AM

I thought it was just me who thought that Laura and Steve were on the 6 year high school degree plan. I remember because they started high school a year before my sister started. My sis graduated in 1995. I believe they were the class of 96.

SimpsonsFan · 03-10-2005, 11:38 AM

Another inconsistency is that if you look at the outside of the Winslow house you see a door facing the street, yet everytime they open the door we see a wall surrounding the door.

Urkel_2003 · 03-10-2005, 01:45 PM

- Oh yeah, and in one episode where Steve tries to impress Laura like Jimmy did when he visited his long-lost daughter's home, Steve claims that he was riding his bike. But in a later episode, Steve reveals that he cannot ride a bike at all. What's the deal?

Steve mentions riding his bike on another episode from Season 3. It's the episode when him, Eddie, and Waldo appear on the TV show Dudes.

GCW · 03-10-2005, 03:10 PM

The IRS episode when Carl says that Rachel lives with them. That was a blunder. I thought at that point she did not live with them. She was totally gone (not even mentioned) in the 5th, 7th and 8th seasons not even in the Christmas episodes. Bizarre

SimpsonsFan · 04-18-2005, 10:20 AM

- Oh yeah, and in one episode where Steve tries to impress Laura like Jimmy did when he visited his long-lost daughter's home, Steve claims that he was riding his bike. But in a later episode, Steve reveals that he cannot ride a bike at all. What's the deal?

Maybe he was using training wheels.

Urkel_2003 · 04-19-2005, 03:15 PM

Here is a very major inconsistancy that I am really surprized nobody has ever mentioned on this board.

In the episode towards the end of Season 7 Steve and Laura go to the prom together and share a long passionate kiss. Now this would mean a beggining of a romantic relationship between Steve and Laura right? Wrong. The episode immediatley after this Steve clones himself and there are 2 Steve Urkels and Laura does not like it at all and says something about being in hell. She then comes up with the idea to turn one of the clones into Stefan. The next season Laura is right back to being annoyed by Steve. It wasnt until Season 9 when she started to like him. If you ask me you could get rid of Season 8 and jump to Season 9 and it would make much more sense. JMO

SimpsonsFan · 04-20-2005, 10:36 AM

As we all know Steve and Laura first met in eps. 12 and in a future eps. a few yrs. later Laura even mentions that Laura met Steve through a blind date, but didn't Steve and Laura say in another episode that they've known each other since kindergarden?

Urkel_2003 · 04-20-2005, 11:00 AM

Yeah, this whole thing never made sense to me either. For a while I was thinking that mabye she was reffering to the episode from the first Season Laura's First Date, which was in fact the first episode with Steve Urkel. But Laura already knew Steve before Carl tried to fix her up with him. I also thought of another one that probably a lot of you haven't thought of.

In a Season 3 show Carl mention he is 38 years old. Just one season later when him and Steve appeared on American Gladiators his age is listed as 42. Which means he aged 4 years in just a year. Now 5 years later in the last season of Family Matters Carl mentions that he is 41 years old which means he went from 38 to 42 in 1 year, then from 42 to 41 within 5 years. Now that is magical

SimpsonsFan · 04-21-2005, 10:24 AM

That's funny, I never even realized that before. I wonder why the writers didn't just use Reginald VelJohnson's real age throughout the show.

hughpuppies · 04-30-2005, 02:20 AM

This proabably been mentioned in another thread.

When Steve and Laura were in high school the white teacher(can't remember her name right off hand) Assigns the class to pretend they are married. In that episode Steve buys Laura a rign with his stay away fund from realtives that send him money every year to stay away. He proposes to Laura and she says it is only pretend it is not real. At the end of the episode he sells the ring to Carl for over $1,000 dollars and threw in a cd song. Then years latter when Steve realy proposes for real he holds out a ring and says it was the same ring he used when he proposed to Laura on the school project.

If that is true how did he ever sell the ring to Carl?

04-19-2002, 11:50 AM	#1
hch Member Forum Regular Join Date: Jun 07, 2001 Location: Montross, VA 22520 Posts: 983	Here are a few inconsisitencies All my years of watching "Family Matters", i have often noted some things that don't quite add up. - Eddie's age. In the episode "Son" from 1991, Harriette gives out his birthdate as January 28, 1974, meaning he was 16 at the time, but in the episode "Nightmare at Urkel Oaks"from 1996, it's his 20th birthday. He would have been 22 at the latter time instead of 20. - How long were they at Vanderbilt High School? In "Dream Date", Steve says that he's been at Vanderbilt for 4 years, meaning that they probably graduated in 1996. But back in the 1990-1991 Season, they are all starting in Vanderbilt. So they have been there exactly six years! It surely wasn't a middle school. - Harriette's job. When she got fired from her elevator job, they claimed that she had been in the police academy about a few years before Eddie was born. This netted her a security job, and then in another episode later in the show, she is a customer service person in a department store. When did she leave the Chronicle? And then when she was let go from her department store job, she says that she had been working there 25 years or so. Doesn't that contradict the job she had when the show started? - Mother's marraige to Fletcher. If Mama Winslow and Fletcher were married in "Mama's Wedding" from the fourth season, why is he seen so far and in between? And it seems like Mother Winslow still lives with the Winslows and is still single in the next season. - Oh yeah, and in one episode where Steve tries to impress Laura like Jimmy did when he visited his long-lost daughter's home, Steve claims that he was riding his bike. But in a later episode, Steve reveals that he cannot ride a bike at all. What's the deal? - Is it just me, or is the Apartment that eddie had when he was in college the same one that he and Steve had moved in for just one day? There are a whole lot more, but these ones are the most glaring to me.

05-03-2002, 04:53 PM	#3
rial1 Member Forum Hawk Join Date: Dec 21, 2001 Posts: 4	More.... Let me solve one problem and give you some more... About Harriette's Job: She was fired from her job as the elevator operator at the Chronicle in the 2nd episode, getting a different job but still at the Chronicle. Later on, in the episode "A matter of Principle" (season 5) she's being fired again (mentioning that she's been working there for 23 years) and she stays unemployed until the episode "The Looney bin" in the 6th season where she gets the job at the department store. Now - some more inconsistences I found: 1) we all know that every waiter in "Mighty Winnie" wears this stupid hat with the hotdog. Now - in season 4 ep "Buds 'n' Buns" Eddie gets to be the restaurant's manager, and he is told that "Now You don't have to wear this stupid hat any more!" but later in the series he's still the manager with the silver winnie patch, but the hat stays on his head... 2) This is about the biggest inconsistence: exactly how many years have Carl & Harriette been married??? In a certain episode in season 3 (the one where they go to their honeymoon, with the wall-less cabin) Harriette says that they've been married for 20 years. In season 5, Carl says that they've been married for 19 years. In season 6, when they advise the young couple about marriage, Harriette says 22 years, and in season 7 when they go to their second honeymoon, she says 25 years.

07-29-2002, 11:06 PM	#5
Potsie_Weber2002 Member Occasional Poster Join Date: Jul 24, 2002 Location: New York Posts: 15	Re: Here are a few inconsisitencies [QUOTE]Originally posted by hch [- Mother's marraige to Fletcher. If Mama Winslow and Fletcher were married in "Mama's Wedding" from the fourth season, why is he seen so far and in between? And it seems like Mother Winslow still lives with the Winslows and is still single in the next season. Well 3 different actors had played Fletcher, and he was only seen 3 times after they were married, each time as a different actor.

10-21-2002, 05:15 AM	#6
MaddFilmmaker Member Occasional Poster Join Date: Oct 21, 2002 Posts: 5	I thought it was just me who thought that Laura and Steve were on the 6 year high school degree plan. I remember because they started high school a year before my sister started. My sis graduated in 1995. I believe they were the class of 96.
	__________________ Skye: She's Miss Know It All. You can' t tell her nothing. Dave: You know what they say about them types. Skye: What? Dave: Best way to keep a secret from them is to tell it to 'em. --- from "20 Conversations" written by Robert Estell (me!)

03-10-2005, 11:38 AM	#7
SimpsonsFan Member Forum Regular Join Date: Nov 22, 2004 Location: Buford, GA Posts: 838	Another inconsistency is that if you look at the outside of the Winslow house you see a door facing the street, yet everytime they open the door we see a wall surrounding the door.
	__________________ I miss Urkel, 3rd Rock, and the old Simpsons!

04-24-2002, 11:54 PM	#2
sreadtx Member Frequent Poster Join Date: Aug 03, 2001 Location: Houston, Texas, United States Posts: 261	I agree with you that were several inconsistences involving Family Matters. I had wondered about some of the same thing my self. Steve & Laura were strait A students and they spent about 6 years in high school which to me doent make any because most average student can graduiate high school in 4 years.

03-10-2005, 01:45 PM	#8
Urkel_2003 Banned Banned!! Frequent Poster Join Date: Sep 22, 2003 Location: New York Posts: 167	- Oh yeah, and in one episode where Steve tries to impress Laura like Jimmy did when he visited his long-lost daughter's home, Steve claims that he was riding his bike. But in a later episode, Steve reveals that he cannot ride a bike at all. What's the deal? Steve mentions riding his bike on another episode from Season 3. It's the episode when him, Eddie, and Waldo appear on the TV show Dudes.

03-10-2005, 03:10 PM	#9
GCW Member Forum Regular Join Date: Apr 14, 2004 Posts: 708	The IRS episode when Carl says that Rachel lives with them. That was a blunder. I thought at that point she did not live with them. She was totally gone (not even mentioned) in the 5th, 7th and 8th seasons not even in the Christmas episodes. Bizarre

04-18-2005, 10:20 AM	#10
SimpsonsFan Member Forum Regular Join Date: Nov 22, 2004 Location: Buford, GA Posts: 838	- Oh yeah, and in one episode where Steve tries to impress Laura like Jimmy did when he visited his long-lost daughter's home, Steve claims that he was riding his bike. But in a later episode, Steve reveals that he cannot ride a bike at all. What's the deal? Maybe he was using training wheels.

04-19-2005, 03:15 PM	#11
Urkel_2003 Banned Banned!! Frequent Poster Join Date: Sep 22, 2003 Location: New York Posts: 167	Here is a very major inconsistancy that I am really surprized nobody has ever mentioned on this board. In the episode towards the end of Season 7 Steve and Laura go to the prom together and share a long passionate kiss. Now this would mean a beggining of a romantic relationship between Steve and Laura right? Wrong. The episode immediatley after this Steve clones himself and there are 2 Steve Urkels and Laura does not like it at all and says something about being in hell. She then comes up with the idea to turn one of the clones into Stefan. The next season Laura is right back to being annoyed by Steve. It wasnt until Season 9 when she started to like him. If you ask me you could get rid of Season 8 and jump to Season 9 and it would make much more sense. JMO

04-20-2005, 10:36 AM	#12
SimpsonsFan Member Forum Regular Join Date: Nov 22, 2004 Location: Buford, GA Posts: 838	As we all know Steve and Laura first met in eps. 12 and in a future eps. a few yrs. later Laura even mentions that Laura met Steve through a blind date, but didn't Steve and Laura say in another episode that they've known each other since kindergarden?

04-20-2005, 11:00 AM	#13
Urkel_2003 Banned Banned!! Frequent Poster Join Date: Sep 22, 2003 Location: New York Posts: 167	Yeah, this whole thing never made sense to me either. For a while I was thinking that mabye she was reffering to the episode from the first Season Laura's First Date, which was in fact the first episode with Steve Urkel. But Laura already knew Steve before Carl tried to fix her up with him. I also thought of another one that probably a lot of you haven't thought of. In a Season 3 show Carl mention he is 38 years old. Just one season later when him and Steve appeared on American Gladiators his age is listed as 42. Which means he aged 4 years in just a year. Now 5 years later in the last season of Family Matters Carl mentions that he is 41 years old which means he went from 38 to 42 in 1 year, then from 42 to 41 within 5 years. Now that is magical

04-21-2005, 10:24 AM	#14
SimpsonsFan Member Forum Regular Join Date: Nov 22, 2004 Location: Buford, GA Posts: 838	That's funny, I never even realized that before. I wonder why the writers didn't just use Reginald VelJohnson's real age throughout the show.

04-30-2005, 02:20 AM	#15
hughpuppies Melanie Bernhardt Forum Regular Join Date: Jan 13, 2004 Location: wished I was with the lady in the above picture Posts: 705	This proabably been mentioned in another thread. When Steve and Laura were in high school the white teacher(can't remember her name right off hand) Assigns the class to pretend they are married. In that episode Steve buys Laura a rign with his stay away fund from realtives that send him money every year to stay away. He proposes to Laura and she says it is only pretend it is not real. At the end of the episode he sells the ring to Carl for over $1,000 dollars and threw in a cd song. Then years latter when Steve realy proposes for real he holds out a ring and says it was the same ring he used when he proposed to Laura on the school project. If that is true how did he ever sell the ring to Carl?
	__________________ I hope to one day meet Melanie Bernhardt who played Kathy Gordon in 4 Different Strokes episodes.(girl in the wheel chair)