So how long do you think the series would have lasted if Urkel was never introduced

[RockyMountain]

How long do you think the series would have lasted if they had never introduced Steve Urkel into the series (if say they stuck with their original plan of only having the Urkel character appear in one episode or if they chose to have Laura's date be a character that wasn't comedy driven)?

I completely agree that the show really jumped the shark when they pretty much turned it into the Urkel show during the last several seasons but I also realize that Urkel did bring a lot of life to the show and if it wasn't for him the show likely never would have made it to seasons 6,7, or 8.

Though the original cast was good at the same time though there really wasn't a natural comedian character amongst them. I think without Urkel the show would have lasted for about two seasons (three at the most) and would have pretty much been all but forgotten about by now. The original idea for the show just wasn't what people were looking for from thirty minute comedies during the '90's.

[Lorimar Television]

Atleast five seasons imo. Reginald, Rosetta, and Telma were very natural.

[Kittykittykittycats]

ABC was about to cancel it halfway through season 1 I think, but then Steve showed up and became an overnight sensation. So I doubt it would’ve lasted past season 1. I don’t know how the ratings were up to that point but I know they weren’t very high.

[RockyMountain]

Originally Posted by Kittykittykittycats

ABC was about to cancel it halfway through season 1 I think, but then Steve showed up and became an overnight sensation. So I doubt it would’ve lasted past season 1. I don’t know how the ratings were up to that point but I know they weren’t very high.

Yeah just looked the ratings up on Wikipedia and the first season ranked 39th. THe second season which had Urkel in it the entire year jumped all the way up to 15th. I imagine without Urkel season 1 would have ended up with about the same ranking as the last two or three seasons did.

[Superswiper]

I don't think it would have made it past the third season.

[TMC]

I agree with whoever made the assessment that it wasn't the initial addition of the Urkel character that caused Family Matters to jump the shark. It was his overexposure. Urkel should've simply been like (to take some examples from other Miller-Boyett shows) Kimmie Gibbler on Full House or Lenny and Squiggy on Laverne & Shirley. They were the resident "drop-in" characters on their own respective shows also but they didn't dominate the show to the point in which its entire existence literally hinged on them. Family Matters started going off the rails when it became essentially, a sci-fi type of show.



It didn't help that Urkel was already kind of a one-dimensional character to begin with: A scrawny, clumsy, borderline sociopathic, pre-pubescent acting nerd.

[TVShowAddict]

It would have lasted 5 seasons

[Superswiper]

Originally Posted by TMC

I agree with whoever made the assessment that I wasn't the initial addition of the Urkel character that caused Family Matters to jump the shark. It was his overexposure. Urkel should've simply been like (to take some examples from other Miller-Boyett shows) Kimmie Gibbler on Full House or Lenny and Squiggy on Laverne & Shirley. They were the resident "drop-in" characters on their own respective shows also but they didn't dominate the show to the point in which its entire existence literally hinged on them. Family Matters started going off the rails when it became essentially, a sci-fi type of show.



It didn't help that Urkel was already kind of a one-dimensional character to begin with: A scrawny, clumsy, borderline socipathic, pre-pubecent acting nerd.

Yeah, Family Matters became essentially Urkel Matters by Season 5. Virtually every episode by that point was either Steve and Carl, Steve and Laura, Steve and Eddie (and sometimes Waldo) or Steve and Myra. Like there was never a Carl and Harriette or a Laura and Eddie episode anymore. Judy and Rachel were gone. Estelle and Richie became essentially background characters.

[Furienna]

Originally Posted by TMC

I agree with whoever made the assessment that it wasn't the initial addition of the Urkel character that caused Family Matters to jump the shark. It was his overexposure. Urkel should've simply been like (to take some examples from other Miller-Boyett shows) Kimmie Gibbler on Full House or Lenny and Squiggy on Laverne & Shirley. They were the resident "drop-in" characters on their own respective shows also but they didn't dominate the show to the point in which its entire existence literally hinged on them. Family Matters started going off the rails when it became essentially, a sci-fi type of show.



It didn't help that Urkel was already kind of a one-dimensional character to begin with: A scrawny, clumsy, borderline sociopathic, pre-pubescent acting nerd.

Yes, the guy who started a bone marrow drive for a bully, who had given him a swirlie earlier in the same episode, is such a sociopath.

Really, I wonder if I watched the same show as you did.

[JO Sweet Heart]

Originally Posted by TMC

I agree with whoever made the assessment that it wasn't the initial addition of the Urkel character that caused Family Matters to jump the shark. It was his overexposure. Urkel should've simply been like (to take some examples from other Miller-Boyett shows) Kimmie Gibbler on Full House or Lenny and Squiggy on Laverne & Shirley. They were the resident "drop-in" characters on their own respective shows also but they didn't dominate the show to the point in which its entire existence literally hinged on them. Family Matters started going off the rails when it became essentially, a sci-fi type of show.



It didn't help that Urkel was already kind of a one-dimensional character to begin with: A scrawny, clumsy, borderline sociopathic, pre-pubescent acting nerd.

Don't forget about Steve being Elvis and Albert Einstein in one season six episode and his gangster cousin in another during the final season.

God bless you always!!!

Holly

P.S. If its true that the plug was about to be pulled on this show during the first season, then I guess Steve is what kept it going for as long as it went for.

[RockyMountain]

You know all the additional roles and screen time Jaleel was getting (which would have included compensation) plus the addition of Myra towards the halfway point of the series (Michelle Thomas wouldn't have been cheap to get as she come from the Cosby show) is probably a big reason why actors started leaving the show after season 5 (and in Judy's case before season 5).

[Steve Winslow]

I think it could have lasted a while, the first season was actually great in my opinion. That season has a lot of great and memorable episodes in it. I know people say it wouldn't have lasted and that Steve saved the show, but just look at Full House, that show also got low ratings in the first season and was going to be canceled, but it ended up lasting 8 seasons. Ranking 39th isn't that bad, that's better than the last three seasons. I don't really see why it didn't do well in the first season, was it on at a bad time? Was there another very popular show on at the same time? Because the first season was just fine, every show has to find itself in the first season. And season 2 gave the characters more background and did some serious episodes, they would've still did that without Urkel which would have gave the show more appeal. I mean in case people forget, just look at some of the season 1 episodes, "False Arrest", "the Quilt", "Basketball Blues", "the Party", "the Big Reunion", "Baker's Dozen", "Straight A's", "The Dog", "Rock Video", "Bowl Me Over", "The Candidate", "The Big Fix", "In a Jam", "Short Story", "2-Income Family", and of course the one that started it all, "the Mama Who Came to Dinner", all good to great episodes. I'll admit when I was a kid I tended to like the later seasons better because of all the interesting plots and relationships (well back then they were at least), but as I grew up I liked the earlier seasons more and more.

Season 1 is probably my favorite season if not season 2.

[Steve Winslow]

Originally Posted by Lorimar Television

Atleast five seasons imo. Reginald, Rosetta, and Telma were very natural.

I totally agree with this, finally somebody who gets it. It was good without Urkel. And the funny thing is that even with him, it probably should've ended after season 5. Season 6 felt kind of flat and boring, reused plots, and seasons 7 and 8 were just all over the place. No Rachel, not much Mother Winslow, I didn't like the way Eddie and Laura's characters progressed, Waldo's dumbness got tired, and Steve's voice was too annoying in season 7, to the point where you had to listen hard to hear what he was saying. I actually like season 9 better than seasons 7 and 8.

[Steve Winslow]

Originally Posted by Superswiper

Yeah, Family Matters became essentially Urkel Matters by Season 5. Virtually every episode by that point was either Steve and Carl, Steve and Laura, Steve and Eddie (and sometimes Waldo) or Steve and Myra. Like there was never a Carl and Harriette or a Laura and Eddie episode anymore. Judy and Rachel were gone. Estelle and Richie became essentially background characters.

Exactly. The Carl and Harriette plots were always secondary, sometimes they even had three plots, which meant that the three separate stories didn't fully develop. They can only fit so much into 23 minutes, so this is why it wasn't as funny or well written in the later seasons.

[Steve Winslow]

Originally Posted by Furienna

Yes, the guy who started a bone marrow drive for a bully, who had given him a swirlie earlier in the same episode, is such a sociopath.

Really, I wonder if I watched the same show as you did.

Yes, I think "sociopath" was the wrong word, I think they meant to say socially awkward and didn't think before they posted.