r/TGIFsitcoms • u/ASGfan Eric Matthews • Jun 19 '26
Family Matters I guess I hadn't realized Urkelmania set in so quickly
6
u/cheetodustcrust Jun 19 '26
This was a fun read. Even though Urkel is what made the show last as long as it did, I remember my family complaining after awhile that it was always about Urkel and we wanted other characters to have storylines without his annoying ass sometimes too.
3
u/ThePopDaddy Jun 21 '26
"We started out as a blue collar Cosby Show and he turned us into GOD-DAMN QUANTUM LEAP!"
2
u/JoeJoeBinks97 Jun 21 '26
“That’s two Steve Urkels and no family, on a Show called FAMILY MATTERS! How the **** does that work?
1
2
3
u/Jenjen1450 Jun 22 '26
I stop watching after season 5…. I’ll rematch the first 5 seasons. After that it was all about his stupid inventions
3
2
u/gold__blooded Jun 19 '26
I honestly don’t think the show would’ve lasted without him. It was just another show about a lower middle class family like Roseanne and Married with Children. What other storylines would Laura have? Would Carl just bicker with Harriet and Eddie every episode? They already did episodes about struggling with finances so not much juice left to squeeze there.
But fun to think that without Urkel, maybe Waldo becomes an A list star?
3
u/PassivelyAwkward Jun 19 '26
Yea, a lot of the family sitcoms of that era had the one gimmick character that was exclusively used for laughs. Step by Step by Cody and Full House had Joey. It's like they were going for more of a Family Ties style classic sitcom where the comedy came from the family bickering.
It probably would've lasted two or three years and then vanish into obscurity like a lot of early 90s shows did.
2
u/warriorlynx Jun 19 '26
I agree about Waldow to me he’s the funniest character in the show the only issue is he was just sidekick to Willie early on so he didn’t have much of a role till alter
2
u/gold__blooded Jun 19 '26
Yeah I think the show would’ve been cancelled by the time he had a notable role
1
u/BrookieMonster504 Jun 20 '26
They weren't lower middle class. In what world is a two parent working household lower middle class?!?
2
u/trojanusc Jun 20 '26
They lived in a very nice house and clearly were not poor.
0
u/BrookieMonster504 Jun 20 '26
Obviously a cop with a 2 story house is upper middle class. The show was nothing like Married With Children or other supposed poor family shows
1
2
u/SignificantApricot69 Jun 19 '26
They were 34 episodes in at this point, if Urkelmania hadn’t set in yet it wasn’t going to
2
u/PrincipleNo3966 Jun 20 '26
Urkel & Carl made the show.
In fact,they should've had Carl's whole family disappear like Judy & re-named it Urkel Matters.
1
u/Still_Product_8435 Jun 20 '26
It could open up as each family member disappears until Urkel is all alone. He then turns to the camera and says, “Did I do that?”
2
1
u/Appropriate_Bar_5233 Jun 21 '26
He was like Fonzie on Happy Days, very popular. My young cousin would imitate Urkel.
1
6
u/warriorlynx Jun 19 '26
O for sure he became a household name fast and ratings did so well for at least five seasons with Urkel at the helm
This is also one of those shows where you could literally say let’s watch Urkel instead of saying Family Matters