Family Matters was an institution on ABC’s TGIF lineup from 1989 to 1997, when it switched over to CBS for its ninth and final season in 1998. For an entire generation of kids, Steve Urkel and the Winslow family were celebrated sitcom icons. While the popular TV show aired for 215 episodes in the end, making it one of the longest-running series with a predominantly black cast, it never really disappeared after going off the air. Syndication meant that Family Matters would continue airing reruns for years, while an entirely new generation of kids could later tune in through streaming services.
However, now that the show’s OG audience are adults, it’s changed quite a bit. Through a combination of advanced age, wisdom, and perspective, there are several things about Family Matters that have left us all asking questions. For instance, how did we react to characters inexplicably leaving or changing? Did we ever notice how creepy Urkel was, how strange the show had become before the end, or how ahead of its time it might have been? Since the answers are probably “no,” here are some things only adults notice in Family Matters.
Taking us for a spin
Most kids probably watched Family Matters without ever cluing in to the fact that Jo Marie Payton’s character, sitcom mom Harriette Winslow, was originally on another sitcom (via The Hollywood Reporter). This might be because the show in question, Perfect Strangers, wasn’t actually aimed at a younger audience. Additionally, Harriette was only a recurring character — an elevator operator — during the preceding series’ third and fourth seasons.
While the Winslows notably move into lead characters Larry and Balki’s building during the latter season of Perfect Strangers, audiences don’t meet Harriette’s family until the “Crimebusters” episode, in which husband Carl (Reginald VelJohnson) plays a central role. Harriette leaves by the following year, as ABC went on to give Payton her own series in 1989 … the one we all know and love her from. At the time, Perfect Strangers even ran some promotional spots to help with the transition and introduce the rest of the Family Matters cast.
Another reason ’90s kids might have overlooked this spin-off connection? TV Series Finale notes that Family Matters shifted focus off of the Winslow family to their relationship with Steve Urkel (played by Jaleel White) due to the character’s growing popularity. Looking back, it’s strange to think that Payton, not White, was the original star of Family Matters.
Where’d Judy go?
Children are probably more forgiving (or just don’t care as much) about inconsistencies on TV, but when a character disappears entirely from a show without any mention, we adults can’t just let it slide. That’s what happens to Harriette and Carl’s youngest child, Judy Winslow, who goes upstairs at the end of season four and inexplicably never comes back down. Not only does she physically vanish from the show, she’s never mentioned again and her absence is never explained.
If you ask the actress who played Judy, Jaimee Foxworth, where she went, she might tell you, “I’m still up there in my closet, putting on my clothes” (via People). According to co-creator William Bickley, the decision to cut Judy was “a budget consideration.” As for the lack of explanation, he told People, “The official name is denial, hoping the audience won’t notice.” Well, he might have gotten his wish through the show’s younger audience members at the time, but adult viewers surely spotted it and now the rest of us are cluing in. Sadly, Judy’s erasure has since gone even further than just on-screen, as Foxworth has also been left out of reunion photoshoots and any discussion of a potential series revival.
A new Harriette
If you haven’t watched Family Matters since you were a kid, your memories of the show were probably formed during its strongest seasons. However, the series’ ratings had declined by the time the sitcom switched networks, and, according to the Los Angeles Times, Jo Marie Payton was set to leave at the end of what ended up being the last season. However, she didn’t quite make it that far.
After Payton left halfway through season nine, Judyann Elder took over the role of Harriette for the final nine episodes, as reported by Entertainment Weekly. It was a jarring switch for audiences and cast members alike. “It’s like getting a divorce and then marrying somebody else,” TV husband Reginald VelJohnson told the publication in 2017. Meanwhile, Darius McCrary — a.k.a. TV son Eddie Winslow — said, “I felt like my mom was gone.”
