How ‘Family Matters’ Made One of Its Biggest Characters Disappear

When Family Matters debuted on ABC in 1989 as part of the network’s Friday night TGIF lineup, it was a show much different from the one it would become. As a spinoff of the popular series Perfect Strangers, Family Matters stood out from most other sitcoms of the day by focusing on an all Black cast. These characters didn’t fall into 80s stereotypes, but were well-thought-out people. There was Carl Winslow (Reginald VelJohnson), a lovable Chicago cop, and his wife, Harriette (Jo Marie Payton). With them lived Harriette’s widowed sister, Rachel (Telma Hopkins), and her young son, Richie (Bryton James), as well as Carl’s elderly mother, Estelle (Rosetta LeNoire).

At the forefront were the Winslow’s three children, teenagers Eddie (Darius McCrary) and Laura (Kellie Shanygne Williams), and their youngest, Judy (Jaimee Foxworth). For four popular seasons, these characters fought in the most wholesome of ways, only to make up at the end of each episode in typical sitcom fashion. But then, for the strangest of reasons, Judy disappeared from the series. Her character wasn’t killed off or recast. Judy Winslow was suddenly just gone as if she had never existed, and would never be mentioned again. The decision left fans and members of the cast furious.

Who Was Judy Winslow on ‘Family Matters’?

Judy Winslow’s character was just nine years old when Family Matters first started. She didn’t usually get as much storyline time as the other characters in the Winslow family, but she was far from a background character. She was portrayed as your typical child. She loved to play with dolls, she struggled with school, she loved her big sister, even if they fought, and later on, she found a close friend and play buddy in her cousin, Richie. Sometimes, being the youngest child, Judy didn’t receive as much attention from her busy parents. She might act out a time or two, but in the end, Carl and Harriette were there for her and loved her.

Judy Winslow could shine when given the chance. In the Season 2 episode “Ice Station Winslow,” Judy is proud of herself after receiving a good grade at school, especially considering how much she struggles. She tells her mom about it, but Harriette is distracted, busy making a costume for Richie. Jealous of the attention the youngest member of the family gets, she rips up the costume. It later leads to a heart-to-heart between Judy and Laura, where Laura calms her sister by telling her she used to feel the same way when Judy was the youngest. She tells Judy all the cool things you can do when you’re older, like staying up late. Feeling guilty, Judy apologizes to Richie. It’s your typical Family Matters episode, with lighthearted hijinks leading to a heartwarming resolution and a lesson learned, all in thirty minutes.

What Happened to Judy Winslow on ‘Family Matters’?

Halfway through the first season, in an episode titled “Laura’s First Date,” the world was introduced to Steve Urkel (Jaleel White). The nerd with the big glasses, suspenders, and high voice was an immediate hit. It was easy to see why. Steve Urkel, with his romantic obsession over Laura Winslow, and the way he constantly frustrated Carl, was hilarious. Unfortunately, he was too funny. Quickly, Family Matters became more and more about Steve Urkel and his shenanigans, with the Winslows playing second fiddle. The wholesome message was still there, but the show was no longer about light humor. It went for the big laughs, with Urkel falling all over himself or destroying the family house on accident, all leading to him uttering his signature catchphrase: “Did I do that?”

Steve Urkel became a pop culture phenomenon. “Did I do that?” became part of the lexicon. By Season 4, Steve Urkel was such an icon that there was little breathing room for anything else. It was then that the showrunners decided to make the most drastic and unnecessary of moves by cutting a valued member of the cast. After the season ended, the horrible idea became a reality when thirteen-year-old Jaimee Foxworth was fired from Family Matters as a way to give more airtime to Steve Urkel. She wasn’t given less time, like what usually happens to a character during a changing series. She wasn’t written off, killed off, or recast, but simply gone. When Season 5 of Family Matters started, Foxworth and Judy Winslow were nowhere to be seen. For five more seasons, we’d get more stories of Steve Urkel and the Winslows, but there was not one mention of Judy. It was as if she never existed, which was not only an insult to the character and the actress who played her, but to the audience. It told fans that Judy never mattered, we shouldn’t care, or worse, that we were so involved in Urkel’s antics we wouldn’t even notice.