Steve Urkel (Jaleel White, who currently hosts a podcast about child stars) is one of the most iconic nerds of the 1990s — and who else but an iconic nerd would super engineer their own mega-cool alter ego? That’s what Steve did during Season 5 of “Family Matters.” Of course, it was an attempt at winning the affection of Laura Winslow (Kellie Shanygne Williams, who’s still acting as well as advocating for teenagers). Sipping self-created “Cool Juice,” Steve could flip on a dime and turn himself into Stefan Urquelle. Stefan seems like a dream at first — effortlessly cool and well-mannered. But soon Laura finds out there’s something worse than being flirted with by Steve Urkel, and that’s having to listen to Stefan’s smug blandishments.
Steve doesn’t give up trying to improve the Stefan experience, however. He tinkers with his formula, trying to make Stefan nicer, even creating a transformation box that allows him to be Stefan for longer periods of time. Throughout Season 5 and Season 6, Steve transforms back and forth from Stefan to his normal self. Stefan and Laura start to build a relationship, despite her dismay at his conceitedness. Tensions build over Season 6 as Steve begins dating Myra Monkhouse (Michelle Thomas, among several “Family Matters” actors who have sadly passed away). The exuberant science nerd Myra loathes Stefan and likes Steve just as he is, but her courting tactics resemble a more extreme version of Steve’s with Laura. It’s a quadrangle heading for disaster, but it gets resolved.
Laura Is Given One More Chance To Choose Between Steve And Stefan
Everything comes to a head when Steve takes his invention to a Disney World competition during the Season 6 two-parter “We’re Going to Disney World.” He manages to transform himself into Stefan before the shocked audience. Laura wrecks the invention, trapping him in his alter-ego’s form. Their romantic time at Disney ends with a proposal — and the revelation Laura destroyed the machine, and once again, Steve turns back into Stefan. It’s a stalemate that begs for a proper conclusion, which the show manages to do.
At the foot of Season 6, Steve is abandoned by his parents, who move to Russia without him. He ends up moving in with the Winslows for his senior year and Season 7, which brings him in embarrassingly close quarters with Laura. The twosome get closer and even go to the senior prom together. During “Send in the Clones,” Steve invents a cloning machine. At Laura’s suggestion, one of the clones is turned into a Stefan who — from this episode on — now exists as his own person. Steve and Laura end up getting together by Season 8 — but Stefan pops back up to test Laura’s newfound loyalty to Steve multiple times. He ends up working with Myra to separate the duo and even proposes to her during Season 9’s “Pop Goes the Question.” But Laura figures out she really does love Steve and they get engaged, leading to Stefan’s disappearance.
The show ends two episodes later with Steve on a space mission and Myra causing one last ruckus before Laura and Steve get together for good. Perhaps he’ll end up on an out-of-this-world quest of his own someday.
