The name Steve Urkel has become synonymous with words like a geek and 90’s pop culture. He was the nerdy neighbor to the Winslow’s played by Jaleel White on the popular TGIF television show Family Matters and his numerous disasters and inventions gone awry are what coined the famous catchphrase “Did I do That?” A question to which the answer was almost certainly a big fat yes!
His clumsy nature paired with his huge I.Q. landed Steve Urkel in an enormous amount of sticky situations and his quest to win over the Winslow’s youngest daughter, Laura, caused the family to feel the brunt of his chaos. Steve Urkel’s antics made the life of the Winslows far from boring as he filled their days with clones and robotic versions of himself and ruined their nights with fires and untimely sprinklers.
He Burns Down His First Job
In the season two opening episode “Rachel’s Place”, Steve and Laura get jobs at Leroys, a burger place that is a popular hangout for their peers. Steve quickly shows his clumsiness and breaks many dishes but instead of firing him, the owner decides to deduct the cost from his pay. But the owner quickly regrets giving Steve a 2nd chance when the place burns down due to Steve trying to use the grill. The silver lining of this utter disaster of a first job is that it prompts Rachel, Laura’s Aunt, to open up a diner of her own, a dream she has had for some time. She even recruits Steve to help with planning and financing.
He Gets Stuck on Laura, Literally
In the season 4 episode “Hot Wheels”, Steve finds the perfect reason to try out his new invention on Laura’s broken earing, a super glue that dries super fast and seems permanent. All great things for a super glue to have, but in the hands of Steve Urkel it leads to that very hand to be super glued to Laura’s shoulder, right before a hot date.
Thankfully he finds a way to remove the hand but Steve should have known to label his glue better to avoid future mishaps, because later on the same glue causes a fascial mask to turn into a permanent mask that could be a prop in a Jim Carreymovie.
He Causes Eddie To Be Fired
In this season 8 episode “Odd Man In” Urkel might remind viewers of another popular klutz from the ’50s who has a lot in common with Steve. When Steve takes over a shift for Eddie as a peanut vendor, hilarity ensues as he makes mistake after mistake in a storyline that parallels the episode of I Love Lucy, “Lucy And Bob Hope” when she tries to talk to Bob Hope at a baseball game to convince him she is not a jinx, causing her usual hijinks in the process. Over on Family Matters, Eddie of course gets fired from the job but learns the value of doing his own work and Urkel learns that he should stay away from bleachers.
He Destroys The Garage
Prompted by his desire to help Carl with some remodeling in the garage, Steve takes some of Laura’s diet pills, thinking they are just Vitamin-C and will put a small pep in his step. But the pills are full of caffeine and he becomes super hyper and nearly destroys a wall in the garage while trying to install shelves.
All the shelves, crooked and barely hanging on, fall down when Harriet places a small cup on them. But the Winslows are more concerned about Steves’s health than the garage and while Harriet has a heart to heart with Laura, Carl takes Steve to the hospital to check on his own racing heart.
He Shrinks Carl and Himself
When trying to show Carl a new feature he added to his transformation machine, in which it can make small things big, the machine malfunctions and zaps the two of them. The two hold their breath, waiting to grow huge, but it does the opposite effect, shrinking the two in a scene that pays homage to Honey I Shrunk The Kids.
The two are stranded on the kitchen counter and must survive a rolling canteloupe and a hungry cat but at least there are giant snacks! A kick to the machine by Harriet causes the machine to zap the two back to normal, but it also causes the cat to become gigantic.
