Family Matters’ Carl and Harriette Winslow originally had three children, Eddie, Laura, and Judy, until the latter vanished during season 4. Premiering in 1989, Family Matters was originally designed as a star vehicle for actress Jo Marie Payton, whose Harriette Winslow had first appeared on the hit sitcom, Perfect Strangers. Reginald VelJohnson had also appeared a few times as her husband Carl. The show would become a staple of ABC’s beloved TGIF line-up of family-oriented comedies, alongside shows like Full House and Step by Step.
Of course, what one intends to happen as the result of a creative endeavor is often not what actually occurs. Family Matters entirely changed with the introduction of neighbor character Steve Urkel (Jaleel White), who was intended to be a minor one-off guest but ended up becoming the series’ focus. What had been developed as a sitcom focusing on the Winslow family had now effectively made them supporting players in Urkel’s wacky story, full of science-related mishaps and general silliness.
Still, Family Matters became a hit, and ran for nearly a decade, keeping the non-Urkel cast gainfully employed and presumably well-paid, if nothing else. Well, almost all of the non-Urkel cast. Poor Judy Winslow fell by the wayside partway through season 4, and the show dealt with it in a particularly strange way.
Still, Family Matters became a hit, and ran for nearly a decade, keeping the non-Urkel cast gainfully employed and presumably well-paid, if nothing else. Well, almost all of the non-Urkel cast. Poor Judy Winslow fell by the wayside partway through season 4, and the show dealt with it in a particularly strange way.
The youngest Winslow child, Judy was age 9 when Family Matters began, and when she disappeared during season 4, she was canonically 13. The character was played by Jaimee Foxworth, who was new to the world of acting at the time and didn’t go on to do much in Hollywood after. Judy’s last appearance on Family Matters came in season 4, episode 19, titled “Mama’s Wedding.” The episode sees Carl’s mom Estelle marry her boyfriend Fletcher. It’s become an urban legend that Judy was sent upstairs and never came back down, but that’s actually not true, as she’s seen with her family at the end of the episode.
Foxworth would continue to be credited through the season 4 finale, but never actually appeared onscreen. Bizarrely, from season 5 on, no attempt was made to explain Judy’s absence, with Carl and Harriette acting like they never had a third child at all. Family Matters co-creator William Bickley later said Judy was cut from the show due to “budget considerations”, and it’s also been reported that producers felt she had less and less use as a character following Steve Urkel’s ascension to a series lead. That still doesn’t explain why they didn’t come up with a way to write her out of the show instead of just erase her from existence.
At one point though, there was a tentative plan to bring Judy Winslow back for a Friends-style guest star appearance in what was to be Family Matters’ tenth and final season, which would’ve explained that she had been living in Detroit with her aunt Rachel, a former series regular who actually was written out of the show after season 4. Sadly, new network CBS opted to do a surprise cancellation after season 9, leaving Judy forever forgotten. As for Foxworth, she briefly entered the world of adult films and suffered from drug issues, but is now said to be happy and healthy, with a family of her own.
