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Family Matters
Overview
A long-running dramedy centering on the Winslow family, a middle-class African American family living in Chicago, and their pesky next-door neighbor, ultra-nerd Steve Urkel. A spin-off of Perfect Strangers.
Status
Ended
Created By
Michael Warren, William Bickley
Network
ABC, CBS
Seasons & Episodes
Season 3
Episodes
Boom!
Urkel rescues an orangutan from laboratory experiments. Carl steps on a treadmill booby trapped with a bomb.
Brain over Brawn
Urkel's future hangs in the balance during a rope-climbing contest pitting brains against brawn to win Laura's affections.
The Show Must Go On
In the school play, Romeo Steve looks forward to kissing Juliet Laura when the original Romeo lands in the hospital with appendicitis.
Words Hurt
Sleepwalking Urkel undergoes hypnosis to uncover the cause of his anger: he thinks Carl hates his nerdy guts.
Daddy's Little Girl
Laura's behavior suddenly changes when she meets Carl's younger new partner and surf's up for Steve.
Citizen's Court
Urkel is so bugged when Carl squashes his pet beetle that he takes him to court - TV's Citizen's Court - to settle the matter.
Robo-Nerd
Steve creates the Urkelbot, a mechanical Urkel that is all too much like its creator.
Making the Team
When Laura gets snubbed by fellow cheerleaders, she seeks advice from Urkel, who tries out for the basketball team and ends up as equipment manager.
Born to be Mild
A street gang causes trouble for the Winslows, and things become personal when they vandalize Rachel's Place and attack Eddie. Carl wants to take matters into his own hands, but Urkel decides to infiltrate the gang and tricking them into confessing.
The Love God
Steve thwarts Eddie's potential romance, while Carl is undercover in drag.
Old and Alone
Laura may be sorry for banishing Urkel from her life: in her dreams, she's a 90-year-old spinster whose only visitor is a now-married Urkel.
A Pair of Ladies
Rachel reluctantly hires a loudmouthed, pushy Harriette to help at the restaurant; and Urkel bets the ranch on Carl's cutthroat poker game at home with the guys.
Choir Trouble
Steve joins the Winslows at church with faith that he'll get into the choir, but he's kicked out by new choir director Rachel, whose position has gone to her head.
A Test of Friendship
The Winslows are ripped off when Carl dozes off; Urkel takes the heat after helping Eddie cheat on a chemistry test.
Jailhouse Blues
Visiting cousin Clarence is a slick dude ready for some action in the Winslow 'hood and a bad influence on a vulnerable Eddie, who winds up being arrested together with Steve.
Brown Bombshell
Mother Winslow regales Eddie's classmates with tales of her late fighter-pilot husband and of World War II's Tuskegee Airmen.
Food, Lies and Videotape
Urkel enrolls in a home economics class with Laura, thinking it'll be a piece of cake, but he soon learns he less than an A-student.
My Broken-Hearted Valentine
Urkel again tries to intervene in Laura's budding romance with Daniel Wallace, whom Steve has learned is nothing but trouble. Laura believes Urkel is meddling in her love life and tells him to go away.
Woman of the People
When squeaky-clean Laura enters the race for student-council president, snooty rival Cassie Lynn vows to gather dirt on her. Meanwhile, neighbors elect Harriet Neighborhood Watch leader and Carl is down in the dumps about it.
Love and Kisses
Hoping to win Laura, Urkel strikes a deal with R&B singer Johnny Gill: his treasured baseball card in exchange for serenading her; Carl and Harriette discover that their honeymoon love nest is of the outdoor type.
Stop, in the Name of Love
Laura's encouraging words cast a love spell on Waldo; Carl and Lt. Murtagh trade insults in a food fight over Mother Winslow's bad driving.
The Urkel Who Came to Dinner
Urkel's stay at the Winslows brings chaos when he swallows a fish that Carl was "fish-sitting," urges Richie to fight a preschool bully and drives away Laura's study mate.
Robo-Nerd II
It's hasta la vista to the criminal element and hello Urkelbot after Urkel revives his robot for law-enforcement use in solving a rash of convenience store robberies on Carl's beat; meanwhile new shampoo changes the women.
Dudes
Laura sees red when Urkel, Eddie and Waldo appear on Dudes, a TV dating show that Laura claims is sexist; Carl's birthday gets little attention from his family.
Farewell, My Laura
Urkel plays bumbling, hard-boiled gumshoe Johnny Danger in a 1940s film noir spoof with Laura as a sultry client who needs protection for her aunt Rachel singer and supper-club owner marked for murder.
Top Cast
Reginald VelJohnson
Carl Winslow
Darius McCrary
Eddie Winslow
Kellie Shanygne Williams
Laura Winslow
Jaleel White
Steve Urkel
