[Music] foreign
[Music]
now I know just hearing those first few notes before the lyrics even kick
in brings back some nostalgic memories for those of you who grew up in the 80s and 90s
and for those of you who didn't or over time never discovered this Gem of a TV sitcom on
your own this video is going to give you a rundown of what it was all about and some of
the interesting and shocking behind-the-camer moments that are sure to surprise you
Family Matters debuted on ABC on September 22nd 1989. it aired Friday nights on the
Network's prime time slot called TGIF it's Friday night and the mood is right [Music]
the show came about as a spin-off of another popular sitcom for the network perfect strangers
the character of Harriet Winslow the elevator operator at the newspaper office where main
characters Larry Appleton and Balki bartokomo's worked became such a loved character the network
and producers decided to create a new show that would focus on her and her family it was
created by William Bickley and Michael Warren and developed by Thomas L Miller and Robert L
Boyette all four served as executive producers of perfect strangers and would come together
again in the same capacity on Family Matters the show was produced by Miller Boyette Productions
in association with Laura Mar television who co-produced the show until 1993 when
Warner Brothers television absorbed Lorimar it was filmed in front of a live studio audience with the
Lorimar produce episodes being shot at Laura Mar Studios which later became Sony Pictures
Studio videos in Culver City California while the Warner Brothers produced episodes were filmed at
Warner Brothers Studios in nearby Burbank the Winslow is an African-American middle class
family living in Chicago Illinois was headed by Chicago police officer Carl Winslow played by
Reginald Vel Johnson and his wife Harriet played by Jill Marie Payton Reginald was also featured
on perfect strangers as Harriet's husband the Winslow children were Edward referred to as
Eddie played by Darius McCrary Laura played by Kelly shaneen Williams and Judy played by Jamie
Foxworth something many people may not know since she's never mentioned in discussions about the
show is that Jamie was the second Judy another little girl named Valerie Jones played the role
only in the pilot episode and can also be seen in a variety of promo shots Janie may have played
the role much longer than Valerie did but she too would end up getting kicked to the curb we'll get
into those details a little later another swap out was the Show's theme song the wand heard
at the beginning of this video is actually the second one they settled on the original theme was
Louis Armstrong's What a Wonderful World it was scrapped after the fifth episode of season one the
second theme called as days go by was used for the remainder of the series in the pilot episode the
family had also opened their home to Carl's mother Estelle better known as mother Winslow played by
Rosetta Lenoir prior to the start of the series Harriet's sister Rachel Crawford played by Telma
Hopkins and her infant son Richie first played by twins Joseph and Julius Wright even though
they were credited as one person then by Brighton McClure had also moved into the Winslow household
after the death of Rachel's husband for the 12th episode of season one called Laura's first
date the script called for a gangly boy who was infatuated with her William Bickley and Michael
Warren already had the idea for such a character in their files and had already named him after
Michael's friend producer Steve Urkel spelled with an e enter Jaleel White who auditioned and
won the role on the spot by wearing a huge pair of glasses borrowed from his dentist father hitched
up pants and reciting his lines in a whiny nasal sounding voice originally scripted to appear as
a one-time character Urkel now spelled with a u quickly became the show's breakout character
did I do that so-so rating soared causing the number 40 show to grab a top 20 spot becoming
the highest rated show among kids Age 2 to 11. as the ratings increase so did Urkel's screen
time this posed a problem for the real Steve Urkel who found himself on the receiving end of
many crank calls and was constantly assumed to have a fake name Michael Warren has since said
that if he'd intended the character to become a regular he would have chosen a different name
as the show progressed episodes increasingly began to Center on Urkel and other original
characters also played by Jalil including Steve Suave Alter Ego Stephon urquel and his cousin
Myrtle Herkel this change wouldn't sit well with everyone though the cast and producers
of Family Matters admit that the urquilization of the show caused some internal stress I was
not very well welcome to the cast at all okay and I don't need to rehash that with
the adults over and over and over again they know what it was oh it's called Humble Pie
and I think Kelly and Darius and Jamie they had issue with me but more because of the things they
were hearing the adults say over time Kelly and Darius became truly my brother and sister
even Reggie Mel Johnson I always like to give him the credit that he deserves
that he came to realize that we were about to do this Jordan Pippen thing
and it was going to change his life and it was going to change all of our lives for the
better decades later in 2022 both Joe Marie and Reginald did interviews with Entertainment Tonight
about their issues with not only the Urkel character but Jalil too he didn't have the
etiquette that maybe I and someone working with him was a challenge there were some moments when
he was a little difficult but um overall I have nothing but good memories for him
another issue that Jaleel brought up in his 2021 tb1 uncensored episode was the writing
while Family Matters had an all-black cast The Writers were all Jewish men in the beginning
in fact there was very distinctive dialogue that proved that for example in one of the first few
episodes Rachel walks in the front door and says a Yiddish phrase expressing dismay or exasperation
other characters who became a part of the main cast were Waldo Faldo played by Sean
Harrison Myra monkhouse played by Michelle Thomas and Jerry Jamal Jameson referred to
as 3j played by Orlando Brown* strangely enough Maxine Johnson Laura's best friend
played by Cherry Johnson lasted longer than any of those three appearing consistently
in every season except the first yet she's listed as a recurring character
now let's get into a few fun facts about the show and cast though the family never moved to a new
house after several seasons the Winslow's address changed from 263 Pinehurst Street to 263 Elm
Street with no explanation Darius is actually one month younger than Kelly who played his younger
sister Telma would lead the show after season four to star in her own series The short-lived getting
by although Reginald played one of America's cuddliest dads for years off-screen he couldn't
be further from his character unlike Carl Winslow Reginald is unmarried with no children in fact
he's not all that fond of children at all [Music] he also holds a Family Matters cast record as the
only member to have appeared in every single episode one of the many reasons Family Matters
couldn't continue on forever was that as Jaleel got older it got harder for him to look like the
scrawny nerd he was introduced as in order to keep him looking as young as possible he had to shave
on a daily basis stay out of the gym and even had to tape himself because his pants got too tight
eventually they had him wear looser fitted pants Reginald angelil both contributed to the series
as writers by the time she left the show Rosetta was 85 years old she passed away in 2002 at the
age of 90. nearly 20 years after the show went off the air the house depicted as the Winslow home in
the opening credits was demolished and replaced with condos in 2017 though it was never produced
the show's 10th season storyline was already said Steve and Laura do get married [Music]
in the end of season 4 there was a major change to the cast that fans noticed but for some reason
the powers that be assumed they wouldn't the running joke has always been that one day
Judy went upstairs and never came back down in actuality she's last seen participating in her
grandmother's wedding in episode 19 of the fourth season with her final on-screen moment being that
of her walking back into the house with the rest of the wedding party after the ceremony comes to
an end after that she was completely written off the show and her disappearance was never addressed
according to co-creator William Bickley her firing was quote a budget consideration end
quote but rumors abound that her mother asked for more money which is what got
her fired Jaime wasn't seen much after that she eventually went on to have a decade-long career
in the adult entertainment industry and then sadly continued on into a downward spiral of
depression and substance abuse she later appeared on reality shows Celebrity Rehab on her journey
to sobriety another character that went through a change but for a very different and sad reason
was Steve's girlfriend Myra monkhouse Michelle Thomas who played the character for five seasons
was diagnosed with stomach cancer while filming and was forced to exit the show shortly before
it ended in her last episodes the toll the disease was taking on her was evident as she became quite
thin as a result of losing a lot of weight she passed away in December 1998 at the age of 30
just before the show was canceled in early 1997 CBS acquired the rights to Family Matters from
ABC see in a 40 million dollar deal the move would give Family Matters a new life since
ABC had already decided to cancel the show at the end of the eighth season CBS planned to schedule
Family Matters along with new show Migo and the long-running step-by-step as a part of its new
Friday lineup branded as the CBS blog party their answer to ABC's TGIF lineup behind the scenes at
the time Joe Marie's contract had just expired and she was ready to go though rumors have long
persisted that her eventual departure was due to Urkel fatigue she'd actually been ready to move on
for a while she felt stifled was tired of the show and wanted to do other projects she originally
agreed to stay on to keep continuity but left mid-season shortly after very nearly getting
into a physical altercation with Jaleel in what would be her last regular episode but there was
one time he actually wanted to physically fight me and we were doing an episode called Gangster doll
I'm OGD Steve's cousin from Detroit something that he wanted to do I said we can't do that
standing in practice is not going to let that pass he was so mad he started kicking and screaming and
stuff I walked off and then I heard him say something and I said I said what do you say
he said she must want a melee I said what's a melee a fight I turned around and said you want to
fight out with Darius grabbed me I was gonna go to the whip his behind I was gonna whip this behind
she would appear in only one more episode after that before Judy and Elder took over as Harriet
for the remainder of the Season while Family Matters continued to lose viewership compared to
previous years it was initially a modest success on CBS beating the show that it replaced after the
holiday's special season though the network replaced the failing Migo with kids say the
darndest things and with that shows child-centered focus it was placed in Family Matters long time
eight Eastern Seven Central time slot Family Matters ended up being pushed an hour later
and paired with step by step the ratings for Family Matters then fell even further in this
later slot leading to its inevitable cancellation with the date of July 17 1998 listed as its last
airing running for nine Seasons Family Matters became the second longest running live-action
U.S sitcom with a predominantly African-American cast behind Only The Jeffersons it also achieved
International appeal making its way to Canada the UK for France and Italy in 1993 Warner Brothers
television distribution began Distributing Family Matters for broadcast and off Network syndication
across the U.S the DVD release of each season began in 2010 and the entire series is now also
available for digital download on amazon.com and the iTunes Store in 2017 the show began streaming
on Hulu also that year the cast came together for a reunion organized by Entertainment Weekly after
the beautiful photos of the event were published some questions were posed by fans on social media
one of the most popular was where's Judy in an interview with the route Jamie Foxworth revealed
that she wasn't invited or contacted at all she went on to explain that it was Sean who played
Waldo that let her know what was going on he shot her attacks asking her if anyone had contacted her
about the photo shoot he also wanted to give her a heads up so she wouldn't be shocked when the
pictures came out by the time everything did come out Janie wasn't shocked but she was upset out she
never got a clear-cut reason as to why she was left out but she assumes that it had something
to do with her x-rated past she insists though that she still considers a cast family and to
this day doesn't have any ill will against anyone It's Entertainment Weekly that she feels slapped
her in the face the root also asked Jamie about what really happened to her character she said
that her scenes and lines began diminishing little by little and even though she was just
a kid she knew something was going on as season 4 came to an end she definitely got the feeling
that things were about to change and then came the Hiatus which she noticed was longer than usual her
mother finally explained to her what had happened another beloved character that Family Matters fans
were wondering about after the reunion was Maxine Johnson Cherry Johnson who played the role had
no intention of making any statement about it but after being bombarded online by fans questions did
share her opinion she made a Facebook post Pretty much telling everyone that she didn't feel any
anyway about it she considers herself a Johnson not a Winslow and she emphasized that she was
a guest star not a series regular Sean also called her upset about both her and Jamie not
being invited she said that she told him to go have fun and that her and Jamie would be okay a
complete series DVD box set of Family Matters has an expected release date set of September 26 2023
thank you