The original post: /r/television by /u/_forum_mod on 2025-02-10 21:39:50.
As many people may or may not know, Urkel was supposed to be a one-time character before he became a regular part of the show and took over it. The fans loved him so much that he became a recurring character and the rest, as they say, is history.
Family Matters was originally a spin-off of the show Perfect Strangers. As they said in the infamous Key and Peele sketch, this show was supposed to be a “working class Cosby show!” and it digressed far into sci-fi by the end.
I was a little young when it debuted, so I don’t remember the early (pre-Urkel) years, so I can’t really assess how good or bad it was. I remember when Urkelmania swept the nation and how entertaining his character was. Although the show gets criticism for becoming “The Steve Urkel Show,” I wonder if it would’ve lasted that long if it was just another generic family comedy.