Top photo: The Bui Brothers / CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Back in the late 1980s and 1990s, Friday night meant one thing: gathering the whole family in the living room, popping a bowl of popcorn, and settling in for ABC’s famous “TGIF” lineup. Right at the heart of those cozy evenings was the Winslow household in Chicago. Whether Carl was losing his patience or a certain clumsy neighbor was barging through the front door, the laughs came easy and the warmth felt genuine.
How closely were you paying attention during all those wonderful years? Grab a cup of coffee and test your knowledge with these ten trivia questions about our favorite neighborhood family.
1. Which popular sitcom served as the launching pad for Family Matters?
Answer: The hit comedy Perfect Strangers.
Long before she had a show of her own, Harriette Winslow, played by Jo Marie Payton, worked as the elevator operator at the Chicago Chronicle newspaper office. Larry Appleton and Balki Bartokomous worked there too. Reginald VelJohnson, who was gaining fame after his role in Die Hard, also appeared as her police officer husband, Carl Winslow. Network executives loved Harriette’s wit and upbeat attitude so much that they decided to build a whole series around her household.
2. Was Steve Urkel always supposed to be a permanent part of the series?
Answer: No, he was originally slated for just a single appearance.
It might be hard to imagine the Winslow house without him, but Jaleel White did not show up until midway through the first season in the episode titled “Laura’s First Date.” Urkel was planned as a one-time guest character. However, his performance was such an instant hit with viewers that the nerdy neighbor quickly became the show’s breakout star and joined the regular cast.
3. What song originally served as the show’s theme music before being replaced?
Answer: Louis Armstrong’s “What a Wonderful World.”
Most of us can sing along to “As Days Go By,” written by Jesse Frederick, Bennett Salvay, and Scott Roeme and performed by Frederick. But during the first season, Armstrong’s classic melody set the stage. The producers scrapped it after the fifth episode, “Straight A’s,” although you could still hear it on the pilot episode in later syndicated reruns.
4. Which Winslow sibling vanished from the household after the fourth season?
Answer: Judy Winslow, the youngest daughter.
In the early seasons, Carl and Harriette had three children: Eddie, Laura, and little Judy. Judy was played by Valerie Jones in the pilot and then portrayed by Jaimee Foxworth. Following season four, however, Judy simply disappeared from the storyline, and the series moved forward as though she had never existed at all.
5. Besides Steve Urkel, which other two relatives did Jaleel White portray on screen?
Answer: Stefan Urquelle and Myrtle Urkel.
As the series leaned further into Urkel’s comedic antics, White stretched his talents by taking on multiple roles. He portrayed Steve’s smooth, charming alter-ego, Stefan Urquelle, who was similar to White’s real-life personality. He also donned a dress and wig to play Steve’s determined female cousin, Myrtle Urkel.
6. Who moved into the Winslow home in the pilot episode alongside Carl’s mother?
Answer: Harriette’s sister Rachel Crawford and her baby son, Richie.
In the premiere episode, “The Mama Who Came to Dinner,” the Winslows welcomed Carl’s street-wise mother, Estelle (fondly known as “Mother Winslow”). But they were not the only relatives under that roof. Before the series began, Harriette’s sister Rachel, played by Telma Hopkins, had moved in with her infant son Richie after the death of Rachel’s husband.
7. Which network picked up Family Matters for its final season?
Answer: CBS.
After eight seasons anchoring ABC’s Friday night schedule, the series made a major move. In early 1997, CBS acquired the rights to both Family Matters and Step by Step in a $40 million deal. The network packaged them into the “CBS Block Party” to compete directly against ABC’s lineup, though the show concluded its run there in July 1998.
8. Which actress stepped in to play Harriette Winslow during the ninth season?
Answer: Judyann Elder.
Jo Marie Payton had felt the show jumped the shark and decided to depart during the ninth season after an on-set dispute with Jaleel White. Following a Christmas episode where Payton returned alongside other former characters, actress Judyann Elder took over the role of Harriette for the remainder of the season.
9. What animated mystery series brought Jaleel White back to voice Steve Urkel in 2019?
Answer: Scooby-Doo and Guess Who?.
In the 2019 episode “When Urkel-Bots Go Bad!,” White voiced Urkel for the first time since the sitcom ended in 1998. The mystery-solving gang visited Chicago and teamed up with Steve after a “Techno-Ghost” took over his chore-doing robot invention, leading them to unmask a jealous rival scientist.
10. Where does Family Matters rank among the longest-running live-action Black sitcoms?
Answer: It is the third-longest-running in American television history.
With 215 episodes across nine seasons, the show holds a proud place in broadcast history. The only two live-action American sitcoms with predominantly African-American casts to surpass it are The Jeffersons, which produced 253 episodes over 11 seasons, and Tyler Perry’s House of Payne, which reached 400 episodes.
How many answers did you get right? Did you remember all the details about the Winslow family, or did a few slip by? Tell us your score and share your favorite memories of watching the show in the comments!
