The Final Episode #50: Family Matters (1989 - 1998)

 

Well It's been a long time coming, I'm surprised this show was not one of the first ten I ever did. I'm surprised it wasn't in the first twenty, but at a point I had to put it out at a special anniversary number of sorts. I couldn't let Family Matters just be #38. No way man! The Urk-man deserves better than that! So I waited and waited until the day came when we got to an anniversary # like in the comic books. I felt 50 posts about Final Episodes of tv shows was a good time to finally do a show that was clearly one of my top super favorites as a child. Like a show that I would have been sad if I missed, so I knew I had to go with Family Matters. And here we are! I hope this is at least not complete shit because the Urk-Man deserves better. Anyway time for some history that I like to talk about in these things

I can't really go over the history of TGIF because I went over it in the Full House article so let's discuss Boyette-Miller or originally known as Boyette-Milkis, then it became Boyette-Miller-Warren Productions. They were famous for making a ton of famous television sitcoms of the 1970s to the 1980s. Happy Days, Laverne and Shirley, Mork and Mindy, Perfect Strangers, Bosom Buddies, Full House and Family Matters to just name a few. They lasted till 1999 but apparently came back in 2015 but I haven't seen any of these new shows they made. The last show of theirs I watched was Two of a Kind and that wasn't a very good television show and I don't think it even lasted a season.

Family Matters started in 1989 and was your typical family sitcom. It was pretty much Full House except it had black people and not as many cast members (seriously Full House must have had like 500 people on the cast) it was fine but one episode had a special guest that was so popular he pretty much took the show and made it his own. Yeah they would have family problems and stuff but there was an insane amount of Urkel and more and more Urkel each year. If sometime in the future alien beings find our planet after humanity has died I will tell them this the 1990s were time for two things: Jaleel White as Urkel and Klax. Urkel was that popular. He was even mentioned on other tv shows complaining about how annoying he is. I'll say this right here and now. Urkel is far far far far FAR from the most annoying character on a tv show. I still think he's funny as hell honestly. I'd rather watch Urkel than Sheldon Cooper or Ross Geller from Friends. That's for fucking sure.

But yes the show went from a family sitcom about issues a family would have to The Wacky Adventures of Urkel starring The Winslow Family. Here are some of the things Urkel ended up doing: traveling through time, creating a robot version of himself called RoboUrkel, creating a machine that turned himself into different characters. Like a smooth suave version of himself called Stefan Urqelle. Fought a evil puppet version of himself and also an evil Carl Winslow puppet. Played basketball with a crossdressing person named Grandmama who I think turned out to be a NBA player. Was on American Gladiators. These are the things I remember. I also think he got shrunk to the size of an ant. It was pretty great. I loved it.

The Final Episode of Family Matters actually did not appear on TGIF, I know right? The ninth season of this goofy show was on CBS. It and Step by Step ended on the CBS Block Party. Alongside shows like Meego and the Gregory Hines Show (both of these didn't even last a season and I still feel its sad that Gregory Hines didn't get as popular as he should have. The man was a serious talent and I always enjoyed seeing him pop up in things.) I don't know anything about those two shows and I watched the final seasons of Family Matters and Step by Step. Let's hope that one day I'll be able to enjoy Bronson Pinchot as an alien.

Lost in Space Part 1 and Part 2. Yes another two parter. I think the two parters make for the best series endings. I think every show should get a two or more parter for a finale. They give everyone enough time to breathe and tell a story. Even a silly story for a Family Matters episode. As you can tell from the title Urkel finally goes to space! It was pretty much the last place that crazy son of a gun could go to though. The only other thing I could think of is him finding a city of mole people but honestly he probably did that in Season 4 and I somehow forgot. Anyway this episode starts with an astronaut called Buzz Conrad who walked on the moon. I assume he's this version of Buzz Aldrin. I hope he also punches conspiracy theorists in the face. Those people are very very very very very stupid and I hate them. Unless the conspiracies involve aliens or bigfoot. Those are the only good conspiracies.

NASA or some space organization wants to use the gravity creator thing Urkel has created. I dunno what they called it in the episode but it will create gravity in gravity-less situations. He has to go off to help them make a bigger and better version of it that will work in space ships. He and Laura are actually planning to get married but they put it off so that Urkel can go do this. Yes Laura is going to become Laura Urkel, WILD! Meanwhile in the B-plot which is usually where the family stuff went because every child wanted the hilarity and zany A-plot to be Urkel. Eddie is becoming a cop. I find this interesting because Family Matters did many stories about racism in the police force. Well two but still for a show like this that's a lot. I think they actually were able to do a serious story and a goofy Urkel story and make it work. That takes talent. The only problem with this B-Plot is that it involves the New Harriet.

I don't want to trash this lady I'm sure she's a great and nice person, but she was terrible as Harriet Winslow for the last season (or was it the last two seasons?) This lady did not work with the cast as well as the original. It  was a choice that I could not get behind then and I still don't like it now, but then again how many changes in a character were actually any good? Can you name any? I can't. I also gotta mention this here that Family Matters and Happy Days were both done by the same production company AND they both had a character that went missing. Pretty wild. Chuck left after season one and Judy left after I want to say season four. Weird how that works out. I actually can't think of many other examples of that happening right now but I'm sure it has.

Anyway the B-Plot is New Harriet is worried about Eddie being a cop because of a story Carl tells him of when he got shot. She gets the Police Comminisher's wife (who makes this joke about one of her sons being the lead fork in Beauty and the Beast and she doesn't seem too proud of that. I wouldn't either. Lead fork? Fucking lame bro. At least try for Beauty or the Beast. Or Gaston. Or hell even the french candlestick or the clock. No one liked the damn forks in Beauty and the Beast) The Police Comminisher makes Eddie a Meter Maid. Eddie is not happy. He actually ends up in a shoot out with a criminal and this makes Harriet realize that it will be hard for her to accept that Eddie is a cop but she must and ends up doing so. It's actually very well done.

Back to the Urkel stuff, which I know is the reason you are all here for. Urkel ends up in Space like the episodes promise. His Anti Gravity thing seems to be working until its found out to be too popular which causes a satellite to come crashing down on the space ship. I'm usually a lazy asshole but you HAVE to see the effects for this stuff. It's amazing. It looks like a fucking PS1 game. I love it:

Look at that! Look at it! It's the most beautiful damn thing you'll ever see in this entire damn world and if you disagree about that fact then you can literally get fucked. I don't like getting too mean on this blog but that's the only thing I can think of to say. It's too beautiful. Anyway Urkel causes the ship to get knocked off its course and it spins all over the place. Which means that's where part one ends. Part two starts up with the other two pliots knocking each other out and Urkel having to put the ship back on its course. He actually does this with the help of Mission Control or Houston I guess. He then messes up by turning the Gravity thing on and knocking out the pilots AGAIN. One ends up with a broken arm and the other has to fly the ship. It's up the Urkel to go out in Space and get the satellite off the space ship. 

Urkel actually gets the satellite off the Space ship but he forgot to tether himself to the ship so he's going off into space with the satellite. However me fiddles around with the satellite and causes it to move back to the Space ship. It's actually kinda tense even though you know they wouldn't kill Urkel off in the last episode of this family sitcom. It then ends with Urkel going back home and kissing Laura and Carl tells him how he's proud that he's going to be his Son in Law and even calls him Son. It's a very sweet moment. I liked it.

FINAL VERDICT: I definitely enjoyed this episode quite a bit. It had some good laughs, some fun sappy moments (I love sappy wholesome shit the older I get for some reason), a fun A plot and a more serious B plot that actually meshed well together. I really think that if you enjoyed Family Matters you'll enjoy watching Urkel's last hurrah..