Post by Sephiroth on Jun 23, 2013 21:46:09 GMT -5
Just like the later seasons of Boy Meets World, and based on other threads I am obviously not alone. In its later seasons Family Matters jumped the shark in so many ways that it really killed the enjoyment of the show. Granted, the show had long since jumped the shark in certain ways, such as having Urkel start dating a girl other than Laura or having Judy go to her room and vanish completely off the face of the earth. But I would say things officialy went downhill from the point Urkel start living with the Winslows.
To start with the obvious, the later seasons were less of a sitcom and more of a straight up sci-fi show. Urkel coming out with wacky inventions had been used plenty of times, and in earlier seasons it worked as a way to add some variety. The time he invented a robot? A personal favorite. When he invnted a jet pack? Memorable, and served as a great way to do a crossover with another show. Even the first time he used a potiton to turn into another person worked, and you could tell Jaleel White loved being able to hang up Urkel for most of an episode. By the time he started using a porta-potty to turn himself into a new person evey single week it got to be a bit much.
Which leads into another issue I had; the wacky situations. Hey, its a staple of sitcoms and some of my favorite episodes were about Urkel and the Winslows getting into all kinds of shenanigans. The one where Carl taught Urkel to drive is one I still love. The one with the Bushwhackers will live in the memory of every wrestling fan. But when they started ripping off Childsplay with a talking dummy you could tell the writers were out of ideas.
The role of Urkel was also a big problem; by the late seasons he had officialy become the main character of the show and everyone else had been pushed to the background. While Urkel was always the iconic character of the show he worked a lot better as a guest who was just part of the overall cast, and I suspect part of why the writing got so weird was because the focus purely on him limited the potential diversity of the storylines. You could also tell the other actors resented being pushed out of the spotlight-most of them sleepwalked through the final few seasons, as I recall the woman who played Hariette actually quit before the very last one even filmed, forcing them go with a last minute replacement. And what's more, you could tell that Jaleel White himself was tired of playing Urkel.
Which leads me to my last point: by the time of the last few seasons Jaleel was no longer physically right for Urkel anymore. As a scrawny kid those oversized glasses and awkward clothes worked a lot better, and before that magical experience called puberty it was easier for him to do that high pitched voice. By the time he turned 20 he had grown into a tall young man, he had started working out and filled out his body a bit, and his voice had gotten noticabely deeper and you could tell how much of a struggle he was having to keep doing the Urkel voice. I shudder to imagine how hard it must have been to try to sit down in those over-tight pants he had to wear.
Anyone got anything else to add?
To start with the obvious, the later seasons were less of a sitcom and more of a straight up sci-fi show. Urkel coming out with wacky inventions had been used plenty of times, and in earlier seasons it worked as a way to add some variety. The time he invented a robot? A personal favorite. When he invnted a jet pack? Memorable, and served as a great way to do a crossover with another show. Even the first time he used a potiton to turn into another person worked, and you could tell Jaleel White loved being able to hang up Urkel for most of an episode. By the time he started using a porta-potty to turn himself into a new person evey single week it got to be a bit much.
Which leads into another issue I had; the wacky situations. Hey, its a staple of sitcoms and some of my favorite episodes were about Urkel and the Winslows getting into all kinds of shenanigans. The one where Carl taught Urkel to drive is one I still love. The one with the Bushwhackers will live in the memory of every wrestling fan. But when they started ripping off Childsplay with a talking dummy you could tell the writers were out of ideas.
The role of Urkel was also a big problem; by the late seasons he had officialy become the main character of the show and everyone else had been pushed to the background. While Urkel was always the iconic character of the show he worked a lot better as a guest who was just part of the overall cast, and I suspect part of why the writing got so weird was because the focus purely on him limited the potential diversity of the storylines. You could also tell the other actors resented being pushed out of the spotlight-most of them sleepwalked through the final few seasons, as I recall the woman who played Hariette actually quit before the very last one even filmed, forcing them go with a last minute replacement. And what's more, you could tell that Jaleel White himself was tired of playing Urkel.
Which leads me to my last point: by the time of the last few seasons Jaleel was no longer physically right for Urkel anymore. As a scrawny kid those oversized glasses and awkward clothes worked a lot better, and before that magical experience called puberty it was easier for him to do that high pitched voice. By the time he turned 20 he had grown into a tall young man, he had started working out and filled out his body a bit, and his voice had gotten noticabely deeper and you could tell how much of a struggle he was having to keep doing the Urkel voice. I shudder to imagine how hard it must have been to try to sit down in those over-tight pants he had to wear.
Anyone got anything else to add?
