Though its first season started in September of 1989, Family Matters is the quintessential 90s sitcom. It was a fierce decade of competition for sitcoms, and if that wasn’t enough, the genre has a built in duality that most never overcome. On one hand, the sitcom needs to be broad enough that it can cover relatable topics, keeping the characters fun while doing so, but never actually going anywhere. The test of a true sitcom is how well and how long it can run in place while moving as little as possible. On the other hand, some motion definitely needs to occur; a sitcom just can’t stand still otherwise it’s boring and too predictable and it never picks up the audience. Family Matters didn’t just run in place, it ran a virtual go-nowhere marathon and kept its audience intact, with the only real motion being the unstoppable aging of its characters. You might have dropped out of school, gotten divorced, or lost an arm to a landmine – but Carl Winslow and his family kept plugging along for a solid nine years of Chicago suburban bliss.
Now most people, when they’re looking back on their couch-borne memories of yesteryear, often remember Family Matters as the vehicle for that nerdy kid with the nasally voice and “Did I do that?” catchphrase. To be fair, he was never intended to be the focus of the show, and watching the first season makes that point very clear. Originally, Carl (Reginald VelJohnson), a blue collared police officer, works during the day and comes home in the evening to find his wife Harriette (JoMarie Payton) cooking up dinner in that idyllic 90s take on the Cleaver family values we left behind. Their three children fit snugly into the common sitcom children paradigm: Edward (Darius McCrary), the impossibly dull son; Laura (Kellie Shangyne Williams), the older daughter trying to make it through her teenage years; and Judy (Jaimee Foxworth), the precocious younger daughter. Supporting Carl and Harriette in raising the children are Harriette’s sister Rachel (Telma Hopkins) and Carl’s mother (Rosetta LeNoire). (It should be noted that My Wife and Kids shamelessly uses the exact same children personalities without even the slightest variation.)
From one episode to the next the typical problem arises and is solved by some display of familial love. Perhaps Laura is having a hard time getting a date to the dance or maybe Edward wants to quit basketball, no matter the case, someone in the family has an answer. Shows like Family Matters are the very shows that Family Guy parodies in its opening sequence, the simple 90s sitcoms that preach values over the cacophonous blaring of cop procedurals and violence on the evening news. The Winslows are nowhere near the wholesome goodness of the Cleavers, but they’re far more realistic in their take on what family life is really like. Sure, neither you nor I ever perfected a tart and attempted to make a few thousand of them in our kitchen over the weekend, but that’s not the point. The Winslows represent the updated image of what an ideal family would be if you take away the certainty of jobs that never leave and children who never grow up. Times change, people age, and families get stronger and weaker all at the same time. Family Matters understood that and made it its legacy from day one.
However, its legacy wasn’t exactly what the station wanted, for you see, something was missing. There wasn’t enough of that hands on the hips, head cocked to the side “Now who could’ve taken my cinnamon roll off my plate?” comedy. Audiences responded to the gangly Jaleel White as Steve Urkel and after an incredibly brief role in an episode’s opening joke he started popping up over and over. Here as an arranged date for Laura, there as the kid who just wants to grab a snack – Urkel’s role gradually expanded until by the end of the season he was averaging an appearance in every other episode. If you’re wondering how pop culture icons are built instead of instantly birthed, Family Matters makes a perfect case study.
DVD Bonus Features
The cast for this show is very much alive and well – so why is there nothing here? I would have especially loved to hear commentary from VelJohnson or Jaleel. I would even have looked forward to some insight from once-upon-a-time power producers Thomas J. Miller, Robert L. Boyett and Miller Boyett. But that’s just not on here. What a disappointment.
"Family Matters: The Complete First Season" is on sale June 8, 2010 and is not rated. Comedy. Directed by Richard Correll, Joel Zwick, John Tracy, Gary Menteer. Written by William Bickley, Robert L. Boyett, Thomas L. Miller, Michael Warren . Starring Reginald VelJohnson, Kellie Shanygne Williams, Darius McCrary, Jaleel White, JoMarie Payton, Rosetta LeNoire, Telma Hopkins, Jaimee Foxworth.
