Family Matters Was A Spin-Off Of A Classic ABC Sitcom
If you're a Millennial (especially of the elder variety), it's safe to say that you have some memory of "Family Matters" buried deep down in your psyche. Or perhaps it's not that deep down, and that's okay too. The 1990s-era sitcom was one of the biggest parts of ABC's famous "TGIF" lineup for most of the decade. Like shows such as "Full House" and "Step by Step," "Family Matters" was a lighthearted, low-stakes family sitcom about a big, rowdy family and the misadventures they got into. "Family Matters" was specifically set in Chicago and focused on the Winslow family along with their obnoxious neighbor Steve Urkel. Of course, Urkel very quickly became the biggest part of the show, vastly outshining the Winslow kids and often being paired with harried patriarch Carl.
In a way, it's kind of funny to think that "Family Matters" only became a big hit thanks in no small part to the presence of Steve Urkel, considering that he wasn't the only focal point of the show. (And honestly, he wasn't even supposed to be.) It's also funny because the ABC show was itself a spin-off of another sitcom, specifically a sitcom that only felt like it became notable thanks to the outlandish and flamboyant presence of a supporting character who became pretty beloved in his own right. And yet, while even younger kids may have heard of Urkel or his "Did I do that?" catchphrase, they may not know that "Family Matters" was spun off from "Perfect Strangers," with the silly Balki as that show's Urkel-esque breakout star.
The core of Perfect Strangers matches well with the most unforgettable parts of Family Matters
When it began airing in the spring of 1986, "Perfect Strangers" was able to work solidly from the simple premise of focusing on an odd couple of sorts (but not, y'know, the actual "Odd Couple"). Larry (Mark Linn-Baker) lives alone in a Chicago apartment only to be greeted by a strange man named Balki (Bronson Pinchot), who claims to be his distant cousin from the Mediterranean. They soon live and work together at a discount store located in their apartment building, with the chemistry between the straight-man type Larry and the fish-out-of-water Balki serving as the most charming aspect of the show. Pinchot was fresh off his scene-stealing turn in "Beverly Hills Cop," and Balki felt like a more family-friendly riff on that. Arguably the thing that unites this show with "Family Matters" is the push-pull chemistry between the more hemmed-in Larry (or Carl on "Family Matters) with the free-spirited Balki (or Urkel on the latter).
Where "Perfect Strangers" differed was in the fact that it wasn't about an actual family with kids and that its setting around the two leads seemed to shift over time. For the third and fourth seasons, with Larry and Balki now working at a Chicago newspaper, they also run into Harriette Winslow (Jo Marie Payton), a no-nonsense elevator operator whose husband Carl (Reginald VelJohnson) is a local cop. Harriette and Carl, of course, were the parents who would oversee the Winslow family on "Family Matters," when it premiered in the fall of 1989. By this point, "Perfect Strangers" was airing as part of what would be eventually known as the TGIF block of family sitcoms, but was the odd man out, in that the other shows were about actual families. Though "Perfect Strangers" was initially very successful in the ratings, hovering around the top 30 for its first six seasons, once ABC moved it out of the TGIF block for its seventh season, the ratings went down quickly.
Family Matters may have had time on its side for lasting longer in culture
It's not wrong to wonder what it was about "Perfect Strangers" that made its lasting cultural impact a little odder and a little less well-known. Fans of the HBO drama "The Leftovers" may recall that the series directly referenced "Perfect Strangers," stating that the entire cast of that ABC sitcom had vanished in the Sudden Departure. (Those fans will also recall that Linn-Baker played himself in one episode, as it's revealed that he faked his departure but the rest of the cast did not.) And a few other series, such as "The Goldbergs" and "Only Murders in the Building," have referenced the show, its bouncy theme song, and the "Dance of Joy" that Balki would perform when he's particularly happy.
But timing may have been key in stopping the show's cultural impact, even acknowledging that it ran for eight seasons and aired 150 episodes. Considering that the final, shortened season aired in the summer of 1992 and that the same kids who flock to plenty of other TGIF shows were just coming of age at the right time, "Perfect Strangers" may have just aired a bit too early in Millennial cultural history.
It's true that neither "Perfect Strangers" nor "Family Matters" has had the exact same shelf life as some other TGIF shows. Where "Boy Meets World" and "Full House" each had sequel series, on the Disney Channel and Netflix, respectively, the same can't be said for these shows. If anything, they've both become easy punchlines or forgotten. (For "Family Matters," you could just watch this recent spoof from "Saturday Night Live.") When VelJohnson, for example, showed up in a late-series episode of the Fox sitcom "Brooklyn Nine-Nine," it wasn't to tease or venerate him for playing Carl Winslow, but to pay homage to his supporting role in "Die Hard," one of the show's characters' favorite films.
Even when an animated follow-up film about Urkel saving Santa (creatively titled "Urkel Saves Santa: The Movie") arrived a couple of years ago, it was kicked to the curb by Warner Bros. Discovery so that it never even aired on Max. But still, "Family Matters" does have a longer shelf life; the show just got started years before you may have realized it.