For many people, including myself, growing up in the 1990s, Family Matters was one of my favorite programs. I watched reruns all throughout the 2000s when I still had basic cable. It ironically started out kind of like the Black version of Full House, but evolved into something much more comically different. My wife and I recently started watching the entire series over a few months, and I had no idea until now that Family Matters and Full House use the same exact theme song.

A lot of people do not know that Family Matters is technically a spin-off of a show called Perfect Strangers. It was originally supposed to revolve around the Winslow family. Reginald VelJohnson was chosen for the role of Carl Winslow primarily because he played a cop in the very popular Christmas movie Die Hard.

Somewhere in season one, everything changed when Jaleel White, who was originally only supposed to appear in one episode, came through the door as Steve Urkel. He did so well that he not only became a full member of the cast, but he literally became the star of the show. Growing up watching TGIF, I used to call Family Matters “the Urkel show.”

The vast majority of the series revolves around Steve Urkel trying to win the heart of the eldest Winslow daughter, Laura. Much like Leonard and Penny in The Big Bang Theory, there was a big difference between them and they were not really a perfect match. Still, the show’s script was always working in their favor.

Ironically, Myra Monkhouse really was Steve’s perfect match, maybe even too perfect. She worshiped the ground he walked on, they shared a lot of interests, and she was even prettier than Laura. I did not realize for a long time that the actress who played her, Michelle Thomas, tragically died of an illness shortly after the show aired its final episode.

When you watch Family Matters from the beginning, you remember that Judy Winslow was part of the show. However, the script never gives her strong storylines, and she starts to feel like a background character in her last season or two. Then they write her off the show entirely, and Carl and Harriet basically act like they only have two children, which is pretty bizarre.

Ironically, the characters of Rachel and her son Richie are much more memorable than Judy. Telma Hopkins, who played Rachel, ended up leaving the show as a regular to join the now-forgotten sitcom Getting By. Meanwhile, Richie stays with the Winslow household, which in retrospect makes Rachel seem like a pretty bad mom.

One of my favorite parts of the show was when Steve Urkel created some kind of Weird Science-style machine and potion to turn himself into the opposite of his nerdy self. Stefan Urquelle was everything Steve was not, despite looking exactly the same aside from the glasses and wild wardrobe. Laura Winslow, along with most of the other girls, fell hard for him.

The series lasted about a decade and had a huge number of episodes, back when television networks were not cutting seasons short. Not every episode was a winner, though, and the show definitely jumped the shark at times. It gets pretty wild when Steve permanently clones himself and nobody really questions it. At that point, everything starts revolving almost entirely around Steve rather than the Winslow family.

You can tell the show is nearing its end when Harriet leaves and is replaced by another actress. I had heard it was because she was jealous of Steve Urkel becoming the main character, but it seems it actually had more to do with tension between her and Jaleel White on set and it was mostly him. From what I understand, they have since made up and moved on. Even with all that, I would still consider Family Matters one of the best sitcoms of the 1990s. I would not be surprised at all if Chuck Lorre borrowed some elements from it for The Big Bang Theory. Steve Urkel shares a lot of similarities with Leonard and Sheldon, almost like a fusion of both characters.