The Best ’90s Sitcom Changed Genres and Became a Wild Sci-Fi Series (With an Unbelievable Ending)

Picking out the best sitcom from the ’90s is a tall task because the decade was synonymous with the genre. There are timeless classics like The Nanny, Boy Meets World, and The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air; sitcoms aimed at adult audiences like Seinfeld, Married with Children, and Frasier; and hidden gems like A Different World and Sports Night. That isn’t even to mention the most popular hits like Friends and Full House. However, there was one sitcom that kind of dominated the ’90s to the point where the most memorable character became a pop culture icon. People still talk about this character to this day, even though the show has been off the air for nearly three decades. This sitcom managed to pull off the impressive feat of changing its genre, transforming from a classic comedy into one of the most outlandish shows ever to air on television.

That show is Family Matters, which started out as a wholesome story about the Winslow family and evolved into something that nobody could’ve seen coming. Reading about it sounds unbelievable and like this is something that would’ve never been a hit, yet Family Matters defied those odds to take the ’90s by storm.

Family Matters Needed To Change To Be A Hit

A lot of people are unaware that Family Matters began as a spin-off of Perfect Strangers. In that series, Harriet Winslow worked as an elevator operator and Family Matters was designed to tell the story about her and the rest of the Winslows. Not many sitcoms were dedicated to Black middle-class families, so on paper, the show stood out. However, while Family Matters got off to a solid start, there wasn’t a ton about it that felt different from other sitcoms.

Midway through its first season, Steve Urkel appeared as the family’s annoying but well-intentioned nerdy neighbor. Intended for a one-off appearance, Urkel quickly became popular for his over-the-top antics and became a recurring character. By the Family Matters Season 2 premiere, he was promoted to the main cast and the show basically became about him. Urkel even crossed over into other ’90s shows. There’s a good chance that, as good as the series was without him, it likely wouldn’t have lasted as long as it did since it needed something to separate it from the crowded field of sitcoms.

Family Matters Got Weirder As Time Went On

With Urkel front and center, Family Matters also completely changed its tone. As the series progressed, the storylines got stranger and it eventually morphed into a wacky sci-fi romp. People were hooked too, tuning in weekly to see what shenanigans Urkel would get up to next. During its eight seasons on ABC (the ninth and final season aired on CBS), Family Matters averaged between 14 and 26 million viewers. Clearly, the wackiness that the show leaned into was working.

In Season 3, Urkel built the Urkelbot, designed to do his chores for him. In Season 5, Urkel built a machine that replaced his nerdy genes with cool genes, marking the debut of his alter ego, Stefan Urquelle. He also created mutant termites, set off an atomic bomb in a dream, and shrunk himself and Carl, like in Honey, I Shrunk the Kids. None of this made much sense, yet nobody seemed to care as the show remained as popular as ever.

It’s difficult to think of any other show that had such a drastic change over time. To go from a series that dealt with the problems of a working-class family to one with incredibly silly sci-fi gimmicks sounds like a recipe for disaster that Family Matters somehow avoided. There were still grounded episodes, like Season 5’s “Good Cop, Bad Cop”, which dealt with racial profiling by the police, but these became few and far between.

The Final Episode Was Family Matters At Its Most Absurd

Family Matters saved something over-the-top for its series finale. Told across two parts, “Lost in Space” sees Urkel get chosen as the first student to go into space, which conflicts with his wedding to Laura. He ultimately goes and when the pilots get knocked out, Steve somehow manages to fix the ship and save everyone, which is just another far-fetched plot point that the show had become famous for. He returns home and stays wth Laura for a happy ending.

Although that ridiculous premise felt in line with what Family Matters had become, it wasn’t well-received. It didn’t help that in the same episode, Eddie Winslow, now a cop like his father, gets shot in the line of duty. It doesn’t work to have a serious story like that play out alongside the antics of Urkel in space. That combination hammers home what made Family Matters such an odd show, yet somehow also such a massive hit.

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