The WORST episodes of Family Matters
Every episode of Family Matters ever, ranked from worst to best by thousands of votes from fans of the show. The worst episodes of Family Matters!
The Winslows, a middle-class Black family living in Chicago, deal with various misadventures — many of which are caused by their pesky next-door neighbor, ultra-nerd Steve Urkel.
#1 - A Pirate's Life for Me
Season 8 - Episode 24 - Aired 5/9/1997
Steve's time machine sends him and Carl back to a pirate ship.
#2 - Le Jour D'Amour
Season 8 - Episode 18 - Aired 2/14/1997
Urkel narrates romantic vignettes featuring the Winslows and friends.
#3 - Deck the Malls
Season 9 - Episode 11 - Aired 12/19/1997
Steve gets all wrapped up in the Christmas spirit when he takes a job as a gift-wrapper, but the new gig leaves him little time to spend with Myra; Carl plays Santa at the mall and appoints Laura to be his elf; a disappointed Richie learns that his mom won't be with him for the holidays.
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#4 - What Do You Know?
Season 8 - Episode 19 - Aired 2/28/1997
Eddie's plan misfires when he transforms into Urkel to compete on a game show.
#5 - Pound Foolish
Season 8 - Episode 22 - Aired 4/25/1997
Donna Summer reprises her role as Urkel's Aunt Oona from Altoona, who has put on weight but anticipates taking it off in her nephew's new-fangled fat-compression chamber.
#6 - Odd Man In
Season 8 - Episode 20 - Aired 3/14/1997
Harriette fills a spot at Carl's poker table while Steve does work for Eddie at a ballpark.
#7 - Don't Make Me Over
Season 9 - Episode 19 - Aired 6/26/1998
Myrtle Urkel tries for the last time to get Eddie. This time, Laura and Maxine give her a complete and total makeover. Myrtle comes out looking terrific, but Eddie still does not like her. So she decides to stop chasing him.
#8 - Trading Places
Season 9 - Episode 8 - Aired 11/7/1997
When Laura seems distant and distracted, a jealous Stefan cooks up an elaborate plan to swap places with Urkel - the "man" to whom he suspects Laura is attracted. Laura knows something's up when Stefan (as Urkel) is a miserable tutor and Urkel has a heck of a time filling in for Stefan at a fashion photo shoot. Meanwhile, Eddie decides to follow Carl around on "the beat" with a video camera.
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#9 - Whose Man is It Anyway?
Season 9 - Episode 16 - Aired 6/5/1998
Cousin Myrtle dukes it out in the boxing ring with Greta to win Eddie for her own. Meanwhile, 3J longs to find his birth mother.
#10 - A Pain in Harassment
Season 9 - Episode 9 - Aired 11/28/1997
Steve gets a chance at a $1 million basketball shot. Will he end up rolling dough, or will he get "nothing but net"? Harriette's new boss has a reputation for being tough, but his employees are blindsided by his verbal abuse as well. Meanwhile, Urkel tries to win a million dollars with a basketball half-court shot in L.A.
#11 - The Brother Who Came to Dinner
Season 8 - Episode 23 - Aired 5/2/1997
Carl learns his wayward brother Frank is in trouble with the law.
#12 - Dream Date
Season 7 - Episode 22 - Aired 4/26/1996
The school prom brings one disaster after another for Laura. First, her date cancels; then she's parked with a dateless Urkel at the dance. The group "Immature" performs.
#13 - It Came Upon a Midnight Clear
Season 8 - Episode 13 - Aired 12/13/1996
Laura finally gives Curtis the old heave-ho now that Stefan is back to stay. Meanwhile, Carl and Steve get lost in the woods looking for a Christmas tree.
#14 - Karate Kids
Season 8 - Episode 8 - Aired 11/1/1996
As a playground supervisor, Steve has a tough time controlling the bullies.
#15 - Crazier for You (2)
Season 9 - Episode 15 - Aired 1/30/1998
Urkel is shocked to discover that Myra has been spying on him, but he thinks she's really snapped her cap when she starts dressing like Laura. Meanwhile, Harriette discovers that her wedding ring was originally intended for another woman.
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#16 - Grill of My Dreams
Season 9 - Episode 12 - Aired 1/9/1998
Everyone duck! Urkel begins training to become a master teppanyaki chef at a Japanese steakhouse a part of his journey along the self-improvement highway. Laura surprises Urkel at the restaurant while he's slicing and dicing, and he lives up to the specialty of the house - The Tsunami Supreme. Meanwhile, Commissioner Geiss goes on vacation and leaves his talking pet parrot, Andre, in Carl's care and the bird learns some new words: "Geiss is an idiot."
#17 - Talk's Cheap
Season 7 - Episode 8 - Aired 11/17/1995
Waldo persuades Steve, Myra and Laura to appear on a talk show to discuss romance. Waldo convinces Steve, Myra and Laura to appear on a talk show to discuss unfulfilling romances. Everyone is surprised when Myrtle comes on and talks about her unrequited love for Eddie. Meanwhile, Harriette tries to inspire passion in a reluctant Carl.
#18 - Beauty and the Beast
Season 8 - Episode 17 - Aired 2/7/1997
Myrtle Urkel is back, and this time, she sabotages a beauty pageant so she can win.
#19 - Scammed
Season 7 - Episode 21 - Aired 3/29/1996
Eddie and Waldo fall victim to a scam when they saunter into a bar expecting to meet members of the Chicago Bulls ; Urkel's super glue provides Laura with a super-facial. When Eddie and Waldo go to a bar where they think famous basketball players congregate, they are astounded by the expensive bill. Meanwhile, Myra makes an organic facial treatment to help Laura get rid of a pimple. Unfortunately, Myra mistakes Steve's super glue for milk and uses it in the mixture.
#20 - 3J in the House
Season 8 - Episode 5 - Aired 10/11/1996
The Winslows realize their feelings for 3J when he runs away from the group home.
#21 - My Big Brother
Season 7 - Episode 18 - Aired 2/23/1996
Urkel volunteers as a Big Brother to a touch street kid who's mastered pick pocketing skills but harbors a secret about his reading ability. Through a charity, Steve becomes a mentor for a tough but charming inner-city nine-year-old, 3J. While tutoring him, Steve discovers that, although 3J is smart, he is illiterate. At first, 3J rejects Steve's help, preferring to survive with his natural talents as always. But Steve excites him about the wonderful worlds of imagination one can find in books, and 3J decides to make his life better by learning to read. Meanwhile, Carl finds Harriette's secret savings account book. He is upset that she hid it from him. But later, he regrets arguing with her when she gives him an expensive gift for which she was secretly saving money.
#22 - Chick-a-Boom
Season 8 - Episode 11 - Aired 11/22/1996
Steve invents some musically-activated gunpowder, but Myra mistakes it for pepper when she uses it to prepare a big dinner for Carl's commissioner!
#23 - Paris Vacation (1)
Season 8 - Episode 1 - Aired 9/20/1996
Steve does it yet again. He creates the UrkPad which allows him, the Winslows, and Stefan to travel to Paris. All goes well when Stefan learns he likes being a model and can actually speak French. Eddie unfortunately has to work during vacation for causing an accident at a restuarant. And Steve makes a new friend in Nicole. Or does he?
#24 - Struck by Lightning
Season 7 - Episode 9 - Aired 11/24/1995
Laura and Myra's friendship turns stormy as they compete for the same sales job at Ferguson's; a rainstorm renders Urkel a "human lightning rod" and he refuses to go outside after being struck by lightning three times. Luckily, he finds out the cause: His "boss sauce" that he uses in his transformation machine contains a huge amount of iron. Meanwhile, Laura and Myra compete for the same sales job at a department store.
#25 - Original Gangsta Dawg
Season 9 - Episode 10 - Aired 12/5/1997
Jaleel White dons another persona, that of Urkel's visiting hip-hop cousin, O.G.D. (short for Original Gangsta Dawg), who makes a bad first impression on the Winslows - hitting on Laura, spouting controversial ideas, and influencing 3J in a decidedly negative fashion. Meanwhile, a crooked thug who is owed $4,000 by O.G.D. arrives in town looking to collect on the debt. Singer Missy "Misdemeanor" Elliott has a cameo.
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