# Family Matters season 1

The first season of the sitcom Family Matters originally aired on ABC from September 22, 1989 to April 27, 1990.

## Premise

In the first season, following the death of her husband, Robert, Rachel moves in to the Winslow household with her son, Richie. The house is occupied by Carl, Rachel's brother-in-law, Harriette, Rachel's sister, Estelle, Carl's mother, Edward (Eddie), Laura and Judy. The first appearance of Steve Urkel is in episode four (syndication only). In episode 12, it is revealed to the audience that he's in love with Laura.

## Main cast

* Reginald VelJohnson as Carl Winslow
* Jo Marie Payton as Harriette Winslow
* Rosetta LeNoire as Estelle Winslow
* Darius McCrary as Eddie Winslow
* Kellie Shanygne Williams as Laura Winslow
* Valerie Jones (this pilot only) and Jaimee Foxworth as Judy Winslow
* Joseph and Julius Wright as Richie Crawford
* Telma Hopkins as Rachel Crawford

### Recurring cast

* Jaleel White as Steve Urkel (Credited as "Guest Starring": episodes 12-17, 19-20. Credited as "Also Starring": episodes 18, 21-22 and rerun/syndication versions of episodes 4, 7, 8, 10)

## Episodes

| No. overall | No. in season | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original air date | Prod. code | U.S. viewers (millions) |
| 1 | 1 | "The Mama Who Came to Dinner" | Joel Zwick | William Bickley & Michael Warren | September 22, 1989 (1989-09-22) | 445230 | 21.9 |
| Mother Winslow moves in and immediately begins to usurp Carl's authority. Eddie wants to go out with his friends, but he has a strict curfew that complicates things with Carl. ||||||||
| 2 | 2 | "Two Income Family" | James O'Keefe | Robert Blair | September 29, 1989 (1989-09-29) | 446002 | 21.1 |
| Harriette loses her job to automation, forcing the family into austerity measures while Carl stews over the family debts. Guest star: Larry Block ||||||||
| 3 | 3 | "Short Story" | Joel Zwick | William Bickley & Michael Warren | October 6, 1989 (1989-10-06) | 446001 | 22.6 |
| Rachel writes a short story with characters that seem all too familiar; Carl becomes obsessed with the family's out of proportion water bill. ||||||||
| 4 | 4 | "Rachel's First Date" | John Bowab | Sally Lapiduss & Pamela Eells | October 13, 1989 (1989-10-13) | 446004 | 20.8 |
| The Winslows finally get to be alone together when Rachel accepts a date with a man from the church choir. Note: The original cold opening for this episode was replaced for reruns and syndication with a new cold opening featuring Jaleel White as Steve Urkel (who would not debut until episode 1.12.) ||||||||
| 5 | 5 | "Straight A's" | John Bowab | Geoff Gordon & Gordon Lewis | October 20, 1989 (1989-10-20) | 446007 | 22.4 |
| Eddie comes home with straight A's on his report card and the whole family is proud of him. Rodney comes over and tells him that he changed the grades on the report cards on the school computer. Eddie doesn't want to tell the truth because he fears that he will hurt Carl's feelings. ||||||||
| 6 | 6 | "Basketball Blues" | James O'Keefe | Barry Gold | November 3, 1989 (1989-11-03) | 446003 | 23.1 |
| Carl's efforts to get Eddie psyched for a pro basketball career is enhanced by a visit from basketball star Bolton. However, he ends up learning a hard lesson in trying to force his dreams on Eddie when Bolton discovers everything Harriette warned him about is true. ||||||||
| 7 | 7 | "Body Damage" | James O'Keefe | Ken Kuta | November 10, 1989 (1989-11-10) | 446005 | 21.9 |
| Rachel takes an unauthorized spin in the classic automobile that Carl plans to drive in the Columbus Day Parade. Note: The original cold opening for this episode was replaced for reruns and syndication with a new cold opening featuring Jaleel White as Steve Urkel (who would not debut until episode 1.12.) ||||||||
| 8 | 8 | "Mr. Badwrench" | John Bowab | Alan Eisenstock & Larry Mintz | November 17, 1989 (1989-11-17) | 446006 | 20.6 |
| Self-proclaimed handyman Carl decides to install a shower in Mother Winslow's quarters while she's out of town. Harriette tries to talk him out of it, reminding him of his previous disastrous attempts at fixing anything in the house. Note: The original cold opening for this episode was replaced for reruns and syndication with a new cold opening featuring Jaleel White as Steve Urkel (who would not debut until episode 1.12.) ||||||||
| 9 | 9 | "Stake-Out" | James O'Keefe | Sally Lapiduss & Pamela Eells | November 24, 1989 (1989-11-24) | 446010 | 19.9 |
| After Carl is on an all-night stakeout with his attractive new partner, Harriette finds a room key to Louise's Love Grotto in his pocket. Guest star: Olivia Brown ||||||||
| 10 | 10 | "False Arrest" | Peter Baldwin | Barry Gold | December 1, 1989 (1989-12-01) | 446008 | 22.2 |
| The Winslows are aghast to discover that Carl has arrested their TV idol, Buddy Goodrich. However, their aghast turns to anger when they learn that Buddy broke the law in parking in the handicapped lot and how he treated Carl. Guest star: Ron Glass Note: The original cold opening for this episode was replaced for reruns and syndication with a new cold opening featuring Jaleel White as Steve Urkel (who would not debut until episode 1.12.) ||||||||
| 11 | 11 | "The Quilt" | Peter Baldwin | David Scott Richardson | December 8, 1989 (1989-12-08) | 446009 | 24.0 |
| Laura sells a quilt Grandmother Winslow considered an heirloom. ||||||||
| 12 | 12 | "Laura's First Date" | Richard Correll | William Bickley & Michael Warren | December 15, 1989 (1989-12-15) | 446012 | 17.3 |
| Laura wants to go to an upcoming dance with a good-looking guy. Carl and Eddie try to find Laura a date. Carl asks Steve Urkel to take Laura to the dance, while Eddie asks one of his friends to take her out. When Laura finds out what happened, she is humiliated. Note: First appearance of Jaleel White as Steve Urkel. ||||||||
| 13 | 13 | "Man's Best Friend" | Richard Correll | Robert Blair | January 5, 1990 (1990-01-05) | 446013 | 24.5 |
| Carl has a rule he intends to enforce: No pets in the house; . . . until he meets a big, playful puppy who follows the kids home from school. ||||||||
| 14 | 14 | "Baker's Dozen" | James O'Keefe | Ken Kuta | January 12, 1990 (1990-01-12) | 446014 | 24.9 |
| Thanks to Rachel's brainstorm, Carl could become the "king of tarts" if he shares his secret recipe for lemon tarts, which were a big hit at a local restaurant. ||||||||
| 15 | 15 | "The Big Reunion" | Richard Correll | Alan Eisenstock & Larry Mintz | January 19, 1990 (1990-01-19) | 446011 | 26.0 |
| Carl decides to lose weight before going to his high-school reunion. ||||||||
| 16 | 16 | "The Party" | Richard Correll | Ken Kuta | February 2, 1990 (1990-02-02) | 446016 | 24.6 |
| Eddie is left in charge of Judy and Laura with a strict "No Friends Allowed" rule he must enforce. He obeys at first, but when dinner is ruined, Rodney saves them with pizza. This eventually culminates into a huge party that Eddie is unable to stop. ||||||||
| 17 | 17 | "The Big Fix" | Richard Correll | Sally Lapiduss & Pamela Eells | February 9, 1990 (1990-02-09) | 446017 | 22.8 |
| Eddie persuades Laura to date a guy he's indebted to – Steve Urkel, who's decided to hold the Prince concert tickets Eddie wants to go. When Laura finally agrees, the date proves to be disastrous from the start. Meanwhile, Carl makes a horrible attempt to fix a wobbly chair, despite Harriette's admonition for him to be sensible and buy a replacement chair. Judy builds a diorama for school. ||||||||
| 18 | 18 | "Sitting Pretty" | Richard Correll | Ken Kuta | February 23, 1990 (1990-02-23) | 446018 | 23.4 |
| Laura's babysitting service floods the house with children at a bad time on the night Carl has invited his captain over and the night her babysitters decided to cancel just to see the Paula Abdul concert. Meanwhile, Rachel must contend with having to tell a new date about her being a mother. ||||||||
| 19 | 19 | "In a Jam" | Richard Correll | Alan Eisenstock & Larry Mintz | March 16, 1990 (1990-03-16) | 446019 | 21.7 |
| Eddie wants to do the right thing when faced with protecting Steve from a bully who threatens to beat him up, which could get Eddie creamed as well. Guest star: Markus Redmond ||||||||
| 20 | 20 | "The Candidate" | James O'Keefe | Barry Gold | March 23, 1990 (1990-03-23) | 446015 | 23.4 |
| Eddie places image over integrity in his class president bid when image-maker Laura offers a thousand points of light to illuminate his campaign. ||||||||
| 21 | 21 | "Bowl Me Over" | Richard Correll | Robert Blair | April 20, 1990 (1990-04-20) | 446021 | 20.3 |
| The men vie with the women in a bowling match and Carl's philosophy about accepting defeat gracefully ends up in the gutter when Hariette aces him out. ||||||||
| 22 | 22 | "Rock Video" | Richard Correll | Geoff Gordon & Gordon Lewis | April 27, 1990 (1990-04-27) | 446020 | 19.9 |
| When Eddie's big ego threatens to disband his group during the making of a rock video for a contest, the rest of the Winslows offer some ideas. ||||||||