# Family Matters season 3

The third season of Family Matters, an American family sitcom created by William Bickley and Michael Warren, premiered on ABC in the U.S. on September 20, 1991, and concluded on May 8, 1992. The season produced by Bickley-Warren Productions, Miller-Boyett Productions, and Lorimar Television, with David W. Duclon as the executive producer. It consists of 25 episodes, most of which were directed by Richard Correll and John Tracy.

## Premise

Steve Urkel is still the annoying neighbor to the Winslow family, getting into situations such as bringing a lab chimpanzee to their home, suing Carl for destroying his priceless stick bug, creating a robot that chases after Laura, and joining the church choir despite being tone-deaf.

## 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
* Jaimee Foxworth as Judy Winslow
* Bryton McClure as Richie Crawford
* Jaleel White as Steve Urkel
* Telma Hopkins as Rachel Crawford

## Episodes

| No. overall | No. in season | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original release date | Prod. code | U.S. viewers (millions) |
| 48 | 1 | "Boom!" | Richard Correll | David W. Duclon | September 20, 1991 (1991-09-20) | 446902 | 22.7 |
| Steve makes friends with an orangutan, who is doomed to a life of scientific experiments. Meanwhile, Carl and Lt. Murtaugh try to defuse a bomb hidden in a treadmill, booby-trapped by a revenge-seeker named Nitro Newton (a.k.a. "The Boston Bomber"). ||||||||
| 49 | 2 | "Brain over Brawn" | Richard Correll | Fred Fox, Jr. | September 27, 1991 (1991-09-27) | 446903 | 19.4 |
| It's a battle of brains vs. brawn, as Steve and a braggart classmate vie for the affections of Laura in a rope-climbing contest. Laura suggests that Steve uses his brains to win the competition, leading him to invent a jet-pack to do so. Meanwhile, Carl and Eddie try to fix a leak in their roof, against Harriette's advice to call a professional. Though they succeed, Carl ends up falling off the roof and breaks both his arm and leg. It isn't long until Harriette gives him, her usual "I told you so". The episode ends with Steve's jet-pack sending him up through the Winslows' roof and out of Chicago. The second episode of Step by Step, "The Dance", begins with him landing on the Lamberts' picnic table as a result. In its original broadcast, there was a gag with Steve landing in Port Washington leading into his appearance on Step by Step, but it's since been removed in syndication. ||||||||
| 50 | 3 | "The Show Must Go On" | John Tracy | Gary M. Goodrich | October 4, 1991 (1991-10-04) | 446905 | 21.0 |
| With the original actor to portray Romeo (Bumper Robinson) in the hospital with appendicitis, Steve fills in to perform with Laura (who plays Juliet) in the school play. As one might guess, it ends up a disaster and Miss Steuben reprimands him. Meanwhile, Carl gets a beeper from Lt. Murtaugh, but as it turns out, he ends up doing meager tasks for him. Carl soon has had enough of Murtaugh's meager tasks and destroys the beeper. ||||||||
| 51 | 4 | "Words Hurt" | John Tracy | David W. Duclon & Fred Fox, Jr. | October 11, 1991 (1991-10-11) | 446904 | 21.0 |
| Harriette and Rachel hire a hypnotist (Earl Boen) to determine why a sleepwalking Steve has been acting out his hostilities on Carl. They learn that, during one of his visits, Steve caused an accident that ruined a model ship Carl had worked four and a half months on. Carl angrily told Steve to get lost, then (not knowing Steve could overhear him) told Laura he wished he'd go away permanently. Carl tries defending his actions, but Harriette and Rachel — in an effort to tell him that words hurt — decide to give him the silent treatment until he apologizes. When Carl invites Steve over so he can apologize to him in person, the latter hooks him up to a lie detector that shocks him whenever he lies. ||||||||
| 52 | 5 | "Daddy's Little Girl" | Richard Correll | Sara V. Finney & Vida Spears | October 18, 1991 (1991-10-18) | 446901 | 21.0 |
| When Carl's new rookie partner, Mike Forbes (Perry Moore), pays a visit to their home, Laura immediately develops a massive crush. When Mike gets invited to a diner, she attempts to dress and act older to look "sexy" and more adult, but does not realize her clothing and actions make her look silly. When Carl accidentally hurts her feeling by laughing at her fancy appearance, her feelings are deeply hurt and she feels ashamed in front of the young officer. Soon after, Harriette calls Carl out for embarrassing Laura and tells him to apologize. Carl and Laura finally make up when he explains he never meant anything bad, but as she is his beloved daughter, he can't think of her as anything else but "his little girl" and tells her that Mike is engaged. Meanwhile, Steve lands close to high tide in his family trip to Hawaii, and has a "pleasant" time escaping from a certain Hawaiian woman. ||||||||
| 53 | 6 | "Citizens' Court" | John Tracy | Regina Stewart | October 25, 1991 (1991-10-25) | 446906 | 22.6 |
| Carl accidentally kills Steve's prized Peruvian stick bug, worth about $500 and Steve grieves over the loss of his buggy friend. Carl reasons that "it was just a stupid bug" and refuses to apologize or at least compensate for what he had done; Steve is resolved to see if a small claims court judge agrees, taking his case to Citizen's Court (a parody of The People's Court). Rachel, Judy, and Richie watch from home where they fight over whether Carl will go to jail. There, the two bring out several "proofs" and "testimonies," some of which even fake, but before the judge (Mason Adams) can decide, Steve's speech finally makes Carl realize that it doesn't matter if it was "just a stupid bug," because it was of much greater importance to Steve. The two walk out from the court, not interested in and never finding out the judge's decision. ||||||||
| 54 | 7 | "Robo-Nerd" | Richard Correll | Gary Menteer | November 1, 1991 (1991-11-01) | 446910 | 23.1 |
| Steve creates Urkelbot (Michael Chambers) to win a computer for Laura in robotics contest, which soon develops a mind of its own and sets a trap to snare Laura for itself, but Steve manages to shut it down just in time. Meanwhile, Carl tries to slow down Estelle and Fletcher's relationship to no avail. When Harriette and Rachel calls Carl out for hurting his mother, he won't tell them why he doesn't approve of her relationship with Fletcher. ||||||||
| 55 | 8 | "Making the Team" | Richard Correll | David W. Duclon & Gary Menteer | November 8, 1991 (1991-11-08) | 446909 | 25.4 |
| Steve is doing his best to get onto the Vanderbilt High School basketball team, but neither Eddie nor the basketball coach believe he can play, and Steve is made equipment manager instead. Meanwhile, Laura, who just got into the cheerleading team, wants to show some new cheers to the bossy team captain, Cassie Lynn Nubbles (Kim Valentine), who snobbishly refuses to listen to Laura since she is a freshman. For the first time, Laura feels ashamed and feels like an outcast, and decides to ask Steve for advice. In the end, both Laura and Steve end up proving themselves. Laura does her new cheers at the next basketball game without permission from Cassie Lynn, who is demoted as team captain and replaced by Laura. At the same game, Steve is allowed to join the team when too many of Vanderbilt's players are injured, proving to be an excellent basketball player and making the game-winning shot. ||||||||
| 56 | 9 | "Born to Be Mild" | John Tracy | Jim Geoghan | November 15, 1991 (1991-11-15) | 446911 | 24.4 |
| A street gang, known as "The Dragons," comes into Rachel's Place and try to stir up trouble, but luckily, Carl comes by just in time to stop it. Later in the evening, the Winslows receive a police call that The Dragons trashed Rachel's Place, and when the family arrives to assess any damages, they learn that Eddie was brutally beaten up by the gang as he was getting back from a date. Carl is furious and wants revenge for what they did to Rachel's Place and to Eddie. However, Steve warns him not to do anything stupid by committing police brutality or he risks losing his badge. Therefore, Steve voluntarily offers to go into the lair of "The Dragons" under a disguise of a prospect thug wanting to join them, wired. He keeps them busy long enough to make them confess their crimes-- thanks to a loudmouth member-- and the leader is suspicious. Carl and his partner barge in at the last moment to arrest them and save Steve. ||||||||
| 57 | 10 | "The Love God" | John Tracy | Stephen Langford | November 22, 1991 (1991-11-22) | 446912 | 23.9 |
| Eddie wants to date an "easy" girl, named Vonda (Danielle Nicolet) but can't unless Steve helps tutor her. Though he succeeds, Steve is concerned for her well-being that she may be selling herself short, decides to counsel her on her ways before their first date. He teaches her that she doesn't have to be "easy" to be popular, because her nice and friendly personality will make her popular by default, much to Eddie's chagrin. Rachel meets a lovely man, who is a complete stranger to her. Meanwhile, Lt. Murtaugh is enjoying a few laughs when Carl must go out in drag as part of an undercover operation. It turns out well, though as Carl manages to catch a wanted man, Murtaugh is ordered to go out in drag for another undercover operation and Carl enjoys a few laughs as well. ||||||||
| 58 | 11 | "Old and Alone" | Richard Correll | Stephen Langford | November 29, 1991 (1991-11-29) | 446908 | 19.0 |
| Laura tells Steve he's banished from her life after he warns her about her new boyfriend's ulterior motives. In turn, Harriette tells Laura that her attitude may result in her growing "old and alone". Sure enough, she has a dream set 70 years in the future, where she has become an elderly spinster who is "old and alone". ||||||||
| 59 | 12 | "A Pair of Ladies" | John Tracy | Fred Fox, Jr. | December 6, 1991 (1991-12-06) | 446913 | 22.1 |
| With Rachel's Place understaffed, Rachel enlists Harriette's help. However, the two soon get into a huge argument after well-meaning Harriette is all too eager to offer suggestions. Meanwhile, Steve joins in Carl's poker night and gets cleaned out by the hustling Lt. Murtaugh. Soon, Steve gets his revenge on him when he beats Murtaugh with a four of a kind. After, Carl and Steve agree to one last bet: whoever takes the high card from the deck wins. If Steve won, he would get to come over anytime he wanted, but if Carl won, he would have to stay away for six months. Steve takes a card, but laments as the card was a 3. Carl takes a card, the audience being shown it was a jack. However, he pretends as if there was a deuce and tells Steve that he won. ||||||||
| 60 | 13 | "Choir Trouble" | James O'Keefe | Mary M. Schwarze | December 20, 1991 (1991-12-20) | 446907 | 20.7 |
| In her attempts to whip the church choir into shape for the upcoming Gospel Sunday, new choir director Rachel kicks new church member Steve out of the choir because he is tone-deaf. Soon, everyone else leaves the choir after being fed up with her micromanagement. Estelle sets Rachel straight by advising her that God isn't interested in the quality of the voice, but that the words come from the heart. ||||||||
| 61 | 14 | "A Test of Friendship" | Richard Correll | Regina Stewart | January 10, 1992 (1992-01-10) | 446915 | 23.9 |
| Steve faces expulsion from school when he colludes with Eddie (who didn't study) to cheat on a chemistry test against Waldo's admonition in the latter. Although feeling bad about it, Eddie refuses to confess until Laura gives him an ultimatum: do the right thing by confessing to save Steve from expulsion or she'll tell on Eddie to everyone (including their parents) about him cheating on the test and let him deal with the consequences. Meanwhile, Carl becomes the laughingstock of the precinct (thanks largely to Lt. Murtaugh) when revenge-seeking burglars use sleeping gas to put Carl to sleep, then rob the Winslows blind. However, their second attempt to rob the Winslows again is foiled when Estelle, Harriette and Rachel come home in time to nab the burglars by hitting them in the head with a snow shovel and chases them inside the house. In the end, the Winslows get their furniture back, Eddie is grounded, he and Steve must retake the test before their suspension is lifted and the burglars are back in jail. Carl is later chased by Harriette and Rachel for his lack of appreciation for them in saving his job. ||||||||
| 62 | 15 | "Jailhouse Blues" | Gary Menteer | Sara V. Finney & Vida Spears | January 24, 1992 (1992-01-24) | 446914 | 23.1 |
| Harriette's troublesome second cousin from Detroit, Clarence (Shaun Baker), is sent to the Winslows to live. Clarence - aka "Easy-C" - quickly proves to be a bad influence on Eddie and gets him, an unwilling Steve, and a car full of pretty girls (Vivica A. Fox and Mari Morrow) in serious trouble for grand theft auto. After the owner of the stolen car is convinced to drop the charges, Steve is returned home to his upset parents, a remorseless Clarence is sent back to Detroit to face his family's wrath, and Eddie is punished by doing community service for the remainder of the year after failing to feign remorse. Carl later comforts Harriette about Clarence and how Eddie will make mistakes. ||||||||
| 63 | 16 | "Brown Bombshell" | John Tracy | Sara V. Finney & Vida Spears | January 31, 1992 (1992-01-31) | 446918 | 23.0 |
| Estelle is determined to share the stories of her late fighter-pilot husband and World War II's Tuskegee Airmen to an uninterested Winslow clan: especially Eddie and the children. Harriette lambastes Eddie for his behavior and reminds him that he needs to set a better example than the one he showed. Eventually, she is invited to share her stories with Eddie's American History class to which they are very interested and even he admits he's proud of his grandfather. Meanwhile, Steve's prison pen pal (LaWanda Page) is released, yet she believes Carl is Steve and makes moves on Carl. It's up to both of them to get his pen pal out of the house before Harriette finds out. ||||||||
| 64 | 17 | "Food, Lies and Videotape" | John Tracy | Stephen Langford | February 7, 1992 (1992-02-07) | 446919 | 22.9 |
| Steve enrolls in a home economics course (just because Laura is in the same class). He soon learns that he's simply not cut out to be a cook, but is actually fine with it. Waldo discovers he might just have a hidden culinary talent and hones in on it. Laura learns how to take time to prepare her meals properly and not rush through them. Whereas, Cassie Lynn refuses to accept that she can't rely on her good looks all the time and need to do something with herself. Meanwhile, Richie and Judy film Eddie kissing his girlfriend Vonda, which chases her away. While trying to open the camera, Richie drops it. Judy tells him he's on his own with this and must confess to Carl. ||||||||
| 65 | 18 | "My Broken-Hearted Valentine" | Richard Correll | Gary Menteer | February 14, 1992 (1992-02-14) | 446916 | 21.2 |
| Laura becomes further annoyed and angry with Steve, accusing him of once again interfering her romance with Daniel Wallace (Bumper Robinson). Later, she becomes upset with Maxine when she relates her negative experience with Daniel, thinking it to be little more than jealousy. It turns out that the advice from Steve and Maxine is best heeded, especially when Daniel attempts to coerce Laura in her room in order to have sex with her on Valentine's Day. When he tries to pressure her in the same way Maxine said he tried to with her, Laura realizes that her friends were right all along, breaks up with Daniel and banishes him from her life forever, and kicks him out via her window. After she tells Harriette about it, Laura is reprimanded for not listening to her friends and is told to apologize to them at once. ||||||||
| 66 | 19 | "Woman of the People" | Richard Correll | David W. Duclon & Gary Menteer | February 21, 1992 (1992-02-21) | 446920 | 20.2 |
| Laura is engaged in a heated campaign for class president with snobbish Cassie Lynn (Kim Valentine). However, things grow ugly when she takes some incriminating photos of Laura seeming to embrace Steve (he actually caught her when she fell and was using his weight as a brace) in order to win by cheating. Fortunately, Steve decides to turn Cassie Lynn's plan against her and have Eddie take photos of them kissing. When she tries to point out that he kissed her, Steve reminds Cassie Lynn that he knows how the rumors work having earlier caught her in the act in threatening Laura with exposure of the photos in order to make her withdraw from the election. So Steve intends to return the favor to Cassie Lynn by letting Eddie publish the pictures of them kissing to the school newspaper, allowing the students to think otherwise and ruin her reputation if she doesn't listen at once. He is able to convince her that they can do the election fairly by letting the other students vote and decide for themselves. Cassie Lynn reluctantly agrees to Steve's terms and Laura wins by a landslide. Meanwhile, Carl refuses to participate in a neighborhood watch squad and is later reprimanded for his selfishness. ||||||||
| 67 | 20 | "Love and Kisses" | John Tracy | Jim Geoghan | February 28, 1992 (1992-02-28) | 446917 | 21.8 |
| When Laura and Maxine are unable to get tickets to his concert, Steve invites R&B singer Johnny Gill to serenade Laura (in exchange for one of Steve's prized 1952 Topps Mickey Mantle cards), in hopes that she will decide to go out with him. However, at the last second, he decides it's better to let her make her own decision whether she wants to go out with him or not. Meanwhile, Carl and Harriette take a second honeymoon to a resort but are quickly left out in the cold. ||||||||
| 68 | 21 | "Stop! In the Name of Love" | John Tracy | David W. Duclon & Gary Menteer | March 13, 1992 (1992-03-13) | 446922 | 19.7 |
| This time, it's Waldo who has the crush on Laura, particularly when she tries to encourage him after a string of bad luck with dates. Carl and Murtaugh argue of Estelle's driving when Estelle destroys Lt. Murtaugh's new car. Their fighting escalates with a pie fight, with Steve taking the hit. Soon the nerd is fed up and decides to throw a pie at both Carl and Murtaugh. However, an unsuspecting Laura ends up being the recipient of the pie, causing her to chase Steve around. ||||||||
| 69 | 22 | "The Urkel Who Came to Dinner" | John Tracy | Regina Stewart | April 3, 1992 (1992-04-03) | 446921 | 23.0 |
| When his parents go out of town unannounced, Steve is invited to stay with the Winslows. However, he unwittingly manages to create havoc: he accidentally vacuums and swallows a fish Carl was looking after for Lt. Murtaugh; he encourages Richie to fight a preschool bully, and he drives away Laura's study date (Mark) when he suspects he's got less than admirable motives. When the family confronts him about it, Estelle and Richie end up mediating the fight. Richie reveals that Steve didn't intend for him to fight the bully, but rather stand up to him. Rachel soon realizes she was wrong and apologizes to Steve for her quick judgment. Estelle mentions to Laura that she should have been grateful to Steve in chasing Mark away. When asked why, Estelle reveals that she and Fletcher had caught him at Lovers Lane with a certain red haired classmate he claimed to have broken up with (when in fact he was dating her on the sly). Laura recognizes the girl from her class and is humiliated when she realizes that Mark had not only lied to her, but is also a two-timer. ||||||||
| 70 | 23 | "Robo-Nerd II" | Richard Correll | Gary Menteer | April 24, 1992 (1992-04-24) | 446923 | 19.8 |
| Steve revamps his Urkelbot into a crime-fighting bot, encouraging Carl to use the technology to solve a rash of convenience store burglaries. Meanwhile, the Winslow women get a nasty surprise when the new shampoo that they ordered causes them to go bald. After buying wigs, the women ask Steve if they can use Urkelbot to trace the shampoo back to the con-artists and get them arrested for their fraud. They soon discover that Urkelbot has no interest in police work and wants to be a dancer instead. ||||||||
| 71 | 24 | "Dudes" | Richard Correll | Fred Fox, Jr. & Jim Geoghan | May 1, 1992 (1992-05-01) | 446924 | 17.3 |
| Despite Laura's admonition that the show is sexist, Steve, Eddie and Waldo are contestants on the local teen dating show Dudes. Steve uses the show to reaffirm his love for Laura, leading her to reprimand him for his behavior. Meanwhile, Carl tries to find out what his family is planning for his birthday. ||||||||
| 72 | 25 | "Farewell, My Laura" | Richard Correll | David W. Duclon & Gary Menteer | May 8, 1992 (1992-05-08) | 446925 | 17.6 |
| Laura and Rachel find a novel that Steve wrote, portraying him as gumshoe crime fighter Johnny Danger. Danger is paid to protect supper club owner Rachel, who is targeted by an assassin. When Rachel is killed, the "Wigglesworths," Murtaugh, and Waldo are all suspects. Who murdered Rachel, and can he find out fast? ||||||||