The ninth and final season of the family sitcom as Family Matters which originally aired on CBS from September 19, 1997 to July 17, 1998. The season consists of 22 episodes. It was aired during 1997–98 television season. It was release from DVD (Region 1) on November 8, 2016.
Plot
This is the final season of the Family Matters series, if it weren't for the fact that the tenth season was cancelled.
Cast
Main
| Portrayed by | Character |
|---|---|
| Reginald VelJohnson | Carl Winslow |
| Jo Marie Payton (E. 1–206) | Harriette Winslow |
| Judyann Elder (E. 207–215) | |
| Darius McCrary | Eddie Winslow |
| Kellie Shanygne Williams | Laura Winslow |
| Jaleel White | Steve Urkel |
| Michelle Thomas | Myra Monkhouse |
Supporting cast
| Portrayed by | Character |
|---|---|
| Bryton McClure (E. 6–11) | Richie Crawford |
| Orlando Brown | Jerry Jamal "3J" Jameson |
Recurring
| Portrayed by | Character |
|---|---|
| Cherie Johnson | Maxine Johnson |
| Tammy Townsend | Greta McClure |
Guest (cameo)
| Portrayed by | Character |
|---|---|
| Telma Hopkins | Rachel Crawford |
| Rosetta LeNoire | Estelle Winslow |
Syndicated repeats closing
While the first seven seasons featured Reginald VelJohnson's voice in the closing of the syndicated repeats, it is absent for the final season. Instead, the Warner Bros. Television theme plays as it transitions from said logo to the Warner Bros. Domestic Television Distribution logo.
Production
Reportedly, the rising salaries for the cast and rising production costs for CBS to keep it on the air were reasons for the cancellation. In late Spring 1998, despite CBS informs programming block of CBS Block Party that the sitcom "may get picked up" for tenth and final season, but on May 1998 the show of Family Matters was cancelled after nine seasons as well as Step by Step. Miller-Boyett stated that "the reason 'Family Matters' is not coming back when is purely demolished", after that Miller-Boyett has been shut down in 1999.
After the series ended, the set was transformed into a new set for Everybody Loves Raymond, but it was replace by a highest rating series Friends, which had just finished up its fourth season, and was competing against Family Matters at the time.
Personal changes
Gary M. Goodrich becomes co-producer.
Episodes
Season nine consists of 22 episodes.
| No. in series |
No. in season |
Title | Original air date | Director | Writer(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 194 | 1 | Out with the Old | September 19, 1997 | Joel Zwick | David W. Duclon and Gary Menteer |
| Urkel decides that he needs to give himself a whole new look, somewhat similar to alter ego Stefan Urquelle, in order to win Laura's heart. The makeover comes just in time for Laura's charity auction, where bachelors' kisses are auctioned. Eddie makes $5,000 because of Myrtle's bids. When nobody bids on the nerd, Laura, reluctantly, makes the one and only bid on Steve's kisses. This ending foreshadows the changing relationship between Steve and Laura as Laura seems to enjoy the kiss much more than she expected. Meanwhile, Carl gets upset when he learns Harriette is making more money than him after a promotion, so Carl takes a second job to become the breadwinner again. However, he once again regrets it when he learns that Harriette had been planning a birthday gift surprise. | |||||
| 195 | 2 | They Shoot Ducks, Don't They? | September 26, 1997 | Joel Zwick | Jim Geoghan |
| Carl and his boss, Commissioner Geiss go out for a day of duck hunting. Urkel tags along with them, with comedic results and Urkel won't let Carl or Geiss kill the ducks. Meanwhile, Laura "borrows" her mom's diamond earrings for a night at the Sizzle Club, yet comes home shocked to find out that one of the earrings is missing. When Myra learns that Urkel had gotten a makeover against her wishes, she tells him to return to the sexy nerd she loves so much. | |||||
| 196 | 3 | Dumb Belle of the Ball | October 3, 1997 | Joel Zwick | Fred Fox Jr. |
| Ending up in the hospital after saving Eddie from getting hit by an oncoming car, Myrtle is thrilled when Eddie promises to take her to the Biloxi Debutante Ball, and teaching the others, including Big Daddy why Myrtle deserves to be there. Meanwhile, Laura upsets Carl when she goes out to the Sizzle Club in a thin, tight dress after promising to change into anything that was less revealing. She soon realizes how much she has hurt Carl after catching an episode of Extra! | |||||
| 197 | 4 | Drinking and Jiving | October 10, 1997 | Joel Zwick | Gary M. Goodrich |
| Laura and Maxine go to a fraternity party and Laura ditches her goody-two-shoes reputation by having her first beer, along with her second and third. Urkel arrives to stop this nonsense and gets a drunken Laura home. There, she gives Steve a huge kiss. In the morning, Urkel mentions the kiss to Laura, yet she claims that she doesn't remember. When Maxine asks about it, Laura admitted she lied and remembered the kiss. Meanwhile, Carl and Harriette have separate wedding anniversary plans and both tell Eddie about their plans. Then, once they both find out about each other's plans, they start to fight, forcing one of them to reconsider their plans. Eddie wisely tells them to compromise instead of fighting with one another. | |||||
| 198 | 5 | Who's Afraid of the Big Black Book? | October 17, 1997 | Joel Zwick | Stephen Langford and Laura M. Stein |
| Eddie and Laura play a series of "get even" tricks on each other. Eddie invites Laura's ex, Rick, over on a night she wants to spend with Stefan, but the suave Urkel easily gets rid of his tormentor. An angry Laura decides to get even by tricking Urkel into inviting Eddie's ex-girlfriends to a surprise birthday party. Infuriated, Urkel and Greta sets them straight by making Eddie and Laura realize that their immature tricks are just that. Meanwhile, Carl is upset that Commissioner Geiss passed him over for a promotion to captain, choosing his son instead (despite the fact Carl is more qualified). Carl proves to the commissioner his worth when he is able to defuse a potentially deadly gangfight, and the son also informs his father that he needs more time before he's ready to be a captain, allowing Carl to gain the position. | |||||
| 199 | 6 | A Mind is a Terrible Thing to Read | October 24, 1997 | Joel Zwick | Timothy Stack |
| While testing an invention to improve memory in a school-funded laboratory, Urkel gains the ability to read minds, but soon gives up his newfound powers when the Winslows feel their privacy has been invaded (But not before hearing that as of late, Laura has been attracted to him. After giving up his mind reading powers, Urkel suffers a brief moment of short term memory loss. Meanwhile, Carl fills in as a Head Scoutmaster to Richie, 3J and their fellow Junior Woodsmen. | |||||
| 200 | 7 | Stevil II: This Time, He's Not Alone | October 31, 1997 | Richard Correll | Jim Geoghan |
| The follow-up to last season's Halloween episode "Stevil", an evil ventriloquist dummy that looks just like Steve. In this episode, Stevil is accompanied by Carlsbad, an equally evil dummy that looks like Carl. | |||||
| 201 | 8 | Trading Places | November 7, 1997 | John Tracy | Fred Fox Jr. |
| Stefan, wondering if Laura had developed some loving feelings for Urkel, swaps identities with Steve to find out. Though they are successful, Laura confronts both Steve and Stefan for their behavior. Meanwhile, Eddie shoots a class-project video about Carl and what he does as an officer for the Chicago Police Department. Though the first video comes off as a failure, Eddie comes up with another video with his community kindly contributing to it. | |||||
| 202 | 9 | A Pain in Harassment | November 14, 1997 | Joel Zwick | Beverly D. Hunter and Meg DeLoatch |
| Harriette and her co-workers get a new boss Mr. Benner (Mark Linn-Baker) who uses verbal abuse to try to make his employees perform better. Soon, she confronts him and tells him unless he treats her and the other co-workers better, she quits. This causes Mr. Ferguson to take immediate action and fires Benner for his abuse. Harriette is soon rehired and has a VP/Head of Sales job. Meanwhile, Urkel wins a chance to win $1 million by making a half-court shot during the halftime portion of a Los Angeles Clippers game. Steve does win the $1 million only to lose nearly all of it when he throws the ball up in celebration and inadvertently destroys the scoreboard. | |||||
| 203 | 10 | Original Gangsta Dawg | December 5, 1997 | Gary Menteer | Meg DeLoatch |
| Cornelius Eugene Urkel aka Original Gangsta Dawg (O.G.D.) (Urkel's hip-hop cousin from Detroit, Michigan) has an unwelcome visit to the Winslow household while Steve is away visiting his uncle. His gangster ways and behavior enrages both Carl and Harriette. Little does O.G.D. know is that he'll need the Winslows' help on evading a titanic thug (known as Fresh Squeeze), to whom he owes $4,000. Meanwhile after getting a rude answer from O.G.D, Stefan and Steve conference call O.G.D. to let him know that his behavior is unacceptable and that Steve will be dealing with him tomorrow. Later, Carl has an encounter with Fresh Squeeze and after recognizing him, sneakily escorts the thug to jail. | |||||
| 204 | 11 | Deck the Malls | December 19, 1997 | Gary Menteer | Stephen Langford |
| During the Christmas season, the Winslows and Urkel get jobs at the mall. Steve becomes a gift-wrapper with Myra, Carl becomes a department store Santa Claus and Laura becomes an elf. Meanwhile, Richie finds out that his mom, Rachel, is unable to come home for the holiday. When one kid makes a wish to help his father find a job, Carl as Santa, gives him a business card to give to his father to call. | |||||
| 205 | 12 | Grill of My Dreams | January 9, 1998 | Richard Correll | Michael Dawson and Ron Geiger |
| In an effort to decrease his clumsiness, control of his shenanigans, to keep him away from bugging Carl, Eddie and Laura a lot and prevents him from causing damages to the Winslow 🏡, Urkel gets a job at Tanaka Gardens (a Japanese restaurant) as a master teppanyaki chef. His training is put to the test when Laura and Maxine drop by for a visit. Meanwhile, while Commissioner Geiss is away on a second honeymoon, Carl must watch his pet parrot, Andre. However, when Andre starts to repeatedly say "Geiss is an idiot," Carl must try to make the parrot stop saying that phrase before Geiss comes home. | |||||
| 206 | 13 | Breaking Up Is Hard to Do | January 16, 1998 | Richard Correll | Gary M. Goodrich |
| Urkel decides to end his relationship with Myra when he becomes aware that she hated his makeover and wanted him to go back to the sexy nerd she loves. He becomes surprised at dinner that she breaks up with him first. However, Steve is unaware that it was just Myra's futile attempt to try to keep the relationship going by trying to get him to renounce his love for Laura. When he finds out, he tells her off to leave and never come back. Meanwhile, with mediocre grades in college, Eddie decides to drop out and become a police officer like his dad. | |||||
| 207 | 14 | Crazy for You (Part 1) | January 23, 1998 | Richard Correll | Jim Geoghan |
| Myra begins her attack on the Steve Urkel-Laura Winslow relationship with the help of her "Stevie-Glasses-Cam" (placed on Steve's glasses unbeknownst to him) and enlists the help of Stefan Urquelle to try to spoil an upcoming Saturday night date. However, Stefan soon feels guilty about the whole thing and stops after realizing how insane Myra really is. Meanwhile, Carl tries to show a trigger-happy Eddie a lesson in good judgment during police training. He uses a cardboard picture of Laura as part of the training and Eddie realizes how his lack of gun control could have negative consequences if he were to accidentally shoot an innocent bystander. | |||||
| 208 | 15 | Crazier for You (Part 2) | January 30, 1998 | Richard Correll | Fred Fox Jr. |
| Urkel finds out that Myra has been using his glasses to spy on him and knows that she's really "snapped her cap" when she dresses like Laura and interrupts their romantic evening. Despite getting Laura arrested for "stealing her watch", Urkel is able to get the charges dropped by exposing Myra's stalking that leads to both her arrest and possible charges. Meanwhile, Harriette finds out that her engagement ring was originally intended for another woman that Carl used to date. | |||||
| 209 | 16 | Whose Man Is It Anyway? | June 5, 1998 | Richard Correll | Meg DeLoatch |
| Myrtle is willing to fight for her man, Eddie, so she decides to challenge Greta to a boxing match at Silver's Gym. Meanwhile, 3J begins asking questions about his biological mother, prompting Carl and Harriette to track the woman down. | |||||
| 210 | 17 | Polkapalooza | June 12, 1998 | Joel Zwick | Stephen Langford and Saundra Stein-Langford |
| Laura has never been a fan of polka music; she finally decides she has nothing to lose and decides to accompany Urkel to a polka jamboree. But instead of being bored and annoyed by the larger-than-life festival-goers, she actually has a great time and finally realizes that, after all these years, Urkel may indeed be the guy she was looking for all along. While the two are dancing to some slow, more romantic tunes, she finally tells him "I love you too" after one more of his love "confessions". Meanwhile, Eddie gets a room at an apartment building and even allows Carl to come see him anytime. Little does Eddie know is that he'll regret those words when he tries to have some alone time with Greta. | |||||
| 211 | 18 | Throw Urkel off the Train | June 19, 1998 | Joel Zwick | Michael Dawson and Ron Geiger |
| Carl fumes about not accepting a promotion five years ago that would have transferred him to Washington, D.C. While boarding a train to travel to the nation's capital for a seminar, luggage boy Urkel accidentally stows away. The usual antics result, but the nerd helps Carl realize that "the road not taken" was perhaps the right decision after all. Meanwhile, Laura becomes suspicious about Maxine's new boyfriend D'Andre (Kristoff St. John), especially after he asks her to deliver a package for him and Eddie helps her prove it. | |||||
| 212 | 19 | Don't Make Me Over | June 26, 1998 | Joel Zwick | Beverly D. Hunter and Meg DeLoatch |
| Myrtle, making her last push for Eddie, enlists Laura and Maxine to make her over head to toe. But Eddie, firmly in love with Greta, still is not impressed, so Myrtle decides to pursue someone else, which makes Eddie realize he'll somewhat miss her annoying attempts to win him, and asks her what is he supposed to do now that she's leaving for good. Myrtle replies with a famous movie quote from "Gone with the Wind" – "Frankly Dear, I don't give a damn". Meanwhile, Carl doesn't want Harriette to worry about his beautiful new masseuse, so he fibs about her appearance, claiming the masseuse is a "big, beefy sistea". | |||||
| 213 | 20 | Pop Goes the Question | July 3, 1998 | Joel Zwick | David W. Duclon and Gary Menteer |
| Carl tells a fellow police officer about Laura's engagement. Both Steve and Stefan propose to Laura. Her past adventures with both the nerd and the one-time "man of her dreams" are replayed through flashbacks (Steve in "Marriage 101," and Stefan in "We're Going to Disney World"). Laura is conflicted between the two, and when Steve feels Stefan is better, he plans to move to Russia to be with his parents, but Laura stops Urkel when she realizes she couldn't live without him, and tearfully accepts his marriage proposal, saying that she is sure that he is the one for her, a promise which the two seal with a kiss. | |||||
| 214 | 21 | Lost in Space (Part 1) | July 10, 1998 | Joel Zwick | Gary M. Goodrich and Timothy Stack |
| After NASA buys the patent to one of Urkel's inventions, he's sent into space with a pair of astronauts to test it out. However, Steve's invention unintentionally causes a nearby satellite to crash into the space shuttle, and before long he sends himself hurtling through outer space. Meanwhile, Harriette (worried for the well-being of rookie officer Eddie) demands to have him assigned to giving out tickets for parking meter violations. Myra attempts to use the media to pose as Urkel's fiancée, but is caught by Stefan who finally forces her to relinquish her love for him. | |||||
| 215 | 22 | Lost in Space (Part 2) | July 17, 1998 | Joel Zwick | Gary M. Goodrich and Timothy Stack |
| NASA struggles to recover its astronauts and save Urkel's life. However, all ends well, and Steve returns to Earth a national hero. Meanwhile, while on meter duty, Eddie finds himself in the middle of a shootout. Eddie survives thanks to the lucky bullet-proof vest that Carl gave him. During that time, Carl and Eddie help Harriette realize that the job is dangerous and she needs to support them no matter what. Steve sees Laura at the end of the episode and says "You get more beautiful every time I see you." Laura then says she will kiss him only on one condition, Steve will have to promise to "never go into outer space again." Steve replies with "Only when we kiss, Laura Lee, only when we kiss" and they do, with a final applause from the audience. | |||||
Trivia
- The series was picked up for a final season by CBS.
- Bryton James, Rosetta LeNoire and Telma Hopkins are leaving the cast member in episode "Deck the Malls".
- Jo Marie Payton was let go from the series, the character of Harriette Winslow disappearing without explanation, but still referred to by the other characters, but it was replace by Judyann Elder from Martin.
- This is also Family Matters to be cancelled for "TGIF" when they decided not to order season ten renewals, but in June 1998 it was announced that the ninth season would indeed be the final season of the show, with the series finale airing July 17, 1998.
- The creators' original plan for the ending for Out with the Old was to have Steve realize his true love is Myra and relinquish his love for Laura at the Sizzle Club. While watching the two kiss, Myrtle watches on in the background. She quickly realizes that she is too annoying to Eddie and that she wasted her time pursuing his love. Thus, Myrtle decides that maybe Steve had right idea and she should be with someone who loves and accepts her as herself. CBS didn't like the idea and the season was changed.