List of Family Matters episodes

Harriette gets fired from her job as elevator operator at the Chicago Chronicle after she asks for a raise. When Carl frets over the family's mounting debts, Harriette returns to the Chronicle to apply for a position as head of security.

Widowed Rachel is anxious about her first date since the death of her husband.

Eddie's report card arrives full of straight A's. The problem is, he didn't get straight A's; unbeknownst to Eddie, his practical joking pal, Rodney, used his computer to create a fake report card with straight A's. How does Eddie break the news to his family when he finds out?

Carl plans to drive a vintage police car in the upcoming Columbus Day parade. However, Rachel beats him to the punch, taking an unauthorized spin and getting into a minor accident as a result. She then makes a hurried effort to cover up the damage before Carl notices.

Carl and Eddie try to renovate an unused downstairs room into a bathroom for Estelle, despite Harriette's admonition to hire a contractor while Mother Winslow is visiting Carl's brother.

An egotistical actor that the family (everyone except Carl) loves named Buddy Goodrich (Ron Glass) wants to sue Carl for false arrest after being arrested on assault charges. But who will the family believe: Buddy or Carl?

Laura is dateless for the upcoming school dance, so well-meaning Carl and Eddie (without consulting each other) set Laura up with three different dates. Carl's pick for Laura's date is a decision that would change their lives and one he would forever live to regret: Steven Q. Urkel.

Carl tells Eddie "No Friends Allowed" while the adults are out. However, after dinner is ruined, Rodney comes over and brings pizza. Eventually, he invites some friends, which piled up into a huge party. Meanwhile, Carl cannot figure out directions to the wedding.

After Steve accidentally burns down Leroy's, the local teen hangout, Rachel decides to open up her own diner and calls it Rachel's Place.

Steve is paired with Laura in a class assignment about marriage. Urkel goes the extra mile to be a good husband, but when an exasperated Laura goes to Harriette for advice, she learns that her mother is actually envious of the attention Urkel had been showing her. Carl, it seems, had been taking Harriette for granted and was paying less romantic attention to her as of late, deeply concerning her. While Laura is enlightened, Carl gets the hint and promises to do better.

Carl has assigned Urkel as part of a police ride-along program. While staking out a wanted suspect in a railroad stockyard, Carl and Steve accidentally wind up locked in a livestock rail car. Eddie — who earlier rejected Carl's offer to participate in the ride-along program — tries to get a modeling career, but is soundly rejected.

After Steve annoys the entire neighborhood with his late-night playing of "Feelings" to serenade Laura (at Eddie's encouragement), he is sent to live with relatives in Mississippi. The Winslows think they're in for a few Urkel-free weeks, when in pops Myrtle Urkel, the splitting image of her cousin. Myrtle immediately sets her sights on Eddie, and Laura does everything she can to encourage her to get revenge. That is until Carl and Harriette upon learning about their pranks grounds both Eddie and Laura and forces them to apologize to both Steve and Myrtle.

Laura is being antagonized and bullied by Willie Fuffner (Larenz Tate) for refusing to go to the dance with him. He chases all of her prospect male dates to the sidelines until she's forced to go to the dance with Urkel. Steve stands up for Laura and gets into a fight with Willie at school. Instead of taking the sensible route and get them to apologize, the coach decides they should to get it on in the ring. This leads Carl and Eddie to teach the uncoordinated Urkel everything he needs to know about defending himself in the ring. Estelle finds a new man in Fletcher Thomas.

Laura and Steve push for Black History classes in their school, but things quickly turn ugly thanks to their racist classmates.

It's a battle of brains vs. brawn, as Urkel and a braggart classmate vie for the affections of Laura in a rope-climbing contest. Meanwhile, Carl and Eddie try to fix a leak in their roof.

Urkel creates Urkelbot, which soon develops a mind of its own and sets a trap to snare Laura for itself. Carl tries to slow down Estelle and Fletcher's relationship.

A street gang, known as "The Dragons", provides some truly frightening moments for the Winslows when they vandalize Rachel's Place and brutally beat up Eddie. Fearing that Carl will do something that would destroy his career, Urkel devises a plan to trick the gangsters into confessing their crimes.

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. Eventually, she is invited to share her stories to Eddie's American history class. Meanwhile, Urkel's prison pen pal is released, yet she believes Carl is Steve.

Urkel enrolls in a home economics course (just because Laura is in the same class), but he soon learns that he's simply not cut out to be a cook. However, Waldo discovers he might just have a hidden culinary talent. Meanwhile, Richie accidentally breaks Carl's video camera.

Carl and Urkel get into a feud, and decide the only way to settle their grievances is to compete on American Gladiators, thanks to Waldo's cousin American Gladiator Sabre.

Carl is trying to deal with high blood pressure, but instead of listening to his doctor, he takes waiting room advice ("3–2–1, 1–2–3, what the heck is bothering me?"). It's put to the test when Urkel asks him to give him some driving lessons to impress Laura.

Rumor has it that Ted went all the way with Laura on their date. Urkel knows this isn't true and tries to warn Laura about the fast-spreading rumor around school. Laura tells the nerd never to speak to her again, but then Maxine tells her she heard the very same rumors about her and Ted. Laura then enlists Urkel and Eddie to get the truth out into the open.

When Steve has to have an emergency appendectomy, Carl thinks he's in store for a few nerd-free days until he is shot in the butt while trying to foil a robbery and winds up sharing the same hospital room as Urkel. But the nerd may prove a helping hand when one of the robbers wants revenge on Carl for having one of his buddies captured.

Wanting to get Urkel off her back once and for all, Laura asks Ted to set the nerd up. He chooses his cousin, the beautiful Myra Monkhouse, someone who just loves Steve. The foursome head off to a Dave Koz concert, where Waldo is working as an usher. Meanwhile, Harriette discovers that Carl is covering for Judy after she ruined her expensive dress. Soon they discuss when to help out their kids.

Carl finally comes to terms with his mother's impending marriage to Fletcher, but the two get into a fight over the wedding arrangements. He wants a big wedding bash for them. However, Estelle just wants a small, family wedding, which Carl eventually agrees to. But his original plan for a huge bash might come to fruition anyway, since Eddie had planned a huge house party for a weekend his parents would be out of town. Only thing is, Waldo needs proof reading skills because he wrote inaccurate invitations to the house party, advertising the gathering as the same night as the wedding. End result, Estelle and Fletcher gets a wedding they'll remember for a long time and Eddie is grounded by Carl to serve time in his room for his plans to have a party.

Armed with fake ID's and a desire to dump her "Miss Goody Two-Shoes" image, Laura and her friends go to Club Buff (a male strip club) the same nightclub that Harriette, Estelle and Rachel go to frequently. Urkel learns of this and winds up accidentally performing a striptease.

Laura casts potential prom date Steve aside in favor of another class hunk, Jimmy, at the junior prom. However, she soon regrets it when she learns that her date is possessive and jealous. He demands that she ends her friendship with Urkel by telling him to get lost or else. Laura is fed up with Jimmy's demanding and tells him off what she really thinks of him. She immediately ditches him on the dance floor, prefering to keep her friendship with Steve intact. Meanwhile, Urkel attempts to hide his nerdy reputation from Myra as he takes her to the dance, but ends up impressing his peers with her. Carl and Harriette show up to dance the night away.

Myra visits Urkel at school for lunch, and once again accuses Laura of trying to vie for his affections. The end result is a huge food fight. Meanwhile, Carl – feeling he has lost his romantic touch with Harriette – decides to invest in a toupee.

After being pantsed for being jealous of another guy flirting with Laura, Urkel devises the ultimate scheme to win her heart... a potion that will turn him into an ultra-suave ladies man. Stefan Urquelle quickly wins Laura's heart, but it isn't long before she's fed up with his arrogant narcisstic nature and rather have the irksome nerd back.

Myra demands commitment from Urkel or else. Waldo constantly worries that other boys have their eyes on Maxine, causing him to go into a jealous fit. Meanwhile, Eddie learns that the store model he has a crush on is married. Also, while Harriette is at a job interview, Carl gets burdened with having to watch Little Richie & his friend, Lil' G (Gary LeRoi Gray).

Accident-prone Urkel is accused of blowing up the school's chemistry lab following an accident. With his academic future on the line, Laura defends Steve against someone who seems a little too eager to have him expelled. Soon Laura proves Urkel's innocence by revealing who was really at fault with a blacklight. Exposed, Dexter Thornhill revealed he framed Steve for the crime because he wanted to win last year's science fair and hated him for it since.

To get him out of his hair for the evening, Carl sends Urkel on a bowling date with Laura, then watches a movie. Estelle warns him that they may fall in love, but he ignores her and dozes off. Carl quickly has a nightmare about how Urkel and Laura fell in love, got married and gave birth to a brood of Urkel-kids in the year 2009.

Urkel tags along on Carl's camping trip with Eddie and Waldo. Urkel tries to give Carl some advice, but he refuses to listen ... and everyone could soon regret it.

Urkel, offended that his privacy had been violated, tells Myra to get lost when she presents him with a nude drawing of himself. The next morning, Urkel learns that Myra is going to a convent, causing the nerd to assume that she plans to join. He quickly enlists Eddie and Waldo to dress as nuns to find Myra and get her to reconsider her joining the nunnery. Of course, she had gone there to visit her aunt, but none of this comes out in the open until the guys are nearly arrested. Meanwhile, Carl becomes annoyed of Harriette's habit of leaving her wedding ring on the soapdish (located very close to the bathroom sink) when she puts on makeup.

Urkel, still pining for Laura's heart, renovates his Stefan Urquelle alter-ego, inventing a transformation chamber to do so. He's a much friendlier person this time, but the formula soon wears off just as Laura professes her love for Stefan. Urkel is resolved to one day make Stefan permanent.

Harriette asks Carl to go see an eye doctor after he complains about having problems seeing. However, he balks at the idea and takes Eddie's advice by asking Urkel for some help. Urkel, meanwhile, has been perfecting his machine to enable him to be Stefan all the time. Carl asks Stefan to let him step into the transformation chamber to fix his eyesight problems. However, a jealous Myra – wanting to snare herself a certain nerd – tampers with the machine by switching the dial thinking Stefan will use it to change back into Steve. Unbeknownst to her, Carl is really inside and once she learns the truth, she tells Stefan to stop the chamber. Sure enough, the chamber is broken and Myra realises what she has done when Carl Urkel(instead of Carl Winslow) steps out!

Eddie is invited to join a prestigious fraternity, despite the fact that he has to ditch Steve in order to become a member. Laura immediately sets him straight and makes him realise his friendship with Urkel is more important to him. Meanwhile, Carl orders a peanut helmet from a shopping network, where you're allowed to try a product for 30 days without paying a single cent. However, Richie and his friend, Lil' G go overboard when they order toys from the exact channel.

Urkel learns that a bully (Lamont Bentley) has become stricken with leukemia, due to smoking cigarettes. Urkel does the right thing and puts aside the past and, with Laura's help, stages a bone marrow drive to save the bully's life. Meanwhile, Harriette wants to get new furniture for the living room, despite the fact that it'll cost $3,000 to do so. Carl, in his usual skinflint form, learns from his boss Capt. Savage that he could get furniture for cheap at a police auction.

In one of the series' most serious episodes, gang member Toni Procopio (Tracey Cherelle Jones) and her friends brutally beat Laura up over her jacket. After being arrested and let out on bail, Toni and her gang tell Laura that she can expect to get shot if she testifies against them again. Laura, scared for her life, decides she needs to buy a gun for self-defense, even though Urkel begs her to reconsider. But then, just moments before Laura can go through with the gun purchase, Toni shoots her other best friend Josie (Trina McGee-Davis) because she refused to give Toni her shoes. Fortunately, the Winslows and Steve start "Save a Life, Turn In Your Gun" and Steve does a rap about saving your life by turning in a gun or other weapons.

Guest Star: Freddie Prinze Jr.

After foiling a robbery attempt by accidentally knocking out the crook with a broom, Urkel receives a series of threats, prompting Carl to become his bodyguard. Meanwhile, Eddie gets a new girlfriend, who happens to be the daughter of his hard-nosed owner of Mighty Weenie.

Guest Star: Ron Canada as Dave McClure

The Winslows visit a family psychiatrist to air their grievances about Urkel in this clip show. Well, Carl, Eddie and Laura do, anyway. Harriette, however, tells the psychiatrist that even though Steve may seem bothersome at times, he's had plenty of virtues too.

Thanks to his transformation chamber, Urkel wins a trip to Disney World and invites the Winslows along. During a science convention, the nerd demonstrates the chamber, emerges as Stefan. Meanwhile, Eddie has to work but eventually gets Waldo to drive him to Orlando, Florida but can Waldo read a map? Also Carl started to have the time of his life while visiting Florida. After Stefan came out of the chamber, Laura ruined the wires on it to let Stefan stay and have a romantic time together. Then at night Stefan proposes to Laura and then Myra wakes up back at her home in Chicago sensing that something is wrong with Urkel.

Can Waldo read a map? Guess not, since he and Eddie wind up in Canada. Eventually, their car is stolen, leaving them hitching a ride. Meanwhile, Carl weighs a job offer in Florida while Myra arrives and finds out that Stefan and Laura are getting married and Steve will never come back. The sadness made Laura feel guilty and she wanted Stefan to fix the chamber.

Urkel and Carl enter a dance marathon hosted by Fletcher and Estelle, but because the two are so competitive with each other, they both stay up all night dancing until one of them finally gives up.

Guest Stars: All-4-One

Urkel's father invents a microscopic camera that lets doctors insert it into patient's brains to search for brain damage. He is asked to showcase the camera in hospitals across Russia, prompting them to move. Urkel, not wanting to move away from his friends, tries to think of an idea. Carl, not wanting the nerd to move in with him, convinces Eddie to let Steve move in with him and Waldo. But when his mutant termites are a little too hungry, they break loose and eat the entire apartment, and once their apartment is destroyed, Eddie and Waldo are forced to move back home. Carl weighs the options, and decides to allow Steve to move in. As a reward for straight A's, Harriette and Maxine shop for a dress for Laura, but Laura dislikes it.

When Eddie brings new girlfriend Greta home after curfew, her father refuses to allow her to see him for a month. Eddie wants to see Greta again, so he arranges for Urkel to act as his go-between, but that only lands the nerd in trouble, due to an unexpected flat tire. Meanwhile, Estelle is audited by the Internal Revenue Service, and Carl finds himself in trouble with the tax man as well when he tries to help her straighten the matter out.

Guest Stars: Ziggy Marley and the Melody Makers

Urkel, his southern belle cousin Myrtle Urkel, and the nerd's alter-ego, Stefan Urquelle, each appear on a talk show to discuss relationships. Appearing with them are the objects of each one's affections: Myra, Eddie and Laura. Waldo also tags along, but this time, what he says actually makes sense. Also, Harriette believes Carl cares more about the news than her. Although it's soon revealed that he only likes watching the news in order to cope with his lack of romantic drive.

Guest Star: Melanie Wilson as Tiffany

Urkel is put in charge of the senior class homecoming float and despite some bumbling by the nerd and his classmates, the float becomes a huge success. Even better, everyone starts to get to really know one another, and that's something everyone can be proud of even if Urkel ruins the float when transporting it to school. Estelle's constant activities fear Carl about her health.

Just in time for Christmas, Carl gets in a sour mood and refuses to allow Urkel to decorate the house with his crazy light displays. Then, at his poker game, one of Carl's friends says there is a big cash prize for the neighborhood lighting contest, and Carl's mood instantly changes, which Urkel has no idea about. Meanwhile, Harriette wants a little more participation from Eddie and Laura in the family's holiday activities. Mother Winslow teaches them the true meaning of Christmas when she stops making her batch of gingerbread cookies.

In order to pay off Carl for accidentally damaging his bedroom floor with his latest invention, Urkel takes a second job at Cafe Java, transforming into his alter-ego Stefan Urquelle, and playing smooth jazz. Meanwhile, Eddie battles the bottle as he begins coming home drunk. After coming home drunk one too many times, Carl kicks him out. His situation turns worse Waldo doesn't want Eddie to move in with him, as he had insulted Waldo while intoxicated. Then, he breaks off his friendship with Eddie when he tells him off that anyone who drinks and insults friends are no friends of his. This causes Eddie to finally get the message and vow to give up drinking, and he reconciles with Waldo and Carl allows him to stay home again.

To improve his basketball skills, Eddie (with Greta's encouragement) takes ballet lessons. Steve and Waldo are enjoying a few yuks. The two are all set to perform as partners in a recital, but there's one problem: Greta's a no-show, but Myrtle is. Meanwhile, after accidentally being called "grandmother" by Laura's latest boyfriend, Curtis, Harriette tries dressing herself in youthful clothes in order to feel young.

Steve becomes a Big Brother to a smart-talking, streetwise nine-year-old named 3J. However, 3J's bravado is the cover for an embarrassing secret: The boy cannot read. So Steve decides to teaches him. Meanwhile, Carl finds out that Harriette has a separate savings account, making him question his faith in his own wife.

In the second ballet-based episode of the season, this time it's klutzy Waldo who learns tap dance, which in turn will help him in 3-on-3 basketball with Eddie and Steve. Meanwhile, Laura's high ambitions of going to Harvard University are in jeopardy when Carl's unable to pay the tuition.

Their dates are unable to go to the senior prom (Curtis' grandmother had just died, and Myra fell ill at the last moment), leaving Urkel and Laura dateless. So they decide to go together and it proves to be Laura's dream come true—and a once-in-a-lifetime night for Steve as well. Meanwhile, the obnoxious Nick Neidermeyer returns. This time, he's the Winslows' next-door neighbor.

Urkel's cloning machine can make exact duplicates of anything; including himself, causing double trouble throughout the household (and putting Myra in a frenzy over her "Stevie-kins"). Then Laura has an idea: Put the Urkel clone into the transformation chamber and make the alter-ego Stefan a permanent human.

Orphaned 3J sneaks into the Winslows' attic, afraid that he may be forced to move to another orphanage. Harriette suggests to Carl that they adopt 3J, noting that beneath that sometime smart-mouthed demeanor lies a sweet, innocent young boy who is pining for a family.

A street gang, known as "The Piranhas", has intimidated Richie and 3J from playing at the local park, and when Urkel tries to intervene, he is quickly roughed up. The street gang begin celebrating their possible new place to deal drugs and play rap music until Bruce Lee Urkel (and similar Richie and 3J variants) show up to even the score. After slipping in the Winslows home, Nick fakes needing a wheelchair and threatens to sue Carl. However, his plans are foiled when Harriette and Eddie exploit his scam and sends him on his way.

Urkel reunites Stefan and Laura. Meanwhile, Carl and Harriette try to spend time alone but are constantly interrupted by Richie and 3J.

Eddie has a nightmare where he is the reluctant groom to Myrtle Urkel. When Eddie refuses to marry Myrtle, her wealthy father steps in and bribes him with $10 million. Greta comes and crashes the wedding.

Laura is invited to join a sorority and is excited about becoming a member, until she learns that they constantly ridicule Urkel (and all nerds for that matter) and plan to crown him "king geek". Also, after realizing how his feud with Nick Neidermeyer has become a bad influence on the kids, Carl attempts to see how well they can be as friends.

With Waldo having broken off his long-standing relationship with Maxine, Laura encourages her heartbroken best friend to begin dating once again. Maxine soon comes home with none other than Curtis, Laura's ex. The two get into a huge fight as a result. Meanwhile, Carl becomes concerned about Estelle's babysitting habits.

Steve and Carl use a time transporting device to travel back in time. In spite of Steve's warnings not to tamper with the past, Carl leaves a note for himself to make investments in stocks that will skyrocket. When Carl and Steve return to the present, they find out that Carl is the richest man in the world, worth about $247 billion. Unfortunately, they also find out that Carl hasn't hugged Estelle in years, that Harriette is divorcing him, and that Eddie and Laura were never born.

The ladies (including Myrtle Urkel) enter the 4th Annual Miss Downtown Chicago Beauty Pageant. Cutthroat tactics and all sorts of similar antics ensue, especially by Myrtle to get Eddie's heart.

Guest Star: Emmanuel Lewis

Urkel hosts three Valentine's Day short stories involving various members of the cast going through the three stages of love.

• First Love: Richie and 3J vie for the affections of the same girl (Kyla Pratt).
• True Love: Eddie and Greta run into one of Eddie's ex-girlfriends from high school.
• Lasting Love: Carl is accused of buying Harriette the same gifts for Valentine's Day as in years past.

Eddie gets into the transformation chamber to transform Eddie Winslow into Eddie Urkel to gain Steve's smarts, then hopes to clean up on a game show. However, Eddie learns a hard lesson about working hard when Urkel is one of his opponents. Meanwhile, Maxine invites Laura to see Blackstreet in concert, but it just so happens to be on the same night that Laura promised Carl that she would spend some time with him.

Carl's estranged brother Frank (Ted Lange) comes to visit with a devastating secret: He's in trouble with the law. Even worse, Carl is the one who's assigned to bring him into custody. Carl faces a big moral dilemma as he considers loyalty to his job vs. fixing a long-broken relationship with his brother. Meanwhile, after accidentally breaking Laura's laptop computer, Steve and Eddie try to win $3,000 towards getting a new laptop at the carnival, and Steve's latest invention might give Eddie a boost against "Butterball".

Urkel and Carl go back in time on board a 1700s pirate vessel, where they are made to walk the plank after Urkel accidentally drops his time travel watch overboard. Can they escape back to their present time before they become sharkbait?

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.

Stefan, wondering if Laura had developed some loving feelings for Urkel, swaps identities with Steve to find out. Meanwhile, Eddie shoots a class-project video about Carl and what he does as an officer for the Chicago Police Department.

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. 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.

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 holidays – or is she?

In an effort to decrease his clumsiness, 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.

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.

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. Meanwhile, Harriette finds out that her engagement ring was originally intended for another woman that Carl used to date.

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. 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".

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 (Urkel 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 from moving by tearfully accepting his marriage proposal.