Monday, June 2 Dougies Daily Trivia Family Matters debuted on ABC in 1989. The series spun off Jo Marie Paytons wisecracking elevator operator character from Perfect Strangers, and delved with the home life of she and husband Carl raising an African American family in the suburbs of Chicago. The series ran for eight years on ABC and became the anchor for its TGIF Friday Night programming block. For its ninth, and what would be its final season, it shifted to CBS. CBS picked up both Family Matters and Step by Step in hopes of starting their own Friday night lineup of family comedies. One big change during the move was the departure of Payton. She was replaced in the Harriet role by JudyAnn Elder. Todays Question: Why did Jo Marie Payton leave? Answer: She left the show because she didnt like that Family Matters had turned into The Urkel Show. She felt that the Steve Urkel character had become the focus of the show, and she felt that the focus should have been on the Winslow Family. Other fun facts about Family Matters: In order to keep up his appearance, Jaleel White (Urkel) was told that he had to shave daily, and couldnt lift weights. There originally was a third Winslow child, Judy, played by Jaimee Foxworth. The writers ran out of things for her to do, and when she requested a pay raise, they just decided to drop her. The series was re-written to where Eddie and Laura were the only siblings. Even though he played the older brother, Darius McCrary (Eddie) was actually one month younger than Kellie Williams (Laura). Reginald Vel Johnson (Carl) was actually two years younger than Jo Marie Payton (Harriet). The character of Steve Urkel was originally only supposed to be a one time appearance, but Jaleel Whites performance was so well received by the audience that they kept bringing him back, and eventually made him a regular. There was originally supposed to be a tenth season that featured Steve and Laura getting married. However, the ratings got so bad in season nine that the series was cancelled and the wedding never took place. They did however, get engaged in the series finale.
Posted on: Mon, 02 Jun 2014 21:01:42 +0000
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