History Trivia / FamilyMatters

* TieInCereal: A very perfunctory example, but there was an Urkel-Os cereal briefly sold in 1991 whose only real connection with the show was that it had Urkel on the box.

** J. Lamont Pope portrayed three different minor characters in three different episodes before he portrayed his most well known character, Laura's one-time boyfriend and Maxine's Curtis Williams.
** Tammy Townsend (Greta) first appeared in Season 3’s “The Love God” as Jenny (the girl who screams about Steve in the ImagineSpot).

* RelationshipVoiceActor: From the Italian dub: Creator/MonicaBertolotti (Laura) and Creator/MauraCenciarelli (Myra) have also dubbed ''WesternAnimation/PAWPatrol'', as Zuma and Chase.

** J. Lamont Pope portrayed three different minor characters in three different episodes before he portrayed his most well known character, Curtis Williams.

* WrittenInInfirmity: Myra appeared sporadically in the last season after her actress, Michelle Thomas, was diagnosed with cancer. She died five months after the show was cancelled.

** On Darius [=McCrary's=] [[https://youtu.be/epf8Lad85MY?t=1881 podcast]], Jaleel White expressed his displeasure of a particular scene from Season 1, where a tired Aunt Rachel comes home and lets out an exhausted "Oy vey!"

** The biggest one is, of course, the fact Steve Urkel was only ever supposed to appear as a one-off character in his debut episode and never be heard from again.

** On Darius [=McCrary's=] [[https://youtu.be/epf8Lad85MY?t=1881 podcast]], Jaleel White expressed his displeasure in a particular scene from Season 1, where a tired Aunt Rachel comes home and lets out an exhausted "Oy vey!"

* CreatorBacklash: According to Jaleel White, Reginald [=VelJohnson=] and Jo Marie Payton weren't happy with the decision to have him play Myrtle Urkel due to their concerns about how the then large number of Black men in drag roles affected the community's image in pop culture. This in turn put a lot of stress on White, to the point his father requested the producers not have him portray the character again unless it was his son's decision.

* {{Blooper}}: In Season 5's "Rock Enroll", look through the kitchen door while the characters sing "Happy Birthday" to Steve; a random man (possibly a crew member) can be spotted walking through the set.

* {{Blooper}}: In Season 5’s “Rock Enroll”, look through the kitchen door while the characters sing “Happy Birthday” to Steve; a random man (possibly a crew member) can be spotted walking through the set.

* DawsonCasting: The late Creator/MichelleThomas was in her mid twenties when cast as Myra Monkhouse. She was actually 7-8 years older than the other teen actors.

** The actor playing Richie were originally a pair of twins, since he was a baby during the first season.[[note]]Joseph and Julius Wright were credited as Joseph Julius Wright.[[/note]] The character went through SoapOperaRapidAgingSyndrome after this and he was recast with four-year-old Bryton [=McClure=].

* CreatorBacklash: According to Jaleel White, Reginald [=VelJohnson=] and Jo Marie Payton weren't happy with the decision to have him play Myrtle Urkel due to their concerns about how the then large number of Black men in drag roles affected the community's image in pop culture. This in turn put a lot of stress on White, to the point his father requested the producers not have him portray the character again unless it was White's decision.

** Tammy Townsend (Greta) first appeared in Season 3’s “The Love God” as Jenny (she’s the girl who screams about Steve in the ImagineSpot).

* ActorSharedBackground: Lieutenant Murtaugh's actor, Barry Jenner, was a Los Angeles Police Department reserve officer before becoming an actor full time.

* ImageSource: ExtravertedNerd.

** Creator/TelmaHopkins in the earlier episodes.

** Creator/JaleelWhite played Steve Urkel, Myrtle Urkel, and [[ItIsPronouncedTroPAY Stefan Urquelle]] (when Steve accidentally clones himself and have one be permanently Stefan). He even got to be a one-off criminal cousin. All of that, in addition to the transformation chamber, was to allow White some opportunity to not keep up the squeaky Steve voice, which got harder and harder as he grew up. This was also done because White was a talented character actor and impressionist. His Bruce Lee is actually quite good, and reportedly one of his favorite roles. This is partially averted with Urkelbot. While White did provide his voice, it was actually [[Film/Breakin2ElectricBoogaloo Michael "Boogaloo Shrimp" Chambers]] who portrayed him.

* UnderageCasting: Darius [=McCrary=] was only 13 in the first season despite playing a high school freshman, and even though Eddie is the eldest of the Winslow children, [=McCrary=] is actually ''younger'' than Kellie Shanygne Williams (Laura) by a month.

* DawsonCasting:
** This is downplayed concerning Darius [=McCrary=], who portrayed high school student Eddie when he was 13 at the start of Season 1. What's more, he's actually over a month younger than Kellie Shanygne Williams, who played his ''younger'' sister Laura.
** The late Creator/MichelleThomas was in her mid twenties when cast as Myra Monkhouse. She was actually 7-8 years older than the other teen actors.

* WordOfGod: It was widely believed that Jo Marie Payton left the show midway through the final season because she was disgusted that Jaleel White had become the star of the show. It was also believed that she reappeared in the series finale in an uncredited role. In a 2010 interview, however, [[https://tvseriesfinale.com/tv-show/family-matters-jo-marie-payton-16891/ Payton revealed]] that she wanted to leave the show for a while in order to do other projects, and when the ChannelHop to CBS gave her the opportunity to leave, she agreed in advance that she would do the first half of the season and then depart. [[https://tvseriesfinale.com/tv-show/family-matters-jomarie-payton-reunion-16893/ She also revealed]] that contrary to popular belief, she didn't appear in the series finale.

* ScrewedByTheNetwork: The producers signed a lavish two-season deal with CBS, which then abruptly canceled the show after only one season, with no opportunity to do a finale.

* WordOfGod: It was widely believed that Jo Marie Payton left the show midway through the final season because she was disgusted that Jaleel White had become the star of the show. It was also believed that she reappeared in the series finale in an uncredited role. In a 2010 interview, however, [[https://tvseriesfinale.com/tv-show/family-matters-jo-marie-payton-16891/ Payton revealed]] that she wanted to leave the show for a while in order to do other projects, which she finally did midway through the final season. [[https://tvseriesfinale.com/tv-show/family-matters-jomarie-payton-reunion-16893/ She also revealed]] that contrary to popular belief, she didn't appear in the series finale.