Line #9 Awesome/FamilyMatters


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/screenshot_2022_01_23_90501_pm_3.png]]
2	[[caption-width-right:350:[[BruceLeeClone Bruce Lee Urkel]], the mightiest Urkel there is.]]
3	Awesome moments in ''Series/FamilyMatters''.
4
5	* Steve Urkel's overall presence in the show. As the show was verging on cancellation after 1 season, his character made the show last 9 seasons and to this day is still one of the most iconic sitcoms due to his presence alone.
6	* “Stakeout” has Carl, Harriette, Rachel, Estelle, and Vanessa fending off jewelry robbers during a stakeout. The big guy, High Top, attempts to book it with the goods but ends up getting flipped over… by Estelle! CoolOldLady indeed.
7	* When Steve [[TheReasonYouSuckSpeech finally told Laura off]] after he had taken her abuse at a motel trying to unfold the "roll-out bed from Hell" and she suggested he sleep in the bathtub. ''After'' he had driven her to her cheerleading meet out of town without so much as a "Thank you" from her.
8	-->'''Steve:''' '''NO!''' I will ''not'' sleep in the bathtub! '''You're''' gonna sleep in the bathtub!\
9	'''Laura:''' ''(taken aback)'' What?\
10	'''Steve:''' I wasn't the one who overslept, Ms. Rip Van Winslow. I tried to help you!\
11	'''Laura:''' I know-\
12	'''Steve:''' '''Don't''' interrupt me! Then, I drove you here in ''my'' car, and were you pleasant company? No!\
13	'''Laura:''' Steve,-\
14	'''Steve:''' I'm not through! Then, you broke my car, and it cost me every cent I got to fix it and rent this ''delightful'' room here at the "Fleabag Inn".\
15	'''Laura:''' Steve! If-\
16	'''Steve:''' Oh, put a cork in it, Missy! Look, I love you with all my heart, but just because you don't love me back doesn't give you the right to treat me like dirt! I'm a person, and I have feelings, and I demand to be treated with respect and dignity!
17	** And it was her fault they had to stay at the hotel. Steve had told her that his car couldn't safely go any faster, but Laura was too impatient and stepped on his foot to bottom out the gas pedal. The resulting strain on the engine caused it to blow a gasket.
18	* When Laura is in danger from his Urkelbot while Steve's trapped in a nearby closet, he breaks the door down to save her much to his own shock.
19	-->'''Steve:''' (proudly) [[CharacterCatchphrase Did I do]] ''[[CharacterCatchphrase that]]''?!
20	* The first time [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sud1fak_65Q Steve turns into Stefan.]] It's the first time Jaleel White has spoken on screen in anything ''but'' an Urkel voice and the audience is visibly stunned at hearing him sounding so different.
21	* Expect one for Carl in any episode where we see him on the job.
22	** Probably the best is when a thief takes the cop bringing him in hostage while Carl is showing Richie's class around the station. He quickly shepherds the kids into another room, then talks the man down by guessing that he's only a petty crook who isn't prepared to kill anyone.
23	** In "Born to Be Mild", [[BigDamnHeroes Carl arrives to put a stop to the Dragons' attempt to wreck Rachel's Place]] and gets them to leave, but not before ordering them to pay Rachel for breaking one of her ice cream glass cups. In that same episode, when the gang leader makes advances to Laura, repeatedly trying to touch her after she's told him not to, Steve angrily slaps the guy's hand away, snapping "The lady asked not to be touched." Pretty ballsy considering the guy could have snapped him like a twig.
24	** In one episode, Carl and a partner take turns guarding Steve from a robber out to get him. It turns out the robber was disguised as the partner and was alone in the house with Urkel. He prepares to shoot Urkel (who woke up from sleep and noticed him) when Carl breaks into the room and subdues the robber. How did Carl know that it wasn't his partner? The two of them had a 'See you later-Not if I see you first' exchange that the robber didn't repeat.
25	*** Added awesomeness because Carl had screwed up a possible collar earlier in the episode. He was beginning to think that he was losing his touch as a cop, only to pull off this CMOA.
26	** In one (Halloween) episode, Steve and Laura end up as hostages during a bank robbery. One of the robber's demands is for a pizza. A short time later, in comes a short fat Jamaican pizza man. When the robber opens the pizza box, spring snakes startle him and Carl (who was in fact the pizza man) jumps the robber and takes him down.
27	*** This is also a BrickJoke since the snakes were the same that Steve used to scare Carl at the beginning of the episode. Carl also gives Steve credit for that and for being willing to protect Laura during the incident.
28	** In one of the later episodes, Carl and everyone in the precinct are positive he will get a promotion to Captain; but the Commissioner Geiss [[{{Nepotism}} transfers in his son for the position]]. He even has the audacity to ask Carl to help out his son, and Carl reluctantly agrees. The new captain is a nice, if extremely indecisive, guy, and Carl does his best to get along with him--until a situation comes up where the rivalry between two local gangs threatens to become all out war. The captain can't decide what to do, and begs Carl for help; Carl's tempted to let the guy twist in the wind as revenge for not getting the job that he deserved, but [[WhatYouAreInTheDark ultimately realizes]] that innocent people's lives are more important than his hurt feelings. Carl then starts laying out his plan, and the captain authorizes it. When Commissioner Geiss comes to congratulate them on a job well done, Carl gives the praise to the captain. This in itself is a crowning moment of awesome for Carl to be humble. Another moment follows right after when the Captain tells his father that it was Carl's plan and that he's not cut out for it. He just likes being where he was and states the best man for the job is Carl. Commissioner Geiss is impressed by both of their actions and promotes Carl, and the two men embrace as partners and friends.
29	** In "False Arrest," Buddy Goodrich, a [[VillainWithGoodPublicity giant jerk who's the star of a popular, family-friendly TV show]], assaults Carl after he tells Goodrich that he's parked his car in a handicapped spot and needs to move it. Carl arrests Goodrich, who quickly schemes to have his assistant lie about what really happened. But the star is desperate to cover up any possible bad press, so he heads to the Winslow home with tickets to his show (the entire family, save Carl, loves the program) and a fat bribe for Carl (in the guise of hiring him as a "technical consultant"). Carl says that he can't shave with his eyes closed," and explains that if he ''did'' take the bribe, he wouldn't be able to face his children, fellow officers, or himself. He then kicks the arrogant star out of the house, to wild applause from both the studio audience. In the end, Goodrich ''is'' found guilty after all, which ruins his reputation.
30	*** The rest of the family gets in on the action when they return the tickets to his charity show and slam the door in Goodrich's face, making it clear that they no longer support his act.
31	** After an extortionist rips Eddie and Waldo off, Carl is able to simply arrest the guy for serving alcohol to minors and turns every argument/excuse the guy uses against him. Followed up by him giving Eddie a [[DopeSlap smack on the back of the head]] when Eddie begins to swagger out, forgetting that the entire mess was his fault to begin with.
32	*** The best part? As Carl is arguing with the club manager, you can see the club's large, well-built bouncers surrounding Carl intent on roughing him up. But as soon as Carl [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WUok8RfA1GE flashes his police badge]], they ''all'' quickly [[ScrewThisImOuttaHere find somewhere else to be]].
33	* Harriette tells off her ex-boss in the second episode (''Two-Income Family"), when he isn't too keen on rehiring her for a different job. At the end of the episode, she gets the position.
34	-->'''Mr. Seeger''': Quite frankly, this job is way out of your league.
35	-->'''Harriette''': Oh really Mr. Seeger? For your information I have management experience coming out of my ears.
36	-->'''Mr. Seeger''': Heh, it's not on your resume.
37	-->'''Harriette''': Yes it is. Right there, see? It says ''Mrs.'' Harriette Winslow. I worked here full time and I was a full-time mom. You want to talk management? I managed a home, a household budget, and a family. And Mr. Seeger, I'm talking about a job you can't call in sick for, you never get a raise or overtime, and you can't take vacation. ''Every day'' I'm a leader, an organizer, and a mediator! Those are my qualifications. You want references?! Call Eddie, Laura, and Judy Winslow and ask them about my work. You know the number.
38	* In ''Life of the Party'', Rachel tightrope-walks over a clothesline, risking her own life to rescue a drunken Steve who was hanging from a rooftop. [[ItsALongStory It's a long story. ]] But to make it as short as possible, Maxine threw a party on her buildings roof (which Laura helped organize and Rachel was catering) and invited most of the student body, including Steve. But bully Willie Fuffner and his sidekick Waldo Faldo crashed the party and smuggled in alcohol to entice some of the other boys. Steve, though, one-upped them by calling them out and getting some of the other kids to do his patented "Urkel dance", livening up the party in the process. Willie and Waldo decided to get even by giving Steve cup after cup of liquor-spiked punch, getting him incredibly drunk and causing him to embarrass himself. However, the mood turned when the nerd drunkenly climbed up onto the edge of the roof and then fell off, narrowly managing to catch himself on another ledge below, resulting in Rachel conducting the aforementioned rescue.
39	** Even more after the rescue. When Rachel takes Steve home and the police show up, Willie and Waldo, despite having tried to hide the evidence are exposed by Waldo's dimwitted admission to possessing the liquor. Willie tries to play it off as a prank-gone-wrong, emphasizing that that no one ''actually'' got hurt, but Laura calls him out on his BS, citing that Steve could have died, and that him and Waldo bringing the alcohol to begin with and spiking Steve's punch to make him act like a fool and embarrass himself was neither cool nor funny, but was stupid and dangerous, which everyone else agrees with. One of the officers even remarks that Willie and Waldo's actions were also illegal as he and his partner arrest and escort the two boys to juvenile hall.
40	*** And even better, this is Waldo's last association with Willie in the series, as in all future seasons until his departure after the seventh, he becomes Eddie and Steve's friend. It can be assumed that this came from Waldo realizing the extent of and regretting his actions and realizing that Willie was a bad influence on him, and subsequently ending their friendship.
41	* Eddie and Steve fall victim to a pool shark. They are rescued by Carl and [[NeverMessWithGranny Mother Winslow]], who proceed to mop the floor, er, table with him, but not before the latter warns another mook not to stand directly behind her pool cue (which he was doing on purpose to impede her shot), and then hits him in the gut when he refuses to move.
42	** When Steve is winning the pool game, he gets his glasses broken and is taken hold by two of them to take him outside the alley. The two do so only to immediately walk backwards when a ticked Carl Winslow comes marching down the stairs.
43	* Steve has his fair share as well:
44	** Loudly [[GloveSlap smacking Willie Fuffner across the face with a mitten]] and demanding satisfaction for insulting Laura and himself, in the episode "Requiem for an Urkel," stands as one of his all time best. To anyone confused, when Laura rejected Willie to be his date to a dance, he antagonized any other guy interested. Steve initially believed it was so she would end up going alone, but it turns out it was so she would end up going with Steve, which everyone viewed as worse.
45	** The fact that Steve put his own safety on the line for an incredibly risky sting operation on the Dragons, who nearly end up killing him when his cover is blown, is a tremendous act of courage.
46	** Even though it was an ImagineSpot, no one can deny the awesomeness of him taking down a bank robber while dressed as Superman.
47	--->'''Thug:''' You're making a big mistake, pal.
48	--->'''Steve:''' Not as big as the one your parents made!
49	** In one episode, Carl and Steve end up sharing a hospital room (Steve had appendicitis and Carl got shot in the butt foiling a robbery) and the brother of the man who shot him had sneaked into the hospital to finish the job. Steve, who was in the bathroom, takes the guy down from behind with a bedpan to the head.
50	--->'''Carl:''' Well, now Jenkins, listen… you’re not thinking clearly. You know, you must have one heck of a headache.\
51	'''Jenkins:''' …no, I don’t…\
52	[[TapOnTheHead (BONG!)]]\
53	'''Carl:''' Well, you do now! [[PetTheDog Good work, Steve!]]
54	* In a small but impressive moment from the episode above, the bedridden Carl passes Steve his food tray by pushing his (wheeled) overbed table over to Steve's side. When their tables collide, the tray slides and lands ''perfectly'' onto Steve's table. The fact that they were able to pull this off ''for real'' is enough to get the audience to cheer.
55	* Two words: Bruce Juice. Steve and Carl are turned into {{Bruce Lee clone}}s and take down an entire gang inside of the police warehouse.
56	** In a later episode Bruce Juice is used again as Steve with Richie and 3J protect a park from another gang.
57	*** Earlier in the episode, Steve volunteers to clean up the park by hosing the area and picking up litter, only to encounter three obnoxious girls (the same girls that he faced in a previous episode) that purposely toss around litter just to get on his nerves. After remembering that he's armed with a water hose, [[BreakingTheFourthWall he gives the camera a sly grin]] before ''hosing the bullies out of the park''.
58	*** Steve finally choosing to fight the gang after 3J comes home with a scraped forehead [[WouldHurtAChild courtesy of the gang leader]]. Urkel's pissed, and he's ready for a showdown.
59	---->'''Steve:''' I've been patient long enough. When they stuffed me in that basketball hoop, I shrugged it off. When they hung me by my ankles and used me as a tether ball, I held my tongue. But when they start hurting little kids, '''[[ItsPersonal THAAAAAT'S CROSSING THE LINE.]]''' It's time to take a stand! Are you with me, men?\
60	'''Richie and 3J:''' Yeah!\
61	'''Steve:''' Good, 'cause I'm fumed. I'm ''pumped''. '''''I'M READY TO RUMBLLLEEE!!!'''''
62	* Carl gets one in the opening of a episode. He's been placed on a diet and is miserably munching on a carrot when Steve enters with a hot pizza in hand. He nearly snaps to be given a slice but regains control, instead offering Steve to go see a movie with him. When they go, Carl opens the door and when Steve exits Carl slams the door shut, locks it on Steve, goes to have the pizza all for himself. One of the few times he gets one up on Urkel.
63	* In the episode where Carl and Steve have to wrestle Wrestling/TheBushwhackers (long story) Steve innocently tells one of them that Carl's a cop, which enrages them since they hate cops (as Butch's mother got arrested by cops after finally catching her). They began fighting for real instead of acting it out like they had planned and pummel Carl. Steve, despite earlier being scared of them, wastes little time in getting into the ring and fighting them to try and save Carl.
64	* Harriette telling off a snobby superior.
65	-->"You're fired. That felt good."
66	-->"I '''QUIT!''' That felt ''better!''"
67	** Bonus points in that he was portrayed by [[Series/PerfectStrangers Mark Linn-Baker]].
68	* Myrtle gets one in the final season when she finally decides to give up on Eddie, realizing finally that he doesn't want her. Instead of crying however, she pulls herself up and tells him that she's going to find a man to love her the way she deserves to be loved.
69	** What makes it rich is that Eddie starts stammering about who will give him [[GoldDigger presents]]. She replies: [[Film/GoneWithTheWind "Frankly My Dear...I don't give a damn" and walks off]].
70	* Carl's PapaWolf moment, where [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6DRoTHnt5Fg&feature=youtu.be he tells off a racist cop that pulled Eddie over]] in "Good Cop, Bad Cop". He then has a heart-to-heart with the man's partner. He asks the younger officer why he joined the police force, given that it's such a dangerous job. The younger officer says he wanted to make a difference, "you know, good guys against the bad guys". Carl then points out the problem - his partner is one of the "bad guys".
71	** [[TranquilFury His demeanor for most of that scene.]]
72	--->"You know, I really don't know how that badge stays on, because it's pinned to slime."
73	** At one point, the racist cop tells Carl that if Eddie simply told them that his father was also an officer, they would have let him go about his business. Carl rightfully tells him off for only treating black people with decency if they're related to the police.
74	* In "Fight the Good Fight," Laura campaigns for a Black History class at school, only to be subjected to racist slurs and threatening notes. When she's tempted to give up, Estelle sits her down and shares a story from her own past. As a child, she loved to read, but the only library in her town was for whites only. Undeterred, Estelle went to the library every day for ''six months'' and got thrown out each time; she would then stand on the sidewalk outside the building and not move until the library closed. Estelle explains that over those months, she faced slurs, people throwing garbage at her, terrible weather, and general hopelessness, and admits there were times that she wished she hadn't even begun her crusade. But finally, after all of that time, the librarian saw her standing resolutely on the sidewalk on a rainy day, realized she wasn't giving up, and gave her a library card, thus integrating the library for everyone in town. Laura takes the lesson to heart and keeps up her own cause.
75	* Yet another for Estelle, when she gives a presentation on the Brown Bombshell and the Tuskegee Airmen of WWII to Eddie's class.
76	-->'''Eddie:''' You should have seen it: The school bell rang and nobody left!
77	-->'''Steve:''' That's what you get when you've got a top-notch storyteller.
78	* One episode had Laura going on a date to a drive-in with a guy who pressured her for sex. When she told him she didn't want to, he proceeded to insult her, calling her stupid, uncool, and a baby. Laura takes this crap and also shrugs him off multiple times. She finally shouts, "For the last time, no means NO!" smacks him, and exits the car.
79	** Later, the guy gets back at her by telling everyone they ''did'' have sex but she walked out on him. Ashamed and embarrassed, Laura skips school. Later, [[BigBrotherInstinct Eddie]] (with the help of Steve) threatens the guy to tell the truth.
80	* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k1nCzgYgEs4 Eddie, Steve, and Laura get one in Season Three]]. Eddie, taking from an earlier routine that Harriette and Carl pull on him to confess to something, plays "Bad Cop, Good Cop" with Steve to get Ted to confess that he allowed his friends to spread [[SlutShaming false rumors about Laura]]. First Eddie intimidates Ted into confessing in front of his friends and other students that there was only one kiss with both sets of eyes open. Before Eddie can expose Ted's "vital organs to daylight", Laura steps in and [[TheReasonYouSuckSpeech calls Ted out for this betrayal]].
81	* Steve learns he has a natural talent for basketball and tries out for the team. Since no one would pass him the ball, he couldn't showcase his skills but the coach brought him on as equipment manager. Come the big game, most of the team is benched with injuries, Steve is finally put in to play and he and Eddie almost singlehandedly win the game.
82	** One for Eddie during that same game as he's the one who convinces the coach to put Steve into play by reminding the coach that his job is on the line if they lose.
83	* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4nP-98gGWfw Steve saving Carl's life]] when the latter is electrocuted by taking charge, giving direction to Eddie and Waldo, and providing first aid in an averted depiction of CleanPrettyReliable.
84	* Steve gets ''three'' in "Born To Be Mild" - the first is when he stood up against the Dragons, even slapping the leader's hand off of Laura when she rejects him. Then, he talks Carl out of going on a RoaringRampageOfRevenge against the Dragons for beating Eddie, saying all it will do is cost him his job. Finally, he tells Carl to let him wear a wire and go undercover to get them to confess to their crimes. He does so, and then manages to stall for time after his cover's blown so that Carl and Murtaugh can bust in and arrest the gang.
85	* Another one for Steve when he stops being an ExtremeDoormat for Eddie by doing Eddie's homework for him in exchange for going camping with him and Rodney. After Eddie tells Steve that Rodney didn't want Steve going along, he promised Steve a separate camping trip later and asked if that was okay. After a brief BaitAndSwitch, Steve puts his foot down, gives Eddie a TheReasonYouSuckSpeech, and stops doing Eddie's work for him.
86	-->'''Steve:''' News flash, Eddo! I have ''feelings''!
87	** As a follow-up, Eddie not only accepts Steve's standing up for himself, but decides to confess to his mom and teacher that Steve had been doing his homework for him.
88	* Waldo displaying his ''unbelievable'' tap dancing skills in "Twinkle Toes Faldo". Shawn Harrison did actually study tap in his early years, so his performance was 100% genuine.
89	* Laura taking down the school heartbreaker, Daniel Wallace. At first she thinks he's a genuine guy when he asks her out on Valentine's Day, but Maxine (who ''also'' dated him in the past) warns her that he's nothing but a two-faced snake who tries to pressure his girlfriends for sex and then dumps them if they refuse. Sure enough, he reveals his true colors when he coldly treats Laura the same way he did Maxine, pushing Laura to break up with him on the spot. As Daniel exits her room through the window, Laura decides to kick him out the ''hard'' way...
90	-->'''Daniel:''' Catch this, baby. There are a ''lotta'' girls who would love to be with me. This is your loss.
91	-->'''Laura:''' Daniel, wait...\
92	'''Daniel:''' Yeah?\
93	''(Laura grabs a hat from her bed)''\
94	'''Laura:''' [[IronicEcho Catch this, baby]].\
95	''(She tosses the hat over Daniel's shoulder; he tumbles off the tree branch trying to catch it. The audience goes '''''wild'''''.)''
96	* The mid-credits gag in "Scenes from the Mall". We cut back to an earlier scene where Richie's friend compares Carl to "the [[Creator/JamesAvery father]] on ''[[Series/TheFreshPrinceOfBelAir Fresh Prince]]''". Who then enters through the door a moment later? '''James Avery himself!''' Reginald [=VelJohnson=]'s reaction is absolutely priceless.
97	* Steve fending off his classmates in "Like a Virgin", armed with nothing but a ''towel''. It comes completely out of nowhere, which makes it even more spectacular. And this was ''before'' Bruce Juice was a thing.
98	* Eddie learns about Waldo's HiddenDepths when he tries to cook some spaghetti for supper. Waldo comes in while Eddie's making the sauce, which tastes like ketchup. Eddie doesn't think Waldo can do any better, but after a musical montage of Waldo adding in some spices, the sauce is delicious.
99	* How Harriette comes down on her visiting delinquent cousin Clarence in "Jailhouse Blues". For the whole story, Clarence had stolen a Ferrari via a valet-parking scam at a restaurant (after Carl refused to let him and Eddie borrow his car for the night). He then used it to pick up a pair of beautiful girls, brought all three back to the Winslow house, used them to entice Eddie into going on a joyride despite Steve's warnings, and dragged the nerd with them against his will so he couldn't tell on them, which resulted in all three boys getting arrested for grand theft auto after the cops pulled them over and discovered that the car was stolen. After Lt. Murtaugh convinces the car's owner to drop the charges and brings the boys to their respective homes, Harriette chastises Clarence for his arrogance and negative influence, and especially for dragging Eddie and Steve into his scheme and getting them in trouble along with him. She tells him that his wannabe criminal attitude doesn't make him cool and that real cool people have respect for both themselves and others, know right from wrong, and fess up to their mistakes and take the consequences for them (which earns a round of applause from the audience). However, Clarence arrogantly refuses to show any remorse for his actions, except for getting caught. His attitude and incorrigibility irks Harriette so much that she immediately kicks him out and sends him packing back to Detroit to deal with his parents' wrath.
100	* "Who's Afraid of the Big Black Book?": Laura had just pulled a mean-spirited revenge prank on Eddie by getting all his ex-girlfriends invited to Eddie's 21st birthday party at their house (after Eddie had pulled a similar prank on her by tricking one of her ex-boyfriends into coming over while she was on a date with Stefan the prior night by telling him that she still had feelings for him). In the aftermath, a rightfully-angry Steve (who organized the party using Eddie's little black book on Laura's advice, not knowing its ''real'' purpose) [[WhatTheHellHero calls out the both of them]] for letting their little family squabble hurt innocent people, himself and Greta included. His brief speech is a mix of awesome, funny, and even a little tearjerking.
101	-->'''Steve:''' You got back at him alright, and in the process, you ruined the party I worked my heinie off to give him. Not to mention hurting those young ladies' feelings!\
102	'''Eddie:''' Yeah, Laura!\
103	'''Steve:''' And you! ''(smacks Eddie)'' You're just as guilty as she is! Shame, shame, '''shame''' on both of you! It's one thing when you fight with each other, it's another thing when innocent people get hurt. You don't know how lucky you are to ''have'' each other. I'd give anything to have a brother, or a sister, or parents who cared. [[PunctuatedForEmphasis You. Make. Me.]] '''[[PunctuatedForEmphasis SICK!]]'''
104	** In the B-plot for the episode, Commissioner Geiss promotes his inexperienced son Cliff to captain, a job that the much more seasoned Carl clearly should've gotten. When the police are tasked to handle a major incident involving a gang, a nervous Cliff cracks under the pressure and turns to Carl for guidance, who quickly comes up with a strategy to diffuse the situation. It proves to be a success, and once the commissioner hears about Carl's efforts (from Cliff himself, no less), he happily gives him the promotion.

Context Awesome / FamilyMatters