MovieChat Forums > Family Matters (1989) Discussion > An obvious jump the shark moment

An obvious jump the shark moment

posted 11 years ago by hubcap18
30 replies | jump to latest

I normally don't talk about jumping the shark, but with this show it really stood out. For me it would have to have been the storylines involving Steve's transformation/cloning chamber. First, he used it to make him into a cool, but more empathetic Stefan (lack of empathy was what Laura disliked about the original Stefan). Carl even got into the act, wanting to make himself cooler, but made a mistake and ended up nerdier. Even worse, Steve somehow obtained hair samples of long-dead celebrities and was able to use them to transform himself into someone with their attributes. He was Bruce Lee, Elvis Presley and Albert Einstein. It was getting really ridiculous. By the way, when Carl was changed into a nerd he should have changed his name to Carlton, like Steve Urkel became Stefan Urquelle when he was cool.

Do you all agree with me that this was the time the show jumped the shark?
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[–] billybarnett806 9 years ago

I don't think it did jump the shark, it was just the type of show it was.

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[–] 9 years ago

[deleted]

[–] Manna-Fest 9 years ago

The show was very wacky with Steve's inventions, but that's what made it unique and it managed to get in the ratings. I think things got pretty tamed by the ninth season though. I don't recall being anymore invention stuff and Steve certainly wasn't wearing his famous suspenders anymore.

[–] TMC-4 8 years ago

By the late seasons, Steve had officially become the main character of the show and everyone else had been pushed to the background. While Urkel was always the iconic character of the show, he worked a lot better as a guest who was just part of the overall cast. I suspect part of why the writing got so weird was because the focus purely on him limited the potential diversity of the story-lines.

[–] hubcap18 8 years ago

Your point is reinforced by the pic on this show's main page. Steve's ugly mug is way up front while the Winslow family is in the background.

_______
The sun is shining... but the ice is slippery.

[–] BelleStar82 8 years ago

I absolutely loved the first appearance of Stefan and thought it was clever to have him be smooth. But the gimmicky science stuff was really overused. The first 4 seasons had a lot of heart and celebrated family, that's what I liked most about this show.

When Urkel was a twerp, he looked cute as the nerd. When he was man-sized with obvious muscles, it was really ridiculous and freaky. Instead of the Urquel competition, they should have made Urkel become more of a sophisticated nerd and somewhat normal so it would be realistic that Laura would fall for him.

Laura's character changed too. She started as an over achiever with a really good heart. As a kid I liked that there was a female character who was smart and kind and pretty. Then she became really bratty and dumbed down with a lot of attitude.

[–] A_girl_is_noone 8 years ago

I agree. I think Steve's transformation chamber is the best example of a "jump the shark" moment since the actual Happy Days reference it was derived from. The show went downhill from there.

[–] Legendary_Badass 8 years ago

I don't believe the show ever jumped the shark because it kept ramping up the lunacy. Steve was always doing experiments. They got bigger and bigger, and greatly affected the show. It gradually shifted into some mad cap stuff, but it took that new thread and expanded it.

Look at a show like The Big Bang Theory. The effort to keep that show grounded has resulted in recent seasons being nothing but scientists being whipped by their girlfriends/wives. At least Steve Urkel got to do his thing.

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[–] arcticdragon340 8 years ago

Even if Steve has been doing inventions since the beginning, not only did they become far too overdone, but they also became too important to the entire series instead of just the episodes they were introduced in.

If you've watched other 90s family sitcoms like Family Matters, chances are, you've seen Christmas episodes where the family kids meet with the "real" Santa Clause. These episodes are only occasional special episodes with a one-time gimmick and a suspension of disbelief that doesn't last long. That's why people don't have a problem with them. But imagine, hypothetically, if that was the start of even more magic, more fairytale people and more holiday mascots becoming more frequent and even important to the show's premise.

That's basically what we feel about Stefan becoming a major recurring character. A fantasy sitcom like Sabrina the Teenage Witch, and a scifi sitcom like Third Rock from the Sun, know what they are from the beginning, whereas Family Matters' premise, unfortunately, suffers from constantly winging it and seeing what brings in ratings.

There's a difference between "original" and "radical". Family Matters tried to be one, but came off as the other.