Steve Urkel

Steve Urkel
First appearance	Rachel's First Date (Laura's First Date in production order)
Last appearance	Lost in Space
Cause/reason	Final episode
Created by	Thomas L. Miller, Robert L. Boyett
Portrayed by	Jaleel White
Episode count	198 (Family Matters) 1 (Full House) 2 (Step by Step) 1 (Meego)
Information
Nickname(s)	Bruce Lee Urkel
Gender	Male
Age	13-22
Date of birth	1976
Occupation	Student, inventor
Family	Mr. & Mrs. Urkel (parents)
Relatives	Myrtle Urkel (cousin) "Big Daddy Urkel" (uncle) Cecil (uncle) Original Gangster Dawg (cousin) Julie (cousin) Oona (aunt) Ernie (uncle)

Steven Quincy Urkel (born 1976^[1]), better known as Steve Urkel (portrayed by Jaleel White) was the breakout character on the 1990s sitcom Family Matters.

Character background

Urkel, was an archetypal nerd, with large, thick eyeglasses, "high-water" pants held up by suspenders, multi-colored cardigan sweaters, and a high-pitched voice with a snorting laugh. While highly intelligent, he was also quite accident-prone (spawning his catch-phrase, "Did I do that?") and socially awkward. Urkel was originally a one-shot character on Family Matters, but, because of audience and ratings reaction, he became a main draw to the show. His main interactions on the show were his crush on Laura Winslow and his perpetual annoyance of her father Carl. Notably among the family, Harriette, Rachel and Mother Winslow were more accepting and caring of Urkel. Urkel also had an alter ego, Stefan Urquelle.

Relatives

The Urkels are very intelligent people; Steve and his family were known to do the Sunday New York Times crossword puzzle in pen in about 20 minutes. Steve's father was a brain surgeon. In 1995, the elder Urkels moved to Russia without Steve, who was then allowed to live with the Winslows.

In addition to his parents (who were never seen, although his mother once was heard off-screen and a glimpse at the side of her face is in one of Steve's baby pictures), his family included his cousin Myrtle Urkel (also played by White), who thought of herself as a Southern belle; her father, Big Daddy Urkel (played by Reginald VelJohnson); Uncle Cecil (who was never seen, but often mentioned); Original Gangster Dawg (OGD), another cousin (also played by White), Julie, a cousin who lived in San Francisco, Uncle Admiral Omar Urkel (never seen but mentioned), Uncle Werner von Urkel (never seen but mentioned), Uncle Colonel Urkel (never seen but mentioned), and Aunt Oona (Donna Summer), from Altoona, Pennsylvania who was shy and socially awkward, but is a talented singer. She became fat from too much ham.

In the episode "Man's Best Friend", Steve said his parents' names were Herb and Diane. However, in another episode, Steve was talking on the phone with his mother and called her Roberta.

In an early episode entitled "The Big Fix AKA Mercy Date" the viewers see that Urkel has at least one relative who does care about him: his uncle Ernie, who drives him on his date with Laura and takes a picture.

Inventions

Urkel is known for inventing devices typically considered impossible. These include:

• the Urkel Bot, an intelligent robot that fell in love with Laura and briefly became a police officer;
• the Transformation Chamber, which turned Urkel into "Stefan Urquelle" (with the help of "Boss Sauce") as well as other odd characters, such as Elvis. At first the effects of the chamber were temporary, but eventually this was changed;
• the Expansion Machine, which made objects bigger, except for a small percentage of the time when it would malfunction and shrink things instead;
• the Cloning Machine, which created a second Urkel after a delay. Due to the delay, Urkel initially thought the machine didn't work. One of the clones was eventually permanently turned into Stefan;
• the Urk-pad was a teleportation pad which sent Urkel to Paris; and back.
• the Time Machine, which Urkel knew worked before testing it, given that Carl saw his future self appear in the living room. Later combined with teleportation pad so he could "travel anywhere in history."
• ice in a can.
• termites that consume wood thousands of times faster than normal.
• love potion with antidote.
• lawn chair, an actual piece of furniture which Urkel modified to sprout grass on the exterior.
• vegetable bombs, in the same episode where Urkel designs the "lawn chair", he invents vegetables that explode; he wants to sell this to the Army.

Oddly enough, these inventions were really the only unrealistic elements of the show and all the other plotlines in the episode were far more based in reality.

Episodes strained credulity more and more in the show's later seasons, and the series gradually developed a self-aware sense of humor on the subject. In the season 8 episode "Father Time," Carl casually shrugged off Urkel's invention of a time-travel device, citing all Steve's previous impossible creations and insisting a time machine was "no big deal" in comparison.

The Ratings

Urkel was originally intended to be a one-time-only character in the 1989 episode "Laura's First Date", where Carl and Eddie separately set up dates for Laura for a Sadie Hawkins dance, and the first thing we learn about him is that he allegedly ate a mouse, and he later makes reference to a mouse when speaking to Carl, implying that it might be true. Urkel became the show's breakout character. Several scripts had to be hastily re-written to accommodate the Urkel character, while several first-season episodes that had been completed had new opening gag sequences filmed featuring Urkel trying to push open a door while the Winslow family holds it shut. The addition of Urkel immediately helped the show's modest ratings. White was credited as a guest star in the first season and became a regular member of the cast in season two.

The Urkel dance

The Urkel dance was a novelty dance that originated in the episode Life of the Party. It was based around the character of Steve Urkel and essentially incorporated movements which made the dancer's posture more like his. The lyrics instructed the dancer how to pose: "If you want to do the Steve Urkel dance, all you have to do is hitch up your pants, bend your knees, and stick out your pelvis; (I'm telling you, baby, it's better than Elvis!)". It was popular enough to appear on another show, Step by Step. A promotional cassette single of the song that accompanies the dance was pressed and distributed in limited numbers. A t-shirt was also produced featuring lyrics and Urkel's likeness.

Appearances on other shows

White has played Urkel on several sitcoms, most notably:

• Full House – In the 1991 episode, "Stephanie Gets Framed" when he helps Stephanie Tanner (Jodie Sweetin) deal with her anxieties after she has to get glasses.
• Step by Step — In the series' second episode, "The Dance," Urkel helps his science-fair pen pal, Mark Foster and lifts Alicia "Al" Lambert (Christine Lakin) spirits after her potential date dumps her just before a school dance. White reprises his "Do the Urkel" dance in the scene where Al gives her boyfriend his comeuppance. (White also has a short cameo in a 1997 episode.) Also, Urkel makes a brief appearance in the episode where Al gets the movie role over her two sisters. He can be seen for 2 seconds snapping a clapboard during the music video part.
• Meego — White makes an uncredited cameo in this short-lived CBS sitcom (which starred Bronson Pinchot).

Additionally, Steve once received a chain letter and thought he'd send it on to his friend Cory Matthews who lived in Philadelphia. It is the same Cory from Boy Meets World, though the two never actually met on any show.

At the 1997 WWF Slammy Awards, the character was a nominee in the "Best Bow Tie" category, however, Jaleel White was not present at the ceremony and no real winner was ever awarded after Owen Hart stole the Slammy award.

References

1. ^ http://www.kellie.de/familymatters.htm

Donate to Wikimedia