I've always felt that how the sitcoms portrayed the holidays, especially Halloween, was how I like to pretend my real-life Halloweens went. On television, it was always a version of Halloween that was safe, family-friendly, and just a tiny bit spooky.
My version of Halloween growing up was certainly fun and memorable, but much less "over-the-top." We'd get costumes and go trick or treating and race home to watch the Halloween themed television specials that (back then) would only air on Halloween night. But there wasn't any big costume parties or wall-to-wall decorations. Aside from the jack o lanterns on our front step, maybe a window decoration or two, and our childhood excitement about trick or treating, it could have been almost any other night.
Sitcoms in the '80s and '90s got the holidays right, and that's why, for the past five years, I've covered classic sitcoms and their special holiday episodes. You can find the "Holidays On..." series on Home Improvement, Roseanne, Frasier, Full House, and Everybody Loves Raymond in the Collections section of this site anytime you'd like.
This year, I started thinking about the holiday episodes of other classic sitcoms and struggled to pick a series that I wanted to write about. Some didn't have enough content worth covering, and others I just wasn't interested in. So, I began thinking about the shows I enjoyed watching with my parents when I was young. Then, it hit me.
TGIF!
When I was young, Friday evenings on ABC were appointment television. Before we were all old enough to go out with friends or dates on Friday evenings, it was must-see TV (to steal a line from NBC). ABC's Friday night family phenomenon of the 1990s, the TGIF programming block, quickly became a cornerstone of 1990s television and a must-watch in many households. TGIF, which, according to ABC, stands for "Thank God It's Friday," unlike the colloquial "Thank God it's Friday," became a ritual of wholesome, family-oriented comedy.
There were countless sitcoms on TGIF to choose from, and several that I loved. Boy Meets World was always my favorite, but I typically watched that series alone as it didn't interest my parents. There was, however, one series that we always watched together. Even if Mom was always annoyed by the star of the show.
That show was Family Matters!
This beloved sitcom chronicled the Winslow family's everyday comedic situations (it was a "sit"-"com", after all). First airing September 22, 1989, this series ran for nine seasons, ending on July 17, 1998, with its 215th episode.
What began as a straightforward family comedy evolved into a vehicle for one of TV's most iconic characters, Steve Urkel. While the show had to navigate several changes in creative direction, behind-the-scenes cast tensions, and network battles over the years, its beginnings stem from another ABC sitcom, and fellow TGIF original, Perfect Strangers.
Perfect Strangers (1986-1993) was the fish-out-of-water comedy about immigrant Balki Bartokomous (Bronson Pinchot) and his straitlaced American cousin, Larry Appleton (Mark Linn-Baker). In the show's second season, Harriette Winslow (Jo Marie Payton) was introduced as one of Larry's coworkers at the Chicago Chronicle newspaper. Harriette's no-nonsense wit and motherly warmth quickly endeared her to audiences, prompting ABC executives to greenlight a spin-off centered on her life.
Created by William Bickley and Michael Warren, who had written episodes for Perfect Strangers, the series was developed by Thomas L. Miller and Robert L. Boyett, the powerhouse duo behind Full House and Laverne & Shirley. Their production company, Miller-Boyett Productions, envisioned a grounded family "dramedy" that focused on the middle-class life of a black family in Chicago, tackling themes such as parenting and career struggles.
The pilot episode, titled "The Mama Who Came to Dinner," aired as part of ABC's first TGIF block, introducing the Winslows to the world. The Winslow family consisted of police officer Carl (Reginald Vel Johnson), his wife Harriette (Jo Marie Payton), and their three children: Eddie (Darius McCrary), Laura (Kellie Shanygne Williams), and youngest Judy (Valerie Jones). Hariette's sister, Rachel (Telma Hopkins), and feisty mother, Estelle (Rosetta LeNoire), were also part of the cast.
The episode's success, bolstered by Harriette's crossover appeal from Perfect Strangers, secured a full 22-episode first season. Early scripts drew from real-life inspirations, with Bickley and Warren infusing "Midwestern ethics" into their work, reflecting their own upbringings.
When selecting the cast, Family Matters prioritized chemistry and authenticity. Jo Marie Payton, a veteran actress, was a natural choice for Harriette, reprising her role from Perfect Strangers with added depth as the multitasking matriarch. Reginald Vel Johnson brought an authoritative yet charming quality to Carl, drawing from his theater background. The kids were scouted from Chicago talent pools for their ability to properly portray their character: McCrary's street-smart Eddie, Williams' studious Laura, and Jones' precocious Judy. Telma Hopkins, known from Bosom Buddies and other works, added levity as the freeloading Rachel, while LeNoire, a Harlem Renaissance dancer, infused Estelle with some elderly sass.
The wildcard when casting was Steve Urkel, the Winslows' nerdy and annoying neighbor.
Conceived as a one-off antagonist in the season-one episode "Laura's First Date" to create conflict for Laura's storyline, the role went to 13-year-old Jaleel White, a child actor from The Tommy Davidson Show. White auditioned in tight high-water jeans (his Mom's), complete with suspenders and oversized glasses (his Dad's), all while channeling a nasal-voiced, accident-prone inventor inspired by Revenge of the Nerds. His performance was so outstanding that producers rewrote the season finale to feature him prominently, and based on audience reception, they promoted him to series regular by the start of season two.
Over time, casting evolved amid growing pains. Valerie Jones (Judy) left after the first pilot episode due to scheduling conflicts and was replaced by Jaimee Foxworth. The Judy character was then abruptly written out after season four amid budget cuts and a shift toward Urkel-centric plots. It was briefly mentioned that her character was "away at school," and was never mentioned again.
Urkel's rise behind the scenes bred resentment among the other cast members. The original members, including Foxworth, who was literally written off because of Urkel's popularity, were blindsided when the showrunners announced a "dynamic shift" away from the family and towards Urkel. Payton (Harriette), Vel Johnson (Carl), and Telma Hopkins (Rachel) felt their roles diminished as Urkel's antics began to dominate. Payton noted at the time that the cast "resentfully" adjusted to the new format.
Jaleel White (Urkel) sensed hostility, particularly from the adult actors. In his 2024 memoir, Growing Up Urkel, and a 2021 interview with Uncensored, he recalled feeling unwelcome, as veterans like Payton and Vel Johnson saw their breakout opportunities being overshadowed by a kid.
He said that several (unnamed) incidents left him "in tears." Vel Johnson also found White’s energetic behavior, such as singing, dancing, or loudly dribbling a basketball while on set, to be disruptive. He reportedly once stormed off set after becoming so annoyed at White.
When the show was slated for cancellation at ABC, it was picked up by CBS for its ninth and final season. Family Matters aired on CBS from 1997 to 1998 as part of the network's short-lived Friday night programming block, known as the "CBS Block Party." The Block Party consisted of Family Matters, Meego (a Bronson Pinchot comedy), The Gregory Hines Show, and Step by Step (also acquired from ABC for its final season).
A rumored altercation at that time saw White and Payton in a shouting match that "almost came to blows" (I find that part hard to believe) over creative disagreements. However, Jo Marie Payton left the series early in the final season, despite being contracted to complete it. She cited a desire for different opportunities and personal unhappiness that the show was too focused on Urkel's outlandish storylines.
Recent reunions, such as the recent set of '90s Con fan conventions, showed reconciliation among the core cast members, with Payton and Vel Johnson expressing their fondness for White and that "by-gones were by-gones."
The resentment shaped the show’s arc but didn’t erase its cultural impact. Family Matters outlasted most 1980s primetime scripted shows, except The Simpsons, cementing its place in TV history.
At its core, Family Matters was about... family. And that family certainly loved its Halloween.
Out of nine seasons, the show provided a wonderful SIX Halloween episodes. Ok... FIVE wonderful ones, as you'll find out later.
I look forward to rewatching and recapping these shows with you! On to the Halloween fun!
"Dog Day Halloween"
October 26, 1990
Season 2, Episode 3
In this Halloween episode from the early days of TGIF, the Winslow family’s comedic dynamic is punctuated by a fun, thrilling misadventure starring the new standout star of the show, Steve Urkel. While still early enough in the series to focus equally on the Winslow family, it's easy to see that Steve wouldn't be *just* the "annoying neighbor" for long.
Laura and Steve are costumed festively for the holiday; Steve is dressed as Superman, and Laura is dressed as Tina Turner. While Urkel annoys the bank teller, Laura sets up the story by saying she wants to quickly cash her paycheck and go buy the Halloween candy Harriette asked her to buy for the soon-to-arrive trick-or-treaters.
Their visit to the bank quickly goes awry as a man dressed as Abe Lincoln pulls out a gun and holds up the bank, taking everyone hostage in the process. When the teller triggers the alarm, Carl is the responding police officer. Carl makes a phone call to the bank to start the hostage negotiations. Upon hearing his voice on the phone, Laura immediately shouts, "Dad!" and tips off the bank robber, knowing he now has added leverage in holding the policeman's daughter.
It certainly reminds you of Die Hard, another time in which Reginald Vel Johnson plays a cop dealing with a hostage situation.
Back at home, the trick-or-treaters are starting to arrive, and Harriette has nothing to pass out. Using what she has on hand, she begins giving children canned goods from the kitchen. What kid doesn't want baked beans and soup for Halloween? In a joke I found amusing (and all too real), she mentions that she found three peanut butter cups in Carl's sock drawer.
Harriette was also perfectly costumed for Halloween, dressed as the Hunchback of Notre Dame. She really gets into it, too, and puts on a good performance. Grandma Estelle is hanging around, dressed as Betty Davis (the singer)? That's what Google says she was supposed to be, and unless I missed it, they didn't say, and it's hard to tell. Aunt Rachel arrives dressed as Rapunzel (in the pre-Disney Tangled version, of course). Rachel plans to take Richie (Ninja Turtle) and Judy (Janet Jackson) trick-or-treating.
Back at the bank, the hostages wait to be saved, and Steve begins to imagine himself as their savior. He daydreams about beating up the bank robber and single-handedly saving the day, which is fitting, given that he's dressed up as Superman.
The crook's pizza (every hostage situation demands pizza) arrives and is delivered by Carl Winslow in disguise. Wearing a dreadlock wig and speaking with a terrible Jamaican accent, he hands the pizza to the bank robber, who opens the pizza box to reveal the spring-loaded snakes that pop out in his face. Carl uses the opportunity to take down the criminal.
Back at home, Harriett demands to know where they've been and why they don't have any candy. Oh, Mrs. Winslow. Rather than being happy he's safely home, Steve is sad that he wasn't the hero who saved Laura. Carl gently reminds him that he's an adult and a trained police officer, while Steve's just a kid. Cark then reminds Steve that he stood by his daughter to keep her safe, and for that, he's proud of him. The two hug, and the credits roll.
"Who's Kid Is It, Anyway?"
October 30, 1992
Season 4, Episode 6
Eddie is the eldest of the Winslow kids, and aside from his friend Waldo, he spends most of his time on the show with his little cousin Richie. Richie and his mom, Aunt Rachel, have been living in the Winslow house since her husband passed away, and to make this Halloween special, Eddie promises to take Richie out trick-or-treating. Eddie dresses up for Halloween as a vampire, and Richie trades in last year's Ninja Turtle costume for Spider-Man.
Things take a turn when an attractive young woman, dressed up as Elvira, shows up at the Winslow door to ask for directions to a costume party. In a jerk move, Eddie passes off little Richie to his simple-minded friend Waldo so he could escort his new Elvira friend to her party. Richie, of course, is heartbroken, but goes with Waldo anyway.
Very unfortunately, Waldo returns from trick-or-treating with a little kid dressed as Spider-Man, except it's not little Richie. Laura and Steve discover that instead of Richie, Waldo brought home Tommy Wong, and struggle to get in touch with Eddie at Darryl's house party. They are very upset that Richie is lost outside on the spookiest night of the year. A brief, funny moment occurs when Laura slaps the mask back on Tommy when Carl and Harriette return home and try to cover for the mix-up.
Then, Tommy's mother shows up at the door with Richie, looking for her own son. Everything falls apart, and Carl and Harriette set the recently arrived Eddie straight, forcing him to apologize to Richie.
The whole issue gets resolved rather quickly, and I feel like somehow they missed an opportunity to have Eddie go out looking for Richie, leading to a dramatic reunion and apology, but what do I know?
This episode doesn't have any particularly memorable moments, unlike the other Family Matters Halloween adventures, but it's still a good one. As usual, the highlight for me is the costumes and party decorations. In addition to Spider-Man, Richie and Eddie's vampire outfit, you'll see Carl as Zorro, Aunt Rachel is the Queen of the Nile, and Urkel and Laura are the Frog Prince and the Princess (long before Disney and Princess Tiana came along).
"Best Friends"
October 29, 1993
Season 5, Episode 6
This episode is hard to call a Halloween episode, but it includes a Halloween party, costumes, and plenty of '90s Halloween decor, so I'll allow it. I agree with whoever it was on Reddit who pointed out that this must have been written as a regular, non-holiday episode and was quickly changed when the network requested a Halloween-themed version. So, rather than alter the script, they just heavily decorated the house for Halloween and added a brief opening scene with Urkel hosting a Halloween party. The rest of the episode doesn't even mention the holiday beyond the decorations in the background throughout, so my recap will be brief.
Harriette tries to bond with her daughter, Laura, but like most teenage girls, Laura is embarrassed by her Mom. Meanwhile, Waldo once again got fired from his job, this time from Mighty Weenie. Making things awkward, his best friend Eddie is the manager there, but Eddie rehires him as a chef. Harriette continues to attend Laura's group activities and begins stealing all the attention. Eventually, like most sitcoms, a good talk resolves all the problems, and Laura understands that her mother just wants to be a part of her life, and Harriette understands that Laura needs independence.
"Dark and Stormy Night"
October 28, 1994
Season 6, Episode 6
This episode uses a collaborative storytelling format that showcases the Winslow family's chemistry on a spooky "dark and stormy" night. On this particular stormy Halloween, a power outage traps the Winslows and, of course, Steve Urkel in their home. Boredom prompts them to play "Pass the Ghost Story."
The story begins with Carl, and we find ourselves in the castle of Count von Winslow (acted out by Carl and the family). He quickly passes the baton to his wife, Harriette, who continues the story. She describes the Countess, or as she puts it, "the brains of the family," and really haunts things up by mentioning that the Count and Countess are vampires! Carl and Harriette are shown drinking juice boxes of blood in a cute, kid-friendly gag.
Eddie takes over the story and describes the "teen heartthrob" son, who bears a resemblance to the child of Eddie and Vampire Elvis. The big twist in Eddie's part of the story is that he is a rebel in the family and doesn't like torturing the townspeople or drinking blood; he quickly passes the story to Urkel.
Urkel begins by describing an Earl, Earl Urkel, from the nearby town who is passing by and asks to stay at the castle overnight because his carriage's wheel has broken. The von Winslows are eager to have some "fresh blood" in the house and welcome him in.
Eddie's friend Waldo takes over the story, and he describes the faithful butler (himself), who brings Urkel the Earl to his room for the night. He doesn't contribute much before Laura takes over the story, and things really kick into high gear for Halloween thrills.
Laura describes the Earl inspecting his bedroom before getting ready for bed. He hangs his coat on a hook that turns out to be a lever for a secret revolving door. Inside the hidden room, Earl Urkel finds Laura, one of the von Winslow victims, chained to the wall. Urkel removes her gag, and she explains that she's a peasant girl who has been trapped by the von Winslows ever since... her carriage broke down! She tells him they are really vampires and warns him not to drink the wine because it's been drugged.
Back in reality, the family is feeling spooked, so Laura passes the story on to Aunt Rachel. She describes the Earl of Urkel humourosly avoiding the drugged wine, and when Count von Winslow realizes that the Earl wasn't drinking it, he readily admits that he wants to drink his blood and challenges him to a duel.
After a tense battle in which Urkel fends off the stronger Count with a wedge of garlic, he pulls down a large curtain to expose the family to a ton of sunlight, which we all know stops vampires. He rushes upstairs to save peasant girl Laura, but first, he reveals that he himself... is a vampire!
"Stevil"
October 25, 1996
Season 8, Episode 7
In the craziest, spookiest Halloween venture in Family Matters history, the series introduces a supernatural twist to its basic fun-for-the-family sitcom formula. This episode is quite scary for children. So much so that before the episode started, they aired a prerecorded scene in which Steve Urkel warned the audience that tonight's episode is not the typical Family Matters and could be considered "a little scary."
Steve creates a ventriloquist dummy that resembles him, and at night, lightning strikes, allowing a demon spirit to enter the dummy. The dummy, called Stevil, starts terrorizing everyone. Steve tries to warn everyone, but nobody believes him. The dummy absolutely hates the Winslow family and wants to murder them all.
Blissfully unaware, the two youngest Winslows head out to trick-or-treat, and Carl warns them to not eat any candy until they bring it home for inspection. Hey, it was still the 90s, and everyone was afraid of razor blades and needles in the candy! While they are out trick-or-treating, Steve manages to lock Stevil in the closet, so he thinks they are safe.
Think again!
Stevil sneaks down the chimney (from the closet?) and tricks Eddie into thinking he's Santa before actually killing him! Then Stevil chops Laura into little pieces and places her in the kitchen cabinets. It's a gross occurrence on such a family show, but Laura still talks and makes jokes, even after she's in a million pieces, so I guess that is meant to make us feel better, as it's supposed to be funny?
Next up on the chopping block is Mother Winslow, and Stevil turns her into a jack-in-the-box. Steve runs to tell Carl that everyone is dead, and Carl just laughs, thinking he's joking. But then...
It turns out Carl is Stevil's ventriloquist dummy! Steve and Stevil fight, which Urkel eventually wins by ripping off Stevil's head. As Steve recovers, Stevil's body parts find each other and reconnect.
Just then, Steve wakes up. It was just a dream!
Eddie threatens to lobotomize him with a hand-mixer! Steve screams in terror!
Fooled you again, Steve wakes up in terror, but for real this time.
"Stevil II: This Time He's Not Alone"
October 31, 1997
Season 9, Episode 7
Steve once again provides a pre-show warning that this episode is a bit scary for young ones, and we're quickly off on another wild ride.
Steve is worried because it's been exactly one year since he had that terrible dream about Stevil, and he's scared it could happen again. This time, it's obvious that it's a dream sequence, as Steve falls asleep on the couch within the first minute of the episode, and the "entering a dream" sound effect plays.
Stevil climbs out of the toilet only to reveal that he's been hiding down there eating sewer rats, but now he's back in the Winslows' house. This time, he wants to steal Steve's soul!
Just as Stevil starts to take Steve's soul, he wakes up, revealing it was just a dream. Carl tells him to grow up and heads to bed. He goes to sleep, fully clothed, on top of the covers. Odd.
Carl falls into his own dream sequence where he heads downstairs to find a box marked "fragile" but addressed to himself. He opens it, only to find a ventriloquist dummy that looks just like him! Carl thinks it's cool and not at all scary, but it doesn't take long to realize that this dummy is possessed, too!
This dummy's name is "Carlsbad."
Stevil and Carlsbad chase Carl and Steve throughout the house. Carlsbad and Stevil break down the door to Carl's bedroom, where he and Steve have barricaded themselves in with a large chest of drawers. Just as Carl thinks they've defeated the dummys, Urkel disappears. Carl wonders where Steve has gone when he appears behind him.
Oh, no! They've stolen his soul!
Jaleel White looks downright creepy during this scene as Carl and Carlsbad battle to the death. Carl wins out, but zombie Urkel still wants to take his soul.
But wait, it was just a dream!
Carl wakes up and contemplates the weirdness of his dream as the show comes to an end. During the closing credits, Carlsbad and Stevil are stand-up comedians? Also very weird.
Thanks for reading! Come back in November for Thanksgiving On... Family Matters!
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