Family Matters (season 3)

The third season of Family Matters, an American family sitcom created by William Bickley and Michael Warren, premiered on ABC in the U.S. on September 20, 1991, and concluded on May 8, 1992. The season produced by Bickley-Warren Productions, Miller-Boyett Productions, and Lorimar Television, with David W. Duclon as the executive producer. It consists of 25 episodes, most of which were directed by Rich Correll and John Tracy.

Family Matters
Season 3
Starring
Country of originUnited States
No. of episodes25
Release
Original networkABC
Original releaseSeptember 20, 1991 (1991-09-20) 
May 8, 1992 (1992-05-08)
Season chronology

Premise

Main cast

Episodes

No.
overall
No. in
season
TitleDirected byWritten byOriginal air dateProd.
code
481"Boom!"Richard CorrellDavid W. DuclonSeptember 20, 1991 (1991-09-20)[1]446902
Urkel makes friends with an orangutan, who is doomed to a life of scientific experiments. Meanwhile, Carl and Lt. Murtaugh try to defuse a bomb hidden in a treadmill, booby-trapped by a revenge-seeker named Nitro Newton (a.k.a. "The Boston Bomber").
492"Brain Over Brawn"Richard CorrellFred Fox, Jr.September 27, 1991 (1991-09-27)[2]446903

It's a battle of brains vs. brawn, as Steve and a braggart classmate vie for the affections of Laura in a rope-climbing contest. Laura suggests that Steve uses his brains to win the competition, leading him to invent a jet-pack to do so. Meanwhile, Carl and Eddie try to fix a leak in their roof, against Harriette's advice to call a professional. Though they succeed, Carl ends up falling off the roof and breaks both his arm and leg. It isn't long until Harriette gives him, her usual "I told you so".

The episode ends with Steve's jet-pack sending him up through the Winslows' roof and out of Chicago. The second episode of Step by Step, "The Dance", begins with him landing on the Lamberts' picnic table as a result. In its original broadcast, there was a gag with Steve landing in Port Washington leading into his appearance on Step by Step, but it's since been removed in syndication.
503"The Show Must Go On"John TracyGary M. GoodrichOctober 4, 1991 (1991-10-04)[3]446905
With the original Romeo in the hospital with appendicitis, Steve fills in to perform with Laura (who plays Juliet) in the school play. As one might guess, it ends up a disaster and Miss Steuben reprimands him. Meanwhile, Carl gets a beeper from Lt. Murtaugh, but as it turns out, he ends up doing meager tasks for him. Carl soon has had enough of Murtaugh's meager tasks and destroys the beeper.
514"Words Hurt"John TracyDavid W. Duclon & Fred Fox, Jr.October 11, 1991 (1991-10-11)[4]446904
Harriette and Rachel hire a hypnotist (Earl Boen) to determine why a sleepwalking Steve has been acting out his hostilities on Carl. They learn that, during one of his visits, Urkel caused an accident that ruined a model ship Carl had worked four and a half months on. Carl angrily told Steve to get lost, then (not knowing Steve could overhear him) told Laura he wished he'd go away permanently. Carl tries defending his actions, but Harriette and Rachel — in an effort to tell him that words hurt — decide to give him the silent treatment until he apologizes.
525"Daddy's Little Girl"Richard CorrellSara V. Finney & Vida SpearsOctober 18, 1991 (1991-10-18)[5]446901
When Carl's new rookie partner, Mike Forbes, pays a visit to their home, Laura immediately develops a massive crush. When Mike gets invited to a diner, she does a "slightly" better job dressing herself, and comes before Mike dressed very sexy and with behavior she thought of as womanly; while it unbeknownst to her, made her look silly. When Carl accidentally hurts her feeling by laughing at her fancy appearance, her feeling are deeply hurt and she feels ashamed in front of the young officer. Soon after, Harriette calls him out for embarrassing Laura and tells him to apologize. Carl and Laura finally make up when he explains he never meant anything bad, but as she is his beloved daughter, he can't think of her as anything else but "his little girl" and tells her that Mike is engaged. Meanwhile, Steve lands close to high tide in his family trip to Hawaii, and has a "pleasant" time escaping from a certain Hawaiian woman.
536"Citizens' Court"John TracyRegina StewartOctober 25, 1991 (1991-10-25)[6]446906
Carl accidentally kills Steve's prized Peruvian stick bug, worth about $500 and Steve grieves over the loss of his buggy friend. Carl reasons that "it was just a stupid bug" and refuses to apologize or at least compensate for what he had done; Steve is resolved to see if a small claims court judge agrees, taking his case to Citizen's Court (a parody of The People's Court). Rachel, Judy, and Richie watch from home where they fight over whether Carl will go to jail. There, the two bring out several "proofs" and "testimonies," some of which even fake, but before the judge can decide, Steve's speech finally makes Carl realize that it doesn't matter if it was "just a stupid bug," because it was of much greater importance to Steve. The two walk out from the court, not interested and never finding out the judge's decision.
547"Robo-Nerd"Richard CorrellGary MenteerNovember 1, 1991 (1991-11-01)[7]446910
Steve creates Urkelbot (Michael Chambers), which soon develops a mind of its own and sets a trap to snare Laura for itself, but Steve manages to shut it down just in time. Meanwhile, Carl tries to slow down Estelle and Fletcher's relationship to no avail. When Harriette and Rachel calls Carl out for hurting his mother, he won't tell them why he doesn't approve of her relationship with Fletcher.
558"Making the Team"Richard CorrellDavid W. Duclon & Gary MenteerNovember 8, 1991 (1991-11-08)[8]446909
Steve is doing his best to get onto the basketball team as he claims he improved, but neither Eddie or the basketball coach believe it, and the coach in the end makes him the equipment manager. Meanwhile, Laura, who just got into the cheerleading team, wants to show some new cheers to a very bossy know-it-all team captain named Cassie Lynn Nubbles, but she snobbishly refuses, saying that Laura as the only freshman in the team, has no right to do anything but to follow the others lead. For the first time, Laura feels ashamed and feels like an outcast, and decides to ask for advice from Steve, who has to live through that every day. Steve explains that while he does sulk about it, he is constantly reminding himself that giving up is not an option, and the one should always stand up for themselves. In Steve's case, he decides he will make the most of being the equipment manager this year, and hopefully make the team next year. During the game, many of the players get hurt, and the coach, with his job being on the line, and left with no other options, decides to put Steve into the game, which brings amazing results – as they start making a comeback. Laura decides to take matters into her own hands when Cassie Lynn is not even trying to lead her team because she thinks basketball is too boring, and does the cheer that she made up herself – eventually both the crowd, and the team are into the new cheer. In the end, Steve's team wins, and everything ends well for both of them. Laura is named the new cheerleading captain, while Cassie Lynn is kicked out of the cheering squad for her lack of effort.
569"Born to Be Mild"John TracyJim GeoghanNovember 15, 1991 (1991-11-15)[9]446911
A street gang, known as "The Dragons," come into Rachel's Place and try to stir up trouble, but luckily, Carl comes by just in time to stop it. Later in the evening, the Winslows receive a police call that The Dragons trashed Rachel's Place, and when the family arrives to assess any damages, they learn that Eddie was brutally beaten up by the gang as he was getting back from a date. Carl is furious and wants revenge for what they did to Rachel's Place and to Eddie. However, Steve stops him by warning him that he shouldn't do anything stupid by committing police brutality or he risks losing his badge. Therefore, Steve voluntarily offers to go into the lair of "The Dragons" under a disguise of a prospect thug wanting to join them, wired. He keeps them busy long enough to make them confess their crimes-- thanks to a loudmouth member-- and the leader is suspicious. Carl and his partner barge in at the last moment to arrest them and save Steve.
5710"The Love God"John TracyStephen LangfordNovember 22, 1991 (1991-11-22)[10]446912
Eddie wants to date an "easy" girl, named Vonda (Danielle Nicolet) but can't unless Steve helps tutor her. Though he succeeds, Steve is concerned for her well being that she may be selling herself short, decides to counsel her on her ways before their first date. He teaches her that she doesn't have to be "easy" to be popular, because her nice and friendly personality will make her popular by default, much to Eddie's chagrin. Rachel meets a lovely man, who is a complete stranger to her. Meanwhile, Lt. Murtaugh is enjoying a few laughs when Carl must go out in drag as part of an undercover operation. It turns out well, though as Carl manages to catch a wanted man, Murtaugh is ordered to go out in drag for another undercover operation and Carl enjoys a few laughs as well.
5811"Old and Alone"Richard CorrellStephen LangfordNovember 29, 1991 (1991-11-29)[11]446908
Laura tells Steve he's banished from her life after he warns her about her new boyfriend's ulterior motives. In turn, Harriette tells Laura that her attitude may result in her growing "old and alone". Sure enough, she has a dream where she becomes an elderly spinster, who has grown "old and alone".
5912"A Pair of Ladies"John TracyFred Fox, Jr.December 6, 1991 (1991-12-06)[12]446913
Rachel, in need of some help at an understaffed Rachel's Place, enlists Harriette's help. However, the two soon get into a huge argument after well-meaning Harriette is all too eager to offer suggestions. Meanwhile, Stevel joins in Carl's poker night and gets cleaned out by the hustling Lt. Murtaugh. Soon, Steve gets his revenge on him when he beats Murtaugh with a four of a kind.
6013"Choir Trouble"James O'KeefeMary M. SchwarzeDecember 20, 1991 (1991-12-20)[13]446907
In her attempts to whip the church choir into shape for the upcoming Gospel Sunday, new director Rachel kicks recently converted Steve out of the choir when the nerd can't sing a lick. Soon, everyone else leaves the choir after being fed up with her micromanagement. Estelle sets Rachel straight by advising her that God isn't interested in the quality of the voice, but that the words come from the heart.
6114"A Test of Friendship"Richard CorrellRegina StewartJanuary 10, 1992 (1992-01-10)[14]446915
Steve faces expulsion from school when he colludes with Eddie (who didn't study) to cheat on a chemistry test against Waldo's admonition in the latter. Although feeling bad about it, Eddie refuses to confess until Laura gives him an ultimatum: do the right thing by confessing to save Steve from expulsion or she'll tell on Eddie to everyone (including their parents) about him cheating on the test and let him deal with the consequences. Meanwhile, Carl becomes the laughing stock of the precinct (thanks largely to Lt. Murtaugh) when revenge-seeking burglars use sleeping gas to put Carl to sleep, then rob the Winslows blind. However, their second attempt to rob the Winslows again is foiled when Estelle, Harriette and Rachel comes home in time to nab the burglars by clonking them in the head with a snow shovel and chases them inside the house. End result: the Winslows get their furniture back, Eddie is grounded, he and Steve must retake the test before their suspension is lifted and burglars are back in jail. Carl is later chased by Harriette and Rachel for his lack of appreciation for them in saving his job.
6215"Jailhouse Blues"Gary MenteerSara V. Finney & Vida SpearsJanuary 24, 1992 (1992-01-24)[15]446914
Harriette's troublesome Detroit cousin, Clarence (Shaun Baker), is sent to the Winslows to live. He quickly proves to be a bad influence on Eddie, and gets him and an unwilling Steve along with a car filled of pretty girls (Vivica A. Fox and Mari Morrow) in serious trouble for grand theft auto. After the owner of the stolen is convinced to drop the charges, Urkel is returned home to his worried parents, a remorseless Clarence is sent back to Detroit to deal with his family's wrath, and a remorseful Eddie is punished by doing community service for the remainder of the year. Carl later comforts Harriette about Clarence and how Eddie will make mistakes.
6316"Brown Bombshell"John TracySara V. Finney & Vida SpearsJanuary 31, 1992 (1992-01-31)[16]446918
Estelle is determined to share the stories of her late fighter-pilot husband and World War II's Tuskegee Airmen to an uninterested Winslow clan: especially Eddie and the children. Harriette lambastes Eddie for his behavior and reminds him that he needs to set a better example than the one he showed. Eventually, she is invited to share her stories to Eddie's American history class to which they are very interested and even he admits he's proud of his grandfather. Meanwhile, Steve's prison pen pal is released, yet she believes Carl is Steve. So it's up to both of them to get his pen pal out of the house before Harriette finds out.
6417"Food, Lies and Videotape"John TracyStephen LangfordFebruary 7, 1992 (1992-02-07)[17]446919
Steve enrolls in a home economics course (just because Laura is in the same class). He soon learns that he's simply not cut out to be a cook, but is actually fine with it. Waldo discovers he might just have a hidden culinary talent and hones in on it. Laura learns how to take time to prepare her meals properly and not rush through them. Whereas, Cassie Lynn refuses to accept that she can't rely on her good looks all the time and need to do something with herself. Meanwhile, Richie and Judy film Eddie kissing his girlfriend Vonda, which chases her away. While trying to open the camera, Richie drops it. Judy tells him he's on his own with this, and must confess to Carl.
6518"My Broken-Hearted Valentine"Richard CorrellGary MenteerFebruary 14, 1992 (1992-02-14)[18]446916
Laura becomes further annoyed and angry with Steve, accusing him of once again butting into her romance with Daniel Wallace (Bumper Robinson). Later, she becomes upset with Maxine when she relates her negative experience with Daniel, thinking it to be little more than jealousy. It turns out that the advice from Steve and Maxine is best heeded, especially when Daniel attempts to coerce Laura in her room in order to have sex with her on Valentine's Day. When she tells Harreitte about it, Laura is reprimanded for not listening to her friends and is told to apologize to them at once.
6619"Woman of the People"Richard CorrellDavid W. Duclon & Gary MenteerFebruary 21, 1992 (1992-02-21)[19]446920
Laura is engaged in a heated campaign for class president with snobbish Cassie Lynn. However, things grow ugly when she takes some incriminating photos of Laura seeming to embrace Steve (he actually caught her when she fell and was using his weight as a brace) in order to win by cheating. Fortunately, Steve decides to turn Cassie Lynn's plan against her and have Eddie take photos of them kissing. When she tries to point out that he kissed her, Steve reminds Cassie Lynn that he knows how the rumors work having earlier caught her in the act in threatening Laura with exposure of the photos in order to make her withdraw from the election. So Steve intends to return the favor to Cassie Lynn by letting Eddie publish the pictures of them kissing to the school newspaper, allowing the students to think otherwise and ruin her reputation if she doesn't listen at once. He is able to convince her that they can do the election fairly by letting the other students vote and decide for themselves. Cassie Lynn reluctantly agrees to Steve's terms and Laura wins by a landslide. Meanwhile, Carl refuses to participate in a neighborhood watch squad and is later reprimanded for his selfishness.
6720"Love and Kisses"John TracyJim GeoghanFebruary 28, 1992 (1992-02-28)[20]446917
When Laura and Maxine are unable to get tickets to his concert, Steve invites R&B singer Johnny Gill to serenade Laura, in hopes that she will decide to go out with him. However at the last second, he decides it's better to let her make her own decision whether she wants to go out with him or not. Meanwhile, Carl and Harriette take a second honeymoon to a resort, but are quickly left out in the cold.
6821"Stop! In the Name of Love"John TracyDavid W. Duclon & Gary MenteerMarch 13, 1992 (1992-03-13)[21]446922
This time, it's Waldo who has the crush on Laura, particularly when she tries to encourage him after a string of bad luck with dates. Carl and Murtaugh argue of Mother Winslow's driving when Estelle destroys Lt. Murtaugh's new car. Their fighting escalates with a pie fight, with Steve taking the hit. Soon the nerd is fed up and decides to throw a pie at both Carl and Murtaugh. However, an unsuspecting Laura ends up being the recipient of the pie, causing her to chase Steve around.
6922"The Urkel Who Came to Dinner"John TracyRegina StewartApril 3, 1992 (1992-04-03)[22]446921
When his parents go out of town unannounced, Steve is invited to stay with the Winslows. However, he unwittingly manages to create havoc: he accidentally vacuums and swallows a fish Carl was looking after for Lt. Murtaugh; he encourages Richie to fight a preschool bully; and he drives away Laura's study date (Mark) when he suspects he's got less than admirable motives. When the family confronts him about it, Estelle and Richie ends up mediating the fight. Richie reveals that Steve didn't intend for him to fight the bully, but rather stand up to him. Rachel soon realizes she was wrong and apologizes to Steve for her quick judgment. Estelle mentions to Laura that she should've been grateful to Steve in chasing Mark away. When asked why, Estelle reveals that she and Fletcher had caught him at Lovers Lane with a certain red haired classmate he claimed to have broken up with (when in fact he was dating her on the sly). Laura recognizes the girl from her class and is humiliated when she realizes that Mark had not only lied to her, but is also a two-timer.
7023"Robo-Nerd II"Richard CorrellGary MenteerApril 24, 1992 (1992-04-24)[23]446923
Steve revamps his Urkelbot into a crime-fighting bot, encouraging Carl to use the technology to solve a rash of convenience store burglaries. Meanwhile, the Winslow women get a nasty surprise when the new shampoo that they ordered causes them to go bald. After buying wigs, the women ask Steve if they can use Urkelbot to trace the shampoo back to the con-artists and get them arrested for their fraud. They soon discover that Urkelbot has no interest in police work and wants to be a dancer instead.
7124"Dudes"Richard CorrellFred Fox, Jr. & Jim GeoghanMay 1, 1992 (1992-05-01)[24]446924
Despite Laura's admonition that the show is sexist, Steve, Eddie and Waldo are contestants on the local teen dating show "Dudes." Steve uses the show to reaffirm his love for Laura, leading her to reprimand him for his behavior. Meanwhile, Carl tries to find out what his family is planning for his birthday.
7225"Farewell, My Laura"Richard CorrellDavid W. Duclon & Gary MenteerMay 8, 1992 (1992-05-08)[25]446925
A 1940s-style detective spoof, with Steve playing gumshoe crime fighter Johnny Danger. Danger is paid to protect supper club owner Rachel, who is targeted by an assassin. When Rachel is killed, the "Wigglesworths", Murtaugh, and Waldo are all suspects. Who murdered Rachel, and can he find out fast?

References

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  2. "TV Listings for - September 27, 1991 – TV Tango". TV Tango. Retrieved 28 December 2012.
  3. "TV Listings for - October 4, 1991 – TV Tango". TV Tango. Retrieved 28 December 2012.
  4. "TV Listings for - October 11, 1991 – TV Tango". TV Tango. Retrieved 28 December 2012.
  5. "TV Listings for - October 18, 1991 – TV Tango". TV Tango. Retrieved 28 December 2012.
  6. "TV Listings for - October 25, 1991 – TV Tango". TV Tango. Retrieved 28 December 2012.
  7. "TV Listings for - November 1, 1991 – TV Tango". TV Tango. Retrieved 28 December 2012.
  8. "TV Listings for - November 8, 1991 – TV Tango". TV Tango. Retrieved 28 December 2012.
  9. "TV Listings for - November 15, 1991 – TV Tango". TV Tango. Retrieved 28 December 2012.
  10. "TV Listings for - November 22, 1991 – TV Tango". TV Tango. Retrieved 28 December 2012.
  11. "TV Listings for - November 29, 1991 – TV Tango". TV Tango. Retrieved 28 December 2012.
  12. "TV Listings for - December 6, 1991 – TV Tango". TV Tango. Retrieved 28 December 2012.
  13. "TV Listings for - December 20, 1991 – TV Tango". TV Tango. Retrieved 28 December 2012.
  14. "TV Listings for - January 10, 1992 – TV Tango". TV Tango. Retrieved 28 December 2012.
  15. "TV Listings for - January 24, 1992 – TV Tango". TV Tango. Retrieved 28 December 2012.
  16. "TV Listings for - January 31, 1992 – TV Tango". TV Tango. Retrieved 28 December 2012.
  17. "TV Listings for - February 7, 1992 – TV Tango". TV Tango. Retrieved 28 December 2012.
  18. "TV Listings for - February 14, 1992 – TV Tango". TV Tango. Retrieved 28 December 2012.
  19. "TV Listings for - February 21, 1992 – TV Tango". TV Tango. Retrieved 28 December 2012.
  20. "TV Listings for - February 28, 1992 – TV Tango". TV Tango. Retrieved 28 December 2012.
  21. "TV Listings for - March 13, 1992 – TV Tango". TV Tango. Retrieved 28 December 2012.
  22. "TV Listings for - April 3, 1992 – TV Tango". TV Tango. Retrieved 28 December 2012.
  23. "TV Listings for - April 24, 1992 – TV Tango". TV Tango. Retrieved 28 December 2012.
  24. "TV Listings for - May 1, 1992 – TV Tango". TV Tango. Retrieved 28 December 2012.
  25. "TV Listings for - May 8, 1992 – TV Tango". TV Tango. Retrieved 28 December 2012.
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