Steve Urkel
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| Steve Urkel | |
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| 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) 2 (Meego) |
| Information | |
| Gender | Male |
| Age | 13-22 |
| Date of birth | 1976 |
| Occupation | Student, inventor |
| Family | Mr. & Mrs. Urkel (parents) |
| Spouse(s) | Laura Winslow |
| 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.
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[edit] 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 catchphrase, "Did I do that?") and socially awkward. Urkel is a fan of polka music, enjoys eating t-bone steaks, and is shown -- surprisingly -- to be a gifted basketball player. Urkel was originally a one-shot character on Family Matters, but, because of audience and ratings reactions, 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. Amongst the rest of the family, Harriette; Rachel; and "Mother" Estelle Winslow were more accepting and caring of Urkel. Urkel also had an alter ego, Stefan Urquelle.
Steve intended to go to college at MIT, but after one semester he returned to Chicago and attended Illinois-Oxnard University (IOU) with Laura. He was born July 25, 1976.
[edit] 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. However, Urkel's parents did not seem to love him. 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 of 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 southern, 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.
[edit] 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" as well as other odd characters, such as Elvis Presley. At first, the effects of the Chamber were temporary, but eventually this was changed;
- Boss Sauce, a serum created by Urkel through genetic engineering that would multiply the very few 'cool genes' he had. Combined with the effects of the Transformation Chamber, this serum turned Urkel into the cool and suave Stefan Urquelle.
- 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. The "Urkel clone" was eventually permanently turned into Stefan; the device was only seen in "Send in the Clones" because Urkel destroyed it soon after the "Urkel clone" was made;
- the Urk-pad was a teleportation device, which sent Urkel to Paris and back; it only teleports to another Urk-pad, which made it unpredictable where it would go;
- 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 the Teleportation Pad, so that he could "travel anywhere in history";
- ice in a can;
- termites that consume wood thousands of times faster than normal, but they live for just 3 days;
- love potion with an antidote;
- lawn chair, an actual piece of furniture that 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 each 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.
[edit] 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.
[edit] 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. Jaleel White also performed the song, in character as Steve Urkel, on the 5th Annual American Comedy Awards. Bea Arthur joined him on stage to "Do The Urkel", after which she replied, "M.C. Hammer had better watch his back"[2].
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.
[edit] 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. In another episode, Urkel lands in the Step by Step family's back yard after launching himself with a rocket pack from the back yard of the Winslow's house on Family Matters (the two scenes being shown in uninterrupted sequence, as Family Matters and Step by Step were back to back on television at the time).
- 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.
