Steve Urkel

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Image:2005 0308 urkel.jpg Steve Urkel (full character name: Steven Quincy Urkel, portrayed by Jaleel White) is a character on the 1990s sitcom Family Matters. The character was portrayed as an archetypal nerd, with large, thick eyeglasses, "high-water" pants held up by suspenders, and a high-pitched voice with a snorting laugh. Highly intelligent, he was also quite accident-prone and socially awkward. Urkel was originally a one-shot character on Family Matters, but, because of audience and ratings reaction, he became the show's main character and by the third season many feel the show had become "The Urkel Show".

Contents

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Character background

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Personality

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

Steve Urkel was socially awkward, but was endearing to some people, and his popularity with the fans made him one of America's favorite nerds. After he caused an accident (usually because of his clumsiness or when one of his inventions backfired), he would often say his catchphrases "Did I do that?," "Who cut the cheese," "I'm proud I did it," and "Look what you did."

He drives a BMW Isetta, enjoys going to polka dances, plays the accordion and his favorite food is cheese (although he also likes frog legs, chicken feet and anchovy paste, among other foods). He conducts most of his activities (scientific experiments and creating inventions) in the basement of his home.

In the 1991 episode "Life of the Party," Urkel creates a dance called "The Urkel" to help win friends at school. Unfortunately, after a thug named Willie Phufner (whose sidekick Waldo Faldo later became a friendly character) spiked Urkel's punch with alcohol, the dance was awkwardly forgotten.

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Relatives

On a serious note, Urkel's parents do not seem to love him (originally this wasn't the case); frequently, his comments allude that he is a victim of verbal and emotional abuse (although this has never explicitly been mentioned in this running gag). In 1995, the elder Urkels move to Russia without Urkel, greatly upsetting him, who is then allowed to live with the Winslows.

In addition to his parents (who were never seen, although Mrs. Urkel once was heard off-screen), his family includes his cousin Myrtle Urkel (also played by White), who thought of herself as a Southern Belle; Uncle Cecil (who was never seen, but often mentioned); Original Gangster Dawg (OGD), another cousin (also played by White); and Aunt Oona (Donna Summer), his shy, socially awkward aunt from Altoona, Pennsylvania.

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Stefan Urquelle

Stefan Urquelle is Steve Urkel's alter ego, also portrayed by Jaleel White. While Urkel is clumsy and unpopular with people around him, Urquelle is popular and suave, especially with women.

Steve created a transformation chamber which allowed him to turn into Urquelle whenever he wanted to; said chamber runs on a liquid known as "Boss Sauce". Steve makes the transformation to Stefan numerous times mainly to woo Laura Winslow, who, as with other women encountered by Stefan, is enamored with the persona. In his premiere, however, he was very narcissistic, cold-hearted, Gaston-ish, and shallow, which quickly turned off Laura.

The effects of the transformation chamber are only temporary; Stefan will change back into Steve after a certain amount of time (originally a week). As the show went on, Steve enhanced the "Boss Sauce" which eventually stopped the change-over from Stefan back into Steve. Stefan could only change back into Steve by drinking an antidote or chewing a tablet. He is also able to alter the nature of his "Boss Sauce" to induce other personalities, such as morphing himself into a martial arts master using hair samples from legendary martial artist Bruce Lee (he referred to this altered "Boss Sauce" as "Bruce Juice").

Later on in the series, very near to the final half year of the series in fact, Steve creates a cloning machine which allows Stefan to become a real person.

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All for the love of Laura

Urkel's long-unrequited love interest was Laura Winslow (Kellie Shanygne Williams), a popular girl who he has known since childhood. He also attracted the affection of Myra Monkhouse (Michelle Thomas), who was very pretty and often had huge crushes for nerds like herself. While Urkel tried his best, he ultimately realized he had absolutely no feelings for Myra despite her constant advances, especially since he was convinced Laura was his true love.

Myra's relations with Laura were always (at best) tense, especially since she believes that Laura secretly has a crush on Urkel. Several of her schemes to expose Laura's "true feelings" fail.

Eventually, Urkel's patience paid off. In the later seasons, Laura comes to appreciate Urkel's company and her feelings softened considerably; however, she always stuck up for him in his time of need and was always appreciative of his help (in the latter instance, usually only after mistakenly believing he was meddling in her social life). During the series' final season (1997-1998), she and Urkel fell in love, with Laura accepting Urkel's marriage proposal. The marriage was never shown due to the unexpected canceling of the show.

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The ratings bonanza

Urkel was originally intended to be a one-time-only character (in the 1989 episode, "Laura's First Date" where Carl, Eddie and Estelle separately set up dates for Laura for a Sadie Hawkins dance). Urkel became very popular with viewers. 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 gags sequences filmed featuring Urkel. The addition of Urkel immediately helped the show's modest (at best) ratings (this is a recurring phenomenon in TV sometimes known as Fonzie syndrome or, because of Urkel's success, Urkel syndrome).

White became a regular member of the cast in season two. White was credited as a guest star in the first season.

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Appearances on other shows

White has played Urkel on several sitcoms, most notably:

  • Step by Step — In the series' second episode, "The Dance," Urkel helps his science-fair pen pal, Al Lambert (Christine Lakin) lift her 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. Note: White also has a short cameo in a 1997 episode.
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References

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