re: WTF happened to "Family Matters" throughout its run?

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But to the rest of the characters on the show, Urkel’s miracles are treated like annoying everyday occurrences. We never see someone at the end of the episode go “Steve, maybe if you work the kinks out of your machine that turns anybody into Bruce Lee you can sell it to the military and make a fortune.” It’s as if the other characters are purposely turning a blind eye to all the fricked up things he’s able to do.

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Not to mention the ways he manipulated the Winslow family themselves. Like the fact that they used to have a younger daughter named Judy who up and disappeared without anybody even remembering she existed. Why would Steve get rid of her? To cut Laura off from her sister, the one person most likely to talk her out of marrying the weirdo dork next door.

He did the same thing for Laura’s Aunt Rachel, an attractive single mother who dated handsome men but never seemed to settle down. Having Rachel for a female role model would make Laura less likely to end up with Steve, so he gave her the boot. However, he kept her son Richie around, because Richie was one of the few Winslows who actually liked Steve, and nothing helps a guy get the girl better than the approval of a precocious younger relative.

The rest of the family he manipulated in subtle ways. He became one of Eddie’s best friends out of nowhere. He became a sort of surrogate son to Carl and Harriet. And he eventually married Laura.

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