It’s been almost 37 years since fans were introduced to the Winslow family on Family Matters, and, in turn, Jaleel White’s annoying yet memorable Steve Urkel. The series is one of the best sitcoms of all time, even with some major cast shake-ups. But what’s even more surprising is the fact that Die Hard is evidently the biggest reason the show and Urkel even exist. And I cannot get over it.
You would never think that a series like Family Matters is because of a movie like Die Hard, but alas, that seems to be true... even if it’s not entirely believable. Family Matters co-creator Billy Bickley shared on Step By Step stars Stacy Keanan and Christine Lakin’s podcast Keanan & Lakin Give You DejaVu that the concept for the beloved series came after seeing Reggie VelJohnson in what might be the biggest Christmas movie:
Jo Marie [Payton] was on Perfect Strangers. It was not created for her, although she says that to everybody. Reggie VelJohnson had just done Die Hard, supporting, small role, but a knockout. So [Thomas L. Miller] was the one who said, ‘Hey,’ because he went to the movies, and he said, ‘Let’s do a show for that guy.’
It’s not unusual for a show or movie to come to fruition after producers see an actor in something else. They realize just how much potential said actor has and create a whole project just for them. VelJohnson was just the jumping point for Family Matters, and it ended up being the perfect spinoff for Perfect Strangers:
And so we did what was basically a spinoff from Perfect [Strangers], which was about Reggie, and because Jo Marie was there, we said, ‘Okay, we’ll team them up.’ And that’s how it came about. So it was kind of a hurry-up pilot, where we, again, we didn’t know what we were doing. But we tried to figure it out.
As Bickley stated, Family Matters is a spinoff of Perfect Strangers, bringing over Jo Marie Payton’s Harriette Winslow and focusing on her family, including husband Carl Winslow (VelJohnson). VelJohnson had a supporting role in Die Hard, which came out in 1988, and it was just enough to convince Bickley and his colleagues that he deserved his own series. It’s crazy to think about that if not for Die Hard, we also wouldn’t have gotten one of the most annoying characters in popular sitcoms, Steve Urkel. And Urkel wasn’t even supposed to be a main character, which is even crazier to think about.
I have heard of shows or movies being made because of projects like how NCIS’ original pitch took inspiration from Law & Order. But I would never have predicted hearing Die Hard and Family Matters in the same sentence, let alone that the movie is basically the reason the show existed. Especially since the two titles couldn’t be further from each other.
Knowing Family Matters’ origins just makes me want to watch the show with a Hulu subscription. While it’s unknown if there will ever be a Family Matters reboot, fans will just have to settle with the OG for the time being. It’s not exactly the worst thing, since the comedy still holds up to this day, and its connection to Die Hard makes it even better.
