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‘Family Matters’ Flashback: Jaleel White, Darius McCrary Share Old Costar Pics

By Glenn Hadley
Published on: 03:09 PST, Apr 2, 2017

Family Matters star Jaleel White reached deep into the 90s nolstagia collection for a picture he recently posted online.

The 40-year-old former child actor memorably known as Steve Urkel shared a picture of himself alongside two of his former costars – Darius McCrary and Shawn Harrison.

Ball was really life back then???????? #teenagethings #waldogeraldofaldo in the???? #repost @dariusmccrary #tbt

A post shared by Jaleel White (@jaleelwhite) on

The picture, which was posted on Jaleel’s Instagram page, showed Jaleel, Eddie, and Shawn hugging as they posed for a group photo.

Darius McCrary played Eddie Winslow on Family Matters– the oldest Winslow child who eventually became a close friend to White’s Urkel character. Shawn Harrison played Waldo Geraldo Faldo, Eddie’s longtime childhood friend who was a little off in some areas but always hit the mark when it mattered the most.

Throughout the early seasons of Family Matters, it seemed as if Steve Urkel had to wait a very long time to hit it off with Eddie and Waldo. He essentially had to work his way up from annoying neighbor and uninvited houseguest to close family friend and future brother-in-law. As shown in this throwback picture, though, it seems as if it did not take the actual actors very long at all to become close friends behind the scenes.

Darius McCrary must have felt a little nostalgic this week as well, because he shared a different photo of himself smiling next to Shawn Harrison on the Family Matters set.

#super #saturday #flashback #2 a #Friday @hehates… trying 2 remember this #episode…

A post shared by Darius McCrary (@dariusmccrary) on

Reports have circulated for years about the tension that emerged on the Family Matters set behind the scenes, especially after the show’s spotlight shifted from the Winslow family to the surprisingly popular character Steve Urkel.

Keep in mind that the show was initially developed as a family sitcom that focused on the Winslow family – a cast led by Carl and Harriette (played respectively by Reginald VelJohnson and Jo Marie Payton.) Many fans do not realize that Family Matters was actually created as a spin-off to another hit series in the late 80s, early 90s called Perfect Strangers.

Harriette Winslow’s character originated as an elevator operator who worked at the Chicago Chronicle newspaper office during the show’s third and fourth seasons. The spin-off series Family Matters was designed to be her star vehicle. The show’s writers even addressed her transition when she was fired as an elevator operator in the second episode of Family Matters but was eventually rehired as the Chief of Security.

Everything flowed smoothly with Carl and Harriette as the main characters of the sitcom. That is, of course, until December 15, 1989. That was the night the episode “Laura’s First Date” premiered.

Young Laura Winslow (played by Kellie Shanygne Williams) did not have a date for an upcoming school dance. Carl and Eddie wanted to change that around by finding dates for Laura themselves. Carl Winslow inadvertently chose Steven Q. Urkel – the nerdy child of their family next door. Urkel’s appearance was initially intended to be a recurring character who occasionally popped up in an episode.

However, his character quickly became the star of the sitcom and the show’s writers and crew responded accordingly. In a 2010 interview with the Los Angeles Times, Jaleel opened up about that not-so-smooth transition and how it affected the Family Matters cast behind the scenes.

“How do you think they reacted? There was some jealousy. Not with the kids on the show, though. We worked through all our issues and we were all cool.”

Family Matters lasted nine seasons from between 1989 and 1998. The sitcom, which was created by William Bickley and Michael Warren, originated on ABC – eventually becoming part of a highly-praised and popular “T.G.I.F.” block of sitcoms that aired on Friday night. The block included other hit 90s shows such as Full House, Step by Step and Boy Meets World.

In 1997, CBS acquired the rights to Family Matters and Step by Step in a $40 million deal with ABC — eventually adding Family Matters to the CBS Block Party lineup for what would become the show’s final season.

[Featured Image by Frazer Harrison/Getty Images]

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