It's a rare condition, this day and age, to read any good news on the newspaper page. Those lyrics have never been more poignant since discovering this past weekend that June 8th marks the release of Family Matters Season 1 on DVD! I am so excited in fact that I've decided to create a brand new feature here at the clubhouse dedicated to those short-lived and/or forgotten television series of days gone by: Lost Signals.
So yeah, Family Matters is finally getting its first official DVD release this Tuesday and let me tell you, I was on a total Veoh binge all weekend as a result. The series, which has emerged as a pop culture phenomenon, is an important point in nerd culture as well. Not since Revenge of the Nerds (1984) had there been a syndicated television series that so eloquently put the focus on the stereotypical "strange kid." In addition to that, the show also proved that not all African Americans were super-smooth like Will Smith (Fresh Prince of Bel-Air) or hardcore like Wesley Snipes (New Jack City).
A cornerstone of ABC's TGIF prime time programming, Steve Urkel is a nerd for all ages, creeds and color. Whether it be with his very own cereal (Urkel-Os) or a 17" talking doll, Urkel represented the scrawny man's Mr. T. Looking back I do find it a bit odd that for a show called Family Matters Urkel's own mother and father weren't more prevalent. Then again, perhaps that was the point. Besides, regardless of what misguided shenanigans he got himself and The Winslow family caught up in everything always turned out okay. So pull up those rainbow suspenders and get ready for plenty of "Did I do that?" soundbytes.
Haha, Waldo, of course! That's a good one, LaDracul.
I'm surprised it took so long for it to make the leap to DVD. I mean, heck, even "Dinosaurs" has at least 3 seasons out already.