Family Matters

- Season 2

(1990)

Laura and Urkel are employees at Leroy's, the local hamburger hangout. Urkel decides to cook Laura dinner, but he winds up burning down the restaurant. Leroy - exasperated once and for all at Urkel's unending clumsiness - decides to take the insurance settlement and get out of the restaurant business, but Rachel finds the opportunity of a lifetime in the burned-out rubble.

Rachel opens up Rachel's Place, the new teen hangout (in place of the burned-out Leroy's). She also has her eye on her loan officer, Steve Webster, then begins talking about him around the house. Urkel overhears Rachel's conversation about treating Webster to a candlelight dinner ... and jumps to the conclusion that Rachel has her eye on him. Urkel dons his best threads, and although Rachel is flattered, she finds she needs to clear up this misunderstanding.

The subject in home economics class at school: marriage. Laura wants to be paired with any number of cute guys in her class for a project about marriage ... but winds up with Urkel instead. Urkel goes above and beyond what it takes to be a good husband, but winds up angering Laura when she feels smothered by his constant attention. Laura asks for some sympathy from her mother, but Harriette just wishes Carl would pay half as much attention to her as Urkel does Laura.

Carl's dealing with a back that's killing him, and a rival officer named Charlie who has a monster ego. So when the precinct's annual dance contest approaches, Carl and partner Harriette decide to teach Charlie a lesson or two in humility.

An unlicensed Eddie wants to impress girlfriend Jolene with his driving skills ... and winds up crashing the car through the front of the house! When Carl demands an explanation, Urkel takes the fall, only to find that his parents are so outraged that they decide to send him off to military school. Will Urkel get to finish giving Laura his classic farewell speech before Eddie admits what really happened?

Carl wants Eddie to come along on a ride-along program, but the younger Winslow is more interested in girls, singing rock songs and modeling. Carl's disappointment turns to dismay when Urkel gladly volunteers to ride along. Urkel (of course) unwittingly does everything to make Carl's job frustrating, then disobeys his orders to stay in the car while Carl is staking out a robbery suspect in a stockyard. Carl and Urkel find themselves locked in a boxcar ... which gives them ample opportunity to learn about each other and time for Carl to realize Eddie isn't quite ready ...

A Halloween costume-bedecked Urkel and Laura are hostages during a bank robbery. Urkel fantasizes about saving Laura and subduing the criminal, but things don't quite work out that way. Carl, meanwhile, is able to apprehend the subject, leaving a downtrodden Urkel to realize he can never impress Laura by being a hero who saves the day.

Laura and Eddie are involved in a prank war which includes Steve and Myrtle Urkel being in the middle of their dispute.

In order to give herself some space, Laura attempts to convince Steve to point his affections in the direction of a shy girl at school.

Laura enlists Urkel's help for a science project, despite Estelle's stern warnings against it. Laura falls asleep and has the weirdest dream: Urkel made an atomic bomb ... and sets it off, blowing Chicago off the map.

When a school bully threatens to physically harm anyone who dares to take Laura out on a date, Steve takes a stand for the girl he loves.

Eddie, Rodney and Urkel wander into an adults-only billiards hall, where a friendly yokel named Higgins decides to challenge Eddie to a friendly bet over a game of pool. Eddie quickly finds he's taking on a pool shark and loses a lot of money. Higgins warns him to pay up, or his family could suffer some brutal consequences. Eddie - who doesn't have the skills to match Higgins - decides instead to try to win back his bet and enlists Urkel to help him. Urkel is about to win when Higgins' cronies interfere; when Urkel complains about the cheating, the thugs decide to ...

Urkel's parents decide to leave him home alone for Christmas. The Winslows decide to extend some holiday spirit and invite their nerdy neighbor over on Christmas Eve. Everyone's shocked to learn Urkel still believes in Santa Claus, but who was it that delivered that Freddy Teddy that Richie's been wanting?

Carl drags Eddie along on an ice fishing trip to Lake Wannamuck. Tempers are already on thin ice between the two Winslow men, and their patience grows even shorter when Urkel shows up (and promptly becomes an ace at fishing). But he saves the day when Carl falls through the ice, making a shaken Eddie realize that he easily might no longer have had a father to argue with had things turned out differently. Meanwhile, Judy is upset that Richie is being lavished with attention.

What promises to be an ugly father-son feud escalates into a huge quarrel over house rules between Carl and Eddie. When Carl threatens to ground Eddie, the younger Winslow decides he doesn't have to take any more and plans to move out. Harriette decides to mediate the feud and settle both of them down before something really bad happens.

Carl and Urkel struggle with their consciences in separate situations. Carl finds (and wants to keep) a diamond necklace that's extremely valuable but knows it might belong to someone; Urkel is asked to tutor Laura's current boyfriend, Todd, who is struggling to maintain his academic eligibility and remain eligible to date the lovely Winslow girl.

With Rachel's help, Harriette wins a radio call-in contest and nabs the grand prize: a new car. But just who deserves the car more becomes a major sore point between the sisters, leading to a huge argument. Carl isn't there to intervene; the acrophobic Winslow - the butt of jokes at the precinct when he was unable to foil a robbery because of his fear of heights - finds himself in the worst possible situation, thanks to Urkel: high in the sky in a hot-air balloon, with no way to get down. However, Carl is able to save the day when Urkel nearly falls out of the balloon.

At Maxine's rooftop party, Urkel shows everyone how to "Do the Urkel." But it may be his last hurrah; Willie Fuffner, his pride still stung from losing to him during a boxing match several weeks earlier, offers Urkel a peace offering - a glass of punch. Only he doesn't tell him it's spiked with whiskey. A drunken Urkel staggers around the rooftop, which is good for a few yuks ... until he tumbles off the side of the roof and finds himself clinging to a clothesline for dear life. Rachel manages to save the day, and Willie and his buddy, the dim-witted Waldo Faldo, find...

For the second time in a matter of weeks, Eddie's unlicensed driving (all to impress the chicks) gets him in trouble again when he dents the family car. Eddie knows he'll be in hot water if Carl finds out, but Urkel's suggestion - visiting Ma's Bakery, which is the front for an underground casino - could land him in even deeper trouble.

During Black History Month, Laura and Urkel hope their fellow students will gain appreciation for other cultures and races with a new class. But all they get is a bunch of threats from a few racist classmates. Laura breaks down in tears and feels sorry for herself, but Estelle's story behind her first library card gives her new inspiration.

Rachel tells Richie and Judy stories about Carl and Eddie to teach a lesson about taking credit. Carl and Lt. Murtaugh are involved in an operative to uncover a smuggling ring. Even though Murtaugh nearly blows the undercover scheme, Carl is able to take the criminals into custody and gives his partner credit for setting up the sting. Meanwhile, Eddie struggles with a writing assignment in class and turns to Urkel for help. Urkel ghost writes a really great story and Eddie is ready to take the credit ... until he is asked to produce more stories.

An elderly man named Jimmy visits the Winslows, claiming to be the family's long-lost friend. But the shock really sets in when Harriette and Rachel realize that Jimmy is actually their estranged father.

Carl is hoping to get a promotion, but it may ride on Lt. Murtaugh's influence - and his ability to get the smart-mouthed lieutenant a date with a less-than-willing Rachel, who is already fed up with his borderline sexual harassment.

Carl - embroiled in a dispute with Urkel's father - has a dream about he, his family and Urkel living in the Old West. There, the dispute over a compost heap - this time, with Two-Gun Urkel, the most annoying gunslinger in the West - grows heated and results in a shoot-out. Urkel loses, and everyone refuses to accept Carl's plea for forgiveness.

Carl's irate demeanor has everything to do with the fast-approaching one-year anniversary of a hostage situation gone horribly wrong. He is still shaken over not doing that one thing that could have stopped a convenience store robber from killing his elderly hostage. A chance meeting with the victim's widow - she had sent her husband out for ice cream on the night of his death - helps Carl realize that nobody (except the robber) is at fault for her husband's tragic death.