Family Matterswas the longest running series onABC’s Friday Night TGIF block.
So, why did Payton leave when the series was already so close to the end?
This could be because we have more of an emotional connection with them.
Image via NBC
We watch them at home, over and over as comfort TV, especially sitcoms.
Just look atThe Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.
To replace a character like that in a sitcom is like trying to replace a member of our family.
Image via ABC
It’s like an alien landed in the middle ofFamily Matters.
The pair work at a newspaper calledThe Chicago Chronicle.
It was at this newspaper that Balki interacted with an elevator operator named Harriette Winslow.
Played by Payton,Harriette was one of the most loved parts of the show.
Her husband, Carl (Reginald VelJohnson), appeared on the series from time to time as well.
Harriette was so liked that in 1989,a spinoff with Harriette and Carl was ordered calledFamily Matters.
Image via ABC
Family Mattersfollowed the Winslow family in their home life.
These beloved sitcoms changed the game.
Much of that resolution came from Harriette.
The Winslow family deals with various misadventures, many of them caused by their pesky next-door neighbor, ultra-nerd Steve Urkel.
She was always there as the strong wife and mother to make it all better.
She didn’t have awkward quirks, act mean, or have a catchphrase.
She was a person.
The show would never be the same.
We weren’t happy about it.
She wasn’t killed off or recast or sent away to boarding school for the next five years.
Nope, she just disappeared as if she never existed, never to be talked about again.
He wanted to do it anyway…
He was so mad, he started kicking and screaming and stuff.
He said something about, ‘She must want to melee.’
I said, ‘What’s a melee?’
He said, ‘a fight.’
I turned around if he wanna fight, I would.
Darius [McCrary] grabbed me.
I was gonna whip his behind."
Why Did Jo Marie Payton Leave ‘Family Matters’?
I wanted to do something else.
I dont regret that I left.
It wasthe final nail in the coffin for a show already on its last leg.
Its like getting a divorce and then marrying somebody else.
It’s not so strange that a TV character would be recast.It’s happened many times before.
But it was very odd for it to happen so late in a series.
Recasting Harriette Winslow Hurt ‘Family Matters’ Legacy
Harriette Winslow wasn’t the star ofFamily Matters.
That, of course, goes to Steve Urkel, one of the biggest pop culture icons.
There is a character who could have never been recast.
She never had a chance to grow into the role and find her own voice.
Instead, she came off as a caricature and a weak one at that.
Not only did we know she wasn’t Harriet, but we couldn’t feel her emotion either.
Just stop watching after Season 8, and it’s like she never left us.
