Did I Do That? 10 Times Steve Urkel Ruined Everyone’s Lives On Family Matters

The name Steve Urkel has become synonymous with words like a geek and 90’s pop culture. He was the nerdy neighbor to the Winslow’s played by Jaleel White on the popular TGIF television show Family Matters and his numerous disasters and inventions gone awry are what coined the famous catchphrase “Did I do That?” A question to which the answer was almost certainly a big fat yes!

His clumsy nature paired with his huge I.Q. landed Steve Urkel in an enormous amount of sticky situations and his quest to win over the Winslow’s youngest daughter, Laura, caused the family to feel the brunt of his chaos. Steve Urkel’s antics made the life of the Winslows far from boring as he filled their days with clones and robotic versions of himself and ruined their nights with fires and untimely sprinklers.

10 He Burns Down His First Job

In the season two opening episode “Rachel’s Place”, Steve and Laura get jobs at Leroys, a burger place that is a popular hangout for their peers. Steve quickly shows his clumsiness and breaks many dishes but instead of firing him, the owner decides to deduct the cost from his pay. But the owner quickly regrets giving Steve a 2nd chance when the place burns down due to Steve trying to use the grill. The silver lining of this utter disaster of a first job is that it prompts Rachel, Laura’s Aunt, to open up a diner of her own, a dream she has had for some time. She even recruits Steve to help with planning and financing.

9 He Gets Stuck on Laura, Literally

In the season 4 episode “Hot Wheels”, Steve finds the perfect reason to try out his new invention on Laura’s broken earing, a super glue that dries super fast and seems permanent. All great things for a super glue to have, but in the hands of Steve Urkel it leads to that very hand to be super glued to Laura’s shoulder, right before a hot date.

Thankfully he finds a way to remove the hand but Steve should have known to label his glue better to avoid future mishaps, because later on the same glue causes a fascial mask to turn into a permanent mask that could be a prop in a Jim Carrey movie.

8 He Causes Eddie To Be Fired

In this season 8 episode “Odd Man In” Urkel might remind viewers of another popular klutz from the ’50s who has a lot in common with Steve. When Steve takes over a shift for Eddie as a peanut vendor, hilarity ensues as he makes mistake after mistake in a storyline that parallels the episode of I Love Lucy, “Lucy And Bob Hope” when she tries to talk to Bob Hope at a baseball game to convince him she is not a jinx, causing her usual hijinks in the process.  Over on Family Matters, Eddie of course gets fired from the job but learns the value of doing his own work and Urkel learns that he should stay away from bleachers.

7 He Destroys The Garage

Prompted by his desire to help Carl with some remodeling in the garage, Steve takes some of Laura’s diet pills, thinking they are just Vitamin-C and will put a small pep in his step. But the pills are full of caffeine and he becomes super hyper and nearly destroys a wall in the garage while trying to install shelves.

All the shelves, crooked and barely hanging on, fall down when Harriet places a small cup on them. But the Winslows are more concerned about Steves’s health than the garage and while Harriet has a heart to heart with Laura, Carl takes Steve to the hospital to check on his own racing heart.

6 He Shrinks Carl and Himself

When trying to show Carl a new feature he added to his transformation machine, in which it can make small things big, the machine malfunctions and zaps the two of them. The two hold their breath, waiting to grow huge, but it does the opposite effect, shrinking the two in a scene that pays homage to Honey I Shrunk The Kids.

The two are stranded on the kitchen counter and must survive a rolling canteloupe and a hungry cat but at least there are giant snacks! A kick to the machine by Harriet causes the machine to zap the two back to normal, but it also causes the cat to become gigantic.

5 He Clones Himself

In season 7, Steve clones himself, and, as the family has barely become adjusted to the acquired taste that is Steve, the clone is not exactly welcomed by the Winslows. If one Steve is chaos two is just madness. Thankfully Laura convinces Steve of this very thing, but she might have had ulterior motives because she uses this situation to her advantage by convincing Steve to turn the clone into Stefan, whom she is in love with.

4 He Damages the Winslow’s Bedroom

During a presentation of his newest invention, an adjusting television stand, Steve winds up putting a hole in the floor of the master bedroom, much to a sleeping Carl’s dismay. Afraid he will never be allowed in Winslow’s house again, Steve decides to get a job to pay for the damage but unsurprisingly, no one is willing to hire him. So he sends in Stefan to do the job.

3 He Ruins The Junior Prom

Steve is in charge of the confetti drop at the Junior Prom but decides that confetti is boring so he invents a remote-controlled balloon drop to end the evening. His invention impresses his date Myra until he actually goes to use it. Of course the machine malfunctions and instead of releasing the balloons, it turns on the sprinklers, soaking everyone at the dance. This incident incites his famous question “Did I Do That?” and the whole gym responds in unison with a loud “Yes!”.

2 He Invents The Urkelbot

In the season 3 episode “Robo-Nerd”, Steve Urkel invents the Urkelbot, one of the strangest robots ever. The robot has way too much in common with Steve, including his love for Laura. The robot manages to trap Steve in a closet and attempts to kidnap Laura but Steve escapes in time to rescue Laura from his own invention, again. But not before the Urkelbot serenades Laura with his impersonation of Elvis.

1 He Causes A Satellite To Crash Into The Space Station

In part 1 of the 2 part series finale, Steve goes to space to test out his new invention and causes a satellite to crash into the space station. This leads to Steve floating in space as he tries to repair the damage. It was a funny episode but the storyline wasn’t exactly what fans would have picked for the show to go out on. Family Matters was canceled before the show got to finish their story with a tenth and final season so, Steve nearly ruining space exploration forever was the ending fans are left with.

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