Family
The Urkels are very intelligent people; Steve and his family were known to do the Sunday crossword puzzles in pen in about 20 minutes. In fact, Steve himself was known for considering his teachers and school officials as equals, calling them by their given names instead of Mr., Mrs., or Ms. He is also fluent in Japanese and Korean which he sometimes uses to speak to Principal Shimata, Vanderbilt High School's Japanese-American principal.
However, on many occasions, it is said or referenced that Steve's parents have nothing but total contempt for him, and do their best to avoid him at all times. For example, when he was born his parents tried to push him back in, and his parents do not own a car because he was born in one. In the Season 3 episode, "Choir Trouble", Steve says that his dad questioned him for going to church with the Winslows and becoming a born-again Christian, implying that his parents are atheists. He also once mentioned that his parents do not feed him every day. This perhaps explains why he spends his time at the Winslows and not at his own home. However, when Steve was Stefan in Season 5's episode "Dr. Urkel and Mr. Cool", they started to show their love for him and introduced him to his relatives. It may be assumed that his parents, although nerds, are very shallow people and prefer Stefan's company rather than Steve's.
The viewers see that Steve has at least four relatives who do care about him. In an early episode, entitled "The Big Fix – AKA Mercy Date," his uncle Ernie, drives him on his date with Laura, and takes a picture. He also has a good relationship with his "Aunt Oona from Altoona" (notably played by Donna Summer). She also visits Steve in two episodes and is a mother figure to him aside Estelle. He also mentions his Uncle Cecil throughout the series, so it implies that Uncle Cecil cares for Steve, who has a police record. His cousin, Myrtle is very close to him and treats him like her brother. Other relatives included Myrtle's father "Big Daddy" (played by Reginald VelJohnson in a dual role) who did not think Eddie was a good choice for his daughter except when bribed with cash. It was mentioned in Season 2 that Big Daddy and the other relatives (excluding Oona, Cecil, Ernie and Myrtle) pay Steve a lot of money not to visit them. However, they tolerated him after he got a makeover and was less clumsy. Steve has a gangster cousin from Detroit named Cornelius Eugene Urkel (also played by White) who went by the moniker "Original Gangsta Dawg". He tries to avoid him at all costs. Steve also has another cousin named Julie, that's D.J.'s friend and lives in San Francisco. In his first episode, "Laura's First Date", Steve's father is mentioned in the line: "Did I mention my dad knows Wayne Newton?" It was also once mentioned that his uncle Ernie owns a hearse.
In 1995, his parents moved to Russia without Steve, because he did not want to go, apparently abandoning him. Steve was then allowed to live with the Winslows; however, in a 1997 episode, a subplot has Steve visiting his parents.
In addition to his parents, his family also included his cousin, Myrtle Urkel, whose innocent infatuation with Laura's brother, Eddie, was equal to Steve's for Laura. However, Eddie never grew to like Myrtle unlike Laura who did grow to like Steve (thanks in some part to Myra demanding his undivided attention to her). At the end, when Myrtle realized that she is acting like a prostitute (due to shopping and a makeover with Laura and Maxine), she abandoned him, to pursue some other man. That was the last time Myrtle appeared.
The Urkel family, along with Steve, have very good luck in gambling; Eddie once broke Carl's car and needed $800 to pay for the damage without Carl noticing, but he couldn't afford it, so he and Steve went to an illegal gambling casino with fictional Mom's bakery as a cover-up store for protection. Steve focused and managed to win $32,000, but when they prepared to leave, a police called in a raid so he and Eddie ended up in prison until Carl paid a ransom for them.
Steve had a pen-pal, a girl, who was in prison, but he stopped writing her because she went out of jail and tried to seduce Carl, because she thought that Carl was Steve. After a big misunderstanding, she was brought back to prison.
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Famous quotes containing the word family:
“Realizing that his time was nearly spent, he gave full oral instructions about his burial and the manner in which he wished to be remembered.... A few minutes later, feeling very tired, he left the room, remarking, ‘I have no disposition to leave this precious circle. I love to be here surrounded by my family and friends.’ Then he gave them his blessing and said, ‘I am ready to go and I wish you goodnight.’”
—For the State of New Hampshire, U.S. public relief program (1935-1943)
“Children need money. As they grow older they need more money. They need money for essentially the same reasons that adults need money. They need to buy stuff....They need it regardless of whether they get good grades, violate a family rule, or offend a parent.”
—Donald C. Medeiros (20th century)
“The East is the hearthside of America. Like any home, therefore, it has the defects of its virtues. Because it is a long-lived-in house, it bursts its seams, is inconvenient, needs constant refurbishing. And some of the family resources have been spent. To attain the privacy that grown-up people find so desirable, Easterners live a harder life than people elsewhere. Today it is we and not the frontiersman who must be rugged to survive.”
—Phyllis McGinley (1905–1978)