-I'm sorry, let me untie it. -Oh no, I got it.
-No, no, I got it. -No, no.
No, don't Steve!
[Glass shattering]
-Did I do that? -[Laughing]
He's a nerd and the big hit on ABC's 'Family Matters.'
He became one of the most recognized
people on television.
He's got my lips, my laugh, my voice and all.
Did I do that?
There was a doll, cereal, lunchboxes, t-shirts.
He was huge.
He was the first Black nerd. And he was weird,
and he was adorable, and he was super smart.
The show made its way into the top 12,
and then made its way into the top six.
-Mr. President. -Hello.
Wow.
Everything about him was White and weird,
so it made him, as a character,
easy to write for the writers.
There was no representation.
"Finally we got something we can write for."
I knew 'Family Matters' was a White show from day one.
'Family Matters' was never a Black show to me.
No, no. Hold, hold on a second, honey.
[narrator] 'Family Matters' was a hit show that would
prove to be brutally tough on its stars.
Now what were you saying, Judy?
It was a unwritten rule that these people on top
can basically get away what they wanted to.
The way that it was so cutthroat, abrupt...
no one cares.
Everybody in this industry, whether you know it or not,
has been touched inappropriately.
For the young Black actors involved,
the effects were devastating.
You grow up and maybe
your cuteness becomes not so cute.
Now what do they do with you?
If you Black, you should be happy
to be invited to the party.
The last time they saw me, they saw me as a little girl.
You can't believe everything that you
read in the news, period.
How did one of America's favourite Black sitcoms
end up exploiting the actors who made it a hit?
Eddie, get a life.
Child stardom can be very dark.
[Overlapping voices] Ladies and gentlemen!
You are about to be entertained!
Getting the laugh is the greatest addiction.
They want more of it, they want more of it.
She was getting death threats.
It [beep] with your head! He's out of his skull!
That's what took her down. This is a crazy story.
Judy Winslow, come on down!
[Laughing] [Clapping]
Let's see how you did.
I'm Jaimee Foxworth and I'm most known for being
Judy Winslow on 'Family Matters.'
The daughter of a singer, and the younger sister of
two actresses, Jaimee Foxworth starts working
in show business from a young age.
Jaimee, she had this big eyes and smile,
and people would fall in love with her.
Ah, just cute as a button.
Hi, my name is Gwyn Foxx.
I am Jaimee Foxworth's mother.
Skipper! Skipper!
We want Skipper! Three Skipper dolls!
When I first started acting,
I was around six years old?
I did a series of commercials.
I did Barbie doll commercials.
I did NutraSweet commercial, McDonald's commercial.
When Jaimee is nine,
her mother takes her to an open call
audition for a major role in a new sitcom
called 'Family Matters.'
Let me hold him.
'Family Matters' had already shot a pilot.
I want to hold him.
You can hold him when you get older.
And the little girl, it didn't work out.
And so what they decided to do was
have an open call for Judy Winslow.
And when I say open...
it was open.
There were, like, hundreds of girls,
just for that one part. They kept bringing her back.
You know, they were testing her with the family.
I did seven auditions.
I would just go in and give the same personality,
just kind of be me.
Judy was kind of close to my personality.
After seven auditions, Jaimee joins the cast
alongside 13-year-old, Darius McCrary.
Today I'm gonna do your laundry,
and after that I'm gonna wash your car and
mow the lawn.
Who are you and what have you done with our son?
[Laughing]
Forget about our son, let's keep this one.
[Laughing]
I'm Darius McCrary.
That's two Cs, one small C, big C.
And, ah, I'm Irish.
Oh my God, oh my God.
The first day...
meeting the cast, table read...
it was Hollywood history. It was epic.
And so the energy was amazing.
And I remember shooting the pilot.
I actually got Jason Bateman's dressing room,
okay, so I knew I was gonna end up being
a teen heartthrob, just, just by default.
Darius, he was just very much like a teenager.
Just sitting there like, "Hey girl."
Like, "I've been here for hours doing my work.
Nice to meet you."
When I walked in and I saw, you know,
her sitting with everybody at the table read,
she actually looked like she belonged.
She had felt really good.
♪
♪ YOU KNOW THE NIGHTTIME, DARLING ♪
♪ IS THE RIGHT TIME. ♪
'Family Matters' emerges on the coattails of
'The Cosby Show' on NBC, when other networks
start looking for the next hit Black sitcom.
Mom I wanted my eggs scrambled.
-Coming right up. -[Laughing]
I think that we could credit 'The Cosby Show' for opening
the doors for the industry to go, "Wait a minute.
Black people want to see themselves on TV?
Ooh, Black people want to see themselves a lot on TV.
Oh, we need to get some more of that."
♪
Family Matters was about a police officer,
a Chicago cop, and his family.
ABC wanted to have shows that featured Black families
to hit that demographic.
And the network had this hugely,
highly rated Friday night.
-Hey everybody. -Hi, Carl.
I've got big news.
'Family Matters' premieres in September 1989,
as part of ABC's historic TGIF Friday night lineup,
alongside iconic sitcoms, 'Perfect Strangers'
and 'Full House.'
-Hi, we're back. -Reminding you it's TGIF.
That's means, 'thank goodness it's funny'.
My name's Rich Correll.
I was one of the key directors of the TGIF lineup,
and in doing that I became series director
on 'Family Matters.'
Let me get this straight... you and...
With a coveted primetime spot,
'Family Matters' is a life changer for Jaimee,
Darius, and their families.
This is beautiful.
An opportunity like this comes along once,
maybe twice in a lifetime. I want a bike.
-What do you want, Judy? -A pony.
[Laughing]
-The kid's got potential. -You guys!
A sitcom is a huge goal because that's
steady income coming in.
Like, you can feed your family, you kind of can,
you know, let your hair down and get relaxed and,
and set yourself up instead of working two or three jobs.
Come on.
Come on, just do everything that I do.
Despite its early promise,
'Family Matters' tests poorly with audiences.
After just 11 episodes,
it is on the verge of getting cancelled.
Ow! Ow!
No, no, no!
[Kids mimicking] No, no, no!
So the story of this police officer and this family and
kind of these problems became a bit mundane.
I'm wet, I'm cold,
and I'm cranky- Don't mess with me.
[Laughing]
Everybody was good, but it just didn't have...
the spark.
That phone is gonna ring any minute.
-That's right. -Yeah, that's right.
♪
The producers are told to come up with a breakout element,
or say goodbye to the show.
♪
Hi Mr. Winslow.
I'm Steve Urkel.
And so they brought in this kid, Jaleel White.
When he auditioned he was 12 years old.
He was the only guy that came in with the big glasses
and doing the nerdy voice.
And I said, "Look, this kid is nerdy and
he's really funny, but I want him to be a kid that
wherever he goes, there's a disaster happening."
Better get going, kids,
don't wanna miss the big dance.
Have a good time. Nice to meet ya.
Hi Laura.
[Laughing]
These are for you.
Wow, are you wearing a bra?
[Laughing]
The character of Urkel was supposed to be like
a one-off character, where he was supposed to
come in and just do maybe one episode.
Did I mention my dad knows Wayne Newton?
[Laughing]
Urkel steals the show from his very first scene.
Get out of here, goat face.
[Laughing]
Excuse me.
And in the audience, there was a fraternity
there from Cal State Northridge.
You know, these weren't kids, they were older guys.
And after the scene ended,
we started to do another scene,
and in between the next scene these guys started
to chant, "Urkel, Urkel."
He ends up being a massive hit and the
most likeable character on the series.
Excuse me.
Then he came on and did the other scenes,
and it was like he was the best known comedian
in the world, like, right off the top.
When my dad said you fixed me up with Laura,
why, I thought I'd wet my pants.
[Laughing]
Because Urkel is this nerd, he just really,
really says what's on his mind,
he doesn't have any filters, he goes for the gusto in life.
He's just there, and you're attracted to that.
Nice house for a cop.
He was goofy and nerdy and
would say really funny things.
And him being a good actor,
he could really handle that role.
Thank you, uh...
What's your name, sugar?
Steve.
You know, he was the first Black nerd...
and he was weird, and he was adorable,
and he was super smart.
Wow, thank that fraternity, will ya?
So I don't know who these guys are,
but boy, did you help my future.
But I'm just like, thank you so much.
-That's pretty good. -I wish I could find 'em.
Before long, Jaleel White's one episode appearance
turns into a permanent role.
They decided to, you know what?
Let's shift him into the show.
Instead of being just the neighbour that comes by
every so often, we're gonna make every episode
basically about Steve Urkel.
The character breeds new life into the show.
It's a big relief for the cast.
In the beginning, everybody loved it.
Everybody thought this was great.
That means that we get to,
we get more years on the show and,
you know, we get to take care of our families.
But the honeymoon phase doesn't last long,
and the new dynamic
threatens to tear the cast apart.
He literally started screaming from the back and
he was like, "Why can't you just act"?
It was the most embarrassment I've ever felt.
♪
As you know, he plays Steve Urkel,
everybody's favourite nerd on 'Family Matters',
which as they say airs on another network.
Would you welcome 14-year-old, Jaleel White?
[Applauding]
By the early 90s, 'Family Matters' is one of
the most successful sitcoms on television,
largely because of Steve Urkel.
The show made its way into the top twelve and then
made its way into the top six.
You've seen Steve Urkel on TV,
but may not recognize the name.
And then he became one of the most recognized
people on television, much like Fonzie was
when Winkler was playing him on 'Happy Days.'
We had been through this before,
so we saw what was going on and we went,
"Oh man, this is gonna work."
Ladies and gentlemen, here is the reason that
ABC's stock soared 12 points in the last quarter.
-[Applauding] -[Chuckling]
Urkel's TV popularity is just the beginning.
Before long, he is a cultural phenomenon.
Let me introduce you to the Urkel doll!
He's got my lips, my laugh, my voice, and all.
Did I do that?
There was a doll, there was cereal, Urkel-Os.
Lunchboxes, t-shirts...
there was all type of merchandise for Steve Urkel.
He was huge.
Yo girls... Sweat patrol.
As Urkel gets bigger, the other cast members
begin to feel overshadowed.
I'd give anything to be like Steve Urkel.
When Jaleel showed up and became this kind of
centre point of the show, no doubt about it,
the other cast members were like, "Well, okay,
but this was like a show about us and now
it's kinda about this kid."
I think along the way it got to be a little resentful,
but it was just an adjustment that we had to make.
They kinda had to accept that I was there.
That was a process.
For Jaimee Foxworth it's about
more than acceptance.
Jaleel's presence causes her bigger issues.
Hail, Winslows... Well, man.
When I met Jaleel for the first time, he was nice.
He had a good personality, he was sweet.
But as time progressed with me on the show,
this is all personally me,
it just turned into
this boy that would just
pick on me for no reason.
There was a scene where I had to open the door
for an older woman.
Oh, hi Ms. Bradley, come on in.
Thank you, Judy. Is your mother home?
And for some reason I couldn't get the words out.
Yeah, he's upstairs clipping his toenails.
[Laughing]
Jaleel was getting frustrated.
Like, he would actually come from where he was supposed to
walk in, and he would kinda like pace around and then
he would go away, and then by the third time I think
I did it, he literally started screaming from the back.
And he was like, "Why can't you just act?
Why can't you act? Like dang,
why can't this girl-?" And I mean,
it was the most embarrassment
I've ever felt.
Because it was in the middle of a whole studio audience,
it was in the middle of the producers, the writers,
the people that were paying me.
It was just embarrassing.
And at the time I was like 12 years old.
The onset drama doesn't stop Urkel's rise.
You gave me good advice, Dad.
Steve helped me to see that.
Well, actually Al just had the good sense to listen to
my good sense about your good sense.
Am I making any sense?
ABC cashes in on his guest appearances on other
TGIF shows, including 'Full House.'
You shift the weight, and you go, you see?
And it's a strut and it's cool,
and it's a strut and it's cool.
-Like that, see? -Very inspiring.
Seeing life on the 'Full House' set
also reveals to the cast of 'Family Matters'
that White and Black shows
are not treated equally.
'Family Matters' was on the same lot as 'Full House',
and I had the opportunity of going over on their set,
and it was like day and night...
White and Black.
You know, the treatment,
I mean, their stage was nicer,
their schoolroom was nicer,
the decor was nicer.
It was just a whole 'nother feeling with 'Full House'
than it was with 'Family Matters.'
I mean, they straight out told us that, that,
that we would never be paid like the people on,
on 'Full House.' Straight up.
I love you.
I love you all. I love you.
And I can just say, without going into
the actual quote of what Jaimee made,
she was getting paid lesser than anybody,
than anyone there.
Get a plastic surgeon,
we need an emergency beak job.
[Laughing]
I got extra credit for spelling platypus right.
Now now, hold, hold on a second, honey.
Jaimee starts getting fewer and fewer lines.
He's so cute.
Now, what were you saying, Judy?
Miller and Boyett had promised that she would have
storylines around her at least six episodes,
and that never happened.
Oh, thanks Richie.
You're out of this world, little buddy.
-[Laughing] -It was my idea.
Yeah, but I took it out of the dumpster.
[Laughing]
Yeah, but I held your feet.
I politely asked them maybe four times,
"When do you think Jaimee's gonna have, you know,
those episodes"? And the final answer
that I got, he looked at me
and he said, "When pigs fly."
For Jaimee, losing out on storylines
is just the beginning.
My mom had a parking spot that was
maybe 60 steps from the set.
And a lot of the co-stars had their parking spaces
there as well.
One day I drive up and somebody's
in the parking space.
So I go inside, and I said, you know, "Well,
could you find out who's parked in Jaimee's spot"?
And I was told, "Well, that's no longer your spot anymore.
That's Jaleel's spot."
From there, we had to park in...
it was basically like the public garage.
I'm not better than anybody,
but the walk from there, it was just so far.
That walk felt like a walk of shame.
Like, it was like, this is your place now.
This is how...
you know, this is where they put you.
This is your role.
Your role is, is becoming non-existent.
So Grandma, are you gonna be a June bride?
Not exactly, honey, we'd like to
get hitched sooner than that.
-How much sooner? -In two weeks.
-[Spitting] -[Laughing]
As 'Family Matters' raps shooting on season four,
Jaimee's worst fears come true.
There was a weird moment where I thought that
we were going on hiatus,
I thought we were going on break, and...
everybody started crowding around me.
And then Mr. Reggie kneeled down,
and he started crying, and he kept saying,
"You're a very good actress.
I wanna let you know you're a very good actress.
You're a strong girl. You are...
you are great at what you do."
And I just remember being like, "What is going on"?
♪
I didn't get any tools or material that would
prep for the season coming up,
but I didn't think anything about it.
I just thought they were late.
And so I call up Jaimee's agent and I was like,
"Did they send anything over because, you know,
hiatus, you know, we only got a couple more days
before we have to be back at set."
And she was like, "No, honey,
I haven't gotten anything."
Heidi ho, angel toes.
They had already started shooting for the new season.
A couple of months later, Jaimee's agent calls me and
said, "Honey, I'm sorry they're not gonna
bring her back."
And Daddy, you got to help me.
Mom will kill me.
Well take it easy, sweetheart. I tell you what,
we'll wait 'til your mom is in a real good mood
and then I'll explain things to her.
Jaimee's firing doesn't sit well with her TV mom,
Jo Marie Peyton.
We sent her upstairs and she never came back down.
I asked Bill this, "What happened"?
And he said, "Well nobody's gonna notice, Jo."
And I resented that. It was hurtful.
It was like you didn't care anything about Black families.
Carl and Harriette would never throw their kids away.
I just think that if you have a show that's
revolving around a Black family
that you would do more research,
especially as to how they would be around their kids.
And 90% of Black families, the youngest child is gonna
be the child that's more cuddled, and around,
and not pushed away feeling like that child wasn't
involved, you know, it just didn't make sense.
Tom Miller, may he rest in peace,
famously fired people.
You know, unfortunately, Jaimee's mother and
their family kind of asked for that, in a lot of,
in a lot of their behaviours.
The way that it was so cutthroat, abrupt,
no one cares. This is the industry.
None of this shit is a given.
This shit can be taken from you immediately.
I mean the minute you hear 'Cut', it's over.
This little girl
who had come on the show as the little kid,
and we all love her, 'cause the littlest ones
are the most precocious and sassy.
And they're the ones we love to see grow up.
We can't wait to see them grow up.
And so...
that doesn't happen.
After her firing, Jaimee struggles to overcome
her experiences on 'Family Matters.'
I had a summer of literally sitting in my room crying for
a minute, wondering, am I good enough?
Wondering, like, how was the show gonna go on?
It was so many thoughts.
I was thinking, I'm not a great actress.
Maybe I grew out of my cute years.
Whatever it was, it kind of affected my,
my self-esteem.
Meanwhile, it's business as usual on 'Family Matters.'
The show's ratings aren't affected by
Judy's unexplained disappearance.
But ripples of her abrupt firing are
felt by the community.
Her leave of absence felt disrespectful.
It felt disrespectful to the show,
it felt disrespectful to the audience.
I think it's unfair to leave an audience guessing
what the hell happened and why?
-[Gasping] -[Cheering]
And with the ratings going up, as soon as
Jaleel White hit that show running, guess what?
We don't need to know what happened to her.
We're going through the roof right now.
Let's just keep moving.
Keep moving, don't look back,
nothing to see here, people, keep moving.
These aren't the droids you're looking for.
Oh like a secret thing. Oh, yeah, I like that.
And then Jaleel was carrying the ----ing show,
let's just keep it real. I mean let's just keep it real.
I mean, we were carrying it together,
we were a great team...
but I mean Jaleel was Michael Jordan.
You know, we were the Bulls.
Scotty Pippin here. [Laughing]
This looks like a polka crowd.
-[Laughing] -A one and a two and a...
Part of Urkel's success comes from the fact that he solves
a problem for the show's predominantly White writers.
There was a tradition that was carried into the late 80s
and early 90s, in which the writers' rooms were all White.
And now these writers had to write for Black families and
Black characters and Black shows.
[Humming]
Did that always translate?
No, it did not.
My parents told me not to come home 'til10.
When the show changes its focus to Urkel,
the writing gets easier.
-Got any cheese? -[Laughing]
Steve loved cheese, polka,
he played the accordion.
-Did he eat mice? -He did.
Yeah, he ate mice. Bottom line is-
-Yeah, that's weird. -Everything about the kid.
He was a weird Black guy.
Yeah, everything about him was White and weird.
Yes.
So it made him, as a character,
easy to write for the writers.
They were excited now, like, they were hyped now.
They were like, "Ah. finally!"
'Blerds' didn't exist in the mainstream.
"Finally, we got something we can write for."
I knew 'Family Matters' was a White show from day one.
'Family Matters' was never a Black show to me.
See that?
I know that, man, and you cool.
But you sure you can't help me with no diving watch?
Yeah, I'm sure.
After roles in major movies like 'Big Shots' and the
Oscar winning 'Mississippi Burning'...
It's okay to be afraid?
Darius knows that being a Black kid in a White industry
isn't always easy.
Tell him what you saw.
As a Black child star, it's so difficult because
we're not allowed to be anything other than perfect.
If I'm on time, I'm late.
My mom used to have me on set early.
If you speak up, you say the wrong thing,
you speak out of place, you have to know your place.
If you don't, if you make that mistake,
there is no coming back from that.
[Knocking]
Oh my God, Eddie, open the door.
Hang on, my pet, Steve Urkel to the rescue.
Having to get cheap laughs on a sitcom doesn't always
fit with Darius' ambition to be a serious actor.
At times this leads to tension with Jaleel White.
I'm not gonna say that I was ever jealous of Jaleel.
What I probably was a little bit envious of was
that he got to be this clown.
And I'm 'a be honest, I mean
I did an episode where I dressed up as Urkel
because I went into the transformation chamber.
Wowzers, it worked.
And it's so easy to clown.
It's not that he wasn't great at it or brilliant at it,
but I was like damn, like, if I got to do some of
this silly shit, I'd be funny as hell too.
I had to play the straight man.
Even Jaleel White isn't always comfortable with
what he's asked to do on set.
-And Myrtle, Myrtle. -Myrtle.
Yeah, Myrtule, Myrtle's the one that's a...
Myrtle's the one that's a pain in the butt to play.
One creative decision puts him in the middle of a
conflict between adult cast members and the writers.
Jo Marie and Reggie at that time,
were very sensitive to
putting Black men in dresses.
And they, they heaped that on me.
And they, they, they let me know
that I was not doing
our race a service
by putting on that yellow dress.
Myrtle, this is our son, Edward.
-Well, hello there. -[Laughing]
I cried like a baby at the end of that tape.
I just broke and I just cried, cried, cried.
I was like damn, they definitely gonna
make fun of me at school for this.
I mean, I'm like, I'm like, I'm full...
I'm like, I had gone there.
What are you doing?
I'm your dream come true.
My dad was like, "He will never
play this character again.
He shouldn't have to carry the burden of
some adults making a child feel bad
for playing a girl just in fun."
Keep her away from me, she's crazy.
Crazy about you, you big hunk of hominy.
And these are White producers,
so they're not thinking about this stuff.
There were so many things that were overlooked
concerning us as Black people,
as Black performers.
Anything would've set it off.
As the sitcom landscape changes in the mid 90s,
'Family Matters' starts to lose its appeal.
The producers' attempts to steady the ship
get ever more desperate.
It got to a point where it just got preposterous.
It was just one after the next.
As 'Family Matters' approaches its 8th season,
it's already one of the longest running
Black sitcoms of all time.
[Audience laughing]
And it became, really, appointment television.
You know, it was back before streaming.
Back in my day before there was streaming,
you had to make an appointment to all
sit down and watch at the same time.
And we did.
But with the rise of sitcoms like 'Friends' and 'Frasier',
ratings for 'Family Matters' start to drop.
Its writers start grasping at straws trying to keep up.
You idiot!
The producers of 'Family Matters' introduced
more and more fantastical stories and characters.
[In sync] Isn't this fun?
As far as the characters were concerned,
it got to a point where it just got preposterous.
It just got to the point where it was just like,
yeah, you're gonna play Albert Einstein.
You're going to play Bruce Lee.
It was just one, one after the next.
♪
[Cheering]
The outlandish plots become so infamous
that they're later satirized.
-This is [beep] Gene. -Whoa!
Wha-wha-what's the matter, Reg?
In the next episode, Steve Urkel turns Carl into
a giant sandwich and accidentally eats him?!
But wait, that's hilarious, but it's hilarious.
Come on. I'm an actor, Gene!
This was supposed to be about me and my family.
The desperate writing doesn't pay off.
With every outrageous storyline,
ratings continue to plummet.
It's a business. You've gotta get good ratings.
You have to have funny scripts.
Big daddy, this is Edward,
the man who hushes my puppies.
[Laughing]
It became corny.
And when you don't
leave a show or stop a show when it's at
its sweet spot, people get turned off.
ABC cuts its losses and sells the show to CBS.
When we moved to CBS, I was actually a little nervous
about that because I didn't really think that the
character at that point could grow anymore.
[Audience laughing]
I didn't feel the character in my heart,
and it probably reflects in the work,
and I have no problem saying that 'cause the bottom line,
is, is, you know, it's a business,
and at that point people are just making so much money.
When JoMarie Peyton leaves partway through
season nine, the writing is on the wall.
[Squeaking door]
Oh, Carl, I am so glad you're home.
Harriette, we need to talk.
I know. Have you been listening to this?
They had changed my TV mom.
We moved into a whole 'nother network,
which is really the kiss of death.
In July 1998, 'Family Matters' is
quietly canceled while on hiatus.
Look, most great sitcoms,
there's the glory days of the sitcoms
and the great days of them being these
great shows that have these huge ratings,
and little by little by little, they start to fade.
It, it was kind of like...
their moment was gone.
♪
After nearly a decade of playing Eddie Winslow,
moving on from the character isn't easy
for Darius McCrary.
My name is Eddie Winslow,
better known as the Prince of Love.
[Laughing & cheering]
Okay, I love 'Family Matters.'
I love Eddie Winslow being in my closet,
'cause I can pull him out whenever I want to.
But I'm 'a be honest, it's part of why I believe
I've worked so hard throughout my career.
♪
While the role let Darius make his name as an actor,
it also thrust him into precarious situations.
There's so much shit that I've experienced when
I look back in retrospect where I'm like,
"That was inappropriate." It's just hard for me to talk
about this, man, because I've seen some shit.
I had had my back rubbed so many times and
I was like, what the ----?
And that's why I said, everybody in this industry-
[clapping]- whether you know it or not,
has been touched inappropriately.
Children actors at that time were
very vulnerable and not protected.
It was just, you know,
it was a unwritten rule that, you know,
these people on top basically can get away
what they wanted to.
When Darius first leaves 'Family Matters',
he struggles to find another major role.
[Gunfire]
Anybody need a ride?
Got a brand new chopper waiting for us
on the other side of the bridge.
He briefly stars in the sci-fi series 'Freedom',
but it's canceled mid-season.
Darius McCrary, we watched him grow up.
He was already cute, and then he got handsome
and then he became thump thump,
thump thump.
And he would've been so easy
to spin into something else
on a Black show, on a White show,
on a purple show.
Now you're speaking my language.
He's talented. He's Black,
and he's talented, and he's gorgeous.
So why didn't he get an opportunity?
Hi, I'm T, I'm new in town.
I remember.
Professionalism in this business is
what defines your success.
Yeah I think it's harder for Black actors to, to, to...
and actresses to get back on that,
to get a second chance.
In the years after she is fired from 'Family Matters',
Jaimee Foxworth continues to struggle
with the feeling of rejection.
There was a period of time between,
I think it was 17 to 19, where I was going
on auditions, but I was actively, like,
declining them.
And my mom was like, "What is going on with you"?
Like I just didn't want to feel that rejection,
that anxiety...
anything that I felt before on set,
I didn't want to feel it.
I just didn't want to relive that trauma that I had.
To deal with that reality,
and feeling like you're unwanted by the industry,
let alone the show you're on,
and to continue to validate that space.
And then the crushing weight of how it makes you feel
emotionally and psychologically is an
adult weight... on a child.
I was trying to escape the whole Judy Winslow.
You know, you have a name behind you.
I kinda wanted to be normal.
I just wanted to be like, "Hey, let me just,
you know, hang out with regular people.
I don't want to be in the industry anymore.
I just want to do normal stuff."
But that snowballed into drinking, getting high,
and just not being my authentic self.
To play a role or become a character and have to
live up to that for the rest of their lives,
it creates a duality in the brain of
what's real and what's not real.
I think that sometimes we see child actors get into things
that are dangerous or get into substances,
because what's real and what's not real,
the lines are very blurry.
With me, I like to block things out.
And if drinking, smoking, hanging out, you know,
with people I shouldn't be hanging out with blocks
those feelings, then I'm gonna take that road.
I didn't learn until I got late into my 30s that
that's just not the way to go.
I believe Hollywood creates co-dependence.
So a lot of children become codependent adults,
and they don't have the mechanism or the
ability to function on their own.
And you always have to remember that once you stop
making somebody money, you no good to nobody.
To me, this was like career suicide.
It ran its mouth about having a temporary restraining order.
I've had a restraining order for the past two years.
Throughout the 2010s,
Darius makes headlines for problems in
his personal life,
including a string of divorces, custody battles,
and allegations of spousal abuse.
The image of wholesome Eddie Winslow
as an abusive adult fuels the interest
of Hollywood tabloids.
It's safe to say that Officer Winslow would be
none too proud finding out that his darling boy from
'Family Matters', actor Darius McCrary, recently
tried to mow down his girlfriend, Karrine Steffans.
I can't take Melissa to the dance because
she's not pretty enough.
That's neither stupid nor shallow.
[Laughing]
Television for a lot of people is,
I don't have to be involved in anything except laughing.
You make me laugh, you make me feel good.
I want to know these things,
but when it comes to the drama,
I will now involve myself by speaking out.
But you don't want to love the reality that goes with it
because it reminds you too much of yourself.
And that's why you judge harshly.
Darius tries to defend himself to the media.
None of these allegations are true.
And it's really saddens me and it hurts me actually.
I'm just going to say that, you know,
you can't believe everything that you read
in the news, period.
People will lie to get what they, what they want...
and, and it's unfortunate...
it's unfortunate.
Wherever the truth lies, reputations made
in the tabloids tend to stick...
especially for former child actors.
Most people make mistakes in their 20s or whatever,
but you don't hear about it.
They don't even, no one else knows about it.
So by the time they mature, then,
you know, their life is straightened on
they're doing what they're supposed to do, but...
for us, it's all over the media.
They make us look bad.
They make us think that, you know,
we're the only people, you know,
who go through this.
What a thug.
[Laughing]
Come on, girls.
It's even harder being a Black child actor
because the lens is on you more.
They already expect you to be...
to turn out to be a thug.
They already think that this is a one-off.
Like, you're, you're good when you're cute,
but when you get older, let's see if
you don't turn into that thug that you are.
Let's see if you don't turn to being a drug addict or
drug dealer or mismanaging your money.
After avoiding acting work for years,
Jaimee is strapped for money.
She is presented with an offer that
seems innocuous at first.
There was this Black woman, and she was like,
"Hey." You know, "You look like you'll be great to do,
you know, music videos."
She kept saying like, "Snoop Dogg.
It's a rap video."
So I was like, "No, I can't."
You know, "I don't, I don't think I wanna do that."
But I took her card anyway.
Maybe a month later I was just like, you know what?
I'm not where I want to be.
I don't have the money that I want.
I'm not buying the things that I want.
And so I got me a bottle of Cristal,
and I drank it in my room, like half of it,
and then I was like, you know what?
I'm gonna call that lady.
She was like, "I can pick you up right now."
I still felt like doing the music video
was still a bad look.
So even me getting in the car with her,
I felt like I was doing something bad.
When they arrive at the shoot,
Jaimee realizes she's not there for a music video.
Before I can even make a decision,
here comes the director...
and he's like, "This is how much you're gonna get paid,
and it's not, it's not even gonna be what you think it is.
What you think it is, it's totally different.
It's gonna be classy. It's gonna be on the,
along the lines of 'Playboy.'
It's gonna be very, you know, seductive.
It's not gonna be..." My dumb ass was like,
"Well, you know, it sounds attractive."
That day, Jaimee stars in the first of
a series of adult films.
She doesn't tell anyone that she's leading
a double life under the stage name, Crave.
You grow up and you,
maybe your cuteness becomes not so cute,
or maybe your cuteness becomes beautiful and
now what do they, what do they do with you?
And it's got to be so tough to
navigate this rebrand,
which is just growing up?
I don't think that child actors get
a taste of what it is to be "normal".
It sets up a lot of pressure because you're a child
growing up in a business that's
not "real life".
It's totally different, and you are supposed
to act like something you're not,
which means that of course you're gonna
make mistakes because you're a kid.
While Jaimee's bills are getting paid,
the work takes its toll.
The money just wasn't the only thing
that was attractive.
I also had a plethora of weed.
I was drinking.
I put myself in a position of, "Well, you're here now.
You might as well go for it. You might as well do it."
'Family Matters', it's definitely...
it's sparked a lot of Black people
who wanted to become actors.
I just don't think they know the price
you have to pay to do it. It's a, it's a
it's a heavy burden, you know,
to be famous, it is... it's a heavy burden.
Nearly 20 years after their emotional final episode,
'Family Matters' remains the third-longest running
African-American sitcom ever made.
[Laughing]
It went 215 episodes. It was amazingly successful.
Yes!
[Cheering]
Miller-Boyett, who were the executive producers,
their names were synonymous with success, period.
We didn't get no awards,
but we made a whole lot of money.
We're gonna have a Bossaroma TV funfest.
Despite its success, 'Family Matters' doesn't get
the same accolades as other sitcoms from that era.
It touched so many households and so many hearts.
Now the sad thing about it,
the part that breaks my heart,
is that Warner Brothers just celebrated 100 years,
and we're not even mentioned in that.
We're not looked at as one of the most successful
Black sitcoms by a lot of different standards.
We were too White to be accepted or talked about at
the BET Awards, and not White enough to be talked
about at the Emmys, and to be respected.
Darius continues to act, and in 2022,
he starts a podcast called, 'I'm Not Laughing',
which he hosts with 'Family Matters'
co-star Kellie Williams.
What's up, Sis? [Laughing]
Darius uses the platform to address issues in Hollywood,
including racism and exploitation...
The name of our show is 'I'm Not Laughing',
and we call it that because we've been laughing at
stuff that ain't funny for way too long.
-No, it's not. -This stuff is not funny.
And, life growing up as a Black child star.
When we became adults, I ran into an executive,
and people, who revealed kind of like they were
almost disappointed that
I wasn't messed up.
I had a good friend at my house one time telling me,
you know, "You should get like a DUI or something.
It would make you interesting."
My self-esteem was, was very low.
I started smoking, just disrespecting myself...
because I didn't know where to place my anger.
Jaimee leaves the adult film industry.
She goes on reality TV seeking help with her
drug addiction and to restore her image.
At that time, I felt like I had to make sure that
I wasn't letting America down because the last time
they saw me, they saw me as a little girl.
And I was feeding into the stereotype of
being a child star.
It was like a public apology...
that now I believe that I really didn't have to
give to people.
She did whatever she had to do, and yes,
she found adult film. Make your money, honey.
Stay safe and make your money,
because no one can step into your shoes and live the
reality that you do unless they've gone through
what you've gone through.
In 2009, more than a decade and a half
after the final episode of 'Family Matters',
Jaimee has a son, and finally finds peace.
I made a prayer to God, and I was like,
"If, if you just give me the healthiest son,
I will stop today." And I stopped.
And I haven't had a craving since.
I started to get myself together.
I was clearheaded.
I started structuring my life differently.
I had to literally take care of a human being.
So, you know, he changed my life in that way.
And he says it a lot. He's like,
"I'm a life changer." [Laughing]
He says that to me. [Laughing] It's hilarious.
She loves herself now.
She's had to go through all of that darkness.
She's put in the work.
I've been through so much and the fact that
I was able to turn my life around...
and if I wasn't let go, and the way that I was
let go from 'Family Matters', I think that
my path in life would've been different.
I'm too sexy for my shirt,
too sexy for my clothes,
too sexy for my friends. And, ah... ha, ha...
As a 47-year-old man looking back on 'Family Matters',
it's pretty awesome. It's pretty cool, you know?
I mean, it's something that my children will be able to
look at, their children will be able to look at, and...
I'm a, I'm a great part of history,
a great part of Hollywood history.
They look pretty good.
Judy, Dad made them. How good can they be?
[Laughing]
Of course I know I'll love 'em.
[Laughing]
As a Black performer in this crazy business,
if you don't figure out a constructive way to
manage the disappointment, and the pain,
and the knockdowns, and the,
"Oh my goodness, this is so unfair,"
it will turn into bitterness.
The game was supposed to be set equally.
The game is not set equally.
But now that we know that,
we know how to play the game now.