FAMILY MATTERS: IT CAME UPON A MIDNIGHT CLEAR (TV)

Summary

One in this comedy series about the Winslows, an African-American family living in Chicago next door to their annoying neighbor, Steve Urkel.

Carl plans to go into the wilderness to cut down his own Christmas tree; he is dismayed, however, when the only one available to go with him is Urkel. Out in the woods, Carl and Urkel try to select a tree, although Carl quickly becomes impatient with Urkel’s exacting standards. Back at the Winslow house, Curtis arrives to give Laura a Christmas present. They kiss, but are interrupted by Harriette’s arrival. She informs Laura that Stefan is nearby and quickly gets Curtis out of the house, trying not to arouse Stefan’s suspicions. Carl and Urkel finally select a tree and start chopping it down, although Urkel urges Carl to hurry when he realizes that it is snowing, which will soon make it impossible for them to find their way back to Carl’s car. Soon their attempts to find their way back fail, rendering them lost in the wilderness.

Harriette talks to Laura about the situation involving her, Curtis, and Stefan. She says she will tell them about each other at the right time. Harriette reveals that she was dating someone else when she first met Carl, and says that because she put off breaking up with him she deeply hurt his feelings. She worries that either Curtis or Stefan will be inadvertently hurt by Laura. Carl and Urkel continue to wander around the woods and decide to build a fire to keep themselves warm for the time being. Laura decides to break things off with Curtis and he runs into Stefan on his way out of the house, blaming him for the whole thing. Curtis threatens to fight Stefan if he harms Laura in any way. Carl and Urkel huddle around their dying fire for warmth. Urkel, believing that they may not make it through the night, tells Carl about how much he admires and respects him, a sentiment which Carl finds quite touching. Carl, feeling as though much of his animosity towards Urkel is now pointless, asks that they “start over” with each other. They embrace, and the weather clears up, allowing Urkel to use the positions of the stars to help navigate and find the car, allowing them to escape alive. Eventually the family reconvenes and lights their Christmas tree together. Includes commercials.

(This program contains audiovisual imperfections. It represents the best copy available at this time.)

Details

• NETWORK: ABC
• DATE: December 13, 1996 8:30 PM
• RUNNING TIME: 0:26:01
• COLOR/B&W: Color
• CATALOG ID: B:46862
• GENRE: Comedy
• SUBJECT HEADING: African-American Collection - Comedy; TV - Comedy
• SERIES RUN: ABC - TV series, 1989-1997; CBS - 1997-1998
• COMMERCIALS:
  • TV – Commercials – Domino’s pizza
  • TV – Commercials – Hewlett Packard printers
  • TV – Commercials – Sears department stores
  • TV – Commercials – Target department stores
  • TV – Commercials – Totino’s snacks
  • TV – Commercials – Wendy’s restaurants
  • TV – Commercials – “Beavis and Butthead Do America” motion picture
  • TV – Promos – “Dangerous Minds”
  • TV – Promos – “Doug’s Secret Christmas”
  • TV – Promos – “Edith Ann’s Christmas”
  • TV – Promos – “Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman”

CREDITS

• Thomas L. Miller … Executive Producer, Developed by
• Robert L. Boyett … Executive Producer, Developed by
• William Bickley … Executive Producer, Created by
• Michael Warren … Executive Producer, Created by
• David W. Duclon … Executive Producer
• Gary Menteer … Co-Executive Producer
• Jim Geoghan … Co-Executive Producer
• Fred Fox Jr. … Co-Executive Producer
• Miles Kristman … Coordinating Producer
• Stephen Langford … Supervising Producer
• Fred Rubin … Supervising Producer
• Kelly Sandefur … Producer
• Rebecca Misra … Co-Producer
• Jeff Luini … Associate Producer
• Gregg Heschong … Director
• Gary M. Goodrich … Writer
• Meg DeLoatch … Writer
• Jesse Frederick … Music by, Theme Music by
• Bennett Salvay … Music by, Theme Music by
• Reginald VelJohnson … Cast, Carl Winslow
• JoMarie Payton Noble … Cast, Harriette Winslow
• Darius McCrary … Cast, Eddie Winslow
• Kellie Shanygne Williams … Cast, Laura Winslow
• Jaleel White … Cast, Steve Urkel, Stefan Urquelle
• J. Lamont Pope … Cast, Curtis Williams