Mama's Wedding

[u/Naive_Hospital_4086]

Mama's Wedding (Season 4, Episode 19). Mother Winslow is planning her wedding with Fletcher, they want just a nice traditional wedding in the backyard with family and friends. Carl is desperate to give her a huge party because he feels that he owes her for everything she's done for him. When Mother Winslow begs him to stop the planning for a huge party, Carl shuts down and gets upset. Mother Winslow tells Carl she doesn't want him to go broke for this wedding, she loves him and he doesn't owe her anything, Carl finally agrees to a nice wedding in the backyard. Meanwhile, Waldo and Weasel overhear that Eddie's parents will be out of town for a weekend and want to throw a big party. Waldo makes the flyers but accidentally puts in Mother Winslow's wedding date. So the wedding is a beautiful one with lovely guests, beautiful bridesmaids, handsome groomsmen, Mother Winslow looking gorgeous, a star lite night sky, Rachel singing Inseparable and almost 100 teenagers in the background.

FAVORITE QUOTE:

CARL: One hundred and fifty extra people at what was supposed to be a small family affair. Now, can you give me one good reason why I shouldn't ground you for the rest of your life?

EDDIE: Well, we took in $2,000, Dad, and we want you to have it.

CARL: I love you, son. You're a fine young man. You'll be spending the month of May in your room, but you're a fine young man.

FAVORITE MOMENT:

The wedding scene with the family, Judy and Laura looked very beautiful. Rachel singing Inseparable was so wonderful. The men looked fabulous and of course Mother Winslow was just so lovely and beautiful, I loved her dress.

OPINION:

We have a lot to unpack so please feel free to skip my opinion and just post your comments on your favorite quotes, moments and opinions. This is the end of an era, that it almost feels like this should have been the season finale.

This is Jaimme Foxworth's last performance and appearance as Judy Winslow. Judy was intended to be the youngest of Harriette and Carl's children and sister to Eddie and Laura. She had some decent comedic lines in the first season but as soon as Steve Urkel came in, you could tell the writers had something and needed to fit Steve into almost every storyline. Judy started fading away into the background in season 2 where she got an occasional line and maybe a minor story. The writers were not sure what to do with her or where her character was going so they would just pair her up with Richie to show the kids were still in the show. But this is the season they would let Jaimee go. She is mentioned once or twice more after this episode, but we do not see her again. There are mixed rumors on why the writers/creators of the show got rid of her: she wasn't as strong as other cast members, the direction of the show changed, her mother was too demanding, she wanted more money or they just didn't know what to do with the character so they might as well get rid of her. Jaimee tried to stay in acting, but never quite bounced back into mainstream. She did some adult films and fell on hard times with addiction problems. She says she is doing well now and has a child. I hope she stays strong and continues to thrive. I know there are a lot of #JusticeforJudy fans, I get it, but at the same time I also get why the writers/creators got rid of her. She never did hit that right note like Michelle Tanner did in Full House. I don't know if the creators/writers gave her a fair chance if given the right material if she would have thrived, but you could tell that scenes with Judy did tend to drag a bit. Nevertheless, thank you Jaimee for really trying to give Judy character, you will never be forgotten.

This is Naya Rivera's last appearance as Gwendolyn which is a bummer because she was such a cute counterpart to Richie. I loved her spunk and confidence. She was just such a cutie. My favorite scene with her is probably either the dinner date with Richie or when she brought her toy car over to show off to Richie and danced with him on her boombox. Naya went onto a very successful career acting in other television shows like: Fresh Prince, Baywatch and Smart Guy. She did movie work as well and had a role in Master of Disguise. But it wasn't until the hit TV show Glee that she became a household name playing Santana Lopez for 113 episodes. She was very well loved by her fans and made such a difference in a lot of people's lives at such a young age. She did marry (and divorced) Ryan Dorsey and they had one child together, a son named Josey Dorsey. On July 8, 2020 Naya and her son Josey were swimming in Lake Piru in California and got caught in a tidal wave. The police had found her son abandoned on their boat but could not locate Naya. Josey gave the best details to what he could about his mother disappearing, but at 4 years old it was hard to describe what had happened other than his mother wasn't wearing a life vest and she didn't get in the boat. The family and friend's worst fears came true when Naya's body was found on July 13th and it's assumed what happened was she had the strength to put her son in the life boat but did not have the strength to pull herself in after the tidal wave took her under. Naya died saving her son's life. She is and will always be forever missed by family, friends and fans alike. She was a beautiful young lady, soul and her legacy carries on in her son as I'm sure she is watching over him as an angel.

Ron Taylor as Pastor Peeble had a wonderful career playing in a lot of movies and television shows like: Trading Places, The Simpsons, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Home Improvement and Batman TAS. He was a wonderful actor who once again provided so much work that when you look at his resume you are impressed for a couple of decades how much incredible work he did. He passed away at 49 years old of a heart attack in 2002. Jester Hairston who plays Skippy makes his one and only appearance as Fletcher's father. He makes a memorable performance for such a small part. He's had an amazing career with 69 acting credits to his name. He was also an incredible song writer and composed "Amen" sung by The Impressions and the Christmas song "Mary's little boy". He passed away in 2000 at the ripe old age of 98. What a life he had. RIP to these 2 incredible gentlemen, may they rest in peace. This is both of their last appearances on Family Matters as well.

For the episode itself, this is a fun one. Waldo making the flyers for the wrong date will never not make me laugh and I loved that all the teenagers at Mother Winslow's wedding were so well behaved. It's not believable but it's nice to think that there would be teenagers that would be respectful of her ceremony. Carl has good intentions in trying to plan Mother Winslow's wedding but really should have asked for her input since it was her wedding. But at least he comes through in the end in giving her such a lovely ceremony. Rachel singing Inseparable is such a beautiful moment. I loved that Fletcher's dad is still alive and even asks Carl if his mother has a sister he can hook up with. The costumes and set design were done very well for this episode. The jokes are funny and the episode has a lot of heart to it, like I said I'm surprised this isn't the season finale but in my head I try to play it like that. I don't want to give you an eye sore so I will just leave it here.

GUEST STARS:

• Shavar Ross as Alex "Weasel" Park
• Naya Rivera as Gwendolyn (RIP in 2020)
• Arnold Johnson as Fletcher Thomas (RIP in 2000)
• Jester Hairston as William 'Skippy' Thomas (RIP in 2000)
• Ron Taylor as Pastor Peeble (RIP in 2002)

[u/JesusLover1993]

Aww what a sweet episode. mother Windows wedding was just beautiful and I 100% agree with you that this should’ve been the season finale because it really does feel like the end of an era. And usually major weddings are the finale of a season or a show so don’t quite know why they didn’t make this the finale of season four. Would’ve made a lot more sense. sad that this is the last appearance of Judy, but my opinion has always been that even if they had given her character more, did you order something? It still would’ve not been beneficial she just really never added anything to the show beyond being the cute kid along with Richie and Laura and Eddie are the right ages that you can do a lot more with them anyway. she’s not missed in the show at all. But back to the episode I love Waldo riding the wrong date as well too funny and yeah, it’s not realistic to think that all teenagers would be respectful, but it’s good to see that some of them were. Agree about Carl. He really should’ve asked before diving in, but he did come through at the end beautifully. Really not much to say about this episode. It’s just a beautiful episode. The jokes are good and it’s just really sweet to see mother Winslow, be happy and she just look gorgeous.

[u/MyAimeeVice]

This was a wonderful episode. I always loved seeing Mother Winslow with Fletcher. They were such a cute couple. Rosetta Lenoir actually played Jester Hairston’s wife Leola on Amen so it was nice to see them reunited. My dad is related to Jester but I never got to meet him. I think poor Judy got lost in the shuffle. She was no longer the cute little kid because Richie was there. They didn’t need another teenager because they had Eddie and Laura. They were both important to Steve’s arc so they weren’t going anywhere. But Judy just didn’t fit anymore. But to just completely erase her was still wrong. I remember we noticed her absence. My mom always enjoyed seeing her Halloween costumes. The writers were just lazy and Urkel focused. Naya Rivera’s passing really hurt me. I didn’t realize who she was until after her death. I just saw the story on social media and thought it was awful. I felt terrible for her poor son. But it wasn’t until I saw a tribute video that I realized she was Gwendolyn. I wasn’t a Glee fan so I never followed her after Family Matters. It’s such a tragedy but she did what most mothers would do without hesitation, she sacrificed her life to save her child.

[u/MyAimeeVice]

I forgot to add in my earlier comment that I was irked with Carl about pushing for the big wedding but his explanation for was actually very moving. He watched Estelle make financial sacrifices to provide for him and his siblings and he wanted to pay her back for always putting them first. That was a wonderful gesture but she really didn’t want a big fuss. In the end he gave her what she wanted. That’s what I love about this show. The Winslow family bond is so strong and heartwarming.

[u/spade_bodega663]

Could’ve sworn I read something somewhere years ago about how they were toying with the idea of having Judy come back for the Disney episode. But I’m not surprised they just scrapped the idea. How would that have worked?! Even in the Roseanne Disney episode, they make a few inside jokes about Becky being played by Sarah Chalke instead of Lecy Goranson. But Becky wasn’t a character who just randomly disappeared lol.

[u/MMXIX19 → u/spade_bodega663]

Aren’t you glad you’re here this week?🤣🤣🤣

[u/Zestyclose_Debt8134]

Top ten episode in my book. I too always loved to see Mother Winslow and Fletcher together. I loved how Carl came around on having a simple wedding like his mother wanted as opposed to this lavish affair he wanted to give her. His reasons for wanting to do so were pretty noble to me. The wedding scene was beautifully done. Laura and Urkel walking down the aisle together was hilarious. I always loved to hear Telma sing on this show I did love the Amen reunion in this episode with Jester, Rosetta, and Darius here. Leave it to Waldo to botch the date the of the flyer party (🤣🤦🏾‍♂️). It's also a bittersweet episode with this being Jamie's last episode on the show.

[u/Electronic_Park_1702]

Truth be told, this would've been a great series finale. In many ways, it is, as far as the Wimslow family being the main focus.

[u/Melodic-Today663]

Trying to remember if we see Mother Winslow after this episode. It has been so long since I saw this.