'Family Matters’ Star Jo Marie Payton Explains Why She Exited The Hit Show Early | PeopleTV

Jo Marie Payton wanted to move on to bigger things so she decided to leave the show after nine years. Watch a clip from Entertainment Weekly Cast Reunions: Family Matters.

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'Family Matters’ Star Jo Marie Payton Explains Why She Exited The Hit Show Early | PeopleTV

[missdenise]

JoMarie was the ONLY Harriet Winslow i acknowledged 💯💯

[DarkMsStress]

I must've blocked out that she was re-cast...I don't remember that at all....

[keiaraparks]

I honestly don’t even remember the second mom...

[Jessie-flrr]

Everyone talks about Claire Huxtable when we all been sleeping on Harriet Winslow, she is beautiful.

[wifferste]

Something was missing when they re-cast Harriet. Judyann Elder was good but she did not have the same assertiveness and outspokeness that Jo Marie Payton had given the character.

[NclinedMuzaclly]

just wasnt the same with the new harriet...same for the new aunt viv on Fresh Prince

[sunflowerpwr.]

She is still beautiful to this day...the other mom was good but Harriet was the best and her and Laura seemed like real mother and daughter.

[leir]

JoMarie made that show and the producers should have done whatever they had to to keep her and just like Darius said no disrespect to Judyann but the show definitely was not the same with a new Harriet

[TellingItLikeItIs]

Reginald VelJohnson didn't even kiss her that much on the show. It was obvious that she didn't click the way the original Harriet did.

[williammitchell]

This was the BEST family sitcom and we watched it ALL the time!

[baggergurl]

This reminds me of the same situation when they replaced the mom on the Fresh Prince. I just felt with the new actress they got to play Harriett I felt like her performance fell flat and dry.

[PiggyPickem]

She spinned off the show. She started as off as Harriet the elevator lady on “Perfect Strangers” so it was crazy to try and replace her.

[KW-esjs]

They should have just had my sis go up the stairs like her daughter and never come back down

[ladennayoung]

I forgot they had a different Harriet for a little while. She wasn't even memorable. Lol. They should have just wrote the character off. He seemed real sincere when he said. You will always be beautiful to me to the original Harriet.

[soundcheckk]

She left because there was way too much emphasis on Jaleel's multiple roles; everything started to revolve around him, myrtle, Stefan, etc.

[asiandramamama]

I guess I stopped watching it by then. never knew she left.

[spongebob]

It felt good seeing all of them together again. 🥰

Growing up, I’ve sat in the audience and watched a few tv shows get taped live. This is one of the shows I always wanted to see. I wanted to know what it was like to see the physical comedy and Urkels contraptions go wrong and create a mess.

[EchelonGyaruGirl]

I hope they do a reunion show ! I loved them!

[tunde]

Jo Marie left because she didn't like the direction the show was going. The show was focusing more and more on the popular neighbor Steve Urkel. Urkel was initially a supporting character, then (due to public popularity) slowly became the star and focus. Jo Marie didn't like it, the Producers ignored her complaints and she left when her contract ended. End of story.

[gloriaf]

Jo Marie turned out to be quite emotional upon the last season, like in All in the Family when
Rob Reiner and Sally Struthers at the end of season 8 had their contracts expired. And when Jean Stapleton
expired her Edith role in season 9 (the last season).