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Little Big Guy is the first episode of the seventh season in this television sitcom on Family Matters, which was aired from ABC on September 22, 1995. It was directed by Richard Correll and written by Fred Rubin.

Plot[]

Urkel's transformation chamber is going berserk. The nerd and flustered foil Carl are shrunk to two inches tall, and as a result must work together to dodge hazards such as rolling fruit and large house cats.

Synopsis[]

In this seven season opener, Steve's parents have moved to Russia and he is now moving in with the Winslows, much to the dismay of Carl. When Steve wheels a large package in the living room, Carl asks him what was inside and Steve answers that the object inside is called Urkel-squashlization. After Steve leaves to get more luggage, Carl prays to God to give him a sign that Steve won't destroy his home. His question is answered when the large box blows up sending white debris all over the living room, Carl says that he'll take that as a no.

Later after Carl cleans up the mess, Richie walks in with something under his coat, he tells Carl that its nothing but Carl puts out that nothing has a tail sticking out. He unzips the coat to reveal that Richie had a cat tucked into his coat. Carl tells Richie that he knows that there are no pets allowed in the house. But Richie claims that he loves the cat calling him Mr Buttons. Carl takes the cat away from Richie but has his arm scratched by the angry cat before it flees upstairs. Carl tells Richie to get the cat out of the house and Richie goes to get it. As Carl sits down, Harriette asks him what makes him so grumpy. He says its because of Steve moving in.

Harriette proposes that they take a trip to Lake Geneva for the weekend, they could camp and relax for a couple of days while Steve could get settled at the house. Carl says he can't go because he has security detail and he'll just have to find a quietest spot in the house. That is until Steve walks into the living room, singing and playing polka music on an accordion that Carl tells her to "start packing"

Later on that night, Steve sets up his transformation chamber in the Winslow's kitchen and eats marshmallows as he does so. Eddie calls Carl telling him that they had just set up camp and Carl tells him that he'll be there in a couple of hours. Eddie suddenly hangs up after eyeing a pretty park ranger. When he flirts with her with supposedly a flower, she points out that he's using a stem from poison sumac.

Back in the kitchen, Steve had broken apart one of the kitchen windows with which he moved his chamber inside and tells Carl that he's setting up his laboratory in the basement. Carl refuses, telling Steve that the basement was his den. But when Steve makes a point about some profits, Carl immediately becomes interested. Steve tells him that the chamber has a new feature that could make them a fortune. Steve tells him that the chamber before changed genetic material, but it now changes size which can make things bigger. Steve then puts an ordinary toothbrush inside the chamber. It then becomes a large one when he pulls it out. When Steve tries to demonstrate to Carl about the wires of the chamber, it suddenly short circuits and spews a green glow at him and Carl. The inside of the chamber also spews out white smoke. Carl panics and asks Steve if anything is going to happen to them. Steve tells Carl that they are fine. But when the two sit down on the counter, Steve claims that the expando ray makes 72% of objects larger but it never works on living creatures. But the other 28% makes things smaller. Just after Steve says this, he and Carl are suddenly shrunk down to two inches tall.

Much to the dismay of and horror of Carl, he angrily blames Steve for this. Steve apologizes as Carl tells him that this is the worst thing that he has ever done to him, which is even worse that his propane nose hair trimmer. Carl chases Steve across the counter and Steve grabs a toothpick to use as a weapon. Carl claims that toothpicks don't scare him because he's not a club sandwich. He eventually calms down and goes to give Steve a plan to make them big if they could get to the transformation chamber. Carl throws down a bread crumb to discover that its a long way for them to drop down. The two decide to help themselves to a snack to cheer them up has they eat some chips from a Bringles container. Waldo arrives at the house to return Eddie's CD player and both Steve and Carl try to get his attention. Waldo sees them and immediately panics when he sees that they are small. Thinking that he's ninety feet tall, he runs from the house, slamming the door has he does so. The slamming causes a cantaloupe to roll towards Carl and Steve and they both run from it before the fruit rolls off the counter and smashes on the ground. Carl tells Steve that what makes him scared was begging for Waldo to help him.

Back at Lake Geneva, Harriette is worried that Carl never made it but Laura points out that he might be half way here by now. Harriette tells her that if she knows him, he'd probably stop to get something to eat right now he's probably in the middle of a ham sandwich.

Harriette's prediction is correct as Carl and Steve back on the kitchen counter try to sleep on a bread with two marshmallows for pillows and a piece of cheese as a blanket. Steve tells Carl he's not comfy but he says that the marshmallow that Steve is using as a pillow will make him better. Steve says that every time he puts his head down, the marshmallow sticks to his face. Steve as a joke asks Carl to read him a "bread time story" but seeing the look on his face, he just says goodnight. Suddenly, Richie's cat Mr Buttons suddenly lunges on the counter and tries to eat Carl and Steve. The two flee as the cat chases them. They try to hide in the Bringles container but the cat simply rolls the can, making them tumble inside like clothes in a dryer. They suddenly see that they are at the edge of the counter again. The cat then rolls the can again to make them tumble more, Steve runs out to grab a match, lights it up and waves it like a torch to ward the cat off. Carl runs to help Steve and together they both use the match to scare the cat away. Mr Buttons then jumps off the counter, leaving Carl and Steve to celebrate and they sit down on the matches box. Steve tells Carl that he hopes that Richie doesn't have a pet snake. Carl then confesses to Steve that he has to admit that he didn't want him to move in with them and feels that he owes him an apology. When asked why, Carl says that he failed to remember that no matter how much havoc Steve causes, when the chips are down, he's always there for his friends. Steve thanks Carl but Carl thanks him, the two then embrace as friends.

During the end credits, Carl and Steve are both asleep on the counter as Harriette, Richie, Laura and Eddie arrive home. Eddie carrying his large box of camping equipment accidentally trips against the transformation chamber making the expando ray zapped the small Carl and Steve to the family's unawarement. Mr Buttons suddenly runs out of the chamber as if he had been hiding in it. The rays effects causes Carl and Steve to go back to their normal size. Laura turns around and screams when she sees them, causing them to awake and fall off the counter. Much to Carl's happiness, he tells Steve that they are big again. Harriette confused asks Carl where he had been. When Carl tells her of the events that happened to him and Steve, Harriette doesn't believe him so Carl tells her that all he wants to do is to relax and enjoy the fact that things are finally back to normal.

However, a larger Mr Buttons suddenly appears, peeking at them from the window. The episode ends as everyone runs out of the kitchen in terror.

Cast[]

Main[]

Guest[]

  • Kellie Joy Beals as Park Ranger (credited as Kellie Beals)

Trivia[]

  • If the expando ray's effects had cause Carl and Steve to go back to their normal size, then the rays effects had cause Mr Buttons to grow larger since he was hiding in the chamber. It’s never explained why Harriette, Eddie and Laura didn’t enlarge too while they were around the chamber.
  • Jaleel White's voice for Steve is now the voice he would use for the character throughout seasons 7 through 9 (though he gave us a preview of it in Swine Lake), as well as Steve's appearance in the Scooby-Doo and Guess Who episode "When Urkel-Bots Go Bad!"; in addition, he would use this voice for Princess Sonia Hedgehog in Sonic Underground.
  • Mr. Buttons had grown larger as a result of being zapped by the expando ray while in the chamber. This is the exact incident that Steve demonstrated earlier when he put an ordinary toothbrush inside the chamber and in 12 seconds it instantly became larger. The toothbrush was probably zapped by the expando ray while it was inside the chamber.
  • This episode is based on Disney's Honey, I Shrunk the Kids.

Quotes[]

  v - e - dFamily Matters Season 7
Little Big GuyThe Naked and the NerdyBuggedTeacher's PetWalking My Baby Back HomeShe's BackHot Rods to HeckTalk's CheapStruck by LightningBest Years of Our LivesFa La La La Laagghh!Friendship CyclesSouth of the BorderLife in the Fast LaneRandom Acts of ScienceTips for a Better LifeSwine LakeMy Big BrotherEau de LoveTwinkle Toes FaldoScammedDream DateA Ham is BornSend in the Clone
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