If you haven't watched Family Matters since you were a kid, your memories of the show were probably formed during its strongest seasons. However, the series' ratings had declined by the time the sitcom switched networks, and, according to the Los Angeles Times, Jo Marie Payton was set to leave at the end of what ended up being the last season. However, she didn't quite make it that far. 

After Payton left halfway through season nine, Judyann Elder took over the role of Harriette for the final nine episodes, as reported by Entertainment Weekly. It was a jarring switch for audiences and cast members alike. "It's like getting a divorce and then marrying somebody else," TV husband Reginald VelJohnson told the publication in 2017. Meanwhile, Darius McCrary — a.k.a. TV son Eddie Winslow — said, "I felt like my mom was gone."

While rumors of a behind-the-scenes rift began swirling after Payton's mid-season departure, the actress has denied any negative feelings on her end. "I think that maybe my leaving, like I said, it kind of upset a few people but like I said, you know, it was time for me to go," she told TV Series Finale in 2010. "It was time for the show to go, I wish we could've gone down maybe a little bit earlier, so maybe we could have gone out with the [finale] that everybody feels like, we missed, you know what I mean?"

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