{"id":905,"date":"2026-08-15T00:25:40","date_gmt":"2026-08-15T00:25:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/adsandthings.com\/winews\/2026\/08\/15\/family-matters-took-a-dramatic-turn-with-a-1991-episode-that-had-carl-stuck-on-a-treadmill-rigged-with-a-bomb\/"},"modified":"2026-08-15T00:25:40","modified_gmt":"2026-08-15T00:25:40","slug":"family-matters-took-a-dramatic-turn-with-a-1991-episode-that-had-carl-stuck-on-a-treadmill-rigged-with-a-bomb","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/adsandthings.com\/winews\/2026\/08\/15\/family-matters-took-a-dramatic-turn-with-a-1991-episode-that-had-carl-stuck-on-a-treadmill-rigged-with-a-bomb\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cFamily Matters\u201d Took a Dramatic Turn with a 1991 Episode That Had Carl Stuck on a Treadmill Rigged with a Bomb"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The season 3 premiere struck a different chord than many of the plots on the beloved family series<\/p>\n<figure><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/people.com\/thmb\/-B6RmXJYDnKj0_Jjh2vp39vOfoA=\/filters:no_upscale():max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():format(jpeg)\/Reginald-VelJohnson-family-matters-081326-4-c8e707a400ca4c9b9ed00a2b0a2d9c96.jpg\" alt=\"Carl Winslow on the treadmill talking through bomb diffusal with Lt. MurtaughCredit: ABC\" title=\"Family Matters Season 3, Episode 1 (\" \/><figcaption><i>Carl Winslow on the treadmill talking through bomb diffusal with Lt. Murtaugh<br \/>Credit: ABC<\/i><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h3>NEED TO KNOW<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>The season 3 premiere of <em>Family Matters<\/em> shows Carl Winslow working out after getting some comments about his weight<\/li>\n<li>During his workout at the police station, he learns the treadmill he is on is rigged with a bomb meant for Lt. Murtaugh<\/li>\n<li>Many fans of the show have noted the similarities between the plot and that of the film <em>Speed<\/em>, which wasn\u2019t released until 1994<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><em><a class=\"null\" href=\"https:\/\/people.com\/tv\/the-cast-of-family-matters-where-are-they-now\/\" data-component=\"link\" data-source=\"inlineLink\" data-type=\"internalLink\" data-ordinal=\"1\" rel=\"null\">Family Matters<\/a><\/em> was ahead of its time.<\/p>\n<p>While many sitcoms try to explore different genres in single episodes, the beloved family series took it to a different level with the Sept. 1991 episode titled \u201cBoom!\u201d The season three premiere sees Carl Winslow working out on a treadmill at the police station.<\/p>\n<p>What the officer doesn\u2019t know is that the treadmill has been rigged with a bomb by a criminal called \u201cThe Boston Bomber,\u201d who is seeking revenge after Lt. Murtaugh thwarted a plan of his. Carl has to work with Lt. Murtaugh and stay on the treadmill to keep the explosive from going off.<\/p>\n<p>As he walks on the treadmill, Carl starts to hear an eerie message from the assailant, who says, \u201cYou bragged about being in such great shape when you busted me last month. Said the treadmill was my downfall. Well, this treadmill will be your downfall.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/people.com\/thmb\/AYNOV4GpYpLZXjSVhaypMSv9CDU=\/fit-in\/1280x960\/Reginald-VelJohnson-family-matters-081326-3-dadfe5517a8c49e69196be8d999b423d.jpg\" alt=\"Carl Winslow on the treadmill learning it had a bomb attachedCredit: ABC\" title=\"Family Matters Season 3, Episode 1 (\" \/><figcaption><i>Carl Winslow on the treadmill learning it had a bomb attached<br \/>Credit: ABC<\/i><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The message concludes, \u201cYou\u2019re an arrogant, pompous jerk, Murtaugh, and now you\u2019re gonna die.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m not Murtaugh. I\u2019m Winslow! You\u2019re blowing up the wrong guy!\u201d Carl pleads as he keeps walking.<\/p>\n<p>In the years since, many fans have noted the similarities between the plot and the film <em>Speed<\/em>. \u201cBoom\u201d aired in Sept. 1991, three years before the film opened in June 1994.<\/p>\n<p>Ironically, <em>Speed<\/em> comes up in a later episode of <em>Family Matters<\/em>. During the season 6 premiere, Harriette and Carl talk about going to the movie theater, and she mentions that the film is among those playing.<\/p>\n<p>Never miss a story \u2014 sign up for <a href=\"https:\/\/people.com\/people-news-daily-newsletter-sign-up-8692701\">PEOPLE\u2019s free daily newsletter<\/a> to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.<\/p>\n<figure><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/people.com\/thmb\/LVPO6Jz86PoMDJJde6ueET-CA6M=\/fit-in\/1280x960\/Reginald-VelJohnson-family-matters-081326-2-eb2fea2b096c47e1ae0586dfdace56ad.jpg\" alt=\"Season 3 premiere episode, \u2018Boom!\u2019Credit: ABC\" title=\"Family Matters Season 3, Episode 1 (\" \/><figcaption><i>Season 3 premiere episode, \u2018Boom!\u2019<br \/>Credit: ABC<\/i><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The episode focusing on Carl\u2019s career is one of few, with the cast themselves joking about the character having a lax schedule for a police officer. In a Nov. 2025 episode of the <em>Family Matters <\/em>rewatch podcast, <em><a class=\"null\" href=\"https:\/\/www.iheart.com\/podcast\/1119-welcome-to-the-family-wit-303353348\/episode\/s1ep3-short-story-306472507\" data-component=\"link\" data-source=\"inlineLink\" data-type=\"externalLink\" data-ordinal=\"1\" rel=\"noopener\">Welcome to the Family<\/a><\/em><em>, <\/em>Telma Hopkins and Kellie Shanygne Williams joked about it.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cGirl, I want to talk to you about your daddy, who, apparently, is working from home all the time,\u201d Hopkins joked, asking: \u201cI mean, why is he always at home?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Williams replied, \u201cAt least he\u2019s got his uniform on at home. Maybe he\u2019s just policing the house.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Hopkins quipped, \u201cYeah, well, he needs to go police somewhere else. Him and the horse he rode in on.\u201d<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The season 3 premiere struck a different chord than many of the plots on the beloved family series Carl Winslow on the treadmill talking through bomb diffusal with Lt. MurtaughCredit: ABC NEED TO KNOW The season 3 premiere of Family Matters shows Carl Winslow working out after getting some comments about his weight During his [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":[],"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-905","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-everything-else"],"wpmagazine_modules_lite_featured_media_urls":{"thumbnail":"","cvmm-medium":"","cvmm-medium-plus":"","cvmm-portrait":"","cvmm-medium-square":"","cvmm-large":"","cvmm-small":"","full":""},"categories_names":{"1":{"name":"Everything Else","link":"https:\/\/adsandthings.com\/winews\/category\/everything-else\/"}},"tags_names":[],"comments_number":"0","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/adsandthings.com\/winews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/905","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/adsandthings.com\/winews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/adsandthings.com\/winews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adsandthings.com\/winews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adsandthings.com\/winews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=905"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/adsandthings.com\/winews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/905\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/adsandthings.com\/winews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=905"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adsandthings.com\/winews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=905"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adsandthings.com\/winews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=905"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}