Step By Step Overview of Season 1

Season 1 of any Family sitcom is normally known for extended theme songs and vanishing family members. Step By Step not only gave us this, but so much more. It starts out similar to the Brady Bunch, but with an edgy in your face attitude that only the 90s could deliver. Two single parent families became one when Frank Lambert (contractor and owner of his own construction company) bribed his travel agent to book him on the same flight and hotel as Carol Foster (beautician who operated a salon illegally from her very own home in the cheese state of Wisconsin). What would be considered stalking in real life is considered romantic in the Miller Boyett world. The means justified the end as Carol and Frank ended up falling for each other and got married on a whim, what better way for each of them to start a second marriage?

There was tension from the start between the children of the opposing families. Not only would the Lamberts move in with the Fosters, but Dana and JT had already been attending the same school where they were bitter rivals. Dana had LEGIT heat with JT, nobody likes to have a dead rat left inside your locker. Alice (or Al) was quite the tomboy, so of course she had to live under the same roof as a narcissist like Karen (who ironically has the role of the hot chick, but in later seasons Dana and Al surpassed her in the looks department and comparing her with Suzanne Somers back then was still no contest). The two youngest boys in the family didn't share any common ground either as Mark pretty much felt that Brendan was too much of a simpleton to associate himself with. He was kind of dead on with that assessment, I mean Urkel even paid Mark a visit to kick back, chill, and teach Al's school how to do the Urkel dance.

After a few episodes, Step by Step was a hit, but they hadn’t even introduced Cody “the code man“ Lambert, Frank's nephew. He potentially could have been the Urkel of this show, but Jaleel White is vastly more talented. Outside of both being accused for domestic violence Sasha Mitchell shares nothing in common with Jaleel White. The addition of Sasha Mitchell to the cast meant somebody had to be let go. This spelled curtains for the witty grandma Ivy and Carol's much less attractive slow witted sister Penny. Every episode in the first season was like clockwork in a sense; both would walk into the kitchen (from the beauty salon next room)Penny would make a fairly obvious or dumb assessment and the Grandma would burn her each time. Literally no character development what so ever. It was literally like when George Costanza would tell a good joke and go out on a high note; Penny would say something foolish and Grandma would deliver the ol‘ zinger to show old people can still be sassy, and then they‘d just leave together back into the salon. However they would not be the first to disappear…

In the first season's opening credits when the two families enter the theme park, you can clearly see Mark is not with them. In his place, a young boy with brown hair who you never get a clear shot of is wearing the exact same clothes as Mark. They managed to edit Mark in with Carol's mom waving to the family who were above and ready for the roller coaster to descend. As the camera panned out and the roller coaster took off you see a CGI beach instead of the parking lot that is actually there. The kid who I'm assuming was originally going to play Mark never got to even be in the pilot. I've searched the world wide web and couldn't even find his name. For all we know, all the fame and glory could've gone to this unknown kid. Beethoven 1 and 2 could have been his, but instead Christopher Castile got the role. For better or worse...only God knows. This is the best screen shot I can get of the original Mark Foster.

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