Mystery Inc. heads to the Windy City of Chicago to investigate reports of a rampaging robot in the streets. It turns out that robot was made by none other than Steve Urkel, who's been trying to catch it and return it to a prominent museum in Chicago to which he donated it. Reluctantly dragging the klutzy Urkel along with them, the Gang soon finds themselves hunted by a technological specter bent on driving them out of the museum.
"When Urkel-Bots Go Bad!" contains the following tropes:
- Artistic License – History: The Museum Director tries to claim that the German Submarine's parts are all original. The real U-505 had all her parts stripped by the U.S. Navy following her capture, with the museum getting replacements from the various manufacturers that made her when she was donated in 1964.
- Artistic License – Law: Played for Laughs, but Urkel is able to get the Museum Director's attempt to get him banned for life dismissed from court by pestering the judge, including right in the judge's bench! Had he pulled a stunt like that in real life, he would have been tackled by the bailiff and given a hefty legal penalty for getting that close to a judge.
- Brick Joke: Urkel gets Mystery Inc. to let him tag along by begging please as long as he can hold his breath. It turns out he did the exact same thing when the Museum Director tried to have him banned for life, only for Urkel to annoy the judge in getting the case dismissed.
- Cartoon Cheese: Averted; Urkel's cheese box that he uses to persuade the gang (and the judge) clearly has realistic cheeses.
- Character Catchphrase: All of Urkel's trademark catchphrases appear in this episode ("Did I do that?" "Got any cheese?" and "Look what you did.")
- Crossover: Between Scooby Doo and Family Matters star Steve Urkel.
- The Dog Was the Mastermind: It turns out the Janitor was the culprit behind the gold theft, having discovered it inside the submarine and using the robots in the science exhibit to haul it out and smelt it into gold.
- Epic Fail: Urkel turns on the Pioneer Zephyr and tries to escape the robots using it, but he somehow crashes it on its side. And that's not even getting into how he smashes the entire museum's displays at the end.
- Everyone Is a Suspect: Amongst the museum staff, everyone there except the janitor seems to have it out for Urkel—the director wants revenge for getting to come into the museum with his lifetime pass despite the fact he destroys everything in his path (albeit on accident), a security guard wants revenge for Urkel having rewired his taser, and the lunch lady wants revenge for having destroyed the cafeteria—twice!
- The Friend Nobody Likes: Urkel's klutziness doesn't endear him to anyone except the museum janitor, who's pleased that him breaking everything is keeping her employed. Even Mystery Inc. can't stand having him around.
- Hurricane of Puns: Urkel-Bot 2.0 tells a variety of science jokes in rapid fashion. This just confuses the robots attacking them.
- Just Train Wrong: Urkel tries to escape from the robots by firing up the Pioneer Zephyr and hightailing it out of the museum—only to crash it on its side before it even turns a wheel. It's not only impossible to accomplish, but the Zephyr isn't even operational, having only had cosmetic work done on her since she arrived at the museum.
- The Klutz: Urkel is in fine form here, as he manages to trash several million dollars worth of exhibits in the museum. Multiple times. And then he accidentally gets the Mystery Machine blown up!
- Logic Bomb: How does Urkel-Bot 2.0 stop the robots dead in their tracks? He tells a variety of science jokes that confuses them for being too nerdy.
- No Celebrities Were Harmed: Or rather, No Museums Were Harmed. Although it's not outright stated, the museum in question is based on the Chicago Museum of Science and Industry, which also has a captured German Submarine (in this case, the U-505) the iconic Pioneer Zephyr streamlined diesel on display, and a coal mine exhibit.
- Persona Non Grata: The museum director tried to get Urkel banned from the museum for life due to his destructive klutziness. It failed because Urkel annoyed the judge into reversing the sentence.
- Skyward Scream: At the end, Urkel gives Fred a remote for the Mystery Machine. After the remote blows it up, Fred drops to his knees and screams "URKEL!" into the sky.
- Tank Goodness: Fred uses one of the museums's tanks and drops it on top of the confused robots.
- Torment by Annoyance: This seems to be Urkel's favorite tactic; it helps that he annoys everyone already. He irritates the gang into letting him come along by continually saying "please" for a long period of time, and he brags about having done the same thing to a judge when the museum director tried to get him banned.
