Family Matters is also guilty of this. I can understand Urkel getting pops, but when Carl and Eddie were getting it, yeesh.
The earliest I remember was Happy Days. Like the others, literally every single recurring character would get it, including Tom Bosley.
There are many eerie similarities between Happy Days and Family Matters. Both spin offs. Both had supporting character take over the show. The father figures were similar (blustery, overweight, overwhelmed, etc). Both had a sibling inexplicably disappear. The appleause thing. There's more I can't remember, I haven't been reminded of this in a while.