Jaleel White turned down an Urkel spin-off… but still has an idea for a show

Last Updated on December 2, 2024

Did I do thaaaaaat? Irritating nerd next door Steve Urkel did a lot throughout Family Matters’ nine seasons but one thing he didn’t do was get his own series. Cereal, board games and pull-string dolls, sure, but a spin-off? Not if Jaleel White had his say.

In his new book (via EW), Growing Up Urkel, Jaleel White reveals that he was approached to have his own Urkel show to capitalize on the nostalgia wave of shows like Fuller House and Girl Meets World, both spin-offs of beloved TGIF shows. In it, Urkel would have married Laura (Kellie Shanygne Williams) – something teased in “Pop Goes the Question” but pushed aside for the odd two-part finale where Urkel goes to space(!) – and the two would have had a son. On the premise, White noted, “I was offered the chance to do a reboot of Family Matters but I turned it down for several reasons. The script would have been the same, and the show’s dynamics no longer work in the world that we live in.” On the potential premise, he was told, “Carl and Harriette will stop by from time to time, perhaps two episodes out of the first season order. But this incarnation of the show will revolve more around you and Laura and your new family, and your son who is so much like you when you were his age.”

But that doesn’t mean Jaleel White doesn’t have his own plans for how to bring Steve Urkel back into living rooms. “Instead of a sitcom reboot, ’cause none of them work, quite frankly, we make a single-camera show like Young Sheldon. We cast a good actor and a smart kid to play Jaleel, a twelve-year-old from Pasadena who lands the part of Steve Urkel. We depict all the challenges that came with growing up in the nineties and being the kid who played that character. The show could explore the dynamic between me and my parents, struggling to adapt to fame while trying to live regular lives.”

Look, who doesn’t love Urkel? OK, a lot of us found him insanely annoying but that was part of his charm, which Jaleel White brought so much of that he made the character a lead despite being meant to be a one-off, becoming the sort of breakout character in the mold of Fonzie. Of course, with that, White could never really shed the glasses and suspenders and will always be known as Steve Urkel, which obviously he has leaned into with the name of his book.

Were you a fan of Family Matters? What is Urkel’s place in sitcom history?