During the promotional tour for his new memoir, “Growing Up Urkel,” Jaleel White has discussed the legacy of “Family Matters” and his character, Steve Urkel. He doesn’t think the ‘90s ABC comedy gets the respect it deserves, an opinion he once again explained in a conversation with the Wilmington Library.
“Being a part of the “TGIF” brand sometimes makes you feel like you don’t belong in the pantheon of Blackness,” he said. “Blackness has been treated as a very monolithic experience in entertainment. ‘If it’s not a hood story, it’s not a Black story.’ And you know, sometimes I feel left out of that.”
It seems like he thinks that since “Family Matters” is not considered a “hood story,” audiences don’t treat it like a Black story.
“If there’s ever a poll, and they say what are your favorite black shows? ‘Martin’ is in there, ‘Living Single’… I already know we’re coming in last,” White joked. “But if there’s ever a poll and it’s just your favorite family shows, suddenly we rank really high. So it’s kind of interesting in how we look at ourselves even as Black folks.”
Contrary to what White thinks, whenever most TV analysts discuss the best Black series of the ‘80s and ‘90s, “Family Matters” is included. No one is denying its popularity or cultural longevity. However, if he wants to get real, we have to admit that it’s never been considered an impactful or influential series, and big reason for that is Steve Urkel.
When his character became popular, producers went all in and made him the focus. This meant we got a lot of silly storylines revolving around him and Carl time traveling, or switching bodies, or being cloned. This didn’t leave room for a lot of real-life stories. Even when they tried to do “special episodes,” it always came off as a little ridiculous.
Compared to other ‘90s Black series like “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air,” “Martin,” “Living Single” and “A Different World,” it just didn’t measure up.
White’s comments about “Family Matters’” place among other Black comedies riled up social media. This led to Black Twitter reminding him why the sitcom doesn’t get the praise he thinks it should, with some users referencing the show’s unserious nature.
Someone pointed out how the Winslows stacks up against other notable Black comedies, writing on X, “Family Matters ranks last ‘cause it’s an inferior black story in quality compared to ‘Martin,’ ‘The Wayans Bros.,’ ‘A Different World,’ ‘The Jamie Foxx Show,’ ‘Moesha,’ ‘The Parkers,’ ‘Smart Guy,’ ‘Sister Sister,’ ‘The Steve Harvey Show,’ [‘My Wife & Kids’], ‘One on One,’ ‘The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air,’ etc.”
A user who identifies as a filmmaker and Communications professor noted that the show didn’t showcase Black culture the way some other series did, posting, “‘FAMILY MATTERS’ is left out of the conversation because unless it was a ‘special episode’ dealing with racism, there was NOTHING Black about the show…I often have to point out that ‘THE COSBY SHOW’ was Black AF with subtext. The music, the art, the fashion etc. I never saw hints of that on ‘Family Matters.’”
“‘Family Matters’ was a Tv show with black characters that was written by white writers who in no way lived the black experience in America and the content of the shows themselves showed that year after year. So they played it safe and never introduced any topics affecting the black community during that time,” wrote one person. “‘The Cosby Show,’ ‘Martin,’ and ‘Living Single’ was the completely the opposite. Hence why ‘Family Matter’s ranks low on the list of ‘favorite black Tv shows.’ ‘Family Matters’ was entertaining but not relatable to a lot of black people and those other shows were.”
Another viewer called out White’s lack of self awareness, writing, “The shows were not hood shows they were about black people having jobs and surviving, you were funny on ‘Family Matters,’ but the show was built around you and once you got older you weren’t that funny, the show should have been built around Mr. and Mrs. Winslow.”
We can absolutely acknowledge the popularity of “Family Matters,” while also pointing out that it was extremely silly and didn’t reach the cultural influence of other shows in its generation.
If this conversation has put you in the mood for a re-watch, “Family Matters” is available to stream on Disney+ and Max.