Steve Urkel Actor Jaleel White Admits a “Family Matters” Reboot “Didn’t Make Any Sense” [Video]

While many of our beloved sitcoms were getting a reboot, there were also talks of reviving “Family Matters.” Fans were excited to see Steve Urkel, who was played by actor Jaleel White, on their screens again after so many years.  Despite the role shaping White’s successful career, he is now explaining why he wasn’t interested in bringing his popular character back to life.

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The ABC show spanned eight seasons from 1989 to 1997, gaining a lot of viewers. Since the series was such a major hit back then, Netflix got the idea to bring the show to its streaming platform following the huge success of “Fuller House.” According to White, a reboot of “Family Matters” didn’t make sense. In a recent promo video for his upcoming memoir, “Growing Up Urkel,” White says he was approached by one of the show’s former producers around 2013-2014 regarding a revival.

“Somewhere around 2013, 2014, I was approached by one of our former producers that Netflix had interest in doing a reboot of ‘Family Matters’ on the heels of ‘Fuller House’ having done so well. And that didn’t make any sense to me,” White began.

He continued, “I didn’t feel that it was right for us to have to copy what ‘Full House’ had done to fit inside someone’s business model to capture the magic that made our show make sense. What I imagine for any reboot effort would be inspired by what really happened. How Family Matters came to pass is actually a greater story than what was made up inside the show.”

The cultural impact of White’s character is undeniable, but the actor has made it clear that he doesn’t feel compelled to step back into his old role that kicked off his career. To add to his drawback, White explained that he developed a strain from portraying Urkel’s high-pitched voice for so many years. Since the nasal voice was part of the character, White believes it’s nearly impossible to mimic the character today.

“I spoke to a doctor,” he said. “What happened is during puberty I spoke at the same pitch for extended periods of time. If the pitch had been going all over the place, I wouldn’t have damaged it quite as much. It’s been in remission, and I’m fine now.”

Nonetheless, White’s memoir is expected to give readers more insight into the life behind Urkel’s character.