Today’s BHM has me feeling kind of conflicted. On one hand he played a character on TV that we had never seen. He became a pop culture icon at the height of his show’s popularity. On the other hand, when people THOUGHT they were being funny, they would call me this person’s name. Who do I speak of? Taye Diggs? No! Tyson Beckford? His tiny ass wishes! I speak of Jaleel White A.K.A. Steve Urkel.
Urkel quickly became the standout star of the show “Family Matters” The show itself was big, as it was a show based on a Black family that was a little more middle class than America had seen with “The Cosby Show” The characters showed America that there could be healthy two parent Black households with smart, well adjusted children. Somehow Urkel, the neighbourhood geek became an American obsession. He had one liners like “Did I do that?” and had an unmistakable style and voice. Hell, the boy even had his own doll. Oddly enough my brother (who was 11 years older than me) owned one of said dolls.
The fact that Urkel was able to win over the hearts and minds of Americans (even those in the flat states) speaks volumes. He wasn’t the most attractive, or coolest. He wasn’t someone you aspired to be, but you couldn’t help but love the little bastard. I personally feel like Urkel didn’t get enough respect. He appeared on Full House, had a high rated show on TGIF (Which was the shit, mind you) and even played his own cousin, Myrtle as well as a cooler version of himself (Stefan Urkal) The man was hustling before we had a name for it! Give a bitch an Emmy already!
I see that Jaleel White is now hosting a show, and I’m proud that he somehow survived being a child star without turning to drugs (like his co star who played Judy) or porn (also like his co star who played Judy). Urkel, keep on making us proud!
If you’ve forgotten how to do the Urkel, here’s a refresher course:
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