Jaleel White Reveals Why He Turned Down 'Family Matters' Reboot

Actor Jaleel White had very specific reasons for being disinterested in a reboot of his former sitcom Family Matters.

The throwback ABC show lasted for eight seasons from 1989 to 1997, and, according to White, Netflix wanted to reboot Family Matters around the development of Full House spinoff Fuller House.

In a promotional video for his new memoir, Growing Up Urkel, White, 47, explained why he declined the opportunity for a new Family Matters show.

"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," he said in the video below.

"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," he continued.

"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."

White explained that the show "was never intended" for him to be the star, which he achieved for nine years whilst "growing up on a studio lot and in public school at the same time."

"That, to me, was the greater story that needed to be told for today," he said.

But the idea wasn't favored by one of White's former executive producers, who told him that no one has interest in his "memoirs."

"But here we are 12 years later, and I think there's some people that might be interested in those memoirs," he concluded.

White has spoken about the impossibility of doing another Family Matters before, explaining that his voice has deepened with age and that a storyline with Steve Urkel being married to Laura wouldn't be as interesting.

"If Michelle had been here, I might have given it the old college try to create the triangle of Michelle and Kellie, but without that, I just don't want to do it as a straight Fuller House reboot, it wouldn't work," White said during '90s Con 2024 in September.

Another reason is that prolonged speaking in Urkel's nasally tone damaged White's voice.

"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."