Jaleel White on feeling left out in the legacy of Black entertainment, saying, “If it’s not a hood story, it’s not a Black story,”

[jackson35]

This was one of those "special" episodes that delivered a message. Probably the best episode that addressed racism directly is when Carl laid into that white officer for arresting Eddie because he was black. one of the best episodes on that show IMO..

u miss the boat, carl had plenty of those black dad moments that made the show a classic, there was another scene where carl had to go down to a bar and get eddie because he try to price Gough him on some achol he bought for his date

Let's be honest who wore their pants high up to their chest with some clown shoes on going to school and big glasses. So, you're telling me somebody can relate to that shit being black? Seriously.

Yeah, Eddie is somewhat relatable..

But waldo the retard looking slow and dumb, like what person you know that acted like Waldo in real life?

u see how brothers dress in other parts of the country? esp in the south? a lot of our athletes act a lot like waldos

 

[jawnswoop]

u miss the boat, carl had plenty of those black dad moments that made the show a classic, there was another scene where carl had to go down to a bar and get eddie because he try to price Gough him on some achol he bought for his date

u see how brothers dress in other parts of the country? esp in the south? a lot of our athletes act a lot like waldos

I haven't seen nobody dress with their pants high up to their chest with suspenders and clown shoes along with those big goofy ass glasses.

 

[jackson35]

The show surrounded by Full House, Step by Step, Dinosaurs, Sabrina the Teenage Witch, Boy Meets World, and other white ass shows.

and none of them got the same viewership as fm

 

[BlackGoku]

u miss the boat, carl had plenty of those black dad moments that made the show a classic, there was another scene where carl had to go down to a bar and get eddie because he try to price Gough him on some achol he bought for his date

u see how brothers dress in other parts of the country? esp in the south? a lot of our athletes act a lot like waldos

Any Dad would have done that, I'm talking about a specific "culturally" black dad moment where he confronted a racist cop or race was involved. For example, Carl and Uncle Phil both had moments in a pool hall, those are just being good dads like they should.

 

[wwetv100]

Sorry Jaleel, but the people did vote and speak their piece.

 

[Non-StopJFK2TAB]

and none of them got the same viewership as fm

Have you ever watched a white person watch Madea?

 

[Non-StopJFK2TAB]

Any Dad would have done that, I'm talking about a specific "culturally" black dad moment where he confronted a racist cop or race was involved. For example, Carl and Uncle Phil both had moments in a pool hall, those are just being good dads like they should.

Now you’re exposing the tropes.

 

[blackbull1970]

I was in my 20s when Family Matters was on.

The premise never interested me.

I do recall watching an episode or two during the 90s mainly cuz I was sick with a cold and couldn’t go out and party. And there wasn’t anything else on worth watching at the time.

99% chance it was a repeat episode.

It came off as a family show being it was part of ABC’s “TGIF” line up that had a family show lineup in early primetime.

 

[respiration]

Urkel is mad because he’s our generation’s Jimmy Walker. But instead of hating himself he feels more comfortable hating black people. Byron Allen used to write for Jimmy. And neither are funny.

That is a FACT... One that he's unable to face.
When Family Matters was on, that's exactly the connection that I made.

And it may just be THAT component that Black folks don't resonate with. "Dy-no-mite" Jimmy Walker was huge. White folks at the time loved that buffoon image that white writers manufactured for him. There was merch and everything.

But that's not what Black folks talk about when we look back fondly on Good Times.

 

[tallblacknyc]

family matters is dripping with relevance... some brothers can relate to being a outsider or a awkward kid like urkel and in some cases eddie and waldo. at it peak fm drew 12.4 million views.. none of those shows touch that

Urkel was a fucking genius this nig making androids in his basement, this nig was on his way to be a billionaire..nah nigs can’t relate to that..in fact he had a badder bitch wanting to fuck on sight and he was running from the bitch for yrs.. lot of awkward nigs wish they couldve been Urkel

 

[God-Of-War-420]

Awe man, now we're gonna pretend everyone didn't love family matters and it didn't do crazy numbers.... smh. If there's anything I hate it's bullshit Internet revisionist history.

 

[jackson35]

u miss the boat, carl had plenty of those black dad moments that made the show a classic, there was another scene where carl had to go down to a bar and get eddie because he try to price Gough him on some achol he bought for his date

u see how brothers dress in other parts of the country? esp in the south? a lot of our athletes act a lot like waldos

That is a FACT... One that he's unable to face.
When Family Matters was on, that's exactly the connection that I made.

And it may just be THAT component that Black folks don't resonate with. "Dy-no-mite" Jimmy Walker was huge. White folks at the time loved that buffoon image that white writers manufactured for him. There was merch and everything.

But that's not what Black folks talk about when we look back fondly on Good Times.

1 JJ was a talented artist. 2 jj was a giving dude= he gave up his mural painting fee for Thelma college fund 3 jj took a bullet for his dad from mad dog 4 jj had shortys on lock and he wasn't loaded. 5 jj shared a usage of a car with his broke crew on call. sorry not the antics of a buffoon.

 

[tallblacknyc]

Awe man, now we're gonna pretend everyone didn't love family matters and it didn't do crazy numbers.... smh. If there's anything I hate it's bullshit Internet revisionist history.

It had it fanbase.. some people liked the earlier seasons better compared to the later seasons.. some people stayed for the long haul some people exited earlier.. at the end of the day it lasted for almost a decade and dude made millions off of it.. why is he mad again?

 

[jackson35]

Any Dad would have done that, I'm talking about a specific "culturally" black dad moment where he confronted a racist cop or race was involved. For example, Carl and Uncle Phil both had moments in a pool hall, those are just being good dads like they should.

no, any dad would not, a lot of dads did not support what black youth was doing on the street to lift up the hood

 

[jackson35]

Have you ever watched a white person watch Madea?

they funded it and watch it, u really believe only bp watch medea

 

[God-Of-War-420]

It had it fanbase.. some people liked the earlier seasons better compared to the later seasons.. some people stayed for the long haul some people exited earlier.. at the end of the day it lasted for almost a decade and dude made millions off of it.. why is he mad again?

I definitely don't understand why he's mad, probably from getting called urkel for 30 years lol but it's weird to see people shitting on it and calling it stereotypical when it's a show where a young black teen is the smartest person on the planet. Sure there where some special episodes but that was all 90s shows when it came to drugs and gun violence.

 

[wwetv100]

That is a FACT... One that he's unable to face.
When Family Matters was on, that's exactly the connection that I made.

And it may just be THAT component that Black folks don't resonate with. "Dy-no-mite" Jimmy Walker was huge. White folks at the time loved that buffoon image that white writers manufactured for him. There was merch and everything.

But that's not what Black folks talk about when we look back fondly on Good Times.

I've seen the JJ connection and there is truth there, but at least the writers of Good Times didn't turn into the black Quantum Leap(a show I liked actually) with all the science fiction stuff on the show.

They did try to make JJ a leader of the family and changed him a bit later on when Esther Rolle quit the show.





The writing was better imo on Good Times.

 

[tallblacknyc]

I definitely don't understand why he's mad, probably from getting called urkel for 30 years lol but it's weird to see people shitting on it and calling it stereotypical when it's a show where a young black teen is the smartest person on the planet. Sure there where some special episodes but that was all 90s shows when it came to drugs and gun violence.

Urkel is an iconic character for many reasons.. the story behind it was a legendary underdog tale from being an extra to the main character.. so what if some people like certain shows better.. nig would you rather people like your show better and be broke or not be considered top 3 and be a multi millionaire.. this nig rant is stupid as hell.. this why he getting backlash.. nig character was literally bigger than the show..there was no family matters cereal, yet he had his own cereal

 

[God-Of-War-420]

Urkel is an iconic character for many reasons.. the story behind it was a legendary underdog tale from being an extra to the main character.. so what if some people like certain shows better.. nig would you rather people like your show better and be broke or not be considered top 3 and be a multi millionaire.. this nig rant is stupid as hell.. this why he getting backlash.. nig character was literally bigger than the show..there was no family matters cereal, yet he had his own cereal

Agree with everything you said, and if people expressed it like you just did I'd find nothing wrong with it. I'm just pointing out the tweets trying to paint a narrative using a 2024 internet lense to discredit family matters like it wasn't a big deal. But your right, urkel should just be chilling enjoying not ever having to work a 9-5 like the losers in the comments. Lol

 

[mcguyver]

This mofo is making zero sense.

 

[Duece]

It had it fanbase.. some people liked the earlier seasons better compared to the later seasons.. some people stayed for the long haul some people exited earlier.. at the end of the day it lasted for almost a decade and dude made millions off of it.. why is he mad again?

Probably bitterness at being typecast.

Apart from Urkel, he's only otherwise known for playing Sonic The Hedgehog on two cartoons in the 1990s but hasn't played the role since in any cartoon, video game, or the movies adaption and in an interview he mentioned being rather unhappy about not being approached to play Sonic again in the movie series, especially since his voice work as Sonic is praised in that fandom.

 

[illdog]

Kinda sad...one thing we can never have enough of is clowns or gangsta/rapperz..

 

[jimmiewine]

Family Matters was bullshit. Steve Urkel was nothing but a coon who bucked his eyes and acted like a fool. There was nothing redeeming about this show. As a young Black teenager, I could not relate to Family Matters. It wasn’t even funny.

 

[tallblacknyc]

Probably bitterness at being typecast.

Apart from Urkel, he's only otherwise known for playing Sonic The Hedgehog on two cartoons in the 1990s but hasn't played the role since in any cartoon, video game, or the movies adaption and in an interview he mentioned being rather unhappy about not being approached to play Sonic again in the movie series, especially since his voice work as Sonic is praised in that fandom.

i guess the sonic creators didn’t think he was hood enough to play sonic after the 90s… haha turned his rant/comment on him

 

[Da Backshot Champ]

Funny this guy was on the "original" Family Matters.

 

[respiration]

1 JJ was a talented artist. 2 jj was a giving dude= he gave up his mural painting fee for Thelma college fund 3 jj took a bullet for his dad from mad dog 4 jj had shortys on lock and he wasn't loaded. 5 jj shared a usage of a car with his broke crew on call. sorry not the antics of a buffoon.

I've seen the JJ connection and there is truth there, but at least the writers of Good Times didn't turn into the black Quantum Leap(a show I liked actually) with all the science fiction stuff on the show.

They did try to make JJ a leader of the family and changed him a bit later on when Esther Rolle quit the show.





The writing was better imo on Good Times.

@jackson35 The buffoonery was the reason for John Amos leaving the show. John was constantly on the white writers about presenting this family in the right kind of way that would be authentic and relatable to Black people and not rely on white stereotyped depictions.

This was important because it was the first time that a tv show was made featuring a Black nuclear family.

The original format centered the show around James as a respected leader of his family who also in combination with his fam happened to be very funny.
The white writers wanted to not have the show be about James' family but about his son... re-center the show around J.J., who at the time acted and talked in an exaggerated buffoonish way...getting poor grades in school...braggadocious...walking with his hands up in the air like a thanksgiving turkey...wearing a chicken hat...trading insults with Thelma (and losing to her since her insults about his physicality hit home/demasculation. His insults calling her ugly sounded mentally challenged since she was clearly gorgeous).

When John Amos vehemently fought them on that re-centering move, Norman Lear and the white producers fired him. Esther Rolle was not down with the buffoonery either, and she eventually left for awhile in protest.

As @wwetv100 alluded to, it was then, after John and Esther were gone, that they stopped having JJ insulting Thelma, stopped celebrating his dumbness, stopped having 80% of the things he says be stupid, gave him a viable career and made him more resemble an actual responsible leader of a household.

...But it took the exit of the parents to force those crackas to finally un-stereotype things.

In the case of Urkel, also not initially a main character, there was no John Amos behind the scenes to stop what happened from happening.

 

[Duece]

i guess the sonic creators didn’t think he was hood enough to play sonic after the 90s… haha turned his rant/comment on him

LMAO! That was a good one.

Funny thing about being hood or Black (not saying all of us are hood)

Sonic fans actually like his voice work because he is Black and sort of indirectly made the character... Black in terms of Sonic's confidence and swag and how it fits in with the image that Sega as a company was trying to project in the 1990s.

It's especially evident when you compare Jaleel's interpretation of the character to the dude-bro/awkward teen version we get now in the games and movies.

 

[Amajorfucup]

Unfortunate that the show itself will catch strays and unwarranted criticism and backlash because of Jaleels remixing of history and self serving bullshit to pimp a book while showing his white leaning audience hes a special kinda knee grow and not like the rest of them. Jaleel is a white washed weirdo who needs to rectify within himself insecurities about his racial and sexual identify so he does so by passive aggressively attacking Black audiences and women. He also does so to use as armor for the fact that he goes home to a manly looking white woman everynite.

 

[BlackGoku]

One thing that people seem to also forget is that he was almost on the cosby show as Rudy, but bill switched it to a girl at the last minute. Would have been seeing two boys in the house as opposed to just Theo. I think looking back he wants Family Matters to have more cutural credibility, but it just doesn't and there shouldn't be anything wrong with that.

 

[jackson35]

@jackson35 The buffoonery was the reason for John Amos leaving the show. John was constantly on the white writers about presenting this family in the right kind of way that would be authentic and relatable to Black people and not rely on white stereotyped depictions.

This was important because it was the first time that a tv show was made featuring a Black nuclear family.

The original format centered the show around James as a respected leader of his family who also in combination with his fam happened to be very funny.
The white writers wanted to not have the show be about James' family but about his son... re-center the show around J.J., who at the time acted and talked in an exaggerated buffoonish way...getting poor grades in school...braggadocious...walking with his hands up in the air like a thanksgiving turkey...wearing a chicken hat...trading insults with Thelma (and losing to her since her insults about his physicality hit home/demasculation. His insults calling her ugly sounded mentally challenged since she was clearly gorgeous).

When John Amos vehemently fought them on that re-centering move, Norman Lear and the white producers fired him. Esther Rolle was not down with the buffoonery either, and she eventually left for awhile in protest.

As @wwetv100 alluded to, it was then, after John and Esther were gone, that they stopped having JJ insulting Thelma, stopped celebrating his dumbness, stopped having 80% of the things he says be stupid, gave him a viable career and made him more resemble an actual responsible leader of a household.

...But it took the exit of the parents to force those crackas to finally un-stereotype things.

In the case of Urkel, also not initially a main character, there was no John Amos behind the scenes to stop what happened from happening.

all of what your saying is due to Mr. Amos's jealousy and missing the point, jj is supposed to be a young black youth in Cabrini greens in 1973 nobody at the time saw the character as any of that mess. most of what come out a youth's mouth then and now is nonsense, u do realize at the same time grown black men was speaking jive 24 7 to each other then, did they worry what other people think about that?

 

[Amajorfucup]

Family Matters was the middle class 90s version of Good Times.

Good point. But only in that the show morphed into something totally different than what it was billed or initially intended to be. Both were sold as family centric sitcoms but pivoted into comedy heavy shows that centered a harmless jester as focal point.

For example, the theme song. Sung by a white guy. What black show do you know does not have a black singer singing or playing some groove to begin the show??? And the intro song was so generic, so cookie cut to match the rest of the other white friendly shows throughout the line for the evening.

This is actually incorrect but underscores my point above. In the first season FM had arguably the best sitcom theme song in TV history. What a Wonderful World by Satchmo. They totally abandoned all semblance of what the show was promoted to be (Black nuclear family of the 80s) and turned it into The Laura and Urkel hour.

 

[Hey Julian!]

Living Single and Martin were 2 of my favorite shows all time.
I don't get how they are hood shows.

I get what he’s though and you’re right they weren’t hood shows, but in general what’s considered to be “Black” somehow has to be hood adjacent.
Been saying it for years, but most Black people are middle class, but hood culture somehow became the definition of Black. Lotta of that dumb shit we put on ourselves like “no snitching” culture. If you ain’t a criminal call the goddamn police. Shit got a lotta Black people thinking they got automatic squabble and ain’t been in a fight in they life only to find out they ain’t about it when it’s too late. And the part that we really don’t want to admit is hip-hop has supercharged that shit. I tell my oldest daughter don’t even try act hood. You grew up in the burbs with two supportive parents.

 

[doug777]

no, he's not, what is hood about Martin, Fresh Prince and Living Single?

His show isn't as good as those, period.

Who cares about Family Matters reruns?

Which show is better is subjective, what's not subjective is Family Matters was by far the most popular of the shows you mentioned.

 

[respiration]

all of what your saying is due to Mr. Amos's jealousy and missing the point, jj is supposed to be a young black youth in Cabrini greens in 1973 nobody at the time saw the character as any of that mess. most of what come out a youth's mouth then and now is nonsense, u do realize at the same time grown black men was speaking jive 24 7 to each other then, did they worry what other people think about that?

Many of us actually did in the 70s, towards the end of John Amos being on the show, see JJ as being exactly that.

The "jealousy" part is your opinion, but does not reflect reality. Jealous of what?

It was about John Amos wanting to maintain the integrity of the family unit and not have it devolve into some Amos and Andy minstrel show. He said as much and Esther Rolle corroborated this account, since she was in agreement with him , and later she left the show in protest.

Your comment on most of what comes out of youth's mouth being nonsense doesn't stand. If that was true then Thelma and Michael, who were both younger than JJ, would have constantly been saying dumbshit, but that was not the case.

The white writers made the JJ character into a buffoon.

Also the housing project was Cabrini-Green, not "Cabrini greens".

 

[doug777]

Both were sold as family centric sitcoms but pivoted into comedy heavy shows that centered a harmless jester as focal point.

Even though they were supposed to be family ensemble shows, Esther Rolle and Jo Marie Payton were the bridges between their previous shows and their new ones, they were considered the stars of the shows. The difference between the two shows was that when Jimmy Walker became the star of the show, Rolle and Amos remained at the center of the show along with Walker. When White became the star of Family Matters, Payton was moved to the peripheral of the show and the center of the show became Urkel and whoever interacted with him, which was the father or the kids.