It’s been over 20 years since Household Issues’ remaining episode. A distinguished forged member of the beloved sitcom, Jaleel White, is probably not a sitcom actor anymore. However he’s bought his internet hosting gig within the sport present Flip Facet to maintain him busy and simply launched his memoir Rising Up Urkel. However Household Issues nonetheless stays true to his coronary heart with a goofball concept for a reboot that really sounds nice.
There have been many TV reboots that weren’t mandatory like Saved By the Bell, Fuller Home, Woman Meets World, and extra. Typically, we have to be taught to say goodbye to a present and settle for its finale regardless of what number of followers liked the unique sequence. In comparison with wanting Household Issues to fall underneath the identical pattern, Jaleel White did say on an episode of the podcast sequence Fail Higher with David Duchovny his quite distinctive concept for a Household Issues reboot sequence. I’ve gotta say, it sounds so loopy that it simply would possibly work:
I at all times noticed the reboot as involving one other child that didn’t essentially play Urkel Junior. […] I believed the present ought to be a few child who goes onto a failing sitcom within the ‘90s and upsets the apple cart however finally ends up saving the day. And this present ought to actually be about this child’s regular life behind the scenes going to public faculty—as a result of I went to public faculty the whole time I used to be on that present—and his mother and father, who know nothing in regards to the enterprise in any respect.
It nearly feels like Jaleel White’s concept could be loosely based mostly on the actor’s personal life. In any case, Household Issues was about to finish after its first season till the introduction of Steve Urkel bought followers hooked on the sitcom. The side-character ended up being liked greater than the principle forged for his traditional TV catchphrase “Did I do this?!,” his nerdy shenanigans, and his unsuccessful pining for Laura Winslow.
It actually could be an actual deal with to see a younger actor efficiently painting the fan-favorite ABC character in addition to the emotional turmoils of juggling fame with being a daily child. The plot nearly jogs my memory of Disney Channel’s The Well-known Jet Jackson which had comparable themes. We may see on-set drama just like the alleged issues Jo Marie Payton had with Jaleel White whereas filming or being afraid that children at college would giggle at him for taking part in Steve’s cousin, Myrtle Urkel. Audiences would get a contemporary eye in the direction of how baby performing might look cool from our TVs, however more durable than we notice from a behind-the-scenes perspective.
Jaleel White continued to say he may image the present going to streaming with half-hour episodes. There’s one other necessary motive why I’d be psyched if his reboot concept got here to fruition:
[The reboot] actually tug at your heartstrings extra alongside the traces of the unique Surprise Years. […] The ‘90s, man, is that this unbelievable canvas! It’s our ‘60s now. You get to see the evolution of the cellphone, you get to see the evolution of the web. Use this nucleus of three—this mother, dad, and this child— as a journey again into the ‘90s to discover a totally completely different time. That, I believed, would have been a compelling present you can get plenty of completely different generations to understand.
The Surprise Years certainly gave TV followers of the ‘90s an actual training as to what it was like rising up within the ‘60s. You had the Vietnam Conflict, the altering roles of girls, and the generational hole to discover. The Jaleel White reboot concept can present the peak of sitcoms and the way tv formed popular culture throughout that interval.
For my part, a Household Issues reboot loosely based mostly on Jaleel White’s life as a baby star could be a greater concept than a sequel sequence. The traditional TV present ended the place Steve and Laura have been in the midst of planning their wedding ceremony when the lovable nerd bought a chance for an area mission the place he nearly didn’t return. Luckily, Steve bought again to the Winslows with the episode ending in a kiss between him and Laura.
Jaleel White bought actual that he didn’t really feel Household Issues ought to be revived because it wouldn’t work with out “rigidity.” The American actor mentioned it might be a unique story if Michelle Thomas was round to deliver again the love triangle of Myra-Steve-Laura. However because the actress died from most cancers in 1998, White felt a reboot could be a no-go.
I hope streaming companies are listening to Jaleel White’s oddball concept for a Household Issues reboot. A sequence that brings again the ‘90s and the struggles of being a baby star would enchantment to generations of the unique sequence and new followers the identical method Netflix’s Cobra Kai did. However for now, we’ve 9 seasons of the TGIF sitcom to rewatch in your Max subscription and your Hulu subscription.