Jaleel White Discusses The Legacy Of Steve Urkel, The Success of Family Matters, How The Character Shaped The Rest Of His Life, And His New Weed Brand

People's Party with Talib Kweli

UPROXX

Music

4.4 • 2.1K Ratings

🗓️ 30 August 2021

⏱️ 15 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Jaleel White is not Steve Urkel. That’s obvious. But it’s hard to imagine a time in recent memory when a single character so dominated the career and conversation around a single actor. In this episode of People’s Party with Talib Kweli, White wrestles with that legacy, explains the conversations and struggles behind the scenes on Family Matters, and talks about how he eventually charted a path forward after sitcom mega-fame -- including re-taking ownership of “Urkel” as a brand and launching a weed company called Purple Urkle. The episode is, above all things, deeply personal and tremendously insightful. White and Kweli have been friends for years and they’re able to explore topics with a high degree of trust shared between them. It’s a powerful conversation and one that anyone with interest in how Steve Urkel shaped the man behind the snorts and high-waisted pants should certainly tune in for.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hey guys, this is Jasmine Lee, co-host of People's Party with Talib Kuali.
0:04.0	You're about to hear an excerpt of our show.
0:06.0	To hear the full combo in all of our past episodes with stars like DMX,
0:10.4	Ice Cube, Lil Kib and more, be sure to subscribe to the Luminary Channel on Apple Podcasts.
0:16.1	I'm the type of guy that, and I'm not making this up.
0:19.6	I would read the entire TV guide every week you came out.
0:23.7	Oh, TV guide. Yeah. I'd read the whole shit front to back.
0:26.4	That's how much I love television.
0:27.9	I knew, and back then it was only three networks.
0:30.8	And you know, local affiliates in the main three.
0:33.9	So you were able to back then, you could read the whole TV guide.
0:37.2	You could know every single, and a TV used to go off at night.
0:40.3	Yeah. Go off at five in the morning.
0:42.0	So you could literally...
0:43.3	You could tell about it.
0:44.1	If you cared that much, you could know every show.
0:47.2	And I literally watched every single show on television.
0:50.4	So, you know, as sitcom was my favorite version of it,
0:54.4	and those classic Norman Lear sitcoms,
0:56.7	like Jefferson's in order.
0:58.2	I'm a Sanford son.
0:59.2	Sanford's son, that's right.
	...

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