Family Matters, the hit TV show not the hit diss record, may soon follow in the footsteps of Good Times with an animated revival. Actor Bryton James, who fans remember as Richie Crawford from the original run, revealed in a recent conversation with Entertainment Weekly that the project is already in motion and “pretty far along.”
James explained that the idea came from him directly. “I had an idea to take the show and turn it into an animated series,” he said, describing his vision of updating old storylines and giving them new life for today’s audience. “Taking the old episodes and modernizing them and kind of starting from scratch for the new generation.”
He added that the concept has already gained momentum. “I’ve got pretty far along with my animated Family Matters idea, including getting a production company in line to finance and bringing everybody on board,” he shared, noting that even Jaleel White, who made Steve Urkel a household name, is part of the plan. “It’s sitting in Warner Bros.’ hands right now… That plan is still kind of floating around out there, and I’m still trying to pursue it.”
James also opened up about staying connected with the original cast. “I still very much keep in touch with Telma Hopkins, who played my mom… [Darius McCrary], who played Eddie Winslow. I just saw [Kellie Shanygne Williams, who played Laura], a lot of them are living — I think [Jo Marie Payton] and Kellie are living on the East Coast, so they came out for Telma’s birthday a few years back, and I got to see them again. Jaleel, I’ve kept in touch with him off and on, a great mentor at this point in my life,” he said.
One of the big advantages, James noted, is that White would not need to physically reprise the Urkel look to bring the character back. “Jaleel wouldn’t have to put the outfit on either, and we could still deliver what the show did for the audience and for families, especially, and revamp it for the new generation.”
This is not the first time White has addressed the possibility of a reboot. In his memoir Growing Up Urkel, he revealed that he declined a Netflix pitch around 2013 or 2014, following the success of Fuller House. “It didn’t make any sense to me,” White wrote at the time.
Family Matters originally premiered in 1989 as a spinoff of Perfect Strangers. Created by William Bickley and Michael Warren, the series chronicled the lives of the Winslow family, a middle-class Black household in Chicago. It ran for nine seasons with 215 episodes, cementing itself as one of the most beloved sitcoms of the 90s.