Jaleel White saved one of the greatest TGIF comedies of all time from being canceled after one season. Steve Urkel was originally supposed to be a one-off on Family Matters (which is streamable with a Max subscription). Yet the lovable nerd remained on the show and became a fan-favorite character. As part of the cast, White found himself taking part in some major moments, including an epic food fight scene. Apparently, the actor pleaded to be included in that, but it didn't quite pan out the way he thought.
Before becoming the breakout star of one of the best sitcoms ever, Jaleel White appeared on Family Matters sporadically during its first season. He made his debut on the episode “Laura’s First Date” and later appeared on “Man’s Best Friend". White recently appeared at ‘90s Con and explained (via EW) that he wanted more material at the time:
As it turns out, the then-young actor should've been more careful when using the word “anything.” During the Season 1 episode “Baker’s Dozen,” a local restaurant offers to buy Carl’s lemon tart recipe as long as he can provide 1,200 tarts in 48 hours. Ultimately, the stress of baking so many tarts leads to to a full-on food fight among the Winslows.
Little did Jaleel White know that if he wanted in on that food-centric installment, he'd have to get a bit messy (which Steve was known to do). White got real about his reaction to not only being added to the episode as he requested but also learning what would be required of him:
Be careful what you wish for, right? Steve’s appearance in the episode involved him entering the Winslow residence in the middle of the food fight to ask for a snack. Of course, that motivated the Winslow clan to throw, with full force, multiple lemon tarts at their annoying neighbor’s way.
When I rewatch that infamous pie scene, it really does feel like the cast was practicing their throwing arms, given how hard they threw the pies. The Urkel actor confirmed that getting hit by lots of baked goods was no laughing matter:
Clearly, ABC felt that the food-fight scene would be a hit (no pun intended) with audiences, so it makes sense as to why the network would tease it in promos. That was also far from the only food-related scene to be featured on the show. Steve would get hit again with pie during Season 3, when he tried to stop a food fight between Carl and Lieutenant Murtaugh. The gawky genius would receive his just desserts again while trying to stop a Boston Creme fight between friends Maxine and Laura. Seriously, Steve couldn't catch a break.
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If anything though, I appreciate the sheer dedication Jaleel White had to his craft, even if it didn't turn out as he thought. He remains one of the most recognizable sitcom stars in the history of TV, and it's definitely easy to see just why that's the case. In comedy, you sometimes just have to take the pie and, given how much enjoyment Family Matters has brought me and others, I'm certainly glad White was up for the challenge.