“Did I Do Thaaat?”

Yes, you did, Steve Urkel! You took over the show!

12-year-old Jaleel White simply was bored one day. He realized at this early age that he did not want to go into business like his parents, so he consistently looked for new windows to jump his lankly body through. On this one boring day, he heard about a casting call for a nerd. White sprung up from his couch and ran to look at the mirror, realizing what he could do with these damn braces. With excitement, he ran to tell his mom he wants to audition for this one-shot appearance on the show Family Matters. On audition day, White’s mother helped him prepare for the role, but she did not just help with the script. They pulled from their resources to make him really look like a nerd: high water pants, red, crisp suspenders, and thick, brown glasses [borrowed from his dad].

His snorty laugh, high pitched voice, and talkative nature nailed him the gig. On his first appearance, an episode called “Rachel’s First Date”, the audience craved more than just that one episode. To be more specific, a group of fraternity boys who were invited to the live taping of the show repeatedly chanted “URKEL,” in every scene he was not in, making the writers and directors second guess the frequency of his appearance. People craved more Steve Urkel. The factor that made him come on the show regularly was the increase in ratings. Jaleel White still gives those frat boys credit for changing the rest of his life.

After his addition onto the cast, season after season, Urkel brought humongous smiles onto Americans watching the show in their living room. He developed several catchphrases that took the nation by storm. From ‘Snookums’ to ‘Did I do that?’ to ‘I’m wearing you down, baby. I’m wearing you DOWWWWN’, Steve Urkel made families of all backgrounds, all races, and all ages laugh at the beginning of his appearances in the show.

I’m wearing you down, baby.

Once he started to become the series’ protagonist, producers began to let him touch on topics that were controversial during the 90’s including school shootings. In one particular episode, both Laura and Steve Urkel witness a peer of theirs selling weapons to students to ‘protect themselves’. At the end of the episode, they had the entire cast of Family Matters addressing the issue and giving their audience the number to contact if the teens witness any sketchy activity. This was a major change for the tone of the series, showing how strong of an impact a TV show can have on its audience when it addresses controversial and serious topics like that. Steve Urkel played as the arch that connected the TV world to the real world, showing the right ways to handle all types of situations with a little bit of humor.

One favorite factor amongst the audience about Steve Urkel was his iconic dance to a song originally from Rappers EPMD. “The Urkel Dance” is one that has many simple moves but was still able to turn up a party crowd for the first time in the episode “Life of the Party”.

Other topics Steve Urkel addressed had to do with race. It was the first time in a long time a black man was casted as a nerd. It was a rare sight to see a black male as a nerd due to the stereotypes that restrict a black male’s talents in the 1990’s. Steve Urkel was the first of many forms of African Americans to be played on television, demolishing their stereotypes along with their roles. His effect on pop culture expanded beyond belief, giving young black boys and girls the confidence to display their inner ‘nerd’.

Usually, he continued, black males are not portrayed as intellectual. “He’s the kind of kid black kids would not want to be and would also accuse of trying to be white — not being hip,” Dr. Poussaint said. “He’s not up on street talk, not a dancing, bopping kind of kid.” But, he said: “The fact that he’s a nerd and very bright may be a step forward — accepting that a black kid can be bright and precocious and might end up in an Ivy League school.” — Dr. Alvin Poussaint, Harvard Medical School

If you forget about the unrequited love Steve Urkel has for Laura, his consistent clumsiness, and his rapid talking, you can very well use Urkel as your role model. He takes on real issues people face everyday and challenges them with his strange wisdom. Although it may be hard to take him seriously at times, he is one guy that puts his wisdom first before caving into peer pressure in his high school. And, sometimes, we as a people often make stupid mistakes in real life, just like how Urkel may make some mistakes in his own life. But after we ask ourselves, “Did we do thaaaat?”, we can take the knowledge and wisdom from Steve Urkel, a sitcom character, and implicate them into our own lives.

Commit to Serve

2017 UGA Freshman College — Service Learning

Tatiana Marie Lim-Tom

Written by

unapologetically breaking stereotypes on a daily basis

Commit to Serve

2017 UGA Freshman College — Service Learning

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