‘Fuller House’ Creator Teases Possible Return Of ‘Family Matters’ Character Steve Urkel For Season 4
Fuller House has not officially been renewed for a fourth season on Netflix yet, but that’s not stopping show creator Jeff Franklin from dishing on his future guest star wish list. In an interview with TV Line, Fuller House creator Jeff Franklin revealed that he would like to see an iconic Family Matters character make a cameo on the Netflix spinoff—if he can convince the actor who plays him to strap on some suspenders once again.
Franklin told TV Line there’s an open invitation for Jaleel White—aka Family Matters’ Steve Urkel—to make a repeat visit to the Tanner family home.
“I loved when Urkel was on Full House, so I’d love to see him back on Fuller House,” Franklin told TV Line.
“I’m good friends with Jaleel, and we’ve talked about it. It’s a really big deal for Jaleel to bring this character back, so I’m not sure that he wants to — but if he does decide to, this would be a great way for him to reprise the character.”
The Fuller House boss added that he thinks fans are curious to know whatever happened to Steve Urkel, and he teased that he has some “fun ideas” that he hopes to shake out in an upcoming season of the spinoff series.
#FullerHouse Boss Explains That Steve Urkel Shout-Out in Season 3B: ‘We Have Some Fun Ideas’ https://t.co/CWEPSIljD3
— TVLine.com (@TVLine) December 22, 2017
This is not the first time Jeff Franklin has thrown Jaleel White’s name out there. Earlier this year, the showrunner told Variety that he would like to see White as a guest star on Fuller House. (He also dropped a return invite to Full House fan favorites, The Beach Boys.)
Family Matters, which was created by Franklin’s fellow Full House producers Thomas Miller and Robert Boyett, ended its nine-season run in 1998, and Jaleel White has not reprised the Urkel character since then. But in the Season 3 finale of the Netflix Full House spinoff, White’s signature character was mentioned when D.J. (Candace Cameron Bure) pointedly mused, “I wonder what Urkel’s up to.” And now fans are wondering that, too.
Full House fans are very familiar with the 1991 episode in which the Tanners are visited by Steve Urkel, the annoying cousin of one of D.J.’s friends. The Season 4 episode was titled “Stephanie Gets Framed,” and the Urkel cameo provided a hilarious crossover during ABC’s Friday night TGIF programming heyday.
Jaleel White was just 15-years-old when fans last saw him on Full House, so it would be very interesting to see how a 41-year-old Urkel looks—and acts. And the actor has not ruled out reprising the role that made him famous, telling the Hollywood Reporter that if a Family Matters reunion was ever on the table, he’d be game.
“I have some ideas, I think, about how we could mine some of that territory,” White told the Hollywood Reporter in September. “I always tell people, if I was Bart Simpson, I’d still be on the air [as Urkel] right now. But I wasn’t animated. I was a real boy.”
You can see Steve Urkel’s previous visit to the Full House family home below.
